Posted by Dan on 22. June 2010 19:03
Following our monster race on Saturday was the Peter Teeuwen Memorial Omnium 23-Mile Time Trial (#1) in Chesapeake. Steve M. volunteered to be the Time Keeper which is fine as he doesn't care for TTs anyway. Frank and I were joined by teammates John Lomogda and Jonathan Harris of Running Etc. An early arrival gave plenty of time to get a good warm-up in under the tent and away from the sun's melting rays. Frank and I would be riding against our fellow Cat 4s in the combined 1/2/3/4 category while John would be doing the Masters 40+ and Jonathan went off with the Cat 5s.
I was the first Cat 4 off the ramp. There was a slight southerly breeze, but mostly it was just hot. Ten minutes after my start, I rolled across the flattened remains of tiny grass snake. Poor thing would be run over a bazillion more times that day as it lay there, slowly baking away. Lots of caterpillars and a small frog of some sort had also been run down and left to fry. The ditch held the rotting carcass of a deer. Not a good day to be an animal out on Shillelagh Rd.
Aside from the plethora of road kill, the rest of the ride was rather unexciting. The fifth turn almost got exciting as a car that had pulled onto the road in front of me made it to the intersection first. The officer working that corner quickly cleared them and my ride went on without having to draw on my creating cornering skills (of which I have none). The final stretch came and went. I returned to the comfort of the tent and enjoyed a traditional post-race Diet Coke while I waited for the rest of the team.
Frank slid across the line in a cyan and Madone blur. John came in a while later. I'd passed Jonathan heading out as I was finishing, so we wouldn't see him for awhile. Results were posted at long last and I placed 3rd in the 1/2/3/4 group, 1st Cat 4 with a time of 0:50:27. Frank was 18th overall, 11th Cat 4 with a time of 0:55:24. John took 3rd in his category with a time of 00:51:45 and Jonathan finished in 1:04:50 for 22nd.
Next weekend is the VB Wheelemen/Team Vanderkitten Smithfield HAMmer Fest 2-Man Team Time Trial. John and I will be doing the 27+ mile course in under 50 minutes or YOUR MONEY BACK!! After that is a little thing up in Reston.
Posted by Dan on 22. June 2010 18:42
I spent the better portion of last week sitting around watching the sun kill my lawn. Saturday came at long last and Wick and I set out for fragrant Richmond and points beyond. 20 miles beyond to be precise. Team Nature's Path gathered some cones and officials and threw a killer circuit race at the Meadows near the Kings Dominion Center for People Who Can't Race Bikes Good Or Maybe Didn't Know They Were Doing It Right Down The Road. This course was advertised as having 9 90-degree corners and a hill. What it really had was 9 90-degree turns, a pair of constant-radius loops, a chicane ending with a 100+ degree turn leading to a short hill with a few more curves, corners, descents and swirling winds for days. The 200 meter mark was immediately after a left hand turn and 100 meters before the final right hander leaving little room for a proper sprint. Throw in the heat and you got yourself all the ingredients for a event folks will talk about for months and years to come.
Frank and Steve M. would also be joining us in our race, but before we got that far, we someone convinced fellow Monday night attendee to fork out the cash for an annual license and gear up for the 5 race. Kirk is a strong rider who's chased down our group from miles away without breaking a sweat, so we were sure he'd do well in his first race ever. Unfortunately, I missed the end, but word is Kirk rode a great race, staying near (but off) the front and covered all the moves. His race ended in a bunch sprint where he got 6th. Fantastic results for his first race. We all learned from his race that you didn't want to be too far from the front coming around the second to last corner on the bell lap.
We warmed up while the 3s did their thing and lined up an hour later. Our race would be 21 laps around the 1.4 mile circuit. Wick, Frank and I took the line with Steve right behind us. 42 other riders joined us and we got our last minute instructions. The ref blew the whistle and we were off. Once again, my left pedal betrayed me and the entire field passed by me as I sat there shaking my head. I eventually clipped in and took off, getting to the front after an entire lap or so as Wick led the pack on a high-speed run to weed out the non-cornering types among us. After 5 laps, I charged up the hill and found myself with a small gap. For whatever reason, they let me go so the gap opened to 15 seconds or so. I maintained that for another 8 laps while my teammates did their best to relax the pace in the chasing peloton.
