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Chad Cole story
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| matt493 |
Posted on 19-04-2008 23:12
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Classics Specialist
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Well I have to decided to make s story about the life of one cyclist and his dream of being the best. I don't want any body telling me to change something but I don't mid criticism. I am an English speaker but I'm still an idiot so please don't comment on spelling errors because there will probably be a lot. Expect updates every Sunday whenever I get around to it. The only time you want here from me that week is if there is something really important. Also don't comment saying I should up the difficulty. I will make it more difficult when I feel like it. And last if you think mine absolutely sucks then there is a better one at this link here.
https://www.pcmdaily.com/forum/viewthr...post_93971
If you have questions I don't mind you asking and if you want to send me money then you can do that too.
This will be a little different than Bobh's story which is based on a team manager. My story is about one cyclist. And yes he is American.
Prepare for the first part of the story tomorrow.
One more thing. If you won't to tell me something that you don't like about it and it can be anything as long as it is a criticism not "this sucks coment", then PM me.
And one more thing again. If I feel like I'm way behind I might psot them at any given time so check to see if it has been updated.
Thanks.
Edited by matt493 on 20-04-2008 20:10
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| billsanchez |
Posted on 20-04-2008 00:34
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Looks very good. |
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| rodda |
Posted on 20-04-2008 03:37
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3 stories now  good luck anyway
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| samiam |
Posted on 20-04-2008 13:09
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Look forward to reading more about this. |
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 23-12-2024 11:23
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| matt493 |
Posted on 20-04-2008 13:13
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Classics Specialist
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rodda wrote:
3 stories now good luck anyway
It will be hard but I know I can still do it. They each are done a little bit differently though.
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| matt493 |
Posted on 20-04-2008 14:30
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Classics Specialist
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Chad Cole Story
I’ve been cycling since I was 10. It was around 12 years ago. I got a new bike the year before but never rode it. That birthday me and my parents had a fight. I was so mad that I stormed out of the house got on my bike and rode away. My parents followed me in the car to stop me from getting too far away. There was a large hill on my street and my parents stopped at the bottom of the hill assuming that I wouldn’t make it up. Not only did I make it up the hill but I was able to descend faster then the car. It was that day that I figured out that I had a knack for cycling. I signed up for a junior team and practiced on the same streets as Lance Armstrong. I never thought that I would amount to anything.
Well it was my 21st birthday and it was around 9 o’ clock at night, we had finished my party and I wanted to tune up for a race I had the next day. I was descending down a hill when I saw a car behind me. I made a couple turns and he was still following. I started a full out sprint for my house there was a hill I had to go over to get to my house. I was all adrenalin so I didn’t realize how fast I was going. When I got in my house I ran inside and hid upstairs. My heart was pounding and I was so scared. I heard the doorbell and ran downstairs to stop my dad from getting it. I was still coming down the stairs when he stepped outside and started talking to the guy. He walked back in and said to me “Chad, I would like you to meet Mr. Van Haute, he is the manger of the Jelly Belly Cycling team. He wants to talk to you.”
After a long sit down with Mr. Van Haute he told me to meet him at the Starbucks the next day. We talked about a chance for me to ride for the team. He wasn’t offering much money but I wasn’t looking for money. I wanted to race against the best and maybe one day be the best. After about two weeks of negotiating. I signed a contract with the junior team. I was 21 years old and already years behind some riders. I raced for about year and a half until I got a call on December 27th. Everyone was enjoying the snow on the week off. I picked up the phone and it was Mr. Van Haute. I at first thought that he was calling me to release me from the team but to my surprise he was offering me a contract to the Continental team. Within 24 hours I had already signed a contract and met all the riders on the team. I was ready to race for the team by January 1st.
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| matt493 |
Posted on 20-04-2008 15:12
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la tropicale amissa bongo stage 1
It was my first ever race. I was extremely nervous. I had a sit down with the manager and we talked about strategy. The plan was that if a break got to far ahead that I was to real them back in so I could set up a sprint finish for Brad (Huff). My legs were shaking I was so nervous. There was some real talent in this race including one of the best sprinters Allan Davis. Thomas Voeckler I knew was going to be a prerace favorite so we had to watch out for him. Early in the race there were no breaks so I spent a lot of the time having quick chit-chats with some of the riders in the peloton.
I had a quick chat with a Telecom rider.
After a while a break had gained enough time that it was time for me to start working. The manager came over the ear piece and told me to get to the front and pick up the tempo. I pushed myself as hard as I could go.
I stayed up front and raced after the break.
After a long day I needed a drink.
