"Off-season" Update

Now that the official road season has come to an end, we have started to turn our attention to other aspects of life that we have neglected a little by being on the road so much this season. For me that is family. My girls and I have a trick-or-treating date planned, and lots of playtime at the house. Along with this time of year, comes work around the house on those projects that you just never got around to. Mowing, yard work, and organizing the garage...again. However, after you take your traditional week or so off the bike, there still exists the urge to train and keep your body moving around. Luckily most of us can follow a less structured training plan for now with some fun stuff thrown in there for measure.

Most of the team has been playing around with the mountain bikes for a week or so now. We have all taking our share of tumbles, but we are pumped to be out riding in a different environment. There are some short-track races here in Charlotte coming up in Nov. that we plan to tackle to keep our competative bug at ease.

Several of our folks are also having fun with other pursuits as well. Our longtime friend and Regional Sales Manager for Trek/ Gary Fisher and Bontrager, Jeff "eat my dust" Haase took the Hincapie/Coca-Cola/Barkley Team's first cyclocross WIN. Jeff crused to a win out of a pretty deep field of racers in the MSCross masters race 2 weeks ago. Jeff started racing cross close to 15 years ago on an old Schwinn road bike and has been hooked ever since.

Bridgette McClean, our jr womens racer, has turned her Winter training focus to her High School Cross Country team. Bridgette's school won first place in their Conference Championships today at McAlpine Park in Charlotte. Bridgette had a great run, taking 3th herself with one of her best times.

I am sure that on your next group ride you are going to hear guys talking about core training - this, and gym workouts - that, but remember that the off-season is also a time to focus on family, health and home. At least for now...all those workouts will come sooner than later.

Thanks to all of our sponsors, supporters, training partners, friends and family for a great 2008 season. Adam

Interbike Goodies pt 1: New Goodies from SRAM

Rumor was that our friends and long time supporters of the team from SRAM had some new products to introduce for 2009...so we had to check out the buzz. Sure enough, we were pleased to see their new inovations for 2009 and you will be to.

New for 2009 is the SRAM line of wheels. The S40, S60 and S80 wheels are a combination of technology from SRAM and their partners at ZIPP. All three sets of wheels feature a deep carbon rim (40mm, 60mm, or 80mm hence the names) married with an aluminum clincher braking surface. The rims are laced with bladed aero sapim spokes to a ZIPP hub found on the current Flashpoint wheelsets with sealed bearings. Smart and stylish wheel graphics finish off the total package.

Our team has been fortunate to use the SRAM Force groupo for the 2008 season with great success. It was great to see that some of its features have trickled down to the 09' SRAM Rival Groupo. The new Rival hits the streets with a new black gloss finish on all components and carbon brake levers, mirroring the Force groupo.

Those hardcore freeriders out there will also be blow away with SRAM's new Truvativ Hammerschmidt crankset, which uses internal gearing to switch chainring gear ratios while using only one chainring...I know, I had to see it to beleive it too! Even got a chance to ride it. The 1:1 and 1:1.6 overdrive internal gearing give you the security of a single chainring and the shifting abilities of a double. Technology that will prove to revolutionize the ideas of shifting and gear ratios for the MTB crowd and beyond.

The Hincapie/Coca-Cola/Barkley Cycling Team is pleased to continue its partnership with SRAM as our official groupo provider for the 2009 race season. Check them out at http://www.sramnation.com/ and make the leap.

Team takes on the Dirt...and WINS!

We put up the road bikes for a weekend and whipped out the mountain bikes to get a little dirty at the 6 hour and 12 hour Tree Shaker Endurace Race in Rock Hill. Turns out, we had a blast, and did great on the trails. Deb won the solo 6hr race, while we took 2nd place in two 12hr races and 3rd in the 6hr mens duo. Everyone had a blast. Harkey got to take a little swim in the after drifting off course, jumping an eight foot bank and landing in the middle of the river. Blair and Shane had a clear lead of more than 30 minutes in the mens 6 hour duo event, but slipped to 3rd with only 2 laps to go after Blair breaking his chain and having to run several miles of the course.

On the same weekend, John tackled the Poor Mountain Hill Climb. This event was won by, and a record time set by our very own Scottie Weiss back in 2002. The Hill Climb is a mountain bike event with 4000 feet of climbing over 7 miles of dirt road/trail...super tough. Yeah, but not for John, who decided to make it even tougher by racing his road bike rather than a MTB. Other than a 28 cassette and a wider set of tires, he rode his bike stock. John won the "AnyBike" category and took 2nd OVERALL!

Results for the weekend:
*Fastest Lap - Darren Fuller
1st place - 6 Hour Women's Solo - Deb Elliot
1st place - Poor Mountain Hill Climb (AnyBike) - John Delong
2nd place - Poor Mountain Hill Climb Overall - John Delong
2nd place - 12 Hour Men's Trio (Harkey, Fuller, Harkey)
2nd place - 12 Hour Women's Trio (Lori, Lisa, Lauren)
3rd place - 6 Hour Men's Duo (Blair, Shane)

Marianne WINS NC State TT Championship, Bruce takes 2nd

Big congrats go out to our very own Marianne Holt for winning the North Carolina Womens Pro 1,2,3 Time Trial State Championship. A little history here...Marianne won the Masters National TT Championship in 2007 and wore the stars and stripes most of the year. She suffered an unfortunate crash in the Bristol Criterium one month prior to this year's National Championships and broke 2 ribs along with a punctured lung. While still attending Nationals to support her teammates, Marianne dreamed of the day she could get healed up and race again. After a short recovery, and some secret training (don't tell her doctor). Marianne's mounted a strong comeback, taking 2nd place in her first criterium back on the bike (Lexington Crit). The NC State TT was a great chance for her to demonstrate that she is still the fastest gal on the TT bike.

We have to also give a shout out to Bruce Humpries for taking 2nd place in the South Carolina State TT Championships. Bruce had a great ride...you need to check out the custom painted Hincapie/Coca-Cola/Barkley TT bike he used to pilot his journey. Great job Bruce.