John Murphy

May 2007 - Posts

• Edgar Soto Stage 4

  The final Stage of this glorious stage race ended with a 109 mile route that finishes on a 5km summit finish. That would make for an exciting race cause my yellow jersey was just a 19 ahead of 2nd place Neil Shirley(Jittery Joes). The Jittery boys and Menzies kept the race in check and let a safe break get up the road. The roads were really nice, always going up and down and twisting. I ran into a bit of trouble about 25 miles to the finish when my rear derailer cable snapped. Luckily SRAM Neutral support was there and I went back for a neutral bike. The mechanic was super helpful and got me set up right away. 57cm, ok. Speedplays, ok. Seatheight, ok. And just like that I was off. I got a draft from the car and within minutes back in the race. It was a bit of different setup, but that's expected. Anyhow, after about 12 bottles of water(thumbs up for neutral feeding and about 7 feed zones), we got to the bottom of the final climb with the break caught. Cesar(Jittery) attacked almost right away to soften the group. Shirley, Pipp and I were glued to his wheel. He attacked again and this time he rolled off the front of us. It was Shirley's job to drop me, so he then started throwing in the attacks. He would attack, Pipp and I would cover. He attacked, we covered. This happened maybe 10 times. I stayed on the wheel until there was only 6 of us left(Shirley, Pipp, Me, Henriksen, S. Stewart-vmg, and herbalife). Cesar still up the road. With 1km to go it would seem Shirley had given up on getting rid of me. But then Herbalife rider attacked and it was the acceleration I just couldn't follow. Shirley saw I was behind and just drilled it to the finish. Pipp stayed glued to him. They caught Cesar with about 200 meters to the line and Pipp took the stage win. I winded up 7th, losing 49 seconds and subsequently the race overall. Pipp slid into 2nd and I fell to 3rd on GC. Menzies took the Green(Sprint) Jersey with me in 3rd and Pipp in 5th in that comp. A solid weekend for the boys getting ready for Philly week. Just one place in the GC higher would have been nice for us, but we gave it all we had. Next week is the real deal and we are rolling. Can't wait. Posted May 31 2007, 09:06 AM by John Murphy

• Edgar Soto Stage 3 Crit

  The stage 3 crit was downtown Nashville on a nice 6 turn course. We started the 75 min crit quickly by Menzies and Cesar Grajales(Jittery Joes) lapping the field in the first 30 minutes. Once they got back in the peloton everything was pretty much shut down. Menzies took the sprint and also the green jersey just ahead of Cesar. I'm still leading the GC with Pipp in 4th and Menzies moved to 6th. Tomorrow's 109 mile day with a mountain top finish might shake things up a bit. Posted May 27 2007, 10:36 PM by John Murphy

• Edgar Soto Stage 2

  Stage 2 was a 107k Circuit race. The 6 laps of the 18k course was rolling, always up and down. A break of 11 got away by the second lap, with Frank Pipp and myself in there. We stayed away and put almost 4 minutes into the peloton. Frank set me up perfectly getting off the front over the last few kilometers with Edy Hilger(Juris). Neil Shirley(Jittery Joes) and Nick Reistad(Jelly Belly) were forced to chase. Hilger and Pipp were caught with about 500 meters to go and Pipp immediately jumped again to lead me out. I took the win ahead of Dirk Pohlman(Krystal) and Shirley. Hilger and Pipp rounded the top 5. I also took the GC lead as well as the points. The crit is next with a 109 mile RR on Monday. Posted May 27 2007, 09:55 AM by John Murphy

• Edgar Soto Stage 1 TT

  The first stage of the Edgar Soto Memorial was a 10.5k TT. I was the first of the pro 1/2 to start because of a late entry, so I had no one to chase. It wasn't a problem though and I was only beat by Trent Wilson by 4 seconds. I got 2nd with Menzies 5th and Frank I think 12th. It should be an exciting weekend ahead. Posted May 26 2007, 12:11 AM by John Murphy

