Tour of the Gila – The End
Posted on 04. May, 2011 by Jordan in Jordan, Pro Wrenching, The Gear Movers
Jordan working the turnaround point of the Tyrone Stage 3 Time Trial
Stage 3 = Time for a time trial! The Tyrone time trial on stage 3 turned out to be a slightly boring day in the sun and wind. With gusty winds of up to 50mph starting slow in the morning and gaining speed later in the afternoon, it was a rough one!
A nice visitor stopped by at the TT turnaround. What a cool picture with the SRAM car in the foreground
A Chipotle Development rider flies into the TT turnaround with his team car in tow...
I was positioned for the day at the turnaround point. The course was 26 miles long, out and back on a small exposed highway. I sat at the turnaround point with a SRAM Volvo car, wheels and bike, ready to assist if needed. Without seeing much action throughout the day, it proved to be a boring one, see pic below for the confirmation…
Mechanic Extroadinare TJ Grove listed how bored Jordan was on his TT race programme
Our SRAM NRS crew for the entire Men's Pro Race. L-R Desira Miller, Jose Alcala, Miss P, TJ Grove and Jordan (taking the photo)
Stage 4 saw the Downtown Silver City Criterium. The funnest race of the year provided me with a chance to smooze and booze with all the pro teams and all my buddies from back in the day. I think these pictures tell the story. Yet again two days in a row, one of the Trek-Livestrong U23 boys rode away with a stunning victory.
Jordan posing with the podium girls during the crit at the SRAM Tour of the Gila!
The Gila Monster on Stage 5 was the grand marquee for the whole week. With more than 10,000ft of climbing and some gnarly descents that freaked out the entire caravan, it was a hairy one. Being used to sitting in team cars in scary bike races, I gotta tell ya, this is always the scariest ride of my life. Sitting in a car with riders all around you, driving like a formula 1 race down mountain passes at 100kph is crazy! That’s what we do and that is why rocking out with the SRAM Neutral Service Crew is so much fun!
A view from Jordan's office during the final and 5th stage of the race - The Gila Monster! More than 10,000ft of climbing, wow!!
Miss P about ready to tear it up on the SRAM NRS special addition Aprilla Moto!
Ever seen a burn like this? Captions welcome. (Jordan was hurting after this)
The final podium for the Women's Pro Race at Gila. Congrats Ladies!
Jordan and moto ace Steve Donovan from Turin Bikes fly home on I-25 towards Boulder. What a beautiful stormy sky ahead into Santa Fe!
SRAM Tour of the Gila Stages 1,2
Posted on 29. Apr, 2011 by Jordan in Jordan, Pro Wrenching, The Gear Movers
The SRAM Neutral Service Volvos ready to rock and roll, sexy!
Hello Silver City, NM! If you have been to Silver City, you have been here for a reason. This town is great but it is way off the grid. Travel down I-25 from the Boulder/Denver area for about 10 hrs and you find Highway 152 just a bit north of the Mexican border. Take that road for an hour or two over the Contintenal Divide and you are in Silver City. A town known for its Silver mine you can see from space or Google maps, this place is remote. Once a year at the end of April the entire community rallies around the SRAM Tour of the Gila and makes a great atmosphere for us cyclists/team staff.
SRAM Staff Michael Zellman, Desira Miller, Jordan Schware! ready to rock for stage 1
I decided the annual trip to see some of my great friends was worth the trip down south for some fun in the sun and a hard working cycling vacation. Working with the SRAM Neutral Service crew is an absolute blast. The team is strong and they are always ready to help a cyclist out and then have a beer afterwards.
Some great friends, Gord Fraser of RealCyclist.com and Ben Day of Kenda!
The Madness! Kelly Benefits Reid Mumford
My role for the race decided by headman Jose Alcala is that of mechanic/jumper in the SRAM car 2 with the Men’s Pro Race. Sitting in the backseat I am accompanied by Desira Miller, my trusty and rad driver and Miss Piera, Jose’s daughter.
Stage 1 saw some nervous and tactical bike racing for the men. A good amount of strong winds and some rolling roads for a large amount of the 151km kept us on our toes. Pair that with more flat tires than I have ever seen in race and the SRAM crew was scrambling all over the road. At the end of the Stage 1 Mogollon Road Race, came a monster climb. The bike race was shattered to pieces and the win went to Francisco Mancebo, putting more than 20 sec on his closest competition and raising his arms in triumph.
The Mogollon climb at the end of Stage 1
Day 2 saw a much more relaxed bike race beginning and ending in the old deserted Ft. Bayard Military Base. From the gun the men set out to keep the pace high and safe. With tons of climbs and gnarly descents we were lucky to only have a few flat tires and no crashes on the day. Our very own Frank Pipp from Team Bissell flew away with the win screaming into Ft. Bayard pumping his fists. Reports from the officials show him leading the Sprinters competition.
Jordan and Jose's daughter, Miss Piera!
The view from my office inside the Volvo all day!
Super busy in the back of the car = self portrait time!
Thats a wrap from days 1 and 2. Tomorrow we have the Stage 3 Tyrone Time Trial. I will check in again afterwards!
SRAM Tour of the Gila Recap with SRAM NRS
Posted on 05. May, 2010 by Jordan in Jordan, Pro Wrenching, The Gear Movers
A quick picture opportunity in some of the beautiful New Mexico Landscape with the SRAM NRS Team Car
Long, long, long week! I think that is the best way to describe this last week of bike racing down in Silver City, NM. The SRAM Tour of the Gila outdid itself once again and provided all who attended at the races, on the internet and in the newsprint with a spectacular show! The characters, the racers, the locals, the in-race antics, the insanely tough conditions and the all around fun atmosphere provided by SRAM gave us a Tour to remember. For those of you not familiar with the SRAM Tour of the Gila, if you are interested at all in bike racing I recommend you check it out – www.tourofthegila.com.
Fast Tube by Casper
Fast Tube by Casper
Fast Tube by Casper
More great YouTube videos from Jordan at the SRAM Tour of the Gila – The Gear Movement’s YouTube Page
Jordan checked in after day two of working with the SRAM NRS road crew, but doing much more than that was pretty hard for him based on the enormous amount of work that needed to be done at the race. Here is an opportunity to check out some cool videos from a mechanics perspective as well as some great behind the scenes photos from the Gila.
SRAM NRS team bikes lined up and ready to go in the Stage 4 crit at the SRAM Tour of the Gila
Jordan atop the custom SRAM NRS Aprila GT 850 support moto, this thing has a nice kick to it!
That is some beautiful SRAM NRS red and black at the Stage 3 TT...
We hope you enjoy and please stay tuned as Jordan ventures out to the Tour of California with the Garmin Transitions Pro Cycling Team for more bike racing!
Roswell, what? Gotta love the New Mexico state bus, government cover up, what??
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