FALL BRINGS UPGRADES TO CAT 2

Congratulations to Williams Cycling riders Todd Farrell and Jason McCombs on their recent upgrade to USA Cycling Category 2.

TX TOUGH GRAND PRIX III - SEPT 15th, 2010

Texas Tough is finally here. Williams TX has 4 riders in the 2/3 race. Its going to be FAST!

Williams Texas Team riders participating:

-Todd Farrell
-Craig Fulk
-Jason McCombs
-Marc Montemayor

In addition, Williams TX raised more than $7,700 for Children's Hospital. In doing so, we have 2 riders that are in the top ten for fundraising and will be wearing a special number this evening.

> 1 Burke Patrick $5,259.99
> 2 Jantzen Shawn $5,110.00
> 3 Fulk Craig $3,979.00
> 4 D'Aurelio Shawn $3,205.00
> 5 Slaughter Michael $2,741.00
> 6 Young Jeff $2,101.00
> 7 Farrell Todd $2,037.62
> 8 Cook Jason $2,035.00
> 9 Keane Craig $1,890.00
> 10 Sewell Ben $1,775.00

Over $100,000 was raised collectively by the racing teams and riders in Texas. WOW!, a $100,000 raised for Childrens from a small group of racers. Everyone racing in Texas should be proud.

TOUR OF AUSTIN

Tour de Austin day 2:

A very tough race. A technical course i would liken to Bike the Bricks or the old tuesday nighters Chris Watson used to put on in Ft. Worth. Everyone knew this was the course you had to start on the front line and keep good position through the first several laps just to have a chance at finishing. So of course, Todd and I started behind two guys who chose today to learn about the intricacies of the clipless pedal system and attempting a race start on the front line. I have honestly never seen anyone take so long to attach their foot to a bicycle. Near dead last, it took me 4 or 5 laps (and a LOT of energy) to move up to a decent position, and several more laps after that to recover.



A points prime lap was coming up and Todd motioned for me to get on his wheel for the lead out. Like clockwork, we jumped and made an easy meal of 5 omnium points. A few laps later, Danny Parks and 5 or 6 others had managed a 22 second gap on us which stuck for the rest of the race. Almost. At 5 to go, as we would pass the start finish line, the announcer would call us sissies and tell us to turn our jersey's inside out, that we were bad bike racers if we couldn't pull the break back. Funny now, it was probably just what we needed to pull the break back. (by 'we' i mean someone else. I was exhausted from sprinting for the points prime).

So with four to go, Todd rolled up alongside and I told him that I didn't have what it took to bridge or chase. He did however, and told me if he pulls the break back he won't have anything for the end. So here's where it gets good: Todd and a couple of others put in the monster pulls to bring the break back to within striking range. Now the 'one to go' bell sounds and a chase group splinters off the front. So it's break of 6, short gap to chase of 10ish, short gap to strung out field. With less than half a one mile lap to go, we all come back together and todd and i slide close to the front. But wait! one guy made a solo move when we caught the break! He's now 100M up the road. At least we're in position for a good lead-out if only that one RBM guy in front of Todd will get out of the way first. Sure enough, RBM takes off, Todd goes on his wheel and i'm stuck to Todd's. At about 600M, Todd passes RBM still accelerating in the saddle. I can start to feel the breath of the pack all around and yell at todd to "GO! GO TODD!!" hoping he can give me about 100 more meters of acceleration. Now closing the gap to the solo rider, i jump hard with 200m to the last corner and 200m to the line after that. Todd, spent, peeled off into the grass on the side of the road so he wouldn't cause a crash. I came into the last corner FAST and sprinted hard, all alone and closing in on the solo guy. I got 2nd by about 10 feet. He had exploded and slowed but still had enough gap to take the win.







Today was an awesome example of what organized teamwork and a little bit of communication can do in a technical crit, even when you're not in a breakaway. Todd really busted his butt in that race and if he hadn't chased down the break, the chase group, and organized the two leadouts, we would've been 30th or 40th place and the break would've stayed away for sure. Now we have a 2nd place finish and 2nd overall in the omnium thanks to his efforts and our communication!