After a quick drink two Bouygues Télécom riders started to break from the peloton. I was still up front so I attached myself right on the back of there wheel and made sure I never left that spot. I kept right on them for what seemed like forever. When I looked back everyone else was gone. Only Sandy Casar was behind me. The four of us kept up the pressure as I tried to go for a stage win. Unfortunately my legs gave out and the Bouygues Télécom riders, who were Thomas Voeckler and Pierrick Fédrigo, broke away leaving Me and Casar by ourselves. With about 2 kilometers to go the manager came over my ear piece to tell me that we had about 2 minutes on the peloton. With about 1 kilometers left I looked back to see if I could see the peloton. When I turned back around Casar was 10 meters in front of me. I tried to catch up to him but he was too quick.
I crossed the line in 4th place.
I took 4th but just missed out of a podium spot. I ran into the team bus and cooled off after a long and hard day. I knew it was unlikely for me to win it but I tried to stay optimistic.
Later that day my local newspaper the News & Observer’s John Samuel had a quick interview with me. It was my first interview of my whole career and I didn’t think I could possibly be more nervous.
JS: How do you feel today?
CC: I was really nervous coming in today especially with the talent in the race and the difficulty of today’s stage.
JS: This is your first televised race. How do you do things differently with this race holding more importance then your previous race?
CC: I try not to do anything differently. I know that I’m not the star of the team and have to be one of the helpers for Brad (Huff), our sprinter. I need to stay relaxed and not try to do anything special. This is the first race of the season and my career and it is easy to think ahead but right now I would rather only look ahead to tomorrow.
JS: In your 1st race you get 4th place. What are your plans tomorrow?
CC: It is a flat stage and with my high rankings it will be almost impossible to get away from the peloton so I will probably sit back and help out huff so he can go for the sprint win. Of course I want to win but you have to be realistic and I know that the rest of the races are flat so it isn’t my race to win.
JS: Let’s look ahead to the season. What are some of the races you want to participate in?
CC: I’m taking it one race at a time but I don’t particularly care which races I go to but I would like to go to the American races so I can stay close to my hometown in North Carolina. I think racing in America would be a great moral booster for me.
JS: What do you think of your manager and his style of teaching.
CC: Well I think that Mr. Van Haute is a great manager and I have learned so much from him already. He is a great friend but he is also very professional.
JS: What kind of training system do you have at the moment.
CC: Well right now I’m working 1 on 1 with my trainer, Greg Lemond, one of the best racers of all time. I have already learned so much from him and I hope one day I can be a great stage racer too.
JS: Well thanks for the interview and I hope I can talk to you later.
CC: Your welcome and it’s been fun talking with you.
1 Thomas Voeckler Bouygues Télécom 3h49'23
2 Pierrick Fédrigo Bouygues Télécom s.t.
3 Sandy Casar Française des Jeux + 50
4 Chad Cole Jelly Belly Cycling Team s.t.
5 Cyril Gautier Bretagne - Armor Lux + 2'18
6 Malcolm Lange Team MTN s.t.
7 Janek Tombak Mitsubishi - Jartazi - Protech s.t.
8 Yann Pivois Bretagne - Armor Lux s.t.
9 Nicolas Inaudi Differdange - Apiflo Vacances s.t.
10 Geert Omloop Mitsubishi - Jartazi - Protech s.t.
Edited by matt493 on 20-04-2008 15:13
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 20-04-2008 15:16
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Team Manager
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What stats does Cole have?
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| matt493 |
Posted on 20-04-2008 15:32
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Classics Specialist
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| matt493 |
Posted on 20-04-2008 20:02
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la tropicale amissa bongo stage 2
As I prepared for the race with the team manager we talked about several different strategies but we agreed that for now I should just manage the breaks and not worry about going for the win. Due to my impressive riding yesterday, I picked up the Blue Jersey which signifies the best young rider.
I was happy to be wearing the Blue Jersey
A break got away early but no one was a threat so there was no rush, but when I started coming up to the front to pull the break back in, a large group of The LeTua Cycling Team was pulling them back in for what ever reason. There was only one more hill to go over and I dropped back to get the waters for the team and for myself.
It was a hard day and I made sure I didn't dehydrate.
Just as I finished drinking my drink I heard over my earpiece Mr. Van Haute telling me “GO GO GO GO! Attack!” I quickly kicked up the speed and rocketed off the front. A few riders tried to chase me down including Voeckler.
I attacked and gave 110 %.
Just under the 1 kilometer to go banner, I was wearing down but I pushed and pushed until my legs couldn’t handle it anymore. I knew the peloton was behind me but I was too scared to even look back as it cost me third place the day before. I sprinted with all my might.
Going under the 1 kilometer to go banner, I was shaking.
