Lea Earns Weekend Wins On The Track And Road
0 Comments Published by Unknown on Tuesday, August 14, 2007 at 12:01 PM.
Bobby Lea scored a pair of impressive wins for the Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team over the weekend, one on his Fuji track bike, the other on his Fuji road bike.
And both came after a week of training on neither bicycle.
“Basically, I was off my road bike for two weeks,” Lea explained. “I thought I was having circulation issues in my legs so I went to see my surgeon. But now that I’ve got a clean bill of health, I’m looking forward to training hard and see what I come up with.”
What Lea came up with Friday and Sunday amounted to Toyota-United’s 31st and 32nd wins of the season and upped Lea’s victory total to four for the 2007 season. Earlier this season, he was out for more than eight weeks after undergoing surgery to repair arteries in his legs.
“Sometimes something as simple as throwing your leg over a different top tube will freshen things up a bit,” Lea said.
On Friday night, he teamed with Colby Pearce to win the 25 km Madison during the KNBT Festival of Speed at the newly-christened Valley Preferred Cycling Center in Breinigsville, Penn. Then on Sunday, he soloed to victory in a 25-mile criterium in the final stage of the Tour de Christiana in Lancaster County, Penn.
“I feel like I’m not even close to top form right now,” Lea said. “I came off of June, which was a pretty intense month that finished up with Fitchburg-Longsjo and Westchester. Then I only had a week-and-a-half of training before I started the International Tour de ‘Toona.”
It was during the Tour de ‘Toona that Lea said he started experiencing what he thought were complications from the operation in March that repaired constriction of the external iliac artery in both of his legs.
It was a scary thought considering another pro cyclist, 28-year-old South African cycling champion Ryan Cox, died from complications related to his surgery to treat iliac artery endofibrosis on Aug. 1.
Did that trigger any concern for Lea?
“For me, I’m well past any danger point,” he said. “But I felt really bad for that Kelly Benefit Strategies rider (Nick Waite) who only underwent his operation two weeks ago. But he and I both had the same surgeon – Dr. Kenneth Cherry – who is one of the best in the world.”
Friday night, Lea found himself competing against 13 other teams in a star-studded field in a race that carried nearly as many points as a World Cup event. Lea and Pearce led from the gun, nearly gaining a lap on the field on the way to their first Madison win of the season that stopped a string of three consecutive runner-up finishes.
“It was a hard race,” Lea said, “but by the end, we had things firmly under control.”
Lea now awaits word of how many points he has compiled in his pursuit of a berth in the 2008 Olympic Games.
Saturday, Lea rode the first stage of the Tour de Christiana, a 66-mile road race which Pearce won while Lea was 28th. Sunday’s second stage was a 10.3-mile (16.5 km) time trial that Lea treated as a recovery ride. He finished 63rd, but with the race being scored on points, not time, he was only concerned with conserving energy for the criterium.
A few hours later, riding without the help of any teammates, Lea actually went on the attack before the halfway point of the 25-mile race, soloing for six laps of the 1.25-mile (2 km) course.
“I was hoping a small break would come across to me,” Lea said. “It was going to be an uphill sprint and I wasn’t too keen on that for a field sprint. But when no one bridged, I eventually had to pack it in and reshuffle.”
Once back in the field, though, Lea realized the tough course was taking its toll. So he made plans for a late-race attack that would come far enough from the finish that, hopefully, the field would think was too far to make it to the line.
“I thought if I hit them a little bit far out – maybe with just under two laps to go – it might make people think twice about coming after that me,” Lea said.
The strategy worked to perfection when Lea attacked shortly after a breakaway had been reeled in. He soloed in to move up to seventh overall. Pearce took the overall honors ahead of Anibal Barrajo (Rite Aid Pro Cycling).
And both came after a week of training on neither bicycle.
“Basically, I was off my road bike for two weeks,” Lea explained. “I thought I was having circulation issues in my legs so I went to see my surgeon. But now that I’ve got a clean bill of health, I’m looking forward to training hard and see what I come up with.”
What Lea came up with Friday and Sunday amounted to Toyota-United’s 31st and 32nd wins of the season and upped Lea’s victory total to four for the 2007 season. Earlier this season, he was out for more than eight weeks after undergoing surgery to repair arteries in his legs.
“Sometimes something as simple as throwing your leg over a different top tube will freshen things up a bit,” Lea said.
On Friday night, he teamed with Colby Pearce to win the 25 km Madison during the KNBT Festival of Speed at the newly-christened Valley Preferred Cycling Center in Breinigsville, Penn. Then on Sunday, he soloed to victory in a 25-mile criterium in the final stage of the Tour de Christiana in Lancaster County, Penn.
“I feel like I’m not even close to top form right now,” Lea said. “I came off of June, which was a pretty intense month that finished up with Fitchburg-Longsjo and Westchester. Then I only had a week-and-a-half of training before I started the International Tour de ‘Toona.”
It was during the Tour de ‘Toona that Lea said he started experiencing what he thought were complications from the operation in March that repaired constriction of the external iliac artery in both of his legs.
It was a scary thought considering another pro cyclist, 28-year-old South African cycling champion Ryan Cox, died from complications related to his surgery to treat iliac artery endofibrosis on Aug. 1.
Did that trigger any concern for Lea?
“For me, I’m well past any danger point,” he said. “But I felt really bad for that Kelly Benefit Strategies rider (Nick Waite) who only underwent his operation two weeks ago. But he and I both had the same surgeon – Dr. Kenneth Cherry – who is one of the best in the world.”
Friday night, Lea found himself competing against 13 other teams in a star-studded field in a race that carried nearly as many points as a World Cup event. Lea and Pearce led from the gun, nearly gaining a lap on the field on the way to their first Madison win of the season that stopped a string of three consecutive runner-up finishes.
“It was a hard race,” Lea said, “but by the end, we had things firmly under control.”
Lea now awaits word of how many points he has compiled in his pursuit of a berth in the 2008 Olympic Games.
Saturday, Lea rode the first stage of the Tour de Christiana, a 66-mile road race which Pearce won while Lea was 28th. Sunday’s second stage was a 10.3-mile (16.5 km) time trial that Lea treated as a recovery ride. He finished 63rd, but with the race being scored on points, not time, he was only concerned with conserving energy for the criterium.
A few hours later, riding without the help of any teammates, Lea actually went on the attack before the halfway point of the 25-mile race, soloing for six laps of the 1.25-mile (2 km) course.
“I was hoping a small break would come across to me,” Lea said. “It was going to be an uphill sprint and I wasn’t too keen on that for a field sprint. But when no one bridged, I eventually had to pack it in and reshuffle.”
Once back in the field, though, Lea realized the tough course was taking its toll. So he made plans for a late-race attack that would come far enough from the finish that, hopefully, the field would think was too far to make it to the line.
“I thought if I hit them a little bit far out – maybe with just under two laps to go – it might make people think twice about coming after that me,” Lea said.
The strategy worked to perfection when Lea attacked shortly after a breakaway had been reeled in. He soloed in to move up to seventh overall. Pearce took the overall honors ahead of Anibal Barrajo (Rite Aid Pro Cycling).
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