The latest stage, Hell Of The West Part II, in the Savannah Cycling League Winter Tour 2011 did not disappoint. The cycling and hella-fantastic finishes brought nail biting excitement as well as hella-results. The hella-drama the followed the conclusion of the stage in the press almost superseded by the hella-cool cycling excitement. Most of you that follow the tour on-line with the live updates from the Jare I-phone AT&T coverage are already aware of the results and the new owner of the leader's Jersey. The lastest stage began with chilly temps of about 50 degrees in sunny conditions out of Statesboro right on time at 10 a.m. for the 120 KM journey. The Ga Southern Woman's team made a showing by coming out in force and support of the tour and rode with the peleton for half of the day. The rest of the peleton rode comfortable at a steady pace of about 19 to 20 as the weather warmed quickly and riders visited the SAG wagon often to shed clothes. The first whistle blew early in the stage about 32 KM in and the hounds were released as the Hell of the West officially began! Jody the middle man Middleton went to the front to deliver the goods for team mate Drew and set the hella-high pace stringing out the peleton. By the time the single file pack hit the dirt the speed was about 28 to 30 mph! Jody gave the final salute to team mate Drew and peeled off as his work for this attack zone was over and it was up to Drew to finish the job for the Ga Southern boys. The dirt being hard packed from rain proved to be fast and solid which only made the boys push the envelope with side to side tactics. Very quickly it was down to three, Drew of Ga Southern, Phill the thrill of Savannah Fixies and 80 tooth big rings, and Mitchell The Principal Askew of OSP. Drew was riding hella-fast, solid, and in control. Askew decided to test the waters and put in an attack on the first hill but the boys were on him like a blue tick hound on an inmate in the swamp in south GA....
The principal decided to put the ball back in Drew's court and at the last minute Drew flew to the far left side taking the left tire rut in the clay. Phill yelled for Askew to take the line . . .but the Principal decided to ring the school bell and see who was really paying attention. He took the right tire rut, jumped out of the saddle and attacked with no answer as he flew the Coop. The principal drilled it up the next hill pushing the pace and increasing the distance and was quickly out of sight and took the first sprint with authority. The peleton came back together and all rode in perfect sunny 60+ degree weather through a hella-nice golf community. The Tour organizers decided to make a quick route adjustment in order for the peleton to do a ride by of Billy the kid Sellers parent's house. Once the family and hella-fun was over it was back to business as the whistle blew for the second attack zone of about 4.5 KM. For the first 2 kilometers the pace actually went down to 16 mph as everyone stayed perfectly still. It was like a special military op group lying in wait without flinching. Finally, Jody the middle man Middleton attempted to UPS the goods to his bro Drew who was out for blood this time. Then out of now where, with a stomach flu from some bad gas station snack cakes, Billy the kid Sellers pushes the pace with Phill the thrill hot on his tail. The principal joins the train and Drew tucks in as well. Then about 3/4 way up the 750 meter rise, the principal decided it was time to hand out detentions and suspensions as he flew the coop once again with a brutal attack attaining an instant gap. As the crest of the hill, the principal tucked in and pressed on without looking back and not looking for any help. As he crossed the 1K mark he drilled it into the head wind as his speed dropped down to 22 and he knew it was now or never and dug to push the speed back up to 28 mph and took the second sprint with a nice two to three meter gap from the chase group. As the peleton attempted to cross the busy intersection for the second store stop a police car turned on his lights and stopped traffic for the peleton to cross in safety. With the law on their side no one feared the Hell in the West as much. The last stage was hella-nice and flat and a sprinter's delight, however the peleton was tired from the rolling terrain and headwinds. The whistle blew for the final stage sprint with 7 KM to the line. The group quickly went to single file as 7 to 10 guys began to hella-drill the pace. Then the attacks started like fireworks at a park on the 4th of July. The principal opened up the throttle a bit to see what everyone had left and only one was able to match the pace, Phill the Thrill. Phill yelled at Askew, "will you work with me or against me?" Askew told him to tuck in and he would work with him. The two rolled it down the road but Jody wasn't having any of it as he and two others bridged up. The five started rotating but the pace was too much for Drew and then there were 4. As the group settled in, the principal started to open the throttle a bit to wear some of that "sprint" out of the others' legs. This proved to be too difficult for Phill and then there were 3. The Principal then took the pace up to 28 and after several of these pulls Jody got gapped and dropped off. Then there were two. As the Principal started to lick his chops and finish off Michael, out of no where Jody bridges back sits on and then sprints with about 1.5 KM to the line! The principal jumps up to Jody's wheel thinking that he left Michael and as the sign nears with about 600 meters left, Mike attacks Jody and the principal from the left side! The principal floors the accelerator and latches onto Mikes wheel and focused on the line that is about 200 meters away. The speed strips in the road come up and Mike veers to the right and
the principal veers left and takes the final stage sprint by about 10 bike lengths... The first place prize the rear race wheel was not taken by Askew as he donated it to the next stage winner. "The only thing I wanted to take today was the leader's jersey. I wanted to do this for my team, sponsors, and team director". The drama that has since followed these results has been just as exciting. After a late Friday night closed door meeting with Robinson Forensics Team director, chief sponsor, UCI officials, Tour director, and U.S. national board psychologist of AP, Inc they concluded that Josh the 9 mm Barrett was unfit to ride and had to sit this stage out. There have been hundred's of unfounded speculations to doping allegations, injury, legal problems, the list goes on. However, Jonathan from the associated press reported that after the meeting his Team director said, "Josh will not be competing in the Hell Of The West stage due to personal reasons, however he will be fit and ready to compete in the next stage in February". Many suspect that he either had an injury or is overtrained and they feared he would lose the stage and this is a way to keep him from losing to Askew and the OSP team. Mitchell was quick to state, post his victory, to Savanah cycling news press corps, "I am happy to take on the leader's role in this tour and wear the jersey for my team and sponsors, however I will be happier when I truly earn it". This statement leads everyone to believe that he has a vendetta with Josh. The tension showed between these two as they passed by one another at a rider and sponsor banquet today and almost shouldered each other with out ever looking each other in the face or giving acknowledgment. Askew was overheard at a table talking with a few sponsors to say, "I know family is important but so is standing up and facing your problems to show your family you are strong. If you are too scared to race because you think you will lose then you are a disgrace to your family". Word got back to Josh, but his team manager and several others restrained him and escorted him out of the building telling him to,
"save it for the next stage where you can finish that nobody". Lines have been drawn by both camps and so have the lines been drawn in the sand by the fans for both riders. The press is having a field day with all of this hella-drama as it will surely set us all up for a hella-intense upcoming stage. There is almost as much drama going on here as there is in Contador's life right now.
Stay tuned as we will do our best to keep you updated as the rest of this drama unfolds between these two riders. Until then have a hella-cool time!
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