I passed a few lapped riders on the descent when John Hessian of Carytown rolls up on my right, accompanied by Tim Pope of Fat Frogs and Hugh Brown of team Rostello/Cycor. The calvary had finally arrived. Our gap opened up to a week and a half as we worked our way through the remaining 6 or 7 laps. The heat, pace, hill and more heat took its toll. Only 23 of the initial 46 finished. The rest melted into a pile of carbony human goo. Of those that made it, only 10 were on the lead lap. My group charged the line and I fought to hang on, finishing 4th. Frank came in with the pack in 7th, Wick in 10th and Steve hung on for 18th. I'd say we were pretty happy with three riders in the top 10.
A giant "merci beaucoup" to Kevin Horvath of VB Wheelmen and his Photo Posse for the pictures. Thanks to Team Nature's Path for finding yet another great venue. Maybe next year's course could run through a waterfall or ride-through freezer? Just a thought...
Posted by Dan on 15. June 2010 18:19
Things were fairly quiet for Celerity Cycling this weekend. Team Vanderkitten - Virginia Beach hosted the only race of the weekend on the Snowball Crit course from earlier this year. It's a nice course, but it seems to have gotten really hot. Donning the kit in anger this weekend would be Dan R., Frank, Mike Shipp and me. Steve M. would be prancing about in his sky blue polo, waving his clipboard at the naughtier cyclists among us and enjoying the delicious lunch that Team Vanderkitten provided the officials. Evidently they didn't like the leftover hot dogs WE gave them last weekend. Whatever.
Yeah, that's Steve and his clipboard (left). Taking a little break from prancing I guess.
First race for us would be Dan R. in the Cat 5 field. Dan is less than a week off a tour of half the US by bike. He came back to Hampton Roads and ran some ungodly distance a few days before the race. This guy is a monster. After his race started, it appeared he wasn't happy with the pace being set so he set out to ride his own race - off the front. Unfortunately, in a Cat 4-like move, the pack followed his every move. The cat and mouse games wouldn't deter him, though. Eventually, his efforts left him needing rest and the pack rode off without him while he took it. He took on the role of Mama Duck as he chased the main field with several other riders clinging to his wheel for dear life. He eventually shelled them, but never caught the field. Considering I can't run half a mile - ever - and he just ran 9 miles after doing 150 miles/day on the bike for several weeks, we'll give him a pass on this one.
Dan R. in one of his many off-the-front moments.
The masters race was run immediately before the 4 race so I took a pass and lined up with the latter group. Twenty-four riders turned out to brave heat which had to be closing in on 200 degrees. There were two rules for this race: Always Be Hydrating and never slow down - that wind keeps you from melting.
Mike checking to see if he's melting.
I'm always eager to try one of those "took off from the start and was never seen from again" moves, so I jumped at the whistle. Turns out it's a lot more work than it looks like. With the entire pack in one convenient package, we meandered around the course a couple three times before Frank slipped away off the front with Jerry Hadley (TriPower) and an unidentified Fat Frogs rider. You've probably read enough of these to know they didn't last too long. When they came in, I took a stab at it. I was soon joined by what would be the members of the winning group composed of the entire bloody main field. No one was getting away today. We tried, oh how we tried. The power file shows numerous attempts at getting away all followed by that tell-tale flat period where I coasted while waiting for a wheel for me to grab as they passed by me. Mike even took a short lived shot at a break.
Frank surrounded by the TriPower Secret Service. They'd eventually let him crash.
And so it went until the bell lap. The pace ramped up as we approached the dreaded 2nd 90 degree turn. This is the same corner Wick crashed in back in March. Everyone wants to go fast and wide through that turn so if you're unfortunate enough to find yourself on the outside, there's a high probability that you're going down. Frank found this out the hard way, though not quite as hard as Wick. Frank landed in the grass, on his back, staring up at the clouds having been put in the curb by the charging hoard. I chose a nicer, happier line closer to the inside, much in the same way Frank chose an inside line in Fayetteville, and found myself in a prime position to contest the sprint, still around fifth wheel. I finished third and Mike came in close behind in 9th. Frank picked up his bike, now with Authentic Battle Damage! and limped across the line in 21st. This guy can crash, daydream about cloud puppies and STILL not finish last! He's unstoppable!
