2010 Tour of Hampton Roads

The 2009 racing season is dead, may it rest in peace. It's time to start thinking about winter training and next year's races. The VAC annual meeting in Richmond should be sometime next month and we'll want to be sure we're there with our hands in the air when they firm up the schedule for 2010.

As for the training, I've enlisted the help of one of Hunter Allen's canned plans from TrainingPeaks and am in a good place with my program.

As for races, so far we've got a contract with Langley Speedway to do a crit on Sunday, June 6th. It's been two years since anyone's hosted a race here and it seemed like a safe bet for a BAR race.

On the more exotic side, I've been wanting to start a bigger race, maybe a stage race or omnium, starting in Virginia Beach at the ocean front and finishing atop Reddish Knob in Harrisonburg. A race this size probably requires two years to plan, so we may stay in the Hampton Roads area and do only three races instead of four. I'm having some luck getting a prologue and crit or two together, but the road race may prove to be a challenge. There's still a ton of calls to make so we'll see how enormous of a project this will be before we mention it to Bill Henderson for inclusion in the 2010 calendar.

For now, we'll keep quiet about possible race sites because I can see how much fun it is for spectulators to guess. I will say we're shooting for a TT, crit and road race. Please feel free to post your guesses as a comment. We may be short of ideas.

To throw another wrench in the works, I'm being forced to go to France for the entire month of July. It'll be hard to organize a race from the Col du Tourmalet as 180 or so cyclists work their way to the summit while a bazillion fans scream, shout and strip, but I'll try. I guess.

Should anyone come across a nice 1-ish mile loop in a secluded area with no traffic, please let us know. We'd love to do another training series, but just can't bring ourselves to have everyone drive to Virginia Beach for a 0.4 mile circuit around half of the Sportsplex course.

Bare Bones Training Crit #5

Thanks to everyone who came out for the fifth and final race in the Bare Bones series. Though it looked like we'd have to call it for weather, the rain stopped, the clouds parted and the F-18s returned to frolic in the afternoon sun. Before we get to the results, I want to thank Danielle Craven, Jenni Goyet, Jessi Larrick and Gilbert Craven for donating their time to officiate the races and the prizes, primes and help received from John Vobrak and Hilton Cycling Club. We wouldn't have gotten very far without them.

The East Coast Bicycles Kids' Race was down to three riders, all serious competitors determined to defend their title or overthrow the reigning champion. Dane Craddock, with four wins under his belt, led the group in another spirited pursuit around the Sportsplex course. In a dramatic climax, Benny Netzer charged after the leader, passing Elijah Shipp and nearly catching Dane before the finish. All three riders did a great job and were great sports, having gone head to head (to head) over the course of the series.

1		Dane Craddock	Fat Frogs Racing
2		Benny Netzer	Team Fitness Together
3		Elijah Shipp	Team Fitness Together

The second race of the evening was sure to be anything but uneventful. With no rain and little wind, it was 45 minutes of attack this and chase that. A break of a dozen or so eventually stuck and provided the rabbit to keep the main field occupied for the remainder of the race. Congratulations to Albe Rodenas, Gene Rutledge, Hobie Whitmore and Joshua Goyet on winning the Newport News Contes' gift cards, East Coast Bicycles jersey and cyclecomputer. If they haven't received their prize, they should probably email me.

1		Bill Collins	Virginia Beach Velo
2		Gene Rutledge	CVCC
3		Kyle Knott	Team Fitness Together
4		Mike Hosang	TriPower
5		Marc Greco	TriPower
6		Dan Craft	Atlantic Velo
7		Elliot Craddock	Seigler Sports
8		Dan Rutter	Hilton Cycling Club
9		Andy DeMarchena	Fat Frogs Racing
10		Ira Gallagher	Hilton Cycling Club
11		Jeff Parker	Virginia Beach Velo
12		Harlan Ward	Atlantic Velo
13		Chad Holm	TriPower
14		Travis King	Hilton Cycling Club
15		Mark Wilson	Atlantic Velo
16		Tim Faller	Team Fitness Together

And with that the 2009 racing season drew to a close. Next race is the Snowball Crit in February.