WILLIAMS TX DELIVERS MULTIPLE PODIUMS AT THE HHH

Williams Cycling TX had a great weekend at the Hotter Than Hell. Williams TX made the podium in the Road Race, the Criterium and the overall omnium.

Saturday 100 Mile Road Race ended in a field sprint with Craig taking 3rd, Todd taking 4th and Marc taking 11th.



Sunday's crit was on a great course that was fast, hot and windy. Marc took 3rd and Craig took 6th.

Craig pulled off 2nd overall in the omnium.

HOTTER THAN HELL HUNDRED

Williams Cycling Texas Team will be at the Hotter Than Hell Hundred this weekend.

Keith Williams is coming in from California for the event and will show off some of the new wheel designs for 2011. We will have a booth in the pavillion.

See you there.

ELK HILL CIRCUIT RACE - JASON McCOMBS TAKES THE WIN

Jason McCombs, in a three up break, takes the sprint for the win at the 1st Annual Elk Hill Circuit Race.

WILLIAMS TEXAS - TX TOUGH GRAND PRIX III

Williams Factory Texas Team is in for the TX TOUGH GRAND PRIX III September 16th.

We are committed to help in raising lots of $$$ for Children's Hospital in Dallas. You can help us help the kids by donating today. Williams TX thanks you for your support.

100% of the money raised by each of the registered participants will go directly to Children's Medical Center.

Some Pro Race Coverage from past events...enjoy.

WILLIAMS TX TAKES 1-2 @ MINERAL WELLS CRITERIUM

The Haughted Hotel in Mineral Wells


After a long night in McKinney, Todd and Craig were not sure how things would fair. They set a pre-race stategy to try to keep the field together and then go for field sprint. Things played out perfectly. Todd led Craig out on the back side and through the last 2 turns. The well played leadout was enough to take 1st and 2nd.

Some fun laps


The Sprint






Everything went as planned.


1 242 Fulk Craig Williamscycling.com
2 241 Farrell Todd Williamscycling.com
3 247 Wharton Richard Mirage
4 236 Boone Jake Team Bicycles Inc.
5 244 Metoyer Russell Velossimo Racing
6 249 Brown Sean Wichita Falls Bicycling Club
7 243 Kessing Matthew Team ALS-C3
8 250 Mathewson Scott ThinkCash Racing
9 235 Baker Reid Broken Films Racing
10 251 Galindo Ramon SSPI Inc.

PODIUM SPOT @ MCKINNEY TX, BIKE THE BRICKS CRITERIUM

First off, this was a very nice event for a first year. Hats off to the Town of McKinney Texas for hosting the event, the volunteers and McKinney Velo for a fine job. We will put this one on our list for next year.

The race started off pretty good. Todd, Jason and Craig lined up front row. The course was fairly narrow and technical to some standards.

Off to a good start. Jason, Craig and Todd



Jason and Craig did a good job stringing things out on the first few laps.


We had Todd Farrell in a three up break somewhere just before the midpoint of the race. Jason was a few wheels in front of Craig going with an attack up the start / finish when a huge pile up occurred. How Craig missed riders and how they missed him only video and pics will tell. Craig made it through and attached to the now chase group.

Due to the nature of the crash, they neutralized the race. On the restart, the break was sent up the road, then the chase, then the pack. The break and the chase never saw the pack again. With Todd in the break and a guaranteed podium finish, Jason and Craig sat in on the chase.

Todd Farrell in the break.


With about 3 laps to go, the break shattered leaving Todd in the middle holding on for 2nd. Jason came through 5th and Craig took 9th.

Todd for 2nd


Jason for 5th


Craig for 9th




Williams Texas Team secured all three riders in the top 10.

1 332 Aaron Robson Rice University
2 345 Todd Farrell WilliamsCycling.com
3 305 Hunter Stewart GS Tenzing
4 353 anthony white Tuneros Racing
5 347 jason mcombs WilliamsCycling.com
6 337 Richard Lamb Southern Elite/Sun & Ski
7 329 Adam Allen Plano Athletic Cycling Club/PAC
8 335 Michael Dawdy Rockwall Cycling
9 346 Craig Fulk WilliamsCycling.com
10 340 Jake Boone TBI/DRT




Todd hanging out with Web and Bob from the Great Brewers Cycling Team. Great Brewers had a great showing in their race putting Erik on the podium after a long two up break.

