Four team members fine-tune time trial positions in North Carolina
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Mike Friedman gets ready for his stint in the A2 Wind Tunnel.(Image credit: Peter Hymas)
Mike Friedman, new to Kelly Benefit Strategies - OptumHealth for 2011, warms up for his wind tunnel session.(Image credit: Peter Hymas)
Jason Donald, a 2011 addition to Kelly Benefit Strategies - OptumHealth, talks to Mike Giraud about his position.(Image credit: Peter Hymas)
Jason Donald gets warmed up in the wind tunnel.(Image credit: Peter Hymas)
After a turbulent 2010 season, Jason Donald found a new team in Kelly Benefit Strategies - OptumHealth.(Image credit: Peter Hymas)
Mike Creed spends a few seconds on the microphone to regale everyone in the building with an impromptu Axl Rose impression.(Image credit: Peter Hymas)
Mike Creed, new to Kelly Benefit Strategies - OptumHealth for 2011, gets warmed up for his session in the A2 Wind Tunnel.(Image credit: Peter Hymas)
Mike Giraud calibrates the CompuTrainer prior to Mike Creed's wind tunnel session.(Image credit: Peter Hymas)
Mike Creed gets feedback on his aero position.(Image credit: Peter Hymas)
A porthole on the side of the wind tunnel provides a view of Mike Creed.(Image credit: Peter Hymas)
Aero consultant Chris Edin, right, helps Mike Friedman understand the meaning of the data flow recorded in the wind tunnel.(Image credit: Peter Hymas)
The sleek lines of Jason Donald's Orbea Ordu time trial bike.(Image credit: Peter Hymas)
More discussion of Mike Friedman's aero position by Chris Edin, left, and Mike Giraud, right.(Image credit: Peter Hymas)
Mike Friedman makes a saddle height adjustment on his Orbea Ordu time trial bike.(Image credit: Peter Hymas)
A2 Wind Tunnel's Mike Giraud, right, makes a stack height adjustment for Jesse Anthony.(Image credit: Peter Hymas)
Jesse Anthony and Mike Giraud discuss the position of the aero bars.(Image credit: Peter Hymas)
Jesse Anthony gets warmed up in the wind tunnel.(Image credit: Peter Hymas)
A peek through the porthole at Jesse Anthony as he waits for the wind tunnel to activate.(Image credit: Peter Hymas)
The A2 Wind Tunnel in Mooresville, North Carolina is a popular destination for professional cycling teams.(Image credit: Peter Hymas)
Aero consultant Chris Edin, right, and Mike Giraud, center, make an adjustment for Mike Friedman.(Image credit: Peter Hymas)
A2 Wind Tunnel's Mike Giraud monitors the flow of data and video for Mike Friedman's session.(Image credit: Peter Hymas)
Mike Creed gets feedback on his time trial position from Mike Giraud, left, and Chris Edin.(Image credit: Peter Hymas)
Fresh off of a winter cross training camp in Winter Park, Colorado, four members of the Kelly Benefit Strategies-OptumHealth team traveled to Mooresville, North Carolina to dial in their time trial positions on Monday at the A2 Wind Tunnel.
Pre-season visits to the wind tunnel facility in the heart of NASCAR country are becoming the norm for the US-based UCI Continental squad, who last year sent eight riders to Mooresville for testing.
For 2011, three newcomers to the squad, Michael Creed, Jason Donald, and Michael Friedman, along with Jesse Anthony, a late addition to the roster the previous season, donned the new 2011 team kit and set to work to hone their position atop the team's time trial steed, the Orbea Ordu.
Creed, Donald and Friedman, three of eight additions to the 15-man Kelly Benefit Strategies-OptumHealth roster, bring considerable experience to the squad, each having raced at the sport's highest level in Europe during their careers, and are expected to assume leadership roles on the team.
"I was very surprised to hear that Creed, Friedman and Donald had not perfected their time trial positions with their previous teams," team Performance Director Jonas Carney told Cyclingnews. "Maybe in the past they were considered domestiques, but in our program they will be leaders. All three of them are proven time trialists, and they will be critical to our team's success. We want to give them every advantage.
"Jesse was a late addition for 2010 and became one of our biggest GC threats, but unfortunately we were unable to bring him to the tunnel last year. He is a versatile athlete who can climb and also rip in a criterium.
"His only weakness has been the time trial. If he can make some modest improvement in that area, he'll be a dangerous GC threat in almost any race."
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For Friedman, the wind tunnel testing provided valuable confirmation about information he only had anecdotal evidence of beforehand.
"I learned that my body is pretty sleek in multiple positions. I can ride a high stack as well as a low stack and have very equal numbers for drag, which is a good thing because not every time trial course is the same. It's good for me to learn that because now I won't hesitate in changing my position up or down one, two, three or four spacers.
"It's been a cool experience, too, because it's fun to geek-out with stuff we deal with on a daily basis. You always wonder 'what if?..is this more aero?' regarding various positions and equipment. I think it's very interesting information, and information is power. The more we have the better.
"In cycling it's all about that last two percent. If everybody's just as fit, and everybody's clean then if comes down to the bikes - position and aerodynamics."
Based in the southeastern United States, Peter produces race coverage for all disciplines, edits news and writes features. The New Jersey native has 30 years of road racing and cyclo-cross experience, starting in the early 1980s as a Junior in the days of toe clips and leather hairnets. Over the years he's had the good fortune to race throughout the United States and has competed in national championships for both road and 'cross in the Junior and Masters categories. The passion for cycling started young, as before he switched to the road Peter's mission in life was catching big air on his BMX bike.