Bare Bones Training Crit #4

The thunder over Virginia Beach tonight wasn't the approaching storm. No, it was the mighty horde of lycra-clad warriors tearing up the Virginia Beach Sportplex crit course yet again. That or the F-18s flying overhead every 10 minutes - hard to tell which.

Tonight's race led off with another riveting kids' race brought to us by East Coast Bicycles. With the biggest field yet, this one promised to provide quite a show for the throngs of spectators that lined the course.

From the word go, Sadie, Griffin and Dawson jumped on their pedals and left the line with such a powerful sprint that any hope of holding a straight line was quickly abandoned. The three of them charged off into turn one and settled in for the ride ahead. Meanwhile, back at the line, the rest of the field was snorting and chomping at the bit, ready to chase down the rabbits that had been given a healthy head start. When their turn finally came, they got right down the task at hand, namely catching and demoralizing the little kids that had gone up the road what seemed like hours ago. Which they did in about 30 seconds. A few minutes later, Dane Craddock came rocketing around the final turn and made for the line. Right behind him was Elijah Shipp, riding hard to catch Dane. Benny and Mason were close behind, jockeying for the last podium position. Griffin and Dawson finished shortly after, grinning ear to ear. Sadie was the last in, striking a few racing poses for the team photographer.

Kids' Race Results:

1. Dane Craddock (Fat Frogs Racing)
2. Elijah Shipp (Team Fitness Together)
3. Benny Netzer (Team Fitness Together)
4. Mason Marshall (unattached)
5. Brayton Poteat (Team Poteat)
6. Griffin Poteat (Team Poteat)
7. Dawson Poteat (Team Poteat)
8. Sadie Netzer (Team Fitness Together)

At 6:15, the rest of us got down to our own race. Maybe two early breaks were attempted before a small one got away. A few more riders made a group just shy of a dozen that managed to stay off until the finish. And that's about it. Not quite as exciting as the first race of the evening, but I like to think it was a bit faster. We were all glad to see Elliot Craddock is up and about (though not racing yet), the first and only person to "successfully" fuse cycling and base jumping.

Full Results for Bare Bones Crit #4

1 Brent Lehew (Atlantic Velo)
2 Gene Rutledge (CVCC)
3 Chad Holm (TriPower)
4 Dan Netzer (Team Fitness Together)
5 Mike Stoop (Team Mountain Khakis)
6 Travis King (Hilton Cycling Club)
7 Andy DeMarchena (Fat Frogs Racing)
8 Ira Gallagher (Hilton Cycling Club)
9 Harlan Ward (Atlantic Velo)
10 Dan Craft (Atlantic Velo)
11 Mike Hosang (TriPower)
12 Kyle Knott (Team Fitness Together)
13 Chris Rosen (Atlantic Velo)
14 John Gray (Virginia Beach Wheelmen)
15 Bill Collins (Virginia Beach Velo)
16 Dan Rutter (Hilton Cycling Club)
17 Joshua Goyet (Virginia Beach Wheelmen)
18 Kevin Horvath (TriPower)
19 Bryan Sorrell (Atlantic Velo)
20 Jeff Parker (Virginia Beach Velo)
21 Anthony Bozarth (Hilton Cycling Club)
22 Timothy Pope (Fat Frogs Racing)
23 Justin Leopold (Unattached)
24 Sally McMahon (TriPower)
25 John O'Neal (All About Bikes)
26 Eric Wooden (Hilton Cycling Club)
27 Hobie Whitmore (Atlantic Velo)
28 ??
29 Shawn Buddenhagen (All About Bikes)
30 Albe Rodenas (All About Bikes)
31 Pete Tempest (TriPower)
32 Steve Monk (Team Fitness Together)
33 Junjie Wang (Unattached)
34 Wick Smith (Team Fitness Together)
35 Art Marks (TriPower)
36 Mark Wilson (Atlantic Velo)
37 Keith Johnson (Carolina Masters)
38 Doug Mikatarian (Fat Frogs Racing)
39 Eric Pines (Unattached)
40 Frank Cundiff (Unattached)
41 Daniel Ranschaert (Unattached)

Thanks to everyone that made it out tonight. Special thanks to all our refs for donating their time and to the Hilton Cycling Club volunteers and VBPD for keeping us from being run down and/or pelted with rocks. Next week's race will be at the same time - 5:30 registration, 6:00 kids' race and 6:15 main race.