TULSA TOUGH 2010

The Williams Texas Team had a great time at Tulsa Tough.

Friday Night - Blue Dome District - CAT3
8th - Jason McCombs
10th - Craig Fulk
12th - Todd Farrell

Full Race Coverage from Friday Night

St. Franics Tulsa Tough Men's Cat III June 4, 2010 m4v from St. Francis Tulsa Tough on Vimeo.

We were setup right at the start/finish line.


Getting ready for Friday Night




Tim Silva - Dreaming of new bar tape.


Saturday - CAT3
7th - Jason McCombs
14th - Craig Fulk
20th - Marc Montemayor
21st - Todd Farrell

Saturday - CAT4
10th - Jim Ballew

Saturday Morning Ride


Saturday Morning Breakfast and Team Meeting with Keith Williams




Jim is lined up and ready to go.


Sunday - CAT3
8th - Jason McCombs - Winning the field sprint
9th - Todd Farrell
17th - Craig Fulk

"Cry Baby Hill"








More pics to come....

Tulsa, See you next year!

TEXAS STATE CRIT CHAMPIONSHIPS

Williams Cycling Texas rider Jason McCombs leaves with the Bronze Medal in the Texas State Criterium Championships.

Jason with Bronze


Williams Cycling Texas CAT 3 Team

KY State Championships

A beautiful day in the capital city of Frankfort, KY for a quick day of bike racing. I arrived in KY on Friday and had plenty of time to get rest and wait for a late morning start for the downtown crit.

We arrive at the start a bit late. Start time was 11am and we parked at 10:25. I hurried up and got registered, and fortunately the course was clear of racers so I could go get warmed up on the course. Got a good 15 minutes of riding and lined up at the S/F line.

With a few teams with a number of guys in the race, I thought for sure I could pull a few guys off the front and we could get away. The course was flat and fast being approximately .5 miles in length. As we complete the first lap, I attack, and in doing so bring a Mcdonalds guy off the front. With his team having heavy representation in the field, I thought we could sneak away. Bike Clicks went to the front and reeled us in. This was the story of the day... attack, bridge, or jump with others... and get reeled back in over the next few laps. As time ticked away, I settled in to the field and did my time at the front.

With only about 150m from turn 4 to the S/F line, I figured he who leads into that last corner has a good shot at winning if they start their sprint early. Not wanting to partake in all of that fun of trying to funnel through a single lane and onto the wide open homestretch, I decide it is an all or nothing day. We cross the line with two laps to go and head single file through turns 1 and 2. There are two Michelob Ultra guys at the front, then me. As we proceed down the back straight, I launch up the right side and apex turn 3 at full speed, carrying it through turn 4 and into the front straight. I drop my forearms on my bars and tuck my head, trying to poke a tiny hole in the headwind that had been feisty all day. I was able to quickly open up a 7 second gap by the time I made the first turn. I looked back and no one else had countered my move and the group was all together.



I hit the back straight for the final time and tucked and drilled it.
Bombing through turn 3 I looked back and saw they were not going to be able to catch me. Coming down the front straight, I was able to ease up and enjoy the win for WilliamsCycling.

A good day for exposure to our sponsors. Unfortunately the next time we show up in KY to race... we're probably going to be marked.

We are in for Tulsa Tough 2010 Criteriums

Williams Cycling will have both the Elite Team from SoCal and the Texas Team at Tulsa Tough this year. Three days a fast crits. If you are in Tulsa June 4-6th, stop by...meet Keith Williams ( owner Williams Cycling ) and the Teams. Be sure to check out the latest wheelsets.




www.TulsaTough.com

Now, A Word From Our Sponsor

WilliamsCycling Interview 2010 from Keith Williams on Vimeo.

Be sure to check out some awesome video of the upcoming 2010 Tour of California Video Link.

WEDNESDAY NIGHT CRIT ( WNC )

Our weekly Wednesday night crit was a fun one this past week. Williams Cycling Texas had Todd and Craig in the field. Working diligently and patiently together, they were able to get Todd off the front with one lap to go. Todd held the field off and took first and Craig threaded the needle to pull off the field sprint win.