Frank is fine though still firmly convinced he was feeling good enough to win that race had he not been forced out. I'm pretty sure he's right. We all thank Team Vanderkitten for hosting the race. Next weekend is the Team Nature's Path Crit in Richmond and the Peter Teeuwen Memorial Omnium 23 Mile Time Trial #1.
All pictures in this post courtesy of BJ Samuel of Team Vanderkitten.
Posted by Dan on 8. June 2010 05:13
The call for local races in Hampton Roads was answered this weekend with a pair of fine crits presented by Team TriPower and Celerity Cycling p/b Fitness Together. First up was the Amphibious Assault Crit held within the heavily guarded Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek - Fort Story. Wick and Frank took their chances with the gate guards, the wind and new-for-2010 furnacey heat (as opposed to last year's rain). Had the winds shifted 180 degrees, it might have been very pleasant with cool bay breezes pushing riders down the back stretch. Instead, they got hot winds from the southwest making things miserable. I was comfortably seated in a church somewhere in Virginia Beach listening to the soothing music at my children's violin recital so if you want details, check out Frank's blog. We don't write about such things here. SPOILER: Congratulations to Frank on his 4th place finish following some hard work and wise moves.
Sunday was our turn to promote. All season long, we take take take. It was time we gave something back. Something fast, oval and hot. We thoughtfully held our race on the inland side of the tunnel at the Langley Speedway in Hampton. To put it in food terms, racing at Langley Speedway is like the microwave popcorn of the racing world - just set up an official's tent, add riders and BEEEP! you've got a race.
The first race we participated in was the Cat 4 run right after the juniors when it was a cool 90 degrees out. Frank, Wick and I took a break from whatever it was we were doing while my wife ran registration and lined up. Steve M. graciously agreed to help in the officials' tent so he didn't get to race. Steve has our undying gratitude (but not our money). Thanks, Steve!
The 4 race started out fast and simmered down after a lap or two. Wick was the first off the front. He regretted his decision as he motored past the lap board which read '56' or some awful number like that. The pack seemed unwilling to play his reindeer games and he was caught within a few laps. Very shortly after I was gone with Hugh Brown of Rostello/Cycor and a TriPower rider. We had a good thing going but soon lost TriPower. Hugh and I fought the pain of our loss and continued on until a catch looked imminent with something like 42 to go and he decided to sit up. I opted to do the opposite, opening the gap a little more.
The last thing in the world I expected at that time was for Frank to come sashaying up and suggest we "do this." A brief glance confirmed we still had a gap so we kept it up. Back in the pack, Wick was having the time of his life causing hate and discontent by disrupting any semblance of organization that dared raise its frail, wobbly head. Frank and I whittled away the laps until we hit 10 to go and we were joined by Noah Clevinger of JRVS/Casey Auto. The three of us worked to near exhaustion and finished ahead of the pack. Frank and I took 1st and 2nd (not necessarily in that order) and Noah got 3rd. Always nice to win your own race. Thanks, Frank and Wick!
Fat Frogs hosted a race at Langley Speedway in April during their well-attended race weekend and had to cancel their track events due to low turnout. In an attempt to entice roadies to give track events another chance, we tacked on an all-categories, all-ages, road-bike-only Miss & Out race. Frank and I would do this one too because that's the kind of people we are. Unfortunately for me, I did not study up on Miss & Out tactics (or any track tactics for that matter) so I was absolutely clueless. I figured I'd ride this like a crit, tucking in a safe spot and coming around just before the line. That worked for the first two laps, but I found myself all boxed in with nowhere to sprint on the third. Not wanting to stop the race to fill out an incident report (especially if it was on me), I was out. Frank went on to finish 5th out of 11. Congratulations to Mark King, Kevin Horvath and Tim Pope for their finishes in this extremely fun race. We'll be doing more of these soon.
Photo courtesy of BJ Samuel.
