Congrats Kyle Perry for winning Tour of Bloomington, Morgan Monroe pro road race , texas roadhouse - stradalli cycle

Bob Mccarty and Doug DeWeese getting ready to race there Stradalli carbon Race machines at Marathon XC National Cahampionships

Bob Mccarty and Doug DeWeese getting ready to race there Stradalli carbon Race machines at 

Marathon XC National Championships

Stradalli shows their versatility

The 2015 season is off to a great start for Stradalli Cycle Racing. However, that success is not only limited to road racing. Mountain biker Bob McCarty had a very successful weekend at the USA Cycling Marathon Nationals over the weekend on his 650b carbon cross country full suspension bike

The race in Georgia, just outside of Augusta, is over 60 miles along and has some of the toughest terrain you will find. There are parts of the race where you actually cannot ride your bike, you have to hike with it over your shoulder as you walk through streams and over down trees. Mountain bike racing is certainly a different breed of racing but it brings excitement to fans and competitors alike. McCarty led most of the race in the age 40-44 category and finished 2^nd. The most impressive stat of the day is that he finished with a top ten time out of all amateurs of the weekend, including riders half his age.

“This is the type of race where you have to be in great shape, you have to be able to grind it out there, but you also need to have the experience and understanding of what the course is going to throw at you. Sometimes it’s the weather and sometimes, like this weekend, it’s the actual terrain you are up against. You can be the fastest guy on a bike and that’s great, but this is mountain bike racing, if you can’t transition from clean road to throwing your bike over your shoulder and hiking through water and then jumping back on your bike and not letting that slow you down, you aren’t going to be very competitive.” Bob McCarty.

Bob was not the only one pleased with his race results at the USA Cycling Marathon Nations. Team owner Tom Steinbacher loves the versatility of his race team; “When people look at cycling, when they look at our team they may think of us as a usa pro road team and we have been having a great year at that. But I want to be more than just a pro road cycling and pro ncc crit team, I want us to compete all over the world in any type of race that involves a bike. That’s the mark of a true race team and bicycle brand, not just versatility but being able to win races, no matter the type of race it is. You want to be a real race team, you have to be able to compete anywhere. Every weekend it seems we have great news regarding the team because we are in so many races and competitions. I love that. ”

2015 Speed Week Athens Twilight Pro Criterium ,first official USA crit race

2015 Speed Week Athens Twilight Pro Criterium ,first official USA crit race

Team Stradalli cycle went to Athens Georgia to make a statement, that they were a team to be reckoned with.
After lots of blood, sweat and tears the team left Speed Week having proven just that. Ruben Companioni  finished 2^nd in one of the most competitive races of the year, but this was a win for the entire team as owner Tom Steinbacher discussed; “Look at the field, look at the course. You are going against the defending NCC Champ, Daniel Holloway, you are going against a fully stacked Pro field with world champions and Olympians. This is where you have to prove what you are made of and right now I’m completely ecstatic.”

Stradalli brought a full team including Ruben Companioni , Sebastian Morfin, Yosvany Falcon, Grant Potter, Cesar Grajales and Abel Quintana, a new rider to the team. This was the biggest group to go to any race this year and before the race Stradalli cycle received a special call ups for 2 riders, Ruben Companioni and Yosvany Falcon were among the call-ups to begin.

It didn’t take long before there were some fireworks first a 9 man break and then Olympian Bobby Lea went down in turn 1 causing several riders including Ruben Companioni to crash as well.

“My heart jumped in my throat when I saw Ruben go down. You worry about these guys like they are your own kids , they are going extremely fast and it’s not like they are wearing nfl football pads. Ruben hurt his lower back and got bad road rash but got up and got back in there.” He is a real fighter.

Following the crash, Companioni went into the Sram Wheel Pit to get his bike fixed before returning to the race. After 2 laps another break in the field formed with Holloway and Companioni  leading up front and with in minutes it was just 2 racers of the front alone .  Companioni continued to battle, rotating in the breakaway to finish 2^nd with plenty of time left over to wipe the blood off and put on his Stradalli Cycle ball cap and ascend to the podium.

“What an exciting race. I never feel like an owner at these events, I always feel more like a fan ( and father )
but I am so proud of what we accomplished this weekend. Stradalli Cycle/ SAFETTI and Team Texas Roadhouse/Stradalli have been doing great this season and we wanted to come into Speed Week and make people realize we are contenders at every race.” Tom Steinbacher

Steinbacher wanted an “all hands on deck” mentality this weekend because of the competition. Speed Week is the first official USA Crit Race of the year and with brutal competition from all around the world it was important that Stradalli have an impressive showing. The sponsors; FSA providing their cranks, SAFETTI providing the uniforms, DIADORA providing the shoes and JACO Athletics providing additional athletic clothing as well as the new racers added to a team of veterans has played a major role in the early success of the team.

“I wanted this to be a team building experience and it was a great weekend. We stayed together, trained together and ate together and I feel that the younger guys all learned a lot from the veterans. I see a lot of teams out there with the next young stud of cycling but if you cannot surround that youth with veteran guidance and a “team” mentality it doesn’t usually workout the way you planned. This is such an exciting year and we circle races like these on our calendars because we know how important they are. The field was stacked but we left Georgia knowing AND proving we can compete with anyone and we raced and worked togther like a Family !”