1 921 Farrell Todd Williamscycling.com
2 946 Fulk Craig Williamscycling.com
3 940 Miller Imari GS Tenzing
4 913 Reade Michael ThinkCash Racing
5 912 Burnett Jeffrey Tuneros Racing

The weekly series runs through the end of August.

MATRIX CHALLENGE

Matrix Challenge 2010 was held on a beautiful weekend in a park like atmosphere. Lots of primes and a fast technical course.




Williams Cycling Texas:

Saturday
Todd Farrell : 12th
Marc Montemayor : 19th
Craig Fulk : 21st



Sunday

Jim Ballew : 3rd by photo finish in the 35+. He definitely had the speed at the line. .07 seconds between first and second, .0011 between second and third.

Craig Fulk : 13th
Todd Farrell : Taken out on the last lap in a crash.

MINERAL WELLS STAGE RACE

Day 1 - Mineral Wells Stage Race
Road Race 07:30 - We roll out, and it is still raining. As you can imagine, getting out of the car, getting dressed, in puddles, really starts to make you question the decision. Tim, Craig, Jason and I were waiting for the first one to say "let's leave"... but no one did so we donned our along with about 40 others. We are old enough to know better.

Rolling enclosure, great roads, scenery, wonderful host town, the list goes on and on. If they can continue to pull off this race and catch some good weather, this race will be phenomenal. Anyway, the racing starts and we are about 10 miles into it and the first climb of the day goes. It's about a 1 mile climb, with a steady grade. Nothing too punishing, but a little ringer. Small gaps keep opening and I'm able to jump each of them from about mid-pack. As we crest the hill, we have about 12-15 guys in the group, but unfortunately no other Williams guys. Craig was at the back ( bad positioning ) at the start of the climb and never caught up. Jason and Tim also got put into trouble on the hill...

A few miles later, both Jason and Tim have bridged back up to the front group. Impressive.

We're riding along for a bit more, enduring what is now a piercing rain storm with winds blowing the group across four lanes of the road. There are probably 20 of us. I'm sitting at the back, and Jason is near the front, then slowly he starts drifting back. As he gets next to me, I as, "Are you OK?" He responds with a "yeah, I'm fine." Then proceeds to continue in reverse, right off the back and apparently just had no interest in riding anymore. This was confirmed at the end when he said he had no interest in riding anymore. Now it's Tim and I... and a hill. As we start the climb, three guys go off the front for the KOM points. I am sitting at the front of the pack with one guy in no mans land, so I'm about 5th on the road. Points for first 3. This will come back to haunt us... As we crest the hill, I turn to find that Tim is not with the group, and actually not even in sight of the group. Come to find out, he dropped a chain at the bottom of the hill and chasing up a climb in this weather was not going to happen. He ended up rolling in a respectable 21st - Jason and Craig rolled in 26th and 27th.



The group had whittled down to about 15 guys and with the wind and hilly roads, it is probably going to stay this way to the finish. At this point, I'm freezing again - Fayetteville-ish, just not quite so bad. I am shaking and having a hard time going straight. I do my time at the front since everyone is quite content letting the three guys go off the front. I do not like rabbits, so I chase. At first being nice, but then I drift right until I am glued to the shoulder, guttering the entire group. I tuck and drill it, bringing the break back.

5k to go, I am cooked. I know exactly where I need to be, but I am unable to get there. It goes with about 1k to go, and I have nothing. I'm in and out of the saddle for the next 800 meters, unable to produce any significant power, and come across the line 5th.
Great!.... This is a points based stage race. 25 points to the winner, decrementing each place by 1 point, I got 20 points for the stage.


Time Trial 15:12 - It's a TT... It's not very fun putting on wet gear to go ride into a headwind as hard as you possibly can for a shot at some points. With the day that the others had, there was only one of us dressed for the TT. Jason is already home. Craig and Tim are awesome getting the bike ready and everything organized and ready for me to go. I hit the starting line, drill it for 5.5 miles, then ride up a hill for another mile. The boys are in the van at the finish line... I cross, turn around, get off the bike which Craig and Tim quickly disassemble, get in a car, and we drive home. Unfortunately I did about how I felt and rolled in with an 11th best time.

Day 2 - Weather winning this weekend.

