ZENN Racing Team The Zenn Racing Team was formed with a commitment to working together towards our goals as a unit. This team has brought people from different backgrounds and skills together to improve by helping one another. We all share a passion for cycling that helps us to stay healthy and be competitive athletes. Working together with our sponsors, we help to get their message out and by supporting their causes it motivates us all to be better people. We look forward to having a great 2010 season!

Post Danmark Rundt 2010 - Stage 2

Recent News

Watsonville Grand Prix

July 17, 2010
Zenn Racing Team: Scott Fonseca, Chris Ott

Watsonville, CA - After a number of highly contested races in the heat of the Central Valley, where the temps reached well in to the hundreds, the racing schedule headed to cool temperatures near the Santa Cruz coast. Watsonville is a sleepy little coastal farming town where the main industry is agriculture and is home to Giant Berry Farms, the largest berry farm on the west coast and sponsor of Giant Berry Farm’s cycling team.

This year’s event drew a number of racers from the all over California looking to escape the heat and enjoy some fast racing on an exciting course. A couple of those riders were Team Zenn's Chris Ott and Scott Fonseca. Fresh off the 2nd and 3rd place finish the previous week at the Big Lumber Criterium, they were looking to one-up the competition this week.

With a fairly large field of 50 riders, the pace quickly heated up within the first few laps. Some riders were looking to break the field on the hill that encompassed the finish line. And within just a few laps into the race that hill proved to be a launching pad for a six man break, with one of those riders being Scott Fonseca from Zenn Racing. The break consisted of Joel Robertson (Webcor), Robert MacNeill (Los Gatos), Brian Heneghan (Webcor), Dennis Hopp (San Jose), and Nick Theobald (Safeway).



The break proved to be as strong as advertised and they gained a 40 second lead within a few laps of their attack. In the peloton, the teams of Safeway, San Jose and Chris Ott (Team Zenn) put the brakes on anything that went up the road that might disrupt their teammates’ chances for victory.



In the break the group worked well until the gap grew to over a minute and the prospect that they would be brought back was slim. This gave way to a number of attacks; Joel Robertson was the most active, knowing his chances were slim if it came down to a sprint. Fonseca and Theobald were the first to recognize the danger and took turns in bringing Roberts back. With the lap cards now in effect, the tactical monopoly started as each took their turns in attacking in hopes of cracking the bunch. In the main field, Jonathan Eropkin and Chris Wire took their shots in hopes of gaining the remaining places available. Chris Ott was also active, but missed the Wire / Eropkin move and would have to hope his teammate, Fonseca, would finish it off as he settled for the finish.

As the final bell rang the group looked content to finish it off with a sprint, but it was Robertson that would take one last dig at the group. Fonseca, quick to respond, jumped to Robertsons’ wheel and with 500 meters to go, Roberts was in full gas at 55kph and rounded the final corner. It was then that Fonseca with 150 meters jumped for the line.

Now with a clean line to the finish and head down, charging hard, thoughts of what victory solute to pull out crept into his head. Would he have time to pull out the Big Ball solute or maybe the just the hands out solute like Lance Armstrong did when he beat his now teammate, Andres Kloden, in the alpine stage a few years ago…? With only meters to the line and Fonseca running out of gear, it was the San Jose rider, Dennis Hopp, that made a strong move up the gutter to pass Fonseca at the line for victory. All Fonseca could do was shrug his shoulders and say, “Hey, the kick up the hill was the difference and finding the right gear was the game changer. Next year!”



Fonseca and Team Zenn would have to settle for second, but overall a great day out, a good result for the team and more importantly, a cooler day of racing that was appreciated by all…

ZENN RACING TEAM SWEEPS 2nd, 3rd, AND 4th PLACES IN THE BIG CREEK LUMBER CRITERIUM

July 5, 2010
Zenn Racing Team: Rob Cady, Scott Fonseca, Chris Ott

Atwater, CA - The Zenn Racing Team lined up at the Big Creek Lumber Criterium in Atwater, the day after racing in the "4th of July" Criterium Davis. The temperature was still nearly 100 degrees as the whistle blew to start the event. Within the first two laps, Team Safeway's Jonathan Eropkin attacked, which was quickly marked by Chris Ott. A California Giant Strawberry rider also bridged up with the two, however the pace was too fast for him and he was quickly tailed off. As a result, another California Giant Strawberry's sprinter, Keith Defeibre attempted to get up with the two leaders. He got within about 20 meters of the two but then blew up. As he sat up spent from his effort, he noticed Zenn Racing's Scott Fonseca who made it clear that he wouldn't help chase a teammate with another team's sprinter along. Ott and Eropkin then opened a gap of around 10 seconds over the pack.