Bare Bones Training Crit #3

This Wednesday's race was very similar to the last week's. While it didn't rain (much), the winds were back and as strong as ever. Once again, the back stretch proved the perfect place for attacks. Over and over they came, and each was chased down except, of course, that one that got away. Bill Collins, Mike Stoop and Elliot Craddock somehow managed to slip away. Numerous chase groups formed and became too difficult to keep track of. Gene Fowler, Chris Rosen and Tyler Karnes managed to keep their group out of the fray directly behind the lead group. Whether or not they ever made contact is beyond me as I was sucking wind in the main field. What I do know is that one or more of the chase groups contained team members who had other team members that hung back to thwart our efforts to catch anything. Therein lies this week's lesson: never assume anyone on the front shares your goals. The safe money says their job is to thwart you.

The official results of the third Bare Bones Training crits:

Kids' Results:
1 Dane Craddock (Fat Frogs Racing)
2 Shelby Holm (TriPower)
3 Elijah Shipp (Team Fitness Together)
4 Benny Netzer (Team Fitness Together)
5 Ethan Sorrell (Atlantic Velo)
5 Mason Marshall (Unattached)

Crit #3 Results:
1 Elliot Craddock (Seigler Sports)
2 Bill Collins (Virginia Beach Velo)
3 Mike Stoop (Team Mountain Khakis)
4 Gene Fowler (Final Kick)
5 Chris Rosen (Atlantic Velo)
6 Tyler Karnes (Hincapie Development)
7 Brent Lehew (Atlantic Velo)
8 Joshua Goyet (Virginia Beach Wheelmen)
9 Chad Holm (TriPower)
10 Jeff Parker (Virginia Beach Velo)
11 Jon Nisbet (Virginia Beach Wheelmen)
12 Kyle Knott (Team Fitness Together)
13 Andy DeMarchena (Fat Frogs Racing)
14 Timothy Pope (Fat Frogs Racing)
15 Kevin Horvath (TriPower)
16 Art Marks (TriPower)
17 John O'Neal (All About Bikes)
18 Rob Dinterman (Final Kick)
19 Sally McMahon (TriPower)
20 Bryan Sorrell (Atlantic Velo)
21 Anthony Bozarth (Hilton Cycling Club)
22 Tim Faller (Team Fitness Together)
23 Dan Rutter (Hilton Cycling Club)
24 Travis King (Hilton Cycling Club)
25 Hobie Whitmore (Atlantic Velo)
26 Mike Hosang (TriPower)
27 Tim Shockley (Virginia Beach Wheelmen)
28 Harlan Ward (Atlantic Velo)
29 Dan Netzer (Team Fitness Together)
30 Mark Wilson (Atlantic Velo)
31 Ira Gallagher (Hilton Cycling Club)
32 Robert Netsch (GS Outer Banks)
33 Doug Mikatarian (Fat Frogs Racing)
34 Pete Tempest (TriPower)

Next race is Wednesday, 9/16 at 6:15. Kids' race to start at 6:00 again.

4th Annual Deep Blue Time Trial

Last weekend while in South Carolina for their state road race championship, I stumbled upon the 4th Annual Deep Blue Time Trial in Middletown, DE. Delaware? Sure, why not. It was a mere three weeks ago that Tim and I ventured up to Church Creek, MD for their time trial, so what was another hour or so? When I saw the payout for the Cat 4 race was $60 paid three deep, it was a done deal.

