Posted by Dan on 10. March 2010 02:53
The sequel to 2010's Snowball Crit was twice as exciting, twice as crashy and just as warm as the first. Our team showed up in full-force to help set-up the course and contest the C and B races.
Steve Monk (above), Justin, Frank and Dan Ranschaert all lined up for the C race composed of Cat 5s and Juniors. Stated goals prior to the start were as follows: Justin was going to attack from the line, Frank wanted to go after 3 or 4 laps, Steve was shooting for a pack finish and Dan opted not to share his goals, so they are assumed met. After a lap and a half, Justin couldn't wait anymore. He was really hoping for a faster pace so he set one. Frank hopped on his wheel and the two of them opened a healthy gap. The kind of gap that feeds on electrolytes and determination and leaves puddles of lactic acid and a frantic main field as it grows. The two were joined by another rider and possibly a fourth that was sent back to the pack. While changing and preparing for our warm-up, the three of them came sailing by, trying to make sense of the split times they were being given. Wick helpfully told them to "Stop trying to add and just GO GO GO!" And go they did. The three eventually lapped the field. Justin and their third rider moved to the front in preparation for the sprint. Justin took the sprint and Frank casually rolled across the line mid-pack, comfortable with 3rd place. Steve and Dan both finished with the pack. An outstanding race for all four.
Justin, Frank and company.
The B race was arguably less exciting until the bell lap. I've been losing sleep to whatever URI-crud is going around. My lungs feel as though they've been stuffed full of wet cotton that my diaphragm is diligently trying to expel with all its might (to no avail). Disregarding the finest medical training the Navy would give me, I suited up and raced anyway. Wick, Steve Knott and I headed off for 45 minutes of fun in the sun in the third race of the day. Despite my respiratory frailty, the pace seemed a bit slow and I found myself thinking of how to remodel the downstairs bathroom while coasting through the straights and braking in the turns. For the most part, it was your typical Cat 3/4 race - pretty quick, a little sketchy and no one got away. Wick and I chased down the one group that seemed like it had the legs to succeed, though reports from the sidelines indicated they'd broken up and weren't working well together. They were reigned in over the course of a few laps and the rest was pretty quiet. Even after over-exerting myself during the chase, my lungs still felt relatively good. On the bell lap, the jockeying for position began in earnest.
Photo by Kevin Horvath
While the final turn was about 300 meters from the line, the race would be won by one of the first ten people around that turn. In the middle of that turn, I recall being about 20 wheels back with Chris Dinsmore to my left on the outside. Wick was immediately behind him. Though I missed the inciting incident, I did see Chris's bike sit upright and continue to roll to the outside, right into Wick's line who was trying to get by on the outside. Chris was already on his way down and Wick soon joined him. Reports said as many as four went down, but Chris and Wick were the only two left when I made it back around following the sprint (which I completed somewhere in the top 15 - or so I choose to believe). As I made my way back to check on my fallen comrade, the coughing began and didn't quit until after I'd drank roughly 6 bottles of water while sitting in the ER. Wick needed 20 stitches to close up a sucking knee wound and a gaping hole in his elbowflesh.
Photo by Kevin Horvath
Monday, Wick boarded a plane bound for Colorado to go skiing over spring break. We wish him the best of luck and hope he doesn't end up the victim in his own sequel. The rest of Celerity Cycling p/b Fitness Together will be here training, taking advantage of the nice weather, getting ready for the first BAR event of the season - the Dismal Dash Time Trial.
UPDATE:
Lots of pictures uploaded to Flickr:
Lydia's pictures are here
Adam Leopold got a ton of shots of the Womens, Cat 5 and Cat 3/4 races.
Posted by Dan on 1. March 2010 06:40
Celerity Cycling p/b Fitness Together got a taste of how the rich and famous NASCAR crowd lives courtesy of Team Nature's Path/3 Sports. For those brave enough to endure the cold and winds, the Richmond International Raceway Crit gave us a beautifully banked, variable radius circuit to abuse for a few hours, both with most expensive carbon goodies and in some cases, our faces.
Both Frank and Justin were able to squeak into the Cat 5 race. Employing a novel technique once described to me by the triathlon-biased Tim, a rider rumored to be a triathlete went off the front and time trialed his way to the finish. Whoda thunk it? Justin tried to bridge up and expended quite a bit of energy in his valiant attempt. He eventually drifted back into the pack and finished mid-pack. Frank raced more conservatively and clung to the front, coming in 6th in the bunch sprint, 7th overall.
