another question that might sound stupid - is equipment needed that was built before that required date or bikes that are according to the rules of that specific date?
better sponsors than RedBull are hard to find for sports I guess
Name: Justin Reed
Sex: Male
Nationality (region): Oregon, USA (Originally from Los Angeles).
Date of Birth: 03/03/1995
Height: 6-foot-3 (190cms)
Weight: 185 pounds (84kgs)
Biography: Justin is a recent graduate from the University of Oregon. He was a member of the Oregon Ducks track and field team. He ran the hurdles (both 110-meters and 300-meters) and short sprints, most notably the 200 meters.
Justin came three spots short of making it to the USA Track and Field Olympic Trials in the 300-meter hurdles as he tried to pursue his lifelong dream of representing the United States in the Olympics.
With his spirits crushed on the track, he started to venture into triathlons. That's when he started training seriously with bikes.
Justin still considers himself more of a fast man, but has gradually built up his endurance over time. He has podium in a couple regional triathlons over the past year since being out of college.
Needing a new challenge, Justin wants to bring his athleticism to the UCL.
Weather Abilities: Prefers perfect conditions, but can cope with the rain.
Stats
Flat Riding: High
Climbing: Very low
Bike Handling: Low
Stamina: Medium
Acceleration: Very high
Sprint Speed: High
Recuperation: Low
Attacking Spirit: Medium
Repairs: Low
Off-Road: Low
Food Management: Very high
Name: Rylie Wilson
Sex: Female
Nationality (region): Oregon, USA (Originally from Denver, Colorado)
Date of Birth: 21/10/1994
Height: 5-foot-7 (170cms)
Weight: 125 pounds (57kgs)
Biography: The girlfriend of Justin Reed. Rylie was a long distance runner at the University of Oregon, setting school records in the one-mile and two-mile runs.
Many of her coaches say she could have made the United State Olympic Team for Rio in 2016 if it wasn't for a nagging calf injury that ultimately forced her to retire from the sport.
A couple years later and her legs aren't what they used to be, but she can still beat Justin in a mile run. Joining the UCL was Justin's idea and Rylie has never really raced bikes before. But, she is excited to see what she can do in a new sport.
Like most athlete couples, Rylie and Justin are very competitive. Always trying to outdo each other. So, in that sense, they don't have the healthiest of relationships.
Everything is a competition and they want to win. It pushes them to get better, but also brings out the worst in them. Rylie wants to beat Justin every chance she gets.
Their off-and-on relationship is toxic and they wouldn't have it any other way.
Weather Abilities: From Denver, feels comfortable in colder temperatures.
Stats:
Flat Riding: Low
Climbing: Low
Bike Handling: Very Low
Stamina: Very High
Acceleration: Low
Sprint Speed: Low
Recuperation: Very High
Attacking Spirit: Low
Repairs: Very Low
Off-Road: Low
Food Management: Very High
Awesome to have you, Mre!
Of course, both accepted and they'll like the first event, already up in the Game Thread
another question that might sound stupid - is equipment needed that was built before that required date or bikes that are according to the rules of that specific date?
There are no stupid questions.
Well, let's say there is a team that checks everything before a race. Bike and parts have to be prior a time, but can of course be new, to the norms of that time.
Or - in Waghlon's case, put together himself, but again to the norms of a specific era.
I'm not gonna be too technical with it because it's damn hard but go ahead and use it for storytelling or whatever, just assume that there's a jury that knows what it's doing
Will the riders be allowed to ride the Trek Madone in the races? Cool idea or a prize though. Overall the competitions look very nice, question is will Jan be able to afford to attend more the Czech - Slovakia? Let's hope so. Will make some posts once I have banners either way.
Name: Keigo Yoshigaki
Sex: Male
Nationality (region): Kyushu, Japan
Date of Birth: 14/04/1992
Height: 171 cm
Weight: 66 kg
Bio:
Keigo grew up in the small town of Gokase, Nishiusuki District, Miyazaki-prefecture on the Japanese island of Kyushu. His family was farmers growing "mountain vegetables" such as warabi, but also foraging in the wild and fishing masu salmon in the rivers.
From a young age Keigo started riding his, at the time primitive bike in the hill and mountains surrounding his home village.
At the age of 16 he started riding competitive under 熊本県サイクリング協会(Kumamoto Prefecture Cycling Association）high school cycling.
