Racing on Wheel System 19'sWednesday, August 29, 2007
Monday, August 27, 2007
Chris Fisher to ride for Williams in 2008
Chris Fisher - Saturn Pro CyclingRetired Pro Cyclist Chris Fisher will be riding for Williams Cycling in 2008. Chris will have two rolls to play for Williams in 2008.
#1 Have fun racing the northest and midwest circuit in 08'
#2 Test and analyze new wheel designs for Williams.
About Chris Fisher -
English Teacher
Alpine Ski/Cycling Coach
Married - wife Haylee
Two boys - Bryhn (3) and Boden (4mo.)
Coaches soccer in the fall, alpine sking in the winter and cycling in the spring/summer.
Cycling palmers:
Pro Teams: Saturn, Jelly Belly, 7-Up
Friday, August 24, 2007
Williams Cycling and RAMM 2007
A note from Justin Morejohn
Hi Keith,
I just wanted to thank you for the privilege of riding the Race Across America in June on the Williams 30 wheelset. Our eight man team (Team Donate Life- Grace Valley) finished second in our division, fourth overall.From climbing Wolf Creek Pass over the Continental Divide, to descending at 57 mph, to timetrialing across windy Kansas, the wheels performed flawlessly.
So thanks again,
Justin Morejohn
Davis, CA
Hi Keith,
I just wanted to thank you for the privilege of riding the Race Across America in June on the Williams 30 wheelset. Our eight man team (Team Donate Life- Grace Valley) finished second in our division, fourth overall.From climbing Wolf Creek Pass over the Continental Divide, to descending at 57 mph, to timetrialing across windy Kansas, the wheels performed flawlessly.
So thanks again,
Justin Morejohn
Davis, CA
Monday, August 20, 2007
Brandt 10th at Crit Nationals
Ally - after crit natsI am VERY PROUD to announce that our lady, Ally Brandt placed 10th at crit nats last weekend. That's right, Ally was racing for Williams Cycling Pro Women's Team.
Ally's report below!
"Most races split up because a break is up the road and a chase group forms, or the pace is high and riders get dropped. But the attrition in the women’s elite field at Crit Nationals was because of crashes. Cool rain was the theme of the weekend in Chicago – all Saturday afternoon and into the night was a mix of light and heavy rain – never letting up enough for the streets to dry, and temps were hovering around 60-65 degrees. This was a stark contrast from the sauna-like weather we’ve been enjoying in Texas !
As I stood at the staging area in Downers Grove , I glanced down at my Williams Cycling kit and smiled, my Williams Wheels were race ready and my Quattro Assi was tuned to perfection. I was front and center and not to be budged or intimidated by anyone to give up my position, I cleared my head and relaxed. I’ve been practicing this routine of calming my nerves and focusing. But it’s hard not to get sucked into the tension and activity buzzing around us – the announcer rambling on and on about the illustrious resumes of my competitors, the “National Championships” banner stretched across the road above our heads, the spectators pointing at us, our bikes, our wheels and taking pictures, the empty podium off to my right awaiting the top 5 and new National Champion, the CyclingNews photographer snapping off a slew of pre-race pics. And then the call-ups begin. One day, in the very near future I’ll be among those girls to get called up at an NRC race, but until that point I awaited the announcer's famous words, “And the rest of the women’s elite field!” and charged the start line.
A few brief words by an official and we were off. The roads were soaked, but rain had subsided and for the first time in 36 hours the sun was peaking through the clouds. I honestly don’t remember much of the first 5-10 laps other than several primes being called. I recall not being as far forward in the field as I would have liked at all times, but also I felt very in control of my surroundings and able to move around the field when needed. Around 35 minutes I peaked at my watch. This is about the time during a crit when I start snooping around for breaks and itchy legs wanting to get up the road. My plan was to get in a late-race break – the winning break – and attack the break for the win.
As we neared the mid-race prime – one that is hotly contested because it’s worth nearly the same as 1st place! – I noticed the sky was darkening and the air dropped a few temps – rain was coming. The sprinkles started and the crashes began. It seemed for a few laps crashes were happening all around me – my sign I needed to move closer to the front to not have to use my brakes or be around those braking. Girls were locking up, washing out, overcooking corners and skidding along the curbs. I got body-checked by a girl going down and I fought to keep my bike upright, and then later avoided another crash off to my right by skidding around a corner with my left foot on the ground. As I refocused I felt my rear wheel was bouncy – I was sure I had a flat. I stared back at my rear wheel, trying to think if someone ran into it, was it flat? And thanks to my recent viewing of “Peaceful Warrior” I “threw out the mental trash” and convinced myself if it was a slow leak that I was better off than the other girls in the rain because my psi was lower and then forgot about it.