I took the win and celebrated my first career victory.
I took the win and celebrated as I cross the line. I tried to show no emotion but inside I was feeling relieve, pain, and happiness all at the same time.
Now that I had taken the win, I waited to see if it was enough to take the overall win. I looked at the clock to see how far the peloton had finished behind. My smile quickly faded as I realized that there wasn’t enough time to make up the gap. I would stay 23 seconds behind and I was so worn out from two days of extremely fast pace racing that I doubted my chances to take the leaders jersey but I had no choice but to feel optimistic of the future and proud of my win.
John Samuel came up to me again but today I decided no Interview just a quick comment. I said “This was a great win for Jelly Belly Cycling and I hope that we can get results like this in the future.”
I waited around only for the jersey and the kisses from the cute podium girls. I had taken two jerseys today the best young rider and the most aggressive rider but I decided that instead I would wear the Blue Jersey of the Best young rider.
1 Chad Cole Jelly Belly Cycling Team 1h55'02
2 Thomas Voeckler Bouygues Télécom + 43
3 Fredrik Johansson Differdange - Apiflo Vacances + 1'14
4 Sandy Casar Française des Jeux s.t.
5 René Obst Team 3C Gruppe s.t.
6 Anthony Geslin Bouygues Télécom s.t.
7 Lilian Jégou Française des Jeux s.t.
8 Pierrick Fédrigo Bouygues Télécom s.t.
9 Nicolas Inaudi Differdange - Apiflo Vacances s.t.
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| matt493 |
Posted on 20-04-2008 20:12
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Classics Specialist
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(If i can get the polls to work) then I will start asking questions like Should he FOR EXAMPLE go to Paris- Nice, Tirreno Adriatico or stay home. That is just an example. But right now I put up the first poll. Its not about the story but please vote.
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| matt493 |
Posted on 20-04-2008 20:23
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Classics Specialist
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Right now since it is the beginning and I won't things to get worked out what kind of changes do you want. Feel free to write what you want.
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 20-04-2008 20:28
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It just seems a bit too easy, its not particularly realistic for a neo-pro to easily beat the likes of Voeckler, Casar etc etc
Itd be more interesting imo if you had started off with weaker stats (and only 1 speciality, not being good at everything bar cobbles), so that he does start off as a domestique unable to get results but then grows into an awesome rider.
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| matt493 |
Posted on 20-04-2008 20:31
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Yeah after I finished this stage race ,which was real unrealistic I lowered all of his stats. So for the first few races expect maybe some weird things happening. I'm trying to find that place between boring because you win everything and boring because you lose everything.
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| SportingNonsense |
Posted on 20-04-2008 20:33
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Well if you had him at level 1 xp and 8 potential, it means he would grow, and to avoid being boring for losing everything, you dont have to report every stage, you could just do a monthly report or just report a whole race in 1 post, for say, the first season, and go into more detail once he is no longer unable to get decent results.
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| Crommy |
Posted on 20-04-2008 20:34
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World Champion
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SportingNonsense wrote:
Well if you had him at level 1 xp and 8 potential, it means he would grow, and to avoid being boring for losing everything, you dont have to report every stage, you could just do a monthly report or just report a whole race in 1 post, for say, the first season, and go into more detail once he is no longer unable to get decent results.
Agreed. The best story about 1 rider has to be the story by Sun Made about Saul Raisin. If anyone can find a link for it, there is a lot for all story makers to learn from it, but it'll help you see how a rider should develop in order to make a very successful story 
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| matt493 |
Posted on 20-04-2008 20:35
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Well there is a long stretch where I wont be able to race any races because of the glitch where I can't go into the calender for 3 months. So i put all these stages up because they might be the only race I will be able to race in for a while. But overall I agree with you completely.
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| matt493 |
Posted on 20-04-2008 20:36
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Classics Specialist
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Crommy wrote:
SportingNonsense wrote:
Well if you had him at level 1 xp and 8 potential, it means he would grow, and to avoid being boring for losing everything, you dont have to report every stage, you could just do a monthly report or just report a whole race in 1 post, for say, the first season, and go into more detail once he is no longer unable to get decent results.
Agreed. The best story about 1 rider has to be the story by Sun Made about Saul Raisin. If anyone can find a link for it, there is a lot for all story makers to learn from it, but it'll help you see how a rider should develop in order to make a very successful story
Thanks this is my first story like this so I need all the help I can get.
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| matt493 |
Posted on 20-04-2008 20:41
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These are the new stats. How should they be changed.
Edited by matt493 on 20-04-2008 20:42
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| matt493 |
Posted on 20-04-2008 21:24
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Classics Specialist
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Are those stats about right?
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