The racing this past weekend was a huge success, although the real takeaway from our team camp had nothing to do with results. However, for sake of posterity, I'll provide a detail or two on how we did perform. Because we had such a large group of masters racers here this weekend, we decided to split the team and race both the Masters and Pro, 1, 2 events. At the end of the day, we placed 1st and 2nd in the Masters race and 2nd and 3rd in the P,1,2 event. The 2nd place in the elite race was the ride of note for our team this weekend. Our brazen leader, whom we affectionately refer to as "Dark Lord," aka Peter Erdoes, broke away solo from our field around mile 4 of the 65 mile event. Peter was quickly caught by another young rider from Memphis and the two were off. Because of the efforts of our team (almost all over 50 years old) and the Memphis Marx and Bensdorf team, Peter and his breakaway companion managed to stay away for the entire race. It was a beautiful effort and as I told Peter after the race, "I wasn't sure if I was happy or sad for you that you were managing to stay away for the entire race," because I know it had to have been a very painful 2 1/2 hours of racing for him.
Trent Hickey - Winner, Masters Category
Dark Lord in the break (red helmet) - 2nd, Pro, 1,2 Category
A special Thank You to Candis Massingill for the fantastic photos.
But again, the real story here is not the results we gained, it was the feeling of being a part of a team that truly loves racing and sacrificing for each other. After everyone had hurriedly left for home Sunday morning to try and beat the pending ice storm, Hunter posted an email to our group with some very poignant words. Hunter's email was followed up by a few other teammates at which point it struck me how special this team really is. I'd like to apologize in advance to my teammates for violating our confidentiality agreement, but this stuff is blog worthy, so I'm posting some of the emails anyway. However, I'm removing the author's names so they are protected from potential ridicule for being overly sappy or soft, which I can assure you, they are certainly not.
----------Our Training Camp is in the bag and I just wanted to make a few observations. First, we are all fortunate to have found ourselves on this team, however each of us may have arrived here. This is truly a great group of guys, diverse as we may be. Second, our results speak for themselves, and are largely due to the fact that we actually ride as a team. It sounds simple and cliche, but in reality it is rare in the amateur ranks. The fact that we can dominate many of the races in which we enter is a testament not to our individual abilities, but rather to our collective willingness to ride with a common objective. Just seeing how genuinely happy our entire team was to see the Dark Lord ride to such an awesome, and well earned 2nd Place in the Pro 1,2 race, was for me further confirmation that we are all experiencing something very rare in our chosen sport. It also sounds like the Masters race played out very similarly with some stellar team tactics and acts of selflessness. I am confident that someday when we are no longer able to throw our legs over our steeds, and clip in for a day in the saddle, we will look back and know that we were part of something special. I was very happy to help host our camp this weekend and was glad I had an opportunity to "give back", if even just a little compared to those of you that sponsor the team. Lastly, I feel fortunate to ply the seas with all you Pirates and I'm already looking forward to the next skirmish!
Thanks for your hospitality Hunter and the use of the rock star bus! That was a real treat! And thanks to JD for housing me! What a great result and time together with everyone! Wish I could have stayed longer, the weather is pretty crappy here in _____! From your email I can tell you've experienced the same thing that has glued me to this band of pirates for nearly 10 years now. The key, I've discovered, is that the tone is set in a special and unique way by the Dark Lord himself. While he can "bring it" most any day, he will also lay it down for his mates and rejoice in their success as much as his own. Like all of us, the willingness to be a domestique one day as well as stand on a podium the next, not only sets a good example, but makes this team very unpredictable and therefore hard to control by others. Both races this weekend were collective efforts and THAT is worth bleeding out your ears for and that is what racing like a pirate means.----------
First of all I would like to extend my thanks for everyone in Little Rock for being such gracious hosts. Thanks to Rene & Sonya, JD, Donnie and Tonya Van Patter, and of course Dustin & yourself. I am not one for many soft felt words, more of a tough love kind of guy, but I have to say that this group of guys is one in a million. I truly enjoy hanging out and racing with everyone on this team. We have more personalities than colors in a rainbow, but we care for each other and are truly a cohesive unit. This makes us stand apart from the vast majority of other teams that we race against. This is truly awesome!
As Hunter stated this weekend said everything about this team and the group of individuals we have representing the Pirate Ship. We are a united front that will conquer anything thrown at us regardless of age or degree of difficulty of the battle at hand.
Looking forward to what our 2014 season and beyond brings to this great group. It looks like we will be having many special moments. Let’s continue to kick some arse!I'd like to make a special shout out to Rene and Sonya LaVergne for everything they do for central Arkansas junior cycling and also for housing some of our Pirates and making an incredible breakfast for us Sunday morning. Also to Little Rock cycling veteran and local hero Donnie Van Patter and his wonderful wife Tonya for giving up their home this past weekend to our teammates.
I'm looking forward to another fun race season with my fellow Pirates, and also for summer, summer time is good. Next on tap is Rouge Roubaix, March 9th outside of Baton Rouge, LA, which always proves to be the kind of suffer fest that makes all other races we do during the season a veritable walk in the park.
-JD
