(ed: And so begins a new feature in GamJams - You've Been Cooked. Matt Cooke raced locally as an amateur with Lateral Stress Velo and in 2006 was the Elite National Road Race Champion. For 2007 he landed a pro contract with Navigator's Insurance, and this year is racing for the Health Net Pro Cycling Team. He'll be contributing regularly to GamJams, beginning with updates throughout the week on the Tour de Georgia.
Questions for Matt? Ask away in the comments and he'll get back to you. But probably not until after his massage.)
You've Been Cooked: Tour de Georgia Stage 1
by Matt Cooke
Health Net Pro Cycling Team, presented by Maxxis
Hi folks,
Stage one ended just an hour ago and the internet connection here is terrible so i'm sending this out in this short window that it seems to be working.
It was only 77 miles so it was super fast all day. it was totally flat all day except for a few small bridges. I thought the crosswinds were going to be much worse but they really weren't bad at all. As a team we were just trying to be aggressive and to be in breaks, which we were. Everyone was active. I did a little solo move a few kilometers before the second sprint line on the road. I was hoping some others would have come with me.....but no one did. I got swallowed up just before the sprint.
Frank Pipp got in the one real move of the day. I wrecked a front wheel when I was handing out bottles and drifted the right just as a HighRoad guy was drifting to the left. His skewer hit my spokes and the wheel died. Once back in the bunch and after the break went up the road and the team car went across to it. I got a rear flat. Mavic gave me a spare but with no team car to take me back to the field I was on my own. I stayed on bumpers for what seems like way too long and did some push offs from side mirrors and front hoods but made my way back well before the finish. I know Ivan Dominguez won but otherwise I have no idea the results.
There was a lot of stress for such a short race but thats bike racing I guess. I'm getting a rub in an hour so that will be nice.
If you have a question ask me and I'll do my very best to answer it. Later...
Here are some pictures from the team presentation at the race:
Hi Matt,
Nice racing today. I watched it online and saw that move you were talking about. Was it you, or a teammate from Healthnet who did that really strong bridge up to the break?
Anyway, good luck the rest of the week, I'll be following.
Posted by: John P. | April 21, 2008 at 03:23 PM
Do guys do any blocking (like when you were up the road) or is that frowned upon at the elite levels?
Good to see the local boys doing well...keep it up.
Posted by: Jesse | April 21, 2008 at 05:27 PM
Matt,
It was nice to see your name out there in the press when you took a flyer. Keep up the good work! It's great to see a local MABRA rider causing some commotion. If you need an old wheel you know where to look :)
Good luck! Make us proud!
Posted by: Harry F | April 21, 2008 at 08:13 PM
ha, NOT ME who did that move. It was Frank Pipp and I want to see his power file for that effort. That's pretty cool you can watch it online. I didnt know you could.
And no, not too much blocking going on. It never really gets that slow. And blocking wouldn't work at this level b/c anyone who wants to chase will just do it, no amount of blocking will stop a motivated team to bring back a break.
Posted by: matt cooke | April 21, 2008 at 09:49 PM
Thanks for the diary, Matt. Expect things to get a little twitchier tomorrow? I imagine everyone's thinking of the race being decided barely after it was started, last year, and not being interested in letting many breaks get away.
Always cool to get details from inside the peloton. I'm heading down to follow things later this week, and will give you a wave.
Posted by: MB | April 21, 2008 at 09:57 PM
What wheel did you crack? Was it just a damage to spokes? Keep it up... good luck for the next stage whenever.
Posted by: Ron | April 22, 2008 at 01:25 PM
it was a Mavic Cosmic Carbone.
thats what we race on in the flat stages and then the R-Sys in the hilly stages.
btw, the Maxxis tires are very very nice. There so sticky so they corner great.
the wheel is trashed i wanted to get a pic but we had already given it to mavic who is at the race and does neutral support.
Posted by: matt | April 22, 2008 at 05:30 PM