The final race for our team would be the masters race. After a few very tame warm-up laps, Dan King, Tim Mullins and I went off the front. We lapped the field in what seemed like 5 laps. Maybe a little more, probably less. We mingled with the field and were shortly joined by the chase group that had followed us from the way back when. Now we had a peloton with 50% of the riders on the lead lap. Having not taken inventory of the chase group, it was difficult knowing who was who so everything was countered. At some point near the end, Bill Scanlon slipped away virtually unnoticed. When the bunch sprint finally rolled around, he'd already won and I was ready for a nap. Riding Frank's really old 9-speed Fuji Roubaix with a 10-speed cassette and the most uncomfortable bars ever made, sprinting was probably a bad idea so I just sat there and took 10th.
With that, our racing for the day came to an end. We had a few more races to go before we packed up and went home. We want to thank the folks at Brooks Systems, Langley Speedway, concessioners, officials and each and every rider and spectator that came out to brave the heat and race, making this a fantastic and incident-free event. I'll be ecstatic if our Campus Crit at ODU on 8/1 runs half as smooth as this one.
Lydia got some pictures of the Cat 4 and Masters races. They'll be posted here when ready.
UPDATE: Results have been posted.
Posted by Dan on 2. June 2010 15:51
Like last year, Memorial Day weekend came into focus with no local races in sight. Desperate to get our fast on, we turned to our friends in West Virgina and North Carolina for a bit of holiday competition. Frank and I were the only riders on the team hard/foolish enough to embark on an epic three-day tour of the Mid-Atlantic. The rest really missed out.
Photo courtesy of Dave Cobb @ Team Traveller.
First up was the Tour of Tucker County in Thomas, WV. Wick and I did this race last year and loved the fact that we both nearly died on the final climb. Wick was unable to get away from work, but nothing was going to keep me from being humbled by this stupid hill. Frank is always up for anything, so even though he knows he'll never be mistaken for a mountain goat, he eagerly charged head-first into West Virginia and a chance to vomit on Sugarlands Rd.
We drove to Harrisonburg the Friday night and set out for Thomas early Saturday morning. Writing this now, I realize it was the hotel's continental breakfast that is largely to blame for my lackluster performance later that day. Probably 50% was the breakfast, the other half was the bed linens. They were stiff and uncomfortable and if you've ever raced before, you know how important a good night's sleep is.
Photo courtesy of Dave Cobb @ Team Traveller.
Things kicked off with a riders' meeting in the parking lot of the Tucker County High School. All we heard was "pot holes", "roads are bad" (mmmkay?), "keep an eye out for wildlife" and that the center-line rule in full effect. From there we made our way down US-219 to Sugarlands Rd. and the descent to the start line. The trip down takes only a few minutes. It's the grind back up that'll kill you. One poor soul had to start his race on a loaner wheel after his carbon wheel exploded in a most spectacular fashion. Close examination of the carnage revealed the brake pad had melted to the rim. His wasn't the only casualty, just the only one I heard.
The 1/2/3s went off and we moved up. Another reading of the rules and a few minutes later we were off. We rolled easy down the rest of the hill and along the river to St. George where we'd make a right turn and immediately begin climbing. As I explained to Frank on the ride over, ad nauseum, you want to stay with the lead group, riding easy and letting them pace you up the hill. Start out as close to the front as you can without actually setting the pace, the slowly drift back. Come the summit, you'll be on the back or just off it and should be able to rejoin easily. Piece of cake.
Frank's calf seized half-way up and he got dropped. I followed my own advice until I thought it might be cool to try and attack a little bit. My attack was short lived and I found myself on the front pacing everyone else. I casually stepped aside and let a few riders by. The new guy on the front kicked it up a notch and just like that, I was off the back with more climbing to go.
The lead group got maybe 30 seconds ahead. A small group formed behind me and I began the chase. I had some help, but wound up doing way more work than I should have. We did eventually latch back on while still descending so it was going better than last year. We rolled down that hill doing better than 40 mph, watching for pot holes and bunny hopping gravel-filled gaps in the road. Eventually the main field slowed to a manageable pace while we made our way to the base of the final climb. I vividly recalled last year where I was caught off guard at the base when a small group silently dropped into their little rings and left us in the dust. This year I was ready AND rocking a compact. The grade kicked up (a lot) and we all hit the left shifter. Strangely enough, a good portion of the group still pulled away. There were 19 of us in the pack when we started climbing. We'd be completely torn apart in just a few minutes, the strong, light guys deftly pulling ahead while the rest of us dragged our heavy selves up that miserable hill.
