With the season well underway, there’s little time to connect with riders and even less to think about what happened last weekend or even last month. But the guys at Team Kelly Benefit Strategies/Medifast have stepped up to take PEZ-Fans along as their season rolls out – through the eyes and words of a different rider each month, and to get us going we asked Jonny Sundt about his Tour of California.
- Reported by By Jonny Sundt, Kelly Benefit Strategies/Medifast-
It seems way too early to be looking back, recapping, or doing anything other than getting ready for the upcoming season. But it’s been a month since the ToC ended, and the crew here at Kelly Benefit Strategies/Medifast have been in the grind full time, some staying at the team house in Oxnard, CA; some bouncing from home to the California races, and back.
Some of the young guys are balancing school with the early season racing, and Martin Gilbert is still racing on the track over in Europe. But you wanted to hear about the Tour of California though, didn’t you?
Race reports are like origami, depending how you fold them up and present them they can be very pretty (ooh! a swan!) so I’ll just give you folks the plain piece of paper , and let you make what you want of it.
We all got sick……really sick. With the exception of Reid Mumford, who seems to be of an amazingly strong constitution, and that, coupled with copious amounts of Purell, and a refusal to shake anyone’s hand got him to the finish healthy. It was funny to watch the behavior of the entire peloton change as riders started dropping like flies in the first few days of the race. When we got to the race hotel for the start in Palo Alto it was all hugs and handshakes, two days later riders were treating each other like lepers.
The team are riding LeMond Triomphe framesets, SRAM gruppos, and Bontrager wheels, bars, stems and seatposts, and Selle Italia saddles.
As far as I can tell Astana is the only team that was 100% healthy for the entire race. I have a few good theories for this. They imported some crazy Kazak super virus, had their guys vaccinated, and enjoyed the carnage. Since they spent pretty much the entire race riding the front, nobody was able to breathe on them and get them sick. Their mechanic/bodyguard/handlers were so scary looking (I’m not kidding I’m talking ex-KGB or something) that even the flu is scared of them.
It’s hard to write about races that were disappointing on a personal level, and even harder to write about things that were disappointing for the whole team. I’ll try to be real, but still positive.
I am not whining I swear. I was very excited that our second-year team got invited to the biggest race in North America. It was a nice confirmation that we really did a great job at in the last half of the 07 season. I got all my new stuff, an annual second Christmas that, no matter how many years I ride as a professional, I will never tire of.
The list of great new gear would take my whole entry so here are a few highlights for me: Lemond improved on a great design, and gave my (and your) Triomphe a stiffer and slightly more raked-out fork, which makes the bike markedly better handling at race speeds. I know that sounds very bike geek-techy, but if you could use the descent off of Mt. Hamilton to test ride all the bikes you are considering buying next, you would know exactly what I am talking about. And the paint job is really cool.
• See the PEZ Review here.
Mt. Borah not only did an amazing job on our clothing once again, but took the time during last season, and this off-season to talk to the riders, and put the feedback to good use. The little details make a huge difference when you are spending all day on the bike.
Yes. SRAM’s RED group is that good, and no, you can’t test ride my bike around the parking lot, because if I let you I have to let everyone, and if our head wrench Jordan sees you riding my bike he will think you stole it, and most likely tackle you … but, you can touch it, just for a second.
I could go on all day here, but I’ll spare you.
I got the chance to ride with some of the guys from Amgen last week, and visit their headquarters in Thousand Oaks, CA. Matt, Jerry, and Bruce took the team out for a nice ride, and even bought us lunch at the cafeteria on the corporate campus. Calling it a cafeteria is bit of a stretch in my book. It was nice, and there was no surly lady in a hairnet shoveling slop onto our plates.
It was nice as well to be able to thank some of the folks from Amgen personally for their support of the race and cycling in America. I was amazed to find out that their cycling club is something like 900 riders strong, and nationwide.
Well, that’s about it for now. I have to go chase my sweetie around the house with the digital camera and see if I can talk her into posing in a KBS/Medifast jersey for the Daily Distractions... I need some PEZ socks!
Shiny side up, but if you really need to fall down, the left side is cheaper...
Jonny Sundt
Direct from the Team Website – here’s About Jonny
“A noted and respected team player, Jonathan "Jonny" Sundt has been called "a great lieutenant on the roads of North America" by the 2005 Tour de Georgia press. He raced the world cyclo-cross circuit in 1999 and 2000 and for the Broadmark Capital Elite Amateur Team from 2001-2002. Sundt has been with Jittery Joe's Pro Cycling Team for the past three years, taking 19th place in the US PRO Criterium Championships in Downer's Grove, Illinois (2005), 11th place in Stage 6 of the GP Cycliste Beauce, Quebec (2005) and 2nd place in the Sprinter Competition, Wachovia Classic in Trenton New Jersey (2004).”
• These guys have one of the cooler team sites I’ve seen, check 'em at KBSMedifast.com
• And see more LeMond bikes at LeMondBikes.com/
Roadside St. 14 When you start each new Giro you understand you’re a year older. You feel a stranger to the village approach and for a moment ... More....