As we approached the final 10 laps it began to pour. It was also around this time when I realized a break was not going to happen. Each lap I worked to move up among the top 10, and slowly I would get squeezed out and pushed back to around 30th. I repeated this every lap, knowing the farther up I was in the field the less likely I’d be in a crash and the better position I’d have going into the finish. During each of the last 5 laps, there was at least 1 crash that took at several girls. It was crazy – I felt literally as if girls were crashing all around me, and I would stay up right and keep pressure on the pedals and ride through it.
As we came around with 1 to go it was a little surreal. I looked around and there seemed to be only about 20 of us – soaked to the bone and gritting our teeth in the pouring rain. I thought to myself, “This is it. This is THE group”. As we approached the backside of the course, Anna Lang launched an attack which caused a flurry of sprinters to try and grab her wheel. Our group was single file going into the last 3 corners with Jen McRae and Anna Lang with a slight gap over Tina Pic and everyone else. I sat in roughly 12th with a little smile inside seeing Jen up in pole position. As we rounded the last wet corner, delicately and on edge, I got up out of the saddle to pass just a few more girls to eek out a top 10 finish. I listened intently as the announcer proclaimed Tina the National Champion, Jen second and Anna third. Fellow Austinite Shontelle Gauthier finished 7th – that makes 3 Austin girls in the top 10!!! Must be all those Thursday Night Crits with the boys!
I stayed to watch the podium – top 5 grace the stage and receive flowers and champagne, and of course 1st place slips on the stars and stripes. I soaked in every moment of the podium presentation – the interviews, the announcements, the champagne spraying, the posing for pictures. Next year I will be up there…and next year I’ll be standing on the top platform. "
Ally's report below!
"Most races split up because a break is up the road and a chase group forms, or the pace is high and riders get dropped. But the attrition in the women’s elite field at Crit Nationals was because of crashes. Cool rain was the theme of the weekend in Chicago – all Saturday afternoon and into the night was a mix of light and heavy rain – never letting up enough for the streets to dry, and temps were hovering around 60-65 degrees. This was a stark contrast from the sauna-like weather we’ve been enjoying in Texas !
As I stood at the staging area in Downers Grove , I glanced down at my Williams Cycling kit and smiled, my Williams Wheels were race ready and my Quattro Assi was tuned to perfection. I was front and center and not to be budged or intimidated by anyone to give up my position, I cleared my head and relaxed. I’ve been practicing this routine of calming my nerves and focusing. But it’s hard not to get sucked into the tension and activity buzzing around us – the announcer rambling on and on about the illustrious resumes of my competitors, the “National Championships” banner stretched across the road above our heads, the spectators pointing at us, our bikes, our wheels and taking pictures, the empty podium off to my right awaiting the top 5 and new National Champion, the CyclingNews photographer snapping off a slew of pre-race pics. And then the call-ups begin. One day, in the very near future I’ll be among those girls to get called up at an NRC race, but until that point I awaited the announcer's famous words, “And the rest of the women’s elite field!” and charged the start line.
A few brief words by an official and we were off. The roads were soaked, but rain had subsided and for the first time in 36 hours the sun was peaking through the clouds. I honestly don’t remember much of the first 5-10 laps other than several primes being called. I recall not being as far forward in the field as I would have liked at all times, but also I felt very in control of my surroundings and able to move around the field when needed. Around 35 minutes I peaked at my watch. This is about the time during a crit when I start snooping around for breaks and itchy legs wanting to get up the road. My plan was to get in a late-race break – the winning break – and attack the break for the win.
As we neared the mid-race prime – one that is hotly contested because it’s worth nearly the same as 1st place! – I noticed the sky was darkening and the air dropped a few temps – rain was coming. The sprinkles started and the crashes began. It seemed for a few laps crashes were happening all around me – my sign I needed to move closer to the front to not have to use my brakes or be around those braking. Girls were locking up, washing out, overcooking corners and skidding along the curbs. I got body-checked by a girl going down and I fought to keep my bike upright, and then later avoided another crash off to my right by skidding around a corner with my left foot on the ground. As I refocused I felt my rear wheel was bouncy – I was sure I had a flat. I stared back at my rear wheel, trying to think if someone ran into it, was it flat? And thanks to my recent viewing of “Peaceful Warrior” I “threw out the mental trash” and convinced myself if it was a slow leak that I was better off than the other girls in the rain because my psi was lower and then forgot about it.
As we approached the final 10 laps it began to pour. It was also around this time when I realized a break was not going to happen. Each lap I worked to move up among the top 10, and slowly I would get squeezed out and pushed back to around 30th. I repeated this every lap, knowing the farther up I was in the field the less likely I’d be in a crash and the better position I’d have going into the finish. During each of the last 5 laps, there was at least 1 crash that took at several girls. It was crazy – I felt literally as if girls were crashing all around me, and I would stay up right and keep pressure on the pedals and ride through it.
