Jul 8th, 10.  Blog: An insight into the life of a “full time” cyclist racing in American. Part 3:  Nature Valley and further afield. By Taylor Gunman.

When we last heard from Taylor Gunman and his Rubicon Orbea Kiwi teammates they were just settling in for the Nature Valley Grand Prix in Minnesota.  In this third update Taylor shares tales of  two tours, Nature Valley and Tour of Dairylands before the team finally completed their road trip back where they started, in Portland, Oregon.

Part 3: Nature Valley and further afield

Taylor Gunman

Rubicon Orbea on the way to Nature Valley Photo courtesy ©Pat Strong

After many more hours of driving we again arrived at another host family's house with the trailer full of bikes and an extra team member.  

Big Jase [Jason Allen] had just joined us after a successful run on the track down in San Jose.

To say the least the team was more than anxious to get involved and race.

Six stages in five days - a time trial, two criteriums and two road races. A little bit of everything sprinkled throughout this tour and with eight Kiwis in the men’s field it was good to hear more familiar voices.

A 9.6km time trial kicked off the tour with a sweet and nasty climb to finish it off.

Organisers had banned the use of time trial equipment so we were all folding our bodies in the most aerodynamic way possible.  Mike [Northey] and Roman [Van Uden] both posted strong times placing them 15th and 28th at the end of the day. For Roman he was in striking distance of the U23 jersey.

That evening we were back into it and racing a rather technical criterium circuit darting in around the building of St Paul's. With 140 riders stretched out on the course it made things incredibly exciting and of course created a few stunning crashes.  Unfortunately Roman and I got tangled up in a crash after Roman had his wheel taken out.

The pace was high and we had to survive in the safest part of the field, as far up front as possible. United Healthcare dominated the closing laps and respectfully took the win as they blew the field off their wheels. What an incredibly display of power.

No race today Photo courtesy ©Pat Strong

Tornado time

This ‘short’ three week road trip has brought on many new experiences for a lot of us.

Our first road race, which was set to split up the field and help establish the General Classification, was cancelled 25km into the stage due to a Tornado warning.

After much confusion and loss of control from the officials the field rode back into town.

It seemed ironic the race was cancelled due to a tornado warning when on our way home the wind dropped completely off as rider scuttled into team cars. We later learned we were 8km away from where the Tornado had touched down.

Mike and I had ridden in “the calm before the storm” which later on seemed rather scary to think about.

A cancelled road stage meant the field all had a nice rest day and fresh legs for the Uptown criterium.

From the line the pace was on on the route which had you finishing the stage almost where you started. Kelly Benefits had taken control and set the race alight.

The following race day failed to spilt the race apart. The next day also with no big climbs or dangerous cross winds as predicted, so another bunch finish. Mike worked the finish and place a respectable 8th for the stage.

With the race never having a chance to spilt apart and Rory Sutherland of United Healthcare 3sec off the tour lead and 3sec away from winning his 3rd Nature Valley GP, the Still Water Criterium was going to be a big day for all the riders.

The stage was dominated by a quick short sharp but very steep climb at 20%. To make the stage and climb more difficult was a narrow piece of road covered in screaming yelling fans, and we are competing for the front of the race with 140 other starters.

Organised chaos and carnage started within the first 50m of the race with the first crash of the day; however the boys all stayed near the front. Mike spent seven of the 20laps solo off the front and earned himself the most aggressive riders jersey while I was able to move up on the u23 jersey and amateur riders Jersey.

On the road to Dairyland

Pre race talks with other Kiwis. Photo courtesy ©Pat Strong

Surprise surprise after all the racing we were back on the road again the next day.

We were driving another 6 hours to Kenosha where we would be based for the next week as we compete in the Tour of Dairyland which is mainly made up of street criterium races.

By now the team has raced 13 days out of 17 days, each day not spent racing was spent driving.

We kicked off Dairyland racing, on the following Tuesday after a day’s rest and drive, with a bang.

‘Fresh’ from nature Valley the team attacked the race head on, winning premes and Mike winning the race. A great start to what would be another successful tour for the team.

The boys' aggressive racing style and great teamwork meant we either hardly missed the break and were able to set up a yellow train that would rival any other team's.

Downers Criterium was the most memorable race of the tour for us as there was a “Super Preme” part way through the race which had $5000 on the line awarded only to the winner.

Every racing man in the 120 rider field there was hoping for that $5000 preme and with over 3000 people watching the race around the entire course it created an amazing race with the greatest atmosphere to match.

Dairylands was a great tour however each day we were required to drive over 100miles to each race and then turn around and return home late at night. We have surely done our time in the saddle and the seats of the car.

To top it all off the following day the boys drove 36hrs straight through the day and night home to Portland. 8000miles later and 19 days of racing we have finally arrived back to our house tired and ready for some down time.

Thanks to the hosts

From the boys, Roman, Mike, Jason, Ben and myself we would like to thank all of the host house families that took us in and fed five hungry cyclists. Without these people opening up their homes for the team it would have made for an expensive trip.

There have been some amazing experiences and some stories which stay true to the cliché “what happens on tour stays on tour”, but we have really enjoyed the trip with people we have met, and exploring the countryside.

Although we have haven’t had a chance to sightsee we have visited nearly every town that stood in our way, like Waterloo the home of Trek bikes, and have travelled the countrysides that most tourist wouldn’t see.

Taylor Gunman

See also

• Part 2: On the road again
• Part 1: Insights from the Kiwis racing in America

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