I did the Cat 3/4 and Masters 35+ races. The first one was fairly fast and didn’t let anyone get away, culminating in a bunch sprint. I came in somewhere around 20th. Riding with the more experienced and upper-categories in the second race was a lot different. They all seemed more confident and relaxed. No yelling at one another, very little bumping. A group of 10 or so went off the front from "go", later splitting into 3 and a chase group of 7 that shelled a riders off every so often. Everyone else was comfortably protected from the wind in the main field. A few tried to bridge attempts were quickly caught. Not wanting to drive all the way from Norfolk only to sit-in and not work, I did a little more in this second race, spending a little too much time on the front in the headwind. With 4.5 laps to go, I got a severe hamstring cramp. I sat up made for pit row. The main field kept the momentum up and managed to catch the chase group, but the three leaders kept their lead with Chuck Hutcheson taking a solid 1st place.
I have mixed feelings about the track. It was cool to race on Richmond International Raceway, passing through a tunnel to get to the infield, surrounded by spectator seating and registering in the “drivers’ lounge”. The course was a D shaped track with a pretty serious bank that only track riders would be familiar with. You learn quickly to the unique features to your advantage, such as using excess speed to drift to the outside, then letting gravity advance you a few places when dropping back in. On the downside, the bank caused crowding near the inner edge of the course. There was an epic crash on the bell lap of the Cat 5 race which. Fortunately, neither of our guys went down. There was another crash in our 3/4 race that happened in the same place, just off to my left. All I saw was someone’s rear carbon wheel coming up over their head. I didn’t hang around long enough to see the result, but I heard the familiar crunch and for some reason, the image of Happy Gilmore pulling the sweater over a heckler's head got stuck in my mind.
The lessons learned from this race were easy ones: If you’re racing Cat 5, 4, or even 3, chances are no one is getting away. In that case, there is no reason on earth why you should be anywhere near the front. There is no accordion affect going around corners or mini-sprints to catch up. It’s just motorpacing, as Wick would say (and has). In the Masters 35+ race, where talent and experience are more plentiful, you WANT to be near the front and prepared to cover any moves. The two upcoming Langley Speedway Crits will give us ample opportunity to test these theories.
Lydia's pictures will be posted to Flickr once the camera thaws.
Posted by Dan on 23. February 2010 06:27
At long last, the starting gun fired on Virginia's racing season with the the Snowball Crit, now in its 11th year. The weather was perfect and anyone that's spent more than 30 minutes on a trainer holed up in a garage (or worse) over the past few months turned out to size up everyone else's motivation or chalk up a mass start enroute to Upgradesville.
The team was represented in both the Cat 5/Jrs and the Cat 3/4 races. Justin, Frank, Steve M and Dan lined up in the C race and had a great run. Despite two crashes in their field, all stayed upright and raced very well. No one got away and Justin landed on the podium in 3rd while Frank crossed the line in 11th place. Fantastic results for all riders.
Wick and I took on the 3/4s. Lots of familiar faces, none of which looked excessively fat and full of residual Christmas cheer, much to my dismay. I was promised bloating and apathy. I got the same level of competition we saw at the Sportsplex last September. Shortly after the start, Wick was off the front with another rider, quite likely of the Fat Frogs persuasion. He was no sooner reeled back in when another break took off, this one comprised of Dominik Meier and Lucas Harville. Too strong to let go, I spent a lot of time trying to bridge up, which I eventually did. We were caught shortly after. Another good chase and a few failed attacks of my own and we were back together, headed for the bunch sprint. Having gambled on a few breaks and lost, I had nothing left for the sprint. I rolled across the line in 13th behind Wick who came in 11th.
We didn't have anyone in the A race, but had to stick around to watch Bill Collins and Mike Stoop deliver an impressive performance as they lapped the 1/2/3 field. They made it look way too easy.
Big thanks to Virginia Beach Velo for putting on the race and the city of Chesapeake for providing the venue and police. While a bit of road work in the far corner done over the next two weeks would be super, we'll be happy if Snowball II is even halfway as good as Snowball I. Ok, maybe 3/4. Or like 7/16. That'd be good.
Video of the Cat 3/4 finish:
We've got a ton of pictures to fix and post uploaded to Flickr. Check back soon
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Posted by Dan on 18. February 2010 17:20
Many thanks to Wick Smith at biztoolsone.com for getting some pictures from Sunday's race. They've been posted to Flickr for your viewing enjoyment.