• Tri-Peaks

  So after an extremely successful Joe Martin Stage race, the Health Net crew headed to Russellville, AR. We got the race started off on the first stage with Menzies and Pipp in the winning breakaway. The stage ended on Mt. Magazine which is a 12k climb or so. Menzies took second and Pipp followed a close 4th. Pretty damn solid for a mountain top finish huh! Stage 2 was a 100 mile journey with a 7k climb halfway through and lots of rollers all day. We took control on the climb and kept any breakaway attempts in check. We rode the front for the rest of the day and brought the race to a group sprint with Menzies taking another close 2nd. (On the front in the Crit) Stage 3 and 4 was the double day on Saturday with a 75 minute crit in the morning followed by a 9k TT in the late afternoon. We got through the crit with Pipp and Menzies both finishing inside the top 10. (Concentration) The TT in the afternoon was flat and simple. My TT bike finally saw some action for the first time this year and I guess the bike was excited cause it propelled me to my first NRC WIN EVER! I had a solid effort with a 10:26, riding an exact 50kph average. I took the win just in front of teammates Rory and Menzies. Menzies got enough time on the rest to step into the overall lead going into the final day.(Milne and me on Mt. Nebo) Stage 5 was a 115k's finishing on the tough Mt. Nebo climb. We knew we had to put pressure on Toyota to try and wear out there climber guys who were a threat to Menzies for the overall. In the end, Pipp(Superclimber) took 3rd on the stage, and came 4th overall GC. Menzies hang close to the leaders but fell to 6th overall for the GC. Posted May 22 2007, 11:12 AM by John Murphy

• Arkansas

  So we just finished Joe Martin Stage Race here in Fayetteville, AR. We took 3 stages and 1st and 5th in the overall, so it went pretty well. I'm feeling better and better coming back from the hip injury. We are here in Arkansas for the rest of the week starting Tri-Peaks stage race on Thursday. More climbing in this one I've heard. So we're off to ride to the next hotel and settle in there. I'll get some pictures up here eventually but the business of stage racing has taken over from my blog updating. Posted May 15 2007, 09:44 AM by John Murphy

• Back to Racing

  After 6 weeks of everything except riding my bike from my disastrous crash in Merced, CA, I began riding my bike again. I guess now I've been riding for almost 3 weeks, most of which has been just easy pedaling. After being sidelines for Twilight and Roswell, I took the frustration out on the pedals and it was actually pain free. I was able to get out those two days and really put in some good training. On Monday, I had my final check with the doc. The x-rays actually showed a second fracture on my pelvis that hadn't been seen before(Ah, that explains some pain!). Both fractures were ready to go and the doc gave me the greenlight to start racing. I decided to join my boys Frank Pipp and Kyle Gritters for the USA SE crit series.The first race in Beaufort, SC didn't go so hot. I was a bit freaked out about the sketchy course in the dark, so I decided to go from the gun. I covered attacks and attacked as much as possible in the first 15 minutes to try and get away and break the race up. Well that didn't work and I found myself gasping for air and going through the back of the field. I winded up getting lapped. They didn't pull me so once I got back with the group, I found my rythm and helped the boys out by covering moves. I tried to help Frank and Kyle move up the last couple laps and they finished 5th and 6th respectively. The next night in Walterboro I took a more relaxed approach. I started in the very back and work my way to the front after about 20 minutes. The race was in the dark again and the back stretch didn't have a bit of light. It was sketchy to say the least. My goal was to take a couple primes and then try and lead out to the last two corners. I succeeded and got a couple primes but I started the leadout early and faded before I got to the last corner. The finish is not what we hoped for but we got some primes so it wasn't a complete waste. In Greenwood I took an even more relaxed approach, only going for the midrace prime successfully. I stayed at the front at the end and between us we got 11th, 13th, and 14th. I seem to be getting stronger as the series goes on. I took today(Friday) off for the weekend in Alabama. Frank and Kyle went home so I'll be flying solo. I can only hope I continue to improve and can't wait to try again. Posted May 04 2007, 10:06 PM by John Murphy