4am alarm, pick up my feed zone chick (aka Tim) at 5, and off we go. Finally the rain has let up and the wind is barely blowing; it was nice getting ready to race without getting completely soaked. We roll out at 7:30 this time to conquer the loop 3 times for about 72 miles.

The first few miles are s l o w... Which I'm pretty happy about because my legs feel horrible. After having nothing in them yesterday for the sprint nor the TT, this is going to be a long day. We keep rolling and two guys wander off the front, none of which are jockeying for my GC so I let them go. Some others that are close went a few times and I jumped on their wheel. As you can imagine we get reeled in after a few miles.


The "hill" was nothing on the first lap. Figured we would drill it and blow up the group on the second lap, so I sat in as much as I could. Knowing that I was on the edge as it was, I needed to save what I had left. The break is a few minutes up the road and now one of my GC competitors attacks, and I let him go. That's a huge gap to cross, but he rides away quite easily and I think "whoops". I began the day in 7th in GC. I put some tape on my top tube with the guys that were within striking distance or ahead of me, and I had 9 names on there. This is going to be a long day... We cross the start/finish line and the three guys up the road take the three point primes, which again is still OK for me. As we start the second lap, in comes the storm and along with it we get pounded by rain and wind.
I have no glasses on because I was too lazy to get them out of my bag this morning, and now I am paying a dear penalty ( see Jason's blog on wearing glasses in the rain ).



The miles tick off and as we are coming into the hill again, the P1/2 field is closing on us and the neutralize us, which is fabulous. Now no one drills it up the hill again, the points primes are taken from the break, and I can enjoy the beautiful weather and scenery, and freeze. As we get over the hill, they let us go back to racing and the break is now about 3.5 minutes up the road. We finally decide to go after them. Some of us start working together, but then the other half can't figure out what a pace line is and keeps getting in the way. I say forget it and go back to the back to absorb some more road grime. As we are coming up to the start/finish line, Clayton (Univ of
Texas) has sat up and comes back to the group. He could have passed me in GC, but I'm fairly confident I'll take him in the sprint and he got no bonuses on the road.

We pass the start finish line... A number of people have quit at this point and our field is probably down to 30 riders. There are a few teams with no one up the road, so this is going to be difficult to get away. A three man attack goes, so I go after it and we stay away for about a half of a mile and get brought back. Shortly after that, and with about 15 miles left in the stage, a two man break goes with Nick Boulle and Josef Garcia(currently tied with me in GC). This one is going to stick. Sean (Mirage) goes after this but can't make it and is in no mans land, I go next and bridge up to Sean and he hops on my wheel. He has two men in the field and I know they will work for him to stay away. In addition to that, one of his teammates is one point ahead of me in GC and the other is three points... We are closing down the gap to Nick and Josef as we approach the hill for the final time.

I know Sean is in trouble at this point and he says he'll work with me once we get over the hill. I now have two options. I have no doubt I can attack him on the hill, drop him, and make the bridge to Nick and Josef. I also know that if I drop him, he will either get picked up by the group and his team will come after us or once we get over the hill, he will recover and catch us, then I'm in trouble. I opt to set a steady tempo up the hill and let him stay on my wheel so we can work once we crest the hill. He is a monster TT guy so I'm fairly confident we'll get away. Unfortunately we watch Nick and Josef ride away once they get over the hill... Sean and I start working together into the wind and within 8 miles, the group is now out of sight.

At this point, I am already thinking how I am going to beat this guy at the finish since I need the points. He already has a solid 2nd place locked up. As we roll through the 5k to go, he says "you can have the sprint, you need the points more." Well OK, that solves that one. I opt to pull as much as possible into the finish since he was nice enough to give me the points. We roll across the line in 6th and 7th respectively.

Being a points based GC, there were a number of shakeups on the road.
The GC ended up as follows:

1. Nick Boulle (Park Place)
2. Sean Daurelio (Mirage)
3. Alan Good (Tulsa Wheelmen)
4. Josef Garcia (Factory Goodness)
5. Todd Delany (GS Tenzing)
6. Todd Farrell (Williams Cycling)
7. Jason Jacobs (Mirage)
8-40. others...

Weekend results for Todd:
Sat RR - 5th
Sat TT - 11th
Sun RR - 6th
GC - 6th