As we came around with 1 to go it was a little surreal. I looked around and there seemed to be only about 20 of us – soaked to the bone and gritting our teeth in the pouring rain. I thought to myself, “This is it. This is THE group”. As we approached the backside of the course, Anna Lang launched an attack which caused a flurry of sprinters to try and grab her wheel. Our group was single file going into the last 3 corners with Jen McRae and Anna Lang with a slight gap over Tina Pic and everyone else. I sat in roughly 12th with a little smile inside seeing Jen up in pole position. As we rounded the last wet corner, delicately and on edge, I got up out of the saddle to pass just a few more girls to eek out a top 10 finish. I listened intently as the announcer proclaimed Tina the National Champion, Jen second and Anna third. Fellow Austinite Shontelle Gauthier finished 7th – that makes 3 Austin girls in the top 10!!! Must be all those Thursday Night Crits with the boys!
I stayed to watch the podium – top 5 grace the stage and receive flowers and champagne, and of course 1st place slips on the stars and stripes. I soaked in every moment of the podium presentation – the interviews, the announcements, the champagne spraying, the posing for pictures. Next year I will be up there…and next year I’ll be standing on the top platform. "
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Holloway Wins Crit Nats
It's true...it's Hollywood riding in the rain. The last couple months in Belgium pay off big for Daniel.
World, get used to this view!First, congrats to Daniel Holloway for winning crit nats. I worked for VMG as assistant director at Tour of Virginia this year...Daniel was one of the riders. Daniel kept us in stitches the whole time as he has a great sense of humor. Anyway, we all know Daniel is a walking bundle of talent and it is great to see him become national crit champion.
Second, Jen McRae (Avil / Chapstick) placed 2nd in the women's race. Many of you may know that Jen has raced for Williams Cycling many times this year with great results and she deserves all that she gets. Congrats to Chann as well.
Friday, August 17, 2007
Williams Donates Wheels to Local Junior Cycling Program
Keith Williams and Nathan Christensen
08/17/2007We are very proud to announce the donation of wheelsets to the local junior cycling program. Nathan (picture above) is one of four siblings who race locally. We set up all the Christensen kids with race wheels.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Alto Velo Race Report
Patterson Pass, Pro/1/24 laps, 90(+) milesAugust 11, 2007Field: 60+Teammates: Ted Huang (3rd), me (13th), Tore Natua, Greg Davis, Matt MorenzoniNormally the best finisher on the team writes the report but Tedwanted someone else to share the load since he gets all the results inroad races and thus always has to write the reports :-) So for todayI'm stepping in for Ted...A good field lined up at the start for the P/1/2 race: we had thepleasure of a strong CalGiant team, two BMC riders (Mike Sayers andScott Nydham), Jared Barrilleaux (MetroMint), Brian Buchholz (BPG) andthe usual collection of guys who like hilly road races.Just before the start, Matt asks me if I have a spare brake pad. Aspare what? Turns out Greg's rear brake pad broke - it was made ofcork and it cracked in half. We searched around in vain for an extrabrake pad and I looked at Greg with some concern. The course atPatterson doesn't require a lot of intensive braking but riding thedescent in a big pack with no rear brake seemed like an unwise thingto do. So that helped decide team tactics: Greg would get into anearly break and see how it went on the descent. Greg agreed to itand that was our initial plan along with the usual cover other movesand see how things play out later in the race.As expected with the wind howling down the pass and 4 laps ahead of uswe set out at a slow pace. Greg wasted no time in going up the roadin the company of Patrick Briggs (Cal Giant). Part way up the climbTore rolled up next to me and said "he took his job seriously!". Wecould see Greg and Patrick already probably a minute ahead of thefield.Greg and Patrick stayed off for the rest of the lap but were pulledback in part way up the climb the second time. As we were closing inon Greg and Patrick we were entertained by loud complaints from aCalGiant rider who felt compelled to tell everyone (repeatedly) howGreg was punching it on the hills and so Patrick wasn't working withhim any more, etc. You see one of the nice things about riding in theP/1/2 category is that well, everyone considers themselves a "pro" andis thus quite confident in their abilities and opinions. And they'refrequently more than happy to share them with you even if you aren'tinterested. For what it's worth Greg didn't feel like he punched itat all on the hills so perhaps the commentator was mistaken.After we caught Greg and Patrick, Mike Sayers and Jared counterattacked on the main climb. That was a move that had some legs andunfortunately no AV in it. It's a long race though so there was hopethey would fade.On the second climb on lap 2, Ted decided to stretch his legs and tookoff. This elicited more commentary about how he's never going to makeit alone, etc. Anyway, Ted didn't get any company and was duly reeledin. Going over the 580 overpass some counter moves went including onewith me, James Mattis, Kevin Klein and someone from BPG. I figuredthis move might have the right composition to get away but