The pre-race plan had been to get a rider up the road, and then have one or both of the other Zenn Riders bridge up. At the right moment, Scott hit it hard, which was followed by a Metromint rider with Zenn's Rob Cady firmly attached to his wheel.





Ott noticed his teammates had made their move to join, and began to soft-pedal his efforts at the front so they could join up. Obviously this was not ideal for Safeway's Eropkin, who realized he would be significantly outnumbered once the others joined up. So he attempted to attack, however Ott quickly kept it in check. Once the additional firepower of two more Zenn riders joined up, Eropkin attacked once again. The Zenn riders decided to let him get a lead by himself in the wind so he would burn off energy in the heat. The gap grew close to 30 seconds. With 15 laps to go, Zenn planned to hold a steady tempo between them and pull the rogue Safeway rider in with under 5 laps to go. As the laps wound down, it was apparent that Eropkin was putting in a huge effort and was not fading. It required the Zenn Team to dig very deep to close the gap. As they applied more pressure, Rob played the perfect team tactics and tailed off the lone Metromint rider, leaving Scott and Chris to close the remaining gap to Eropkin. With only two laps remaining, Scott used his fitness from 5 weeks training in Europe to close the gap down. On the last lap the two Zenn riders closed just under 5 seconds.



Unfortunately Chris had nothing left in the final meters to get across to Eropkin, giving the Safeway rider a well earned victory with Zenn's Chris Ott rolling in 2nd, Scott Fonseca in 3rd, and Rob Cady winning the sprint for 4th. Comically, Chris and Scott fought to push each other ahead, both wanting to give the other 2nd place. Afterward, Scott recounted that he had given everything in the last two laps to close the gap on Eropkin. As consolation he noted "but we did drop the California Giant Strawberry rider, then lap him, and then drop him again!" Chris stated that "Scott pulled so hard on the last two laps, I had nothing left to close the rest of the gap. We certainly misjudged Team Safeway rider, Jonathan Eropkin's strength today out there... he was really strong." Overall, a good day for Zenn Racing Team, sweeping 2nd, 3rd, and 4th places respectively.

A NEW COURSE AND A WIN FOR TEAM ZENN

May 30, 2010
Zenn Racing Team: Rob Cady, Mike Kelly, and Scott Fonseca

Sacramento, CA - It was a new addition to the Golden State Race Series, a circuit race composed of 11 turns and a 2.3 mile course. The weather also played a key roll with strong south winds on a very open course.

Shortly after the race began, on the second lap, an early attack by Webcor’s Joel Robertson and Morgan Stanley’s Chris Baker went clear. Scott Fonseca, paying close attention, covered the move, knowing that it could stay away. On the next lap, Giant Strawberry’s Jess Moore soloed across to the break, bringing a ton of horsepower. The four worked well together, gaining over 1 minute on the field in the windy conditions.



Back in the peloton, Rob Cady and Mike Kelly covered moves attempting to cross the gap and helped the break to stay away.

On the last lap, Scott set up his finishing move by going clear with 3 turns to go. He powered out of the final corner and took the win, with Chris Baker coming in 2nd and Jess Moore in 3rd.

In addition to the win, Scott also got on the podium for the Golden State Race Series with a 3rd place behind Safeway’s Jan Weissenberger and Morgan Stanley's Chris Baker, who took the jersey for the win. A great win for Scott and Team Zenn before he leaves for Europe!!



Also, a great win for Rich Mader's son, Ben. He rode a strong kid's race and soloed in for the victory for Team Zenn!!

THE ZENN TEAM SHOWED IT'S STRENGHT AT THE SCOTT'S VALLEY GRAND PRIX

May 15, 2010
Zenn Racing Team: Scott Fonseca, Rob Cady, and Chris Ott

Scott's Valley, CA - Zenn Racing Team's Scott Fonseca got into an early break with Safeway's Dan Martin, SJBC's Chris Wire and rode away from the field. The trio gained over 1-minute on the peloton, with Dan Martin taking the win, and Scott Fonseca close on his wheel for 2nd. Back in the peloton, Chris Ott and Rob Cady covered all the moves to help protect the lead of the break. And at the end, Rob took the pack sprint win to gain him 4th place and a spot on the podium.