I recruited a support crew by bribing them with a swimming pool at the hotel and dinner at the Olive Garden. We left Norfolk around 2:00 PM on Friday and headed up the Eastern Shore. Shortly after entering Maryland, I was pulled over and given a warning for 69 mph in a 55 zone. Oops. It was Labor Day weekend and local law enforcement was EVERYWHERE.

Several days later (or so it seemed), we arrived at the Comfort Suites in Newark, DE. Interesting place. They couldn't figure out how to apply my discount code. There were no towels in our room (none!). Our bathroom sink was a giant basin on a giant counter making it impossible for my two children to brush their teeth without standing on my shoulders. Numerous switches, drains and latches were missing or broken. The curtains wouldn't close all the way because of the air conditioner/heater AND giant halogen parking lot lights were pointed right at our window ALL NIGHT LONG. And this was in one of the newly renovated rooms. The third floor was still under construction. The icing on the cake was the pool that had a maximum occupancy of 4 and was cold. When they finally delivered towels, they brought us 5 bath mats (yes, actual bath mats) - coarse, too small and (probably) covered with hotel-grade soap-resistant mushrooms or worse. They get zero stars and I'd highly recommend you share your trunk with a rabid badger before staying at the Comfort Suites in Newark, DE. Before you label me a hotel snob, consider that I happily stayed at the Lost River Grill and Motel.

Saturday morning we shoved the kids out of bed, packed up and headed down to breakfast in the lobby. Lydia packed my usual race-day meal so I was spared a breakfast of danish and Froot Loops. The kids crammed some stuff in their gobs and we set out for the race.

My start time was 9:38 AM. We arrived around 8:00. I had plenty of time to setup the tent, setup the bike, dress and warm-up. I even took a break at 20 minutes to stretch and then warmed up some more. Seriously - early arrival rocks. My watch was a minute or two slow, so by the time I made it to the line, my 30-second man was about to start. You can't finish your warm-up any closer to the start time than that.

The course was 10.8 miles out-and-back with a slight to moderate climb just before the turnaround. I understand it's typically very windy, but today's wind was about 5 mph from NNW - tailwind out, headwind back. The road conditions, though reportedly better, were still a bit rough, maybe as rough as Tidewater Dr.



I always have trouble with distances shorter than 40k because shorter races are never the same length, making it difficult to nail down a good pacing strategy. I'll typically guess at a speed to estimate my time, then use the TrainingPeaks WKO+ Mean Maximal Power Curve to get an idea of where I should be for the duration. Today, I just rode hard from the gun. I glanced at my speed - not heart rate or power - just to confirm my efforts were paying off. I saw 29-30 mph most of the time. Keep in mind there was a tailwind on the way out. I pushed it up the hill, averaging 450+ watts for the duration, then turned around. The route back had a headwind and seemed to require a lot more work. Halfway home, I felt like I was going to blow up, the inevitable consequence suffered by riders who go out too hard. My legs were burning, but not cooked. It became a mental game to keep going. I was not going to blow up. I came around the final curve and made for the finish line. This one wasn't even 11 miles long, but it hurt.

Results came out and my time was 0:24:37 which put me in first place. Second was 10 seconds behind and third was a 1:04 minutes back. Needless to say, I was very happy with this ride. My only regret was not doing it twice. That was a long way to drive for a 24 minute ride.

Considering the great weather, challenging course and my performance, this was a great race and well organized. Thanks to Team DRT and their sponsors for putting it on. If I had to make a suggestion, I'd mumble something about the forward official calling back rider numbers also make it a point to get motorists out of the finish zone. With the start and finish lines so close together and riders congregating on the road near both, motorists were hesitant to "push on through" and would slow to a stop just as riders were sprinting for the line. Made for some unhappy finishers and scared drivers.

PICTURES of the 4th Annual Deep Blue Time Trial were taken, processed and posted by Lydia, for whom we are super appreciative.

Bare Bones Training Crit #2

Wednesday night we ran the second Bare Bones Training crit at the Virginia Beach Sportsplex. We started this one at 6:15 instead of 7:00, so we had plenty of light to finish by. New this week was a 15 mph wind coming in from the northeast making the back stretch a bit on the brutal side while the finish sprint should be blazing fast with the strong tailwind.