Professional cycling has, over the years, attracted only a few documentary film makers. A few, such as Jorgen Leth’s “A Sunday in Hell,” have even ... More....
I’m just digging out from a few days at the BMC training camp, and while I won’t be reporting on doing Jaeger-bombs and Redbulls with Cadel & George, ... More....
As the final Madison got underway the arena was packed to the rafters, all the talk of Six Days in crisis forgotten for now. The finale was ... More....
Six Day racing comes to Berlin for the 99th time on Thursday, 28th January, 2010 with the great tradition of winter track racing in Germany in a ... More....
American Classic spent the last couple of years reworking their line up and the 420 Aeros are the latest to leave the bench. Take a look at the new ... More....
A couple years in the making, Pez head up to see arguably the top custom builder on the planet. We hit Serotta's NY shop, take a peek at their ... More....
You’ve still got today and all of tomorrow to ‘git ‘er done! Your holiday shopping that is… and armed with the complete set of 4 gift guides ... More....
If the stocking's not full - somebody's not doing their job. Good thing we're here to help with a big ol' bag full of the kind of stuff we'd love to ... More....
Winter riding is almost upon us - except for you lucky Aussies - and that means less riding outdoors. But with an indoor trainer and a Netflix ... More....
Many ergogenic aids, both legal and illegal, have been touted as the magic bullet that will improve cycling performance. What about something that ... More....
Having goals is one of the important first steps in achieving your dreams. They can be small goals or they can be big goals, but without them you’ll ... More....
Is cycling your religion, or at least one of them? If so, you’re not alone. Many people define themselves as “spiritual,” even if they don’t practice ... More....
Post-Giro Roadside: I love Scotland; but there’s no Gazzetta in the morning, most of the coffee tastes like John Wayne brewed it beside the ... More....
Sunday July 20th 1969; that’s 40 years ago now but I remember it clearly as the day that I first became aware of professional bicycle racing – I was ... More....
Roadside Recap: As we make our merry way through the rounds of the PEZ Looks Back, Ed is up for his retrospective on the Tour that was. As the ... More....
Coming on four years ago, Saul Raisin was one of THE big things in US pro cycling. Top 40 in a hard Tour de Suisse and mountain king at the Tour de ... More....
The last time we spoke to Garmin's Steve Cozza was after the 2008 Paris - Tours; where he produced another solid performance from a consistent and ... More....
Just about to start his second season with Cervélo - thanks to strong Classic rides and his first Grand Tour finish, in the Giro - Englishman, Dan ... More....
In October, nine-time Tour de France rider Frankie Andreu announced that he would be Director Sportif of the Ohio-based KENDA Pro Cycling p/b ... More....
With so many (too many?) others looking back to best-of-2009 or decade highlights, why not look ahead? A new decade beckons, after all, so who better ... More....
We first talked with Lostende Bike Tours owner and avid cyclist Allan Reeves about his Pyrenees Cycling Challenge, from the Atlantic to the ... More....
So, riding in Texas is mostly flat, with only tumbleweeds and armadillos to avoid right? Well, not exactly. You see, Austin is situated in what’s ... More....
Roadside St. 14 When you start each new Giro you understand you’re a year older. You feel a stranger to the village approach and for a moment ... More....
Professional cycling has, over the years, attracted only a few documentary film makers. A few, such as Jorgen Leth’s “A Sunday in Hell,” have even ... More....
I’m just digging out from a few days at the BMC training camp, and while I won’t be reporting on doing Jaeger-bombs and Redbulls with Cadel & George, ... More....
Race report: Alejandro Valverde stayed upright to seal his Vuelta victory – the first Grand Tour win of his career. On such a short stage, ... More....
Race Report: Today David Millar won his 5th stage in all his Vuelta’s, he was given one of the swords that Toledo is famous for along with the ... More....
The loss of Franco Ballerini is not one that will be forgotten anytime soon. The sport's best are at a loss and two of the greatest riders of our ... More....
Updated! Hallelujah, they're racing in Qatar, and I just got back from celebrating with every other New Orleanian on Bourbon Street. There's ... More....
It was a dark Sunday morning in Italy when the news services announced that Franco Ballerini, ex-professional, former dual Paris-Roubaix winner and ... More....
The maracas shake, 'Cara mia, mine !' blasts from the PA. Bang! The little cannon fires and the hall fills with smoke. Yes, this is the right place, ... More....
When the K-Mart Classic of West Virginia stormed through the state in the mid-90s, it opened awareness as to just how great the bike riding is in ... More....
After riding the final 17 sectors of Paris-Roubaix yesterday, and typing to you with still swollen, sore, and blistered hands, I understand to my ... More....
![](javascript:showpic("http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/photos/tech/amclass/amc420alarge.jpg",900,698);)
![](javascript:showpic("http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/photos/tech/serotta/meilarge.jpg",2000,1244);)