As an amateur he was not connected to a team, but was training hard in the mountains near his village, Kagamiyama, Gionyama, Kurakakeyama and later also the famous Mount Aso, a long climb of 16.4 km up to an altitude of 1254m, with an average grade of 4.4 %, Maximum: 20 %.
Over the coming years he got several good results in HSR九州サイクルロードレース (HSR Kyushu road race) and other regional races.
Finally he got a contract with continental [url=www.facebook.com/pg/Matrix.Powertag/about/?ref=page_internal] Team Matrix Powertag[/url] in 2014, and he will be representing the team in the new exiting Ultimate Cycling League
Weather Abilities: Best in medium to warm temperatures.
Stats:
Flat Riding: Medium
Climbing: Very High
Bike Handling: medium
Stamina: medium
Acceleration: medium
Sprint Speed: Low
Recuperation: High
Attacking Spirit: High
Repairs: medium
Off-Road: High
Food Management: medium
First entry deleted not to confuse anyoneEdited by Tamijo on 12-07-2017 21:39
Name: Allen Caldwell
Sex: Male
Nationality (Region): Kountze, Texas, USA (points if you can pronounce town name correctly)
DOB: 05/07/1986
Height: 6ft 3 inches
Weight: 185 lbs
Bio: Allen was born in the small east Texas town of Kountze, the son of a successful deer breeder. As a young boy, he would ride his bike the 10 miles to and from school each day, and many more miles all over the area. In high school, Allen was a promising young quarterback until a shoulder injury ended his career in that sport.
To stay in shape whilst attending the college, he started doing medium length triathlons. He was a fit strong guy, and was very successful. At the age of 23, Allen did his first iron-man triathlon and was hooked. He kept doing them, and became an "elite" racer in 2012.
His strength was always the bike section, but his weak running always let him down. His best result was 5th in a race in Utah in 2014. Frustrated with running, Allen sees this as an opportunity to try something different, and hopefully make some cash. He says baking from ironman sponsor specialized.
Weather: Is from the south and deals with the heat better than most, is not a fan of the cold but can push through it and still get decent results. His hometown has not seen snow in 10 years, is not a fan of it.
Stats:
Flat: Very high
Climbing: average
Bike Handling: average
Stamina: very high
acceleration: very low
spirnt speed: very low
recuperation: high
attacking spirit: low
repairs: high
off-road: low
food management: high
Name: Millie Currahan Sex: F Nationality (region): New Zealand (Otago) Date of Birth: 12/11/1995 Height: 172cm Weight: 57kg Biography: Millie was brought up in Wanaka and grew up there all her life, never too badly off but not one of the rich families in mansions on the hill or out by the ski fields. Her mother and father met through adventure racing and it wasn't hard for Millie to catch the fever before she started her schooling. Skiing, Swimming, biking, running, and it wouldn't be long until rafting joined the ranks. She was also a pretty good student, not always... on the best terms with her teachers but a consistently high achiever. She enjoyed the arts but sometimes not as much as she was occasionally told to.
By the time she was eight Millie was playing virtually any sport on offer down in Wanaka - and there's a lot! She was pretty good at them too, especially, with her parents' guidance, adventure sports. She really loved mountain biking and would do it every day, at least to and from school. She grew to love the feel of nothing but her, her beautiful Southern surroundings, and the bike, away from the world but the closest she's ever been to it. She was becoming quite good, and whisper it now or they'll go back into shock, better than most of the boys.
Millie was a nice but tough girl, quick-witted and really spoke her mind even if it wasn't the time - not really one to pick her battles. She wasn't a huge fan of the constant grudges and drama at school despite her friends sometimes getting dragged in.
Her other great talent was cooking and starting with helping out to preparing meals by herself Millie was onto it and would read up on tips and especially nutritional info. Her great hobbies seemed so separate and that was good. But it became amazing when she started reading up on sports nutrition at age 12 when she was wondering what she might, more realistically, want to do with her life.
