Oh and by the by, on Cuba I have an old friend who's quite the mechanic and he's fixed up (sort of) an old school bus, said we could pick it up for the team to use it to get around during the racing season.
For a small price, of course. We can pick it up in the state it is now, or he was even prepared to make it a bit cosy for the boys. Of course, that'd be extra! But it could also be useful as a way to get our equipment around.
Just letting you know, it's a bargain so might be handy for our team and save some costs, those buses can be a lot of money, this one... not so much.
Max capacity: 22 ppl (23 icl driver)
Runs on: Gasoline
Building Date: 1973
Ian Butler wrote:
Oh and by the by, on Cuba I have an old friend who's quite the mechanic and he's fixed up (sort of) an old school bus, said we could pick it up for the team to use it to get around during the racing season.
For a small price, of course. We can pick it up in the state it is now, or he was even prepared to make it a bit cosy for the boys. Of course, that'd be extra! But it could also be useful as a way to get our equipment around.
Just letting you know, it's a bargain so might be handy for our team and save some costs, those buses can be a lot of money, this one... not so much.
Max capacity: 22 ppl (23 icl driver)
Runs on: Gasoline
Building Date: 1973
Interesting offer. Does the bus come with the mechanic (and a couple coworkers)? That was next up on my to do list, finding some "talented" roadside assistants.
The mechanic already has a job... But in Cuba. So for a small wage, he might get on board with the team. He's got one assistant, his 13-year old son. So he'd probably come along, too.
With the national championships right around the corner we needed roadside mechanics to keep our team going when problems arise. Thanks to a tip provided by Ian Butler we were able to add on to our team and get a team bus.
Ian Butler wrote:
Oh and by the by, on Cuba I have an old friend who's quite the mechanic and he's fixed up (sort of) an old school bus, said we could pick it up for the team to use it to get around during the racing season.
For a small price, of course. We can pick it up in the state it is now, or he was even prepared to make it a bit cosy for the boys. Of course, that'd be extra! But it could also be useful as a way to get our equipment around.
Just letting you know, it's a bargain so might be handy for our team and save some costs, those buses can be a lot of money, this one... not so much.
Max capacity: 22 ppl (23 icl driver)
Runs on: Gasoline
Building Date: 1973
While Bruno Matos, the mechanic, is accustomed to fixing cars instead of bikes, we gave him a trial run and he was good enough that we feel he can do the job. His 13-year old son, Mateo, will also be joining the team as a volunteer.
Mateo won't be allowed to help during a race, but will help his father with the prerace preparations and should be a nice learning experience for him.
One mechanic wasn't enough, so we put a flyer in the local newspaper and have also hired Sheldon Bailey. He also worked as car mechanic and joins us on a small wage because he was interested in traveling the world.
How much is this going to set us back? $600 for the team bus and $70 per month for Bruno and $50 per month for Bailey. Money well spent if you ask me.
Now, how are we splitting up for the national championships?
I'm staying in Jamaica with Bailey, team writer James McKnight is going to Cuba to be with Bruno and Mateo and team photographer Sarah Dominguez is going to Saint Lucia by herself to cover Henry Manuel's performance.
Busy, busy. I'm also looking into buying a team car, but for now we are lucky enough that the national championships are short lap criteriums.
Two days, six national championships on the line. We start in Jamaica.
The atmosphere wasn't as electric as our first ride, but the Jamaican National Championships still drew quite an enthusiastic crowd.
Six laps up and down the highest point on the island, Blue Mountain Peak. The riders tested each other for five laps before defending champion Oneil Samuels challenged the pack with an attack at the foothill of the final climb.
Samuels making his move on the last ascent. | Mresuperstar
There was some reaction, but Samuels started to distance himself. It looked like the winning move, but just when he thought he had it in the bag, another attack came from the peloton.
Samuels caught with 10kms to go. | Mresuperstar
The mystery man was Clevian Williams and he was on Samuels' back wheel in minutes. Samuels just shook his head when he saw him, he knew he was in trouble. Williams, sponsored by an amateur Australian team, finished 3rd in the 2015 Jamaica National Championships.
Williams stuns the crowd to take the national RR title. | Mresuperstar
Samuels, in his hay day, would have rode away from everybody, but not any more. He settles for 2nd, 38 seconds behind.
Wish this Williams guy had been training in his home nation and not Australia when I did my scouting, he looked quite strong today and earned a place on my scouting list for potential future signings.
Results - Jamaica RR NC
1
Clevian Williams
Jayco Cycling Club
2h04'05"
2
Oneil Samuels
Island Runners
+ 38"
3
Andre Jackson
Portland Cycling Club
+ 1'28"
4
Blake Ronda
Island Runners
s.t.
5
Denster Brown
Galiz Cycling Club
+ 3'02"
If there is any consolation prize, Samuels came back and dominated the time trail with defending champion Peter Thompson not taking part due to injury.
