Josh Bozue dominates 2018’s full season of cycling races

Josh Bozue of Fairborn and Team 9258 Wealth Management led the field of 79 bicyclists on Oct. 9 to be the first-ever rider to dominate Blue Streak throughout a full seven-event season since Blue Streak began in 1998.

Bozue’s time of 20:36.7 gave him a 29.1 mph average over the 10-mile Blue Streak course. Bozue’s winning time was over a minute faster than second-place finisher Mark Damschroder of Team Ghisallo.

The 33-year-old Bozue said, “I would say overall I was really happy with the weather. We were pretty blessed to have such warm temperatures as the October Blue Streak always seems to be the coldest. The wind wasn’t nearly as much of a factor as I figured it was going to be. I was surprised to have still gone well under 21 minutes given the wind on the way back in.

“This season was the first time I had ever cracked the 29 mph average for this race. I set my PR for Blue Streak in August with a 29.6 average. To have been able to be so consistently over 29 miles an hour for all but two of the races was unexpected but shows it wasn’t a matter of just getting lucky a few times.”

Bozue added, “I am very happy with my time. I was surprised to have gone over 29 mph for an average again. I haven’t done nearly as much volume this year, but an aggregation of other marginal gains in terms of cross training, bike fit, a few equipment tweaks and honestly just being mentally a lot tougher this year have helped limit the losses I would have expected with the lower amount of total miles I’ve ridden this year.”

Regarding Blue Streak, Bozue said, “I love the atmosphere, the course and everything about Blue Streak has such a good feel to it. Blue Streak is beginner friendly and yet you cannot bring much less than your ‘A’ game if you want to get into even the top 20 these days.”

Bozue is now building a new time trial bike for 2019. He plans to ride cyclocross races after he completes the new bike. He also plans to swim, lift weights, run trails and ride his stationary trainer over the winter before returning April 9 for the 21st Blue Streak Time Trial season. His goal for 2019 is to ride his first 30 mph Blue Streak time trial.

Michael Greiner of the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Systems Technology Office rode his third Blue Streak Time Trial Oct. 9 and was the top finisher among base employees. His time of 24:05.3 gave him a 24.9 mph average and 16th place overall.

The Blue Streak Time Trial will begin its 21st season on April 9, 2019.

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