Scott's Valley GP Results

1. Dan Martin - Safeway
2. Scott Fonseca - Zenn Racing Team
3. Chris Wire - SJBC
4. Rob Cady - Zenn Racing Team

THINGS GET A LITTLE BRIGHTER FOR TEAM ZENN AT THE PG&E CRITERIUM

May 8, 2010
Zenn Racing Team: Rob Cady, Chris Ott and Scott Fonseca


A week has passed but the disappointment hasn’t. After last week’s 4th place finish, Zenn was eager to get this one started and get back to their winning ways. In the shadow of this year’s start of the Wente RR and just miles from last week’s event, the folks from Tri-Valley and PG&E had a great event in store. It was a new event and a new course upon which the Safeway Cycling Team was ready to stamp their approval. Safeway brought out eight riders to this year’s event and was looking for a little resurgence from Nick Theobald and Jonathan Eropkin, who would be a driving force in the final laps.

Much like the week before, the heavy headwinds held the race together, along with strong riding from teams HDR and Safeway, but riders did have their chances. Zenn rider Chris Ott made it into several moves that were set up by teammates Scott Fonseca and Rob Cady. Chris commented, “I was getting so frustrated when I would come across guys that would just sit up and stop pedaling”. John Trefethen was equally frustrated about how the first 40 min happened; “We would go to the front and drive it, but no one would pull through,” Trefethen said after the race.

With only twenty minutes left in the race, Trefethen took his frustration out by launching an attack for the final prime prize of the day. With that move he opened a large gap that caught every one off guard, except one. Scott Fonseca, who had been patiently waiting to pounce, and he took advantage. Fonseca dropped it in the 11 tooth cog and smashed down on the pedals as hard as he could reaching a top speed of 36 mph to catch Trefenthen and as he approached he called out to make sure that John could catch his wheel as he went by. The pass of the first corner brought an opportunity to see the damage that Fonseca and Trefenhten had done - carnage that left riders scrambling. The only riders to stay with the duo were Safeway’s Kyle Glerum and CCCT’s Darryl Smith. The four opened a ten second gap within their first lap and after two laps, driven by both Fonseca and Trefethen, the tandem of Glerum and Smith could no longer hold the pace. Now with a twenty second gap the two set off in pursuit of victory, each burying themselves with the lap cards now out and eight long laps to go.

Safeway, not willing to let this go on, put in several charges that saw Nick Theobald, teammate Jonathan Eropkin, and four others set to bring the two back before that final lap. At three to go the two were caught and now the two was eight. “I surveyed the group and still felt that either he or I (Trefethen) could still finish it off,” commented Fonseca after the race.

The final bell rang indicating that there was one lap left. Immediately the first rider attacked and was caught a short time later. Doug Hall then took his shot attacking the group, but Eropkin was right there to bring him back in hopes that Theobald would take the sprint. Now at the front, Eropkin was left to drive the group to the finish. Trefethen, worried about Fonseca, and took 4th position right behind him as they rounded the final corner with 400 meters left, Trefethen shot up the gutter early. Fonseca responded from the outside, but Trefenthen opened up a three-bike-length gap with a long way to go, catching Fonseca out. With everyone in full flight, Fonseca, at 38 mph, opened a large gap on his follow chasers but would not catch Trefethen, who crossed the line a full bike-length ahead.

Chris Ott commented, “I’m pleased with the result; I think as a team we rode a very tactical race, but we just came up a little short today. But it shows that we are getting faster for this time of year and it’s only building our confidence for the races to come.”

2010 PG&E Criterium Results

1. John Trefethen (1 - Cat2) HDR Racing p/b Lombardi Sports
2. Scott Fonseca (1 – Cat1) Zenn Racing Team
3. Mark Andersen (1 - Cat3) Third Pillar
4. Doug Hall (2 - Cat2) Williams Cycling
5. Nick Theobald (2 - Cat1) SAFEWAY/Bicycles Plus/PureRed
6. Jonathan Eropkin (3 - Cat1) SAFEWAY/Bicycles Plus/PureRed
7. John Fairbanks (3 - Cat2) SAFEWAY/Bicycles Plus/PureRed
8. Keith DeFiebre (4 - Cat2) California Giant Cycling
9. Robert MacNeill (4 - Cat1) Webcor/Alto Velo
10. David Avila (5 - Cat2) One Team Racing
11. Rob Cady (6 – Cat2) Zenn Racing Team

Team Bikes - Build Event

The highly anticipated CX-1 Colnago frames and Campagnolo Super Record 11 grupos finally all came together on Sat. night after the Folsom Criterium on Jan. 31st. A HUGE THANKS goes out to our sponsor Bicycle Emporium for finding killer deals on all the components needed, and for the TLC that was put into setting these bikes up. We will be smokin' fast this year.