"Look, Dad, it's biking.... and cooking!" she smiled to her father once she'd read the section. But it wasn't about her beloved mountain biking, it was about road cycling, which Millie was a bit uncertain about. It's what the weird men in tight shorts did around town on their admittedly pretty cool looking bikes. But she was so intrigued by it that she decided to give it a shot and turned on this big cycling race, the Tour de France, later that night. She was enthralled by the epic mountain slogs, the pure courage and strength of the riders and their tactical battles. It was a different beast entirely and she... wanted to know more. So she got reading, but in particular, got watching. It was all so close together in the GC race and the attacks, the breakaways, the solos, the daring moves all never failed to capture her imagination. She loved it.
Not long after she had a road bike as well and was out for rides, first short and on the flat but coming from Wanaka there's not much of that around, so naturally she had to adjust and become quite the climber. Her mum and Dad both had old road bikes that they'd put aside for their adventure racing but they got them out again and fixed up to be wth their daughter and help her with her passion, just as they had for cooking and other sports. She got better and better and the rides longer and longer until she was doing over 60, 70, 80, 90km consistently. In a couple of years, 100-120 was a good day's work nd impressive but no great feat. And the years went on and she got stronger and did adventure races, the coast to coast, etc. but she never really considered it a career choice. She was the best local female rider in school series and such but never considered its meaning.
She went to university wanting to take Human Nutrition and Sports Science. She decided on Sport and Exercise Nutrition to meet in the middle. Having graduated she wasn't sure what to do - her local restaurant job was nice but not really enough for her. Luckily for her, she did really well in some local mountain bike and road bike races having never given up her true passion, and with her climbing, her stamina but most importantly, her background in nutrition and sports science.
Cycling NZ approached her after the U23 Women's NC, where she was third with little prep. they had an offer to good to refuse - NZ wanted a participant in this new thing, the UCL, which sounded right up Millie's alley. They offered partial sponsorship for travel though she would covr her own race costs, gear etc., for now at least. Three briefs conversations as all she needed, one with Cycling NZ, one with her ever-supportive parents, and one phone call to the organisers of Trekking the States to register her intent. And she's got plenty of it.
A handy climber with great stamina for her age and build, a decent kick, great bike skills, food management and above all fighting spirit, she won't be a favourite early on in the UCL but she's keen to learn and even keener to kick some ass.
Weather Abilities: Wanaka gets all kind of weather good or bad so even if in the European extremes of bad weather she may need a little adjusting, Millie is pretty safe on this front, no real speciality.
Stats:
Flat Riding: medium
Climbing: high
Bike Handling: very high
Stamina: very high
Acceleration: very high
Sprint Speed: medium
Recuperation: high
Attacking Spirit: very high
Repairs: medium
Off-Road: high
Food Management: very high
Edited by jandal7 on 14-07-2017 07:39
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
jandal: good, same last name as Mre's rider, though, intentional?
Nope Can think of a new one I guess Edited by jandal7 on 13-07-2017 06:31
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
Take your time. We won't be starting for at least a week.
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
trekbmc wrote:
Will the riders be allowed to ride the Trek Madone in the races? Cool idea or a prize though. Overall the competitions look very nice, question is will Jan be able to afford to attend more the Czech - Slovakia? Let's hope so. Will make some posts once I have banners either way.
Nope Trek Madone will be useless in the Ultimate Cycling League
But indeed, both single-stage races are not very lucrative to race so for some people it might not even be worth purchasing a plane ticket if they can't afford it
The USA race gives a fair wage so should alow everyone to make some money at least!
Croatia14 wrote:
all credits for the great banner go to kiserlovski01 by the way, some fantastic work there!
Will have to catch up on the Game Thread later today, but nice to see some activity already. And that banner is gorgeous indeed!
AbhishekLFC wrote:
When does this start? Because I'd like to join. Not getting time to write the rider bio...
No hurry. Will leave plenty of time for people to sign-up. And even if you miss the initial start-up, you can always enter in between races!
Shonak wrote:
You never know with Ian, he could end up feeling inspired and write the entire USA race in one sitting
that's always a possibility, but a small one
Tamijo, Reveille: Okay, good riders, thanks
jandal: okay better change it to avoid confusion. Else it's good.
Already 2 great Game Thread posts
Two perfect stories already going around in the UCL:
A young Icelandic guy going on this adventure, some sort of pioneer for the new sport
An older, hard working fella, crazy about old bikes, going to test his bike in this new competition. Nu mudboards, though
Great!
