John “Rolf” Eisinger Diary

It’s almost July! This summer has flown by so far. My season started back in Louisville, KY where I am a graduate student. I raced the local seven race spring series and took home the overall with the help of my Barbasol teammates. Once finals were over I packed up my car and drove west to Boulder, CO. I am racing for the Tokyo Joes team for all of the local races and the Rocky Mountain Chocolate factory team for the national races.

My first race back was the North Boulder crit. With a strong field of over 80 races I knew I had my work cut out for me, especially since I was not acclimated yet. I found myself in the top third throughout most of the race until an Einstein’s rider attacked. Since I was already on his wheel, I thought I would go with the move. As we started to pull away Phil Zajicek from the Navigators team tagged my wheel. We had an instant break. With more than 35 minutes left in the 90 min crit Phil and I continued to pull away from the field. I placed 2nd and it was a great result for my first race back in Boulder.

The next big race was Mt. hood. Stage 1 was a 3 mile pro log and I missed my start by 1:15, but felt great during it. I passed 2 guys. The first guy was a bigger guy who paced me going on a long slight down hill. Once the hill started to go up I passed him and then the during the up hill finish I was able to pick off another guy.

Next day was the 110 mile road race in 95 degree heat. Thank goodness we had a team car in the caravan so we were able to get extra bottles. I went through 5 bottles and my teammates went going through 10 bottles. I felt great during the race and becoming comfortable moving through the peloton. There was a break which put more than 13 min. on the peloton but Health Net was able to pull them back within the last 8 miles of the race. The finish ended going down through a canyon with lot of turns. A few guys ended up crashing into the canyon walls going around 60k/hr, which ended their race. A guy right ahead of me went off the road going around 45 mph. I ended up around 29th

Stage 3 was the hardest. We hit this hill 5 times with a hill top finish. The first time going up it felt as though the guys were sprinting for the finish. The peloton shattered and guys didn’t catch back on till the feed zone, which was a few miles before the hill started to go back up. Laps 4 and 5 the peloton was moving up hill at a strong pace. I made the selection on the last few k of the race but a few guys ahead of me kept opening gaps, which were hard to close. It was a solid day and I placed well.

Stage 4 was the time trial. It was a great course which ended on a bike path. Part of the course went through a windy tunnel which was interesting. I passed one person and placed 35th overall. Not bad since it was my second time on my tt bike.

Stage 5 started with a 3 mile descent which I was almost crashed out by a guy who flatted around a switch back. As soon as the descent ended there were attacks going off the front. Guys wanted to get a break to get the king of the mountain points. I knew it was going to happen but I also knew Health Net would bring it back. First climb went well and I finished towards the front. Then it was a long descent. We were going around 60 mph for 20 or so miles. Then it was on the flats with cross winds. With 35 miles left in the race we started to climb again. The selection process started with the pace increasing. We had most of our team at the front right next to Health Net. It was a lot better than being in the middle or towards the back. At that point in the race guys were becoming tired and less professional about taking wheels. The last 3 k guys were being shelled off the back in packs. I was feeling great and helped pull my teammate up to the yellow jersey. He started to crack and I continued on placing 12th over all.

Last stage was a crit. It had a steep downhill s curve which made thing interesting. The finish was in a strong head wind with a slight up hill. I felt great during this race, despite the strong winds. I was towards the front the whole time and avoided a few crashes. One crash took out a guy in the top 10. I moved up to 21st overall.

The next weekend I did a long road race in Fort Collins which went up into the Mts. I won the king of the Mt and the field was ripped apart. A group of 5 of us were able to get away. We dropped one guy and came into the finish with 4 guys. My teammate and I ended up getting 3rd and 4th. Not exactly what I had in mind but not bad for the day.

Next day was the Fort Collins crit. I was riding well; it was either me or my teammate in almost every break. Finally around the 45min mark in a 70min crit a break got away and my teammate was in it. I just stayed towards the front in case someone wanted to try and bridge across. Last lap came around and the break was still off. My teammate sprinted for 7th as I was dodging crashes in the peloton. I made it out clean and in the top 30.

John rides for the Tokyo Joe’s Cycling Team based out of Boulder Colorado and is one the nations top up and coming road cyclists with a power to weight ratio off the charts!