Posted by Dan on 18. February 2010 05:31
Justin's wife Ally got a few pictures of the Celerity Cycling crew as the lead group blew through on lap 3. Pictured are Dan, Justin and Wick.
Posted by Dan on 15. February 2010 20:20
What better way to show your wife how much she means to you than to load up the car and beat feet for North Carolina on Valentine's day, leaving her with the kids to teach Sunday school, perform at a Valentines Day Salon and attend a kid's birthday party? Tired of waiting around for Snowball Crit #1, the Celerity Cycling p/b Fitness Together team set out for North Carolina and the first race of the 2010 season. The Wolfpack Cycling Classic was to be back-to-back road races set in the rolling hills south of Chapel Hill. The snowstorm that swept the south made conditions unraceable on Saturday, but warming temps and a dedicated crew of NCSU cycling team members cleaned up the course so Sunday's race got a green light.
Our race began at 4:00 PM. Temps had reached a balmy 45 degrees and the sun was still shining, though it wasn't planning on hanging around long. A winter race starting at 4:00 PM can quickly turn into a twilight road race, not fit for man nor beast. Our field was composed of roughly 50 Cat 4s and 5s. Looking around, it wasn't difficult to tell which was which. A ton of uncrumpled numbers pinned dead center of plain jerseys gave a clue as to how many new riders there were to be avoided. Being the first race of the season and the first race ever for quite a few participants, keeping the rubber side down was the goal for the day.
Turns out the rolling hills did a lot to separate the group. I hear the first climb on the first lap split the field nearly in half. What I saw was about 20-30 riders in the main group which I assumed to be the entire field. I couldn't get an accurate count of the starting numbers because the 4/5s were mixed in with the Collegiate Mens D riders to form a giant mass of Lycra and carbon fiber. Oddly enough, my attention was on the hairy-legged guys taking up the whole road during the neutral roll-out. Yeah. We'll find out how many started when official results are posted to pre-reg.com.
Course was fairly consistent with some of the road races we did last year, namely Lost River Classic and Tour of Tucker County. The snow and ice had all melted or been removed. The home stretch following Turn 4 was nothing short of miserable. The shade kept it cool(er) and wet. Giant potholes threatened to devour inattentive riders whole should their attention wander. I guess it was fortunate this was all on a serious descent so the field would be strung out, giving some lateral leeway. Being packed tight in a group could have been disastrous. The trick was to follow the lead car - when he swerved over the center line to avoid gaping , we did too.
Laps 1 and 2 were fairly uneventful, unless you were off the back trying to catch on. While I may be getting my facts confused, I believe Frank fell victim to being on the wrong wheel at the wrong time. Following a rider who was allowing a significant gap to open left Frank to fend for himself for quite awhile. Wick, Justin and I remained in the front group of 20 or so. Somewhere around lap 3, we turned it up a bit to thin the herd. I came around Turn 4 putting out some 700 watts and charged into the upcoming hill. Our group was reduced to a dozen or so for the final lap. As usual, no one wanted to work. A few squirrels on the front thought they'd start something but were quickly shut down. The final lap would be a repeat of the 3rd lap - wait until the last turn, then kill it on the climb, descend like a demon and sprint like your life depended on it.
At the crest of the last big climb, there were five of us remaining. I was on the front during the descent when a rider slowly started coming up on my left. Wick was immediately behind me saying, "Now, Dan! Everything you got!" I wasn't sure where the line was in relation to our position, but I went anyway. As I was watching the guy on my left, Wick charged by on the right. I didn't ease up, but I didn't jump either, not wanting to chase my own man down only to nip him at the line. The guy to the left overtook me and a wheel came up on my right. I wasn't giving up any more spots, so I turned it up. It was about then that Wick came drifting by, going backward. I recall one more rider passing me on the left before crossing what I thought was the finish.
When the dust settled, the camera showed an unattached Cat 5 rider in 1st, a Bike Rack rider in 2nd, Wick in 3rd and me in 4th. Justin came in shortly after to secure 9th place, giving Celerity Cycling p/b Fitness Together three of the top 10 finishes, outstanding results for our first race. Kudos to Justin for riding such a strong race. My condolences to Frank who fell victim to the Wrong Wheel. There's no doubt he'll be watching for that on Sunday at the Snowball Crit.
For whatever reason, Lydia did not make it down to take pictures, but Wick's dad did. I'll post them to Flickr when I get them.
Posted by Dan on 8. October 2009 04:31
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 speculators 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.
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