We have 8 riders already, hoping for at least double that before we start the first race
Name: Faytinga Amanakzhigraib Sex: M Nationality (region): Eritrean Date of Birth: 5/7/1990 Height: 181cm Weight: 70kg Biography: Born in Asmara but spent his early years out in the coastal city of Massawa, Faytinga's mother was killed in the Ethiopan-Eritrean war when he was 9, leaving his older sister to take care of Faytinga and his younger sister. Luckily for them whilst his father was fighting they got by via not being pretty well off. Even luckier was that a year later their father returned, a possibly even more so now loving dad all the same but a bit broken from the death of Faytinga's mother. It was time for a move away from their childhood home out to Barentu, nearer inland towards Ethiopia. It was there, during the post-war, rebuild, Faytinga got really into his... football.
He was developing into quite a good young player and enjoying life in Barentu but he wasn't quite sure what to do with himself since football was still more of a hobby. His older sister was lucky enough to be doing a science degree back in Asmara but Faytinga couldn't see himself there - he wasn't stupid but he wasn't the hardest academic worker and was a bit of a goof in class. When he was 15 he decided to really just wing it with regard to his career.
Faytinga also joined a local mountain biking club and instantly took to the dirt tracks and long rides up towards the Highlands and mountains. eventually into Ethiopia and higher mountains. Faytinga was good there, the best, but later on in Europe was great but not top. He excelled alone or in a group and let the spirit of adventure claim him. eventually, as he got better he got notice and entered local races, winning most of them.
Cycling is a pretty popular sport in Eritrea and when he eventually did go to university in Asmara he got a road bike, which he actually found he preferred to his MTB, thought he still keeps the latter with him today. He entered many races in the city and to his surprise he was still winning. His meteoric rise internationally began when managed to get an entry into the Tour of Eritrea at age 20 and finished third, and started to consider cycling as at least a part-time career. After going on to win the Tour of Eritrea once the next year he started to be entered into overseas races for the national team including the Tour d l'Avenir, where he won a breakaway stage in the hills at age 22 and came 3rd in the KoM, and the World Championships in Valkenburg where he was 8th. After that he won the African Championships road race with a solo break and was signed to a pro continental (soon the be WT) team in Europe.
Faytinga got some good results and minor wins in his first three of years, as well as rides in the Tour and Vuelta as a domestique and another solo win in a Paris-Nice stage and a GC podium the next year after some epic time gains. He loved the hills and mountains but his off-road background and slightly heavier build than pure climbers lent itself well to the cobbles where he was also utilised in breaks and as a workhorse who could go the distance. By the end of his second season, he was a popular rider at home and also on his team and in Europe for his happy nature and good humour. But he missed the adventure of those long, desolate rides in the jaw-dropping highlands.
His next season in 2016 had the most brilliant moments including a nice set of breaks in stage races, one-day classics and the TDF but an overall dip in consistency. His longing for adventure was showing through and although he was more popular than ever and picked up a few days in polka at Le Tour as well as a stage win in a transition day to Gap. After that win, his finger was hovering over a contract extension but in the end he said no, and went to the new African World team, sponsored by Qhubeka, a charity with which he'd worked extensively, hoping for some revitalisation. He wa s a standout in the world champs hanging on for longer than expected for a top 15 and also picked up a brace of wins and the KoM in the Tour de Pologne
He did well in some early season classics but then an opportunity arose in a meeting with Qhubeka leaders - the opportunity Faytinga had been waiting for. This cool news series, the UCL. To translate his popularity in Europe and Africa into this new series, do well, chase his dreams and above all represent the fantastic Qhubeka charity and ideals.
Weather Abilities: Can ride in the burning heat all day and seems to be immune to arid or humid climates having moved between inland and the coast throughout his life. Has toughened up to the cold a bit in his European racing years but still no Nordic Iceman and on long subzero days can collapse.
Stats:
Flat Riding: high
Climbing: high
Bike Handling: high
Stamina: very high
Acceleration: medium
Sprint Speed: medium
Recuperation: high
Attacking Spirit: high
Repairs: high
Off-Road: very high
Food Management: very high - experienced and resourceful as he found lots of berries, etc. throughout his rides back home and can be a bit of a charmer if a local or fan has some muesli bars he may need
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
Overall the competitions look very nice, question is will Jan be able to afford to attend more the Czech - Slovakia? Let's hope so. 
Can think of a new one I guess 