The kids' race went first. In a one-lap sprint with gale force winds blowing down the back stretch, four of the area’s best young riders took to the start line. The ‘head start for training wheels’ rule was in effect, so Sadie Netzer headed out with determined expression and Legs of Doom. Dane Craddock, Elijah Shipp and Benny Netzer gave chase a few moments later.

The peloton gave chase and eventually caught the lead rider (well before the first turn) and settled in to tackle the brutal headwind. The fight was bitter, but when they caught the tailwind on the home stretch, Dane was in the lead, followed by Elijah while Benny continued to hone his drafting skills. Sadie made a left mid-course and finished a while later with a giant smile on her cheating face.



Final Results of Kids’ Race #2:
Dane Craddock (definitely NOT Dale) of Fat Frogs Racing
Elijah Shipp of Team Fitness Together
Benny Netzer of Team Fitness Together
Sadie Netzer of Team Fitness Together



The main race went next. It started about like last week with a decent tempo that would slow in the headwind, but by no means did the work let up. Each time we made the turn into the wind, you could count a few riders attacking. Most didn't have a large enough group to combat the winds and would eventually drift back. As luck woudl have it, one break finally stuck, composed of Team Mountain Khaki's Mike Stoop, Mike Hosang, Marc Greco, Elliot Craddock and Dan Craft. The peloton spent the next 45 minutes chasing them. I can only assume they got away because NO ONE could ever imagine a group as weak this riding away like that.



There were numerous chase groups formed, but none were successful. The lead group eventually dropped Dan Craft who came back to the field to participate in the bunch sprint for fifth place. While I couldn't see them, rumor has it the lead group lapped the main field and crossed the line as we started the bell lap.

The official results are below, but there's one rider missing from here. Tim Faller (#136) finished in 12th place. I know this because he and Kyle were right next to each other when I came between them. The three of us crossed the line at nearly the same time. I can only assume that we were stacked up and the camera missed him, but I know he was on my right. So there's that.

Pictures have been posted, courtesy of my wife, Lydia.

Full (official) results:

1 Mike Stoop (Team Mountain Khakis)
2 Mike Hosang (TriPower)
3 Marc Greco (TriPower)
4 Elliot Craddock (Seigler Sports)
5 Brent Lehew (Atlantic Velo)
6 Joshua Goyet (Virginia Beach Wheelmen)
7 Andy DeMarchena (Fat Frogs Racing)
8 Kevin Horvath (TriPower)
9 Dan Craft (Atlantic Velo)
10 Kyle Knott (Team Fitness Together)
11 Dan Netzer (Team Fitness Together)
12 Art Marks (TriPower)
13 Bill Collins (Virginia Beach Velo)
14 Chad Holm (TriPower)
15 Zack Kyler (Seigler Sports)
16 Tom Grinnan (Team Carytown)
17 Tim Shockley (Virginia Beach Wheelmen)
18 Timothy Pope (Fat Frogs Racing)
19 Sally McMahon (TriPower)
20 Michael Tamayo (Virginia Beach Wheelmen)
21 Junjie Wang (Unattached)
22 Joe Altomare (Hilton Cycling Club)
23 Jeff Brown (TriPower)
24 Pete Tempest (TriPower)
25 Jeff Parker (Virginia Beach Velo)
26 Mark Wilson (Atlantic Velo)
27 Steve Monk (Team Fitness Together)
28 Bryan Sorrell (Atlantic Velo)
29 Ira Gallagher (Hilton Cycling Club)
30 Russell Jones (CRC)
31 Harlan Ward (Atlantic Velo)
32 Keith Johnson (Carolina Masters)
33 Hobie Whitmore (Atlantic Velo)
34 Travis King (Hilton Cycling Club)

SC State Championship Road Race - Cat 4 Finish

Dave Cobb of Team Traveller got a few pictures of the Cat 4 finish.





See more of Dave's photos of the South Carolina State Championship Road Race and the USA Cycling Pro Championship Road Race in Greenville on flickr.com.