sadly wedidn't get to work quickly enough and it fell apart.We rode pretty slowly the rest of the lap and the gap to Sayers andJared ballooned to 3 minutes. This produced a bit of concern and some folks started putting in some efforts to up the pace. Once againthough the pace slackened and we were going up the main climb thethird time at an absolutely anemic pace. Again we were treated tocommentary from members of CalGiant about how we ought to chase downthat break, etc. I wound up on the front leading the pack up theclimb but going so slowly that it was pathetic (seriously, I wasputting out < 250w going uphill which is about as slow as you can gowithout falling over). I got a bit tired of it and upped the pace onthe higher reaches of the climb but it wasn't much and although wewere at least now pedaling for real, it was hardly a spirited chase.This effort too received yet more commentary about how I had"attacked" into a head wind from the front of the group. Sheesh, somedays you just can't do anything right.On the backside tailwind section we rocketed along - hitting 52 mphaccording to my bike computer. This section alone makes the raceworth doing (IMHO).As we hit Midway road (about 1-2 miles before the start/finish), thepace got really hard and echelons formed. I made a feeble attempt atstaying to the right of the centerline but it was impossible. Ilooked over at the moto official guy and said "hey I'm trying" and hekindly replied "don't worry about it". Sadly I still got gapped offalong with about 5-7 other guys at this point. Ted made the splitwith the main group. The rest of us groveled and managed to catchback on by the feed zone.At this point the break was only maybe a minute or so up the road.James Mattis and a few others were leading the chase. I worked my wayup through the group and got up to Ted. I started to recover a bitand felt like I could hang. Here though I made a critical judgementerror. Ted asked me if I could help pull. I could have but knew thatif I did I'd never make it through when the counter-attacks came. Ireally wanted to make it in the lead group so I sat in. Instead Ishould have gone right to the front and pulled back the break.Ted took the initiative that I lacked and went to the front and set asteady hard tempo, reducing the gap to the break even further. Atthis point I was somewhere around 3rd or 4th wheel in the very singlefile and very tired group of maybe 20 guys. With maybe 25 meters to the top of the climb I thought to myself, gee,this would be a good time to attack. No sooner had the thought formedin my head when BOOM! Scott Nydham hit the gas. It was like a bombexploded - Adam Switters was yelling at his teammate Kevin Klein "getout of the way I gotta get on that", guys were scrambling andgroveling to get on wheels (remember the wind up there was stillabsolutely ferocious) and it was in general total chaos. Scott gappedeveryone followed by Ted and Andres Gil. In total it was a matter ofmaybe 5 extra hard pedal strokes to get on Ted but I didn't quite makeit. In the space of the next 30 seconds, Scott was just gone, Ted andAndres opened a gap of 300 meters, chased by one or two others andthen the rest of us grouped up. Amazingly I got yelled at again by amember of the Rock Racing team to pull and I was like "dude are youstupid? Ted is up the road, why would I pull?". Apparently somepeople forget that you're not supposed to chase down your teammates. Ted managed to catch Mike Sayers at the base of the second climb.Jared was still up ahead and Nydham even further ahead of him. Tedpulled up next to Sayers and said "That Jares is the real deal, eh?".Sayers didn't respond so Ted decided that if he was going to ride insilence he'd do it alone and dropped Sayers (and Andres). Ted thensolo'ed in for a very well earned third place from there.Behind, all I had to do was sit on and get a free ride. I was nowactually feeling almost perky and decided that even if I was racingfor some irrelevant minor placing I would put in a good showing. Weturned on to Midway and hit the crosswinds. We slowed and guysstarted to chit-chat. This made it the perfect time to attack. Itook off which incited Chris D'Alusio, Kevin Klein and another riderto chase. They caught me a bit before the top and I hung but thencouldn't quite match one of Chris' accelerations and got gapped. Idid manage to hold off the rest of the group which netted me 13th(woohoo).Hats off to Ted for yet another good finish. Mucho thanks to Tore,Greg and Matt who all helped out in the feedzone after they droppedout.thanks for reading,--dominic
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Williams Signs Allyson Brandt
Williams Cycling is proud to announce the signing of Allyson Brandt for 2007 USA Criterium and World Criterium Championships. Allyson has had excellent results this year at many NRC races including many top 5 and top 10 placings.
Allyson will be sporting the williamscycling.com kit and a pair of the 50c carbon clinchers.
Cheers to Allyson and good luck!
Allyson will be sporting the williamscycling.com kit and a pair of the 50c carbon clinchers.
Cheers to Allyson and good luck!
Monday, August 6, 2007
It's a Boy!
My beautiful wife Sarah delivered our third son Sunday evening. His name is Aiden Williams and was 7.3 lbs and 20 inches at birth. He completes the lead-out train of Davis (8) Brendan (5) and Aiden (1 day). Baby and family are doing great! I am a proud Daddy!
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