Samuels taking risks and getting rewarded. | Mresuperstar
So, Samuels will get to wear his newly designed national champion jersey next year. It just won't be in the stages he thought he would be wearing it in.
Results - Jamaica TT NC
1
Oneil Samuels
Island Runners
51'02"
2
Russell Small
Independent
+ 52"
3
Danzie Stewart
Galiz Cycling Club
+ 56"
4
Blake Ronda
Island Runners
+ 1'02"
5
Wayne Palmer
Blissettt Cycling
+ 1'11"
James McKnight and Sarah Dominguez will have their reports up from Cuba and Saint Lucia shortly when they can find stable wifi signals.
Caught Out in Cuba, Rollins Brothers Falter Under Pressure
HAVANA, Cuba - When your brother tells you to stay on your bike, you should probably listen.
In attempt to bring home a Cuban National Road Race Championship for the Island Runners, older brother Lyron Rollins was left to fend for himself as his younger brother Bastian sacrificed himself in a slit-second decision.
The action all happened with four kilometers left in the race around the capital of Havana as Emeterio Amory suffered a flat tire. Lyron didn't notice at first, Bastian did and quickly took action to save their team leader.
"I heard somebody screaming, I didn't realize it was Emeterio at first," Lyron said. "As soon as I did Bastian was already slowing down and getting ready to hand over his bike. I yelled back to him to stay on and I'd my bike over because I was exhausted already, but Bastian did what he thought was best."
That left Lyron trying to leading Amory back into the peloton in the final kilometers. And he did, they made it back just in time for the sprint to the finish.
Amory in full sprint making his way through the peloton while Lyron is completely exhausted after dragged him back into the race. | James McKnight
It was a valiant effort, but the flat tire clearly cost Amory the win. He rocketed his way to lead the peloton to the line, but there were still two late attackers that escaped up the road.
"I know Bastian had the better legs," Lyron said. "I think he could have brought Amory back to the field faster and given him a shot to track down the late attacks, but you live and you learn. That was a tough situation to be in, and I can't harp on him too much because he reacted to the flat faster than I did."
Results - Cuba RR NC
1
Felix Nodarse
Independent
2h19'26"
2
Leandro Marcos
Independent
s.t.
3
Emeterio Amory
Island Runners
+ 26"
4
Yariel De Leon
Independent
s.t.
5
Yordenis Crespo
Independent
s.t.
The time trial event didn't go much better. It's pretty clear that all three guys would rather tackle climbs then be put in a wind tunnel. Bastian was the best finisher taking 7th out of field of 19 cyclists. Not even worthy of a picture.
Face in the Crowd, Manuel Invisible at National Championships
Not sure if the stage was too big for him or if he just wasn't feeling good, but Henry Manuel was rather disappointing in front of his family and friends in Saint Lucia's National Championships.
The 16-year old stayed in the 12-rider peloton in the road race race event as he waited for the sprint, but it never came. The breakaway survived to the finish and he didn't even bother sprinting for 6th place - he coasted to the line for 11th.
In the time trial he looked more confident, but the stop watch didn't show it. Manuel stopped the clock over a minute and half behind the winner to finish 8th.
Tough to take pictures of a guy that doesn't make a bold move. Taking on water bottles from folks standing on the side of the road was probably the only cool photo I got and I accidentally deleted it. Sorry.
A definite dose of reality for the island runners here. We must remember these guys are young and up against grizzled amateurs they are going to struggle. Very nice that we had a decent run in the Jamiacan nationals.
Another month down. It wasn't the best month, but the team is still kicking and looking for ways to improve. Baby steps, people, baby steps.
Praise from Bolt
June started out on a high with local legend Usain Bolt stopping by the training facility to have some fun with the team and even gave us a donation of $5,000 to improve the program. He also got one of his main sponsors, Puma, to sponsor us.
Drink It In
After obtaining our CT License and schedule our first professional races later this year in September, Vincent Haly was caught having shots with under aged Emeterio Amory at a local bar.
Both faced a harder training session the next day which seemed like a harsh decision to the rest of the team, but I'm happy with decision. These guys have to know we mean business.
National Catastrophe
So, hopefully them getting embarrassed in the national championships can spark a fire in them. While veteran Oneil Samuels faltered in the Jamaican road race, he did salvage a time trial crown. But, in Cuba, we showcased a critical lack of awareness and let's not talk about what happened in Saint Lucia.
Spoiler
Item
Revenue
Expenses
Balance
Last Month Balance
$3,940
Bolt Donation
$5,000
$8,940
Puma Sponsorship
$2,500
$11,440
Infanta's Injury
$350
$11,090
CT License
$3,500
$7,590
Travel in September
$3,250
$4,340
Team Bus
$600
$3,740
Mechanics
$600
$3,140
NC Travel
$300
$2,840
Not much progress over this last month from what I can see. The next Grand Tour champion doesn't just happen over night, right?
