Racing season is just beginning for riders in the US and for others south of the equator it is just passing mid season.  The blend of racers hitting their mid season peak and riders just coming out of winter base mile training brings everyone together for the 8 day, 10 stage, UCI 2.2 level race in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.  Teams from around the world will make this event very exciting. 

Josh Liberles of the team scored a small side job with Velonews to write a few stories and provide results about this event and our team. 

http://velonews.competitor.com/2010/02/news/gringo-diaries-vuelta-independencia-etapa-dos-a-b_106052

http://velonews.competitor.com/2010/02/news/gringo-diaries-vuelta-independencia-etapa-4_106283

http://velonews.competitor.com/2010/03/news/gringo-diaries-from-chaotic-to-full-on-s-show_106695

http://velonews.competitor.com/2010/03/news/gringo-diaries-its-a-wrap-but-on-to-stage-11_106947

The Ten Speed Drive / BH Bicycles team was a hit from stage one with the press.  Not one, but two  interviews on national TV about the trip down from the US and the teams mission “Go Green and kick the CO2 habit”. We explained more about getting out and ride your bike. This seemed to be an exciting topic for the press. With the language barrier, we had a couple riders that spoke Spanish and made it easier during the interviews.  I think this female reporter seemed very interested in Jaime.

Josh coming from the snow of Portland Oregon and Pavel coming from the cold of the Czech Repubic.  Well the 96 degree day on stage 3 did not sit well with them.  Food on the other hand is always difficult when traveling to another country.  Specially when a couple riders were Vegetarians.  I dont think the Vegetarian dish was a choice on the menu??  They must of found something.  They ate well and alot. They’re still alive.

Stage 7a became a tragedy for the team. In route to the race Josh had a local bus knock him down and run over his front wheel.  Then in stage 7b crashed and broke his steer tube. Pavel was in a later crash and broke his frame.  Two riders down. Not a good day.

Waiting for constant changes in start times, route changes, finish line location changes, etc.  This race was fun to attend, but would never met the standards of USA Cycling.  Reminds us alot of racing in Mexico.  Just paint a line on the road and go until they say stop.

A few of the riders come to Southern New Mexico for winter training in January.  Ruidoso has a climb well over 10,000ft, along with thin air and cold weather.  Good time to practice some climbing while the snow has retreated.  Three warm weather guys and one from up north. Guess who is smiling in this weather.

The new 2010 Ten Speed Drive Racing Jersey design.  Produced by Voler Team Apparel.  We have also resigned Profile Design, Bio Green Bottles, York Allergy Clinic and have added Look Carbon Keo 2 Pedals.

Ten Speed Drive Racing makes the leap to Sram for the 2010 racing season.  Our bikes will be fitted with a mix of 2010 Force and Red components.  We are very excited to use the double tap technology and some of the lightest components on the market.  Sram has proven their products to be durable under harsh racing conditions.  Our team races around the US, Mexico, Canada and sometimes into other demographic regions and Countries. We need strong conponents and Sram is what we want to use on our BH Bikes.  Join us and make the leap to SRAM.

TSDR is proud to announce another contract with BH USA for 2010.  BH is a Spanish Company that has been building frames for over 100 years in European market.  New to the United States, BH has been proving to us and many others, they are a leader in the carbon frame market for being light weight and having superb stiffness.  You can see the line of BH bikes at http://www.bhbikes-us.com/.

Garrett White travels to NRC races around the country and then back to Florida to regain his title as Florida Cup Race Season Champion.  He had missed a few of the races in Florida during the season while attending races against the Pros in California, Oregon, Idaho, Wisconsin, and New York.  In the last 2 races for the Florida Cup. Garrett was able to keep his finishes consistent in the top 3 places to regain the lead and finsh the season as Florida Cup Cycling Champion.

Congradulations.

With our team winding down the racing season and wanting to keep our current sponsors and find additional sponsors.  Las Vegas, Nevada is the place to be Sept 24, 2009.  This race is at night, hard to see the course, extremely fast, plenty of corners, and with many riders taking chances for the final crit of the season, it comes with plenty of crashes.  Here is a link to the youtube video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6NOyrtCHVg

In a crit that is on a Thursday night in Downtown Dallas, Texas.  This race is one of the newer events on the calendar.  It definitely has made a statement that it will rival the best one day events in the US.  Even with rain all day and a forcast for winds and more rain all night.  Tens of thousands of fans lined the streets to catch a glimpse of their favorite Pro / Am riders go by @ 30+ mph and then were able to look up into the skyline to see the huge Jumbo Trons lining the course.  To our amazement, even a Helicopter was flying above the buildings to catch all the action.  This entire night was to benefit the Childrens Medical Center.   Here is a photo of the 1st neutral lap that was for the passing of Chris Hipp.  The Tx Tough organization did a great job with this event and fund raiser.  The fans that attended in the weather made it that more exciting.  TSD is now off to race at the USA Crit Finals in Las Vegas Nevada, Sept 24, 2009.