The Cuban youngsters Bastian Rollins and Amory look to have bright futures, but who knows what underlying problems there might be that we just haven't spotted yet. Or, on the flip side, what cyclists have potential that we haven't discovered yet.
Samuels caught with 10kms to go. | Mresuperstar
Take that Sarah! I got some photography skills too...
Oneil Samuels | Second Monthly Award
Samuels just gets it. You never have to tell him to do something twice and he is always looking for ways to make the team better. Everyone can learn a lot from him. No one has proved to be on his level yet and he deservedly won the Jamaican TT title. Props to the veteran.
AbhishekLFC for providing us with an inspiration video that's been going around the office this month. Pick your prize, PM with your decision. Congrats!
Signed Autograph from a Cyclist
Raise the cyclist's reputation.
Skype Call from a Cyclist
Personal Q&A session with a cyclist.
Social Media Follow from the Team
Raises the team's popularity meter.
Besides kicking back and watching the Tour de France, more training... Yeahahahah. I've also got some interesting news on a potential new revenue source. But, that's more of a long term thing and is still a work in progress.
A month of ups and downs for the riders, but they should be better off with this experience. Perhaps winning first up might have made them complacent. Let's hope they stick to it.
And off course, there's always the video to get themselves motivated
Who knew one tweet could change the course of your week?
Minutes later the @UCI_cycling twitter account sent us this direct message:
Time to pack my bags, I'm going to France! I always wanted to the see the Tour de France in person. What an opportunity.
We will get to take in all the festivities, roam around with the organizers and get to test out the new ProForm Tour de France stationary bikes.
Problem is I can only take three cyclists with me. Who should go?
I decided the best way to do this was by allowing the members to nominate cyclists and then a random draw will select from those nominated. A cyclist's chance of going to France will increase the more times they are nominated.
Members can nominate up to two cyclists and must do so by PM.
The three cyclists chosen will be announced 24 hours from now.
Feel free to vouch for certain cyclists below if you so desire.
Great. My picks are Samuels and the youngest of the Rollings.
Samuels - seems the face of the team at the moment, the big mentor. Rollins is a bit subjective since he's from Cuba, where I'm founding member. But he's 14 and seems to have a bright (climbing) future, so it'd be nice to have him there at the Tour to see what's what.
I think we should be giving young riders a view of it to understand proper road racing, it'd be nice to show Charvis the rules and tactics of elite road racing, and maybe another young talent, Bastien Rollings sounds good, or Amory.
Samuels doesn't really need to be shown what the big stage is like compared to our youngsters, as it's likely too late for him to reach it.
I'd like to weigh in by saying that I think that Samuels should absolutely go to the Tour, exactly because he might never make it to the Tour as a professional cyclist, given his age. Also, he has the years behind him to represent the team the best.
I'd also like it if J J Pike went with him. It would be a (although rather exaggerated) reward for him winning the launch event. He hasn't really been rewarded since.
After getting the invitation to be honorary guest at the Tour de France, we had to decide on which three cyclists would be taking the trip with me.
Five cyclists were nominated and three were chosen at random. They are:
Bastian Rollins, Oneil Samuels and August Charvis
The four of us will get a behind the scenes look of Stage 16 of the TDF and the riders will get a mini training session in on the new ProForm Tour de France stationary bikes. So, all in all, a once in lifetime experience.
However, somebody needs to be in charge while we are away, so I think now is good time to start accepting applications for an Assistant Director of Operations.
Know of somebody who would be interested? Leave recommendations below.
I met a guy whilst holidaying in the Bahamas, we ended up going to the pub a few times. A little over-enthusiastic but had a lot of potential and ambition. Reminded me of the young mayor from Back to the Future. I knew he had a good heart and some potential in business. We stayed in touch and he's just become unemployed after the business where he was a head of department shut down. He's 24 and a bit of a cycling nerd. Naturally we got along well. I wonder if he'd be interested? He's ambitious and would have the right mentality to help you take the project forward well.
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant." [ICL] Santos-Euskadi | [PT] Xero Racing
I also propose something to the community: next time there's a chance at extra stats, maybe it'd be nice to make a few agreements?
For example: it'd be interesting to develop Zak Evelyn's sprint stat and potential. Or rather, his flat stat, which will hold him back in every race! So we should get on that asap!
Amory and his hill stat seems very promising, too, but given his age I suspect his back-up stats will be low, so we should know these so we know what we have to work on.
Bastian Rollins seems like our future climber/stage racer, so we should continue to develop him, too. We don't know much about him yet, either, so revealing some more stats would be helpful as well.
Ronda is only 14 but flat already at 69, so he can play a vital role in a future lead-out, might be wise to keep that open, too.
Those are just some observations from me. What do you think?
Saint Lucia by herself to cover Henry Manuel's performance. 
Sorry.