Photo courtesy of Andrew @ WV Cycling.
Two riders in front of me assumed the role of rabbit as we passed the "1 mile to go" sign. I gave it everything I had, unsuccessfully trying to get out of the saddle and sprint for the line. Alas, I could only sit there, grinding away. They both beat me, leaving me with 12th place with a time of 1:53:40. 0:4:24 off last year's time. Just as I was about to go get the car and drive back to the finish so Frank wouldn't have to ride back the school, he comes rolling up the road and drifts effortlessly across the line. He'd clearly been through hell, but still finished strong. His time was 2:15:00 which put him in 47th.
Next year I'm shooting for top 5. Of course I'll probably be a Cat 3 and have to do the long route, but I've got a whole year to do as many bridge intervals as I can here at sea level. It'll be a piece of cake. Thanks to J.R. Petsko, the Appalachian Bicycle Racing Association and Thomas, WV for the race. You know we'll be back, no matter what category we are.
Thanks to Dave Cobb for pre-race pictures and some great shots on the final climb. See more of them here.
Andrew at WV Cycling had a prime seat for picture and video taking - passenger seat of the 4/5 wheel truck. See his pictures and video here.
Posted by Dan on 2. June 2010 15:50
With Race #1 in the bag, Frank and I had a good drive ahead of us. Our next race would be at 10:54 AM on Sunday morning in Wade, NC. Somewhere around midnight, we checked into the Days Inn in Wade and unpacked the Subaru. This would be our base of operations for the next two days. We scraped the bugs off the bikes and installed the wheel covers on the PowerTap wheel before crashing.
Sunday morning started with a run into Fayetteville for breakfast at Waffle House, then back to the motel to load the TT bikes and gear. The TT course was only a few miles up the road so we'd once again arrive with time to burn. After a nice warm-up, I headed to the start and prepared for a quick 22 mile jaunt through God's country. Last year I took 1st with a time of 0:50:18, but I hadn't done the Tour of Tucker County the previous day.
Nothing special about this ride. There was allegedly a big dog laying in the road at mile 6 but he'd vacated by the time I got there. Fresh green paint marked the course so there was no accidental wrong turns like last year. The wind could have been more cooperative, but wasn't too bad. First place for the second year in a row with a time of 0:48:58.61. Frank put in an amazing ride on his Madone with clip-ons, getting 8th place with a time of 0:54:17.23.
One more to go...
Posted by Dan on 2. June 2010 15:49
The third and final race of the long weekend took us to downtown Fayetteville for the Patriots Crit. It rained last year and the tight fourth corner and pavers caused quite a bit of havoc in the Masters 35+ 4/5 race. I took 3rd after a majority of the field crashed on the bell lap. Slim chance for rain so this race should be good. Steve M. drove down to take part in the holiday festivities and make our team much more intimidating. With 17 total riders, only Full Spectrum Racing could match our numbers.
From the whistle, the pack took off like a shot, leaving all three of us behind when we all failed to clip in. Frank was the first in and got to chasing. I was second and took after Frank. Steve followed suit. After a lap or two, the pace calmed and we latched back on. After another lap or so, I tried to bridge to a solo rider with a small gap. I was quickly shut down. I moved to the front and slowed up a bit and Frank took off, successfully making it up to the rider. The two of them stayed away for at least 5 laps as Rick Kirby of Cross Creek Cycling worked by himself to bring them back in. He'd flick his elbow and look back, only to see me shrug and say I can't work. He understood, but wasn't happy. After awhile, Frank drifted back to the pack, giving me the green light to help Rick reel in the break. We caught him and sent him to the back, then kept the pace manageable. I attacked again and was shut down again. This would be the case for the rest of the race.
I've concluded that the reason no one would let me get away was my socks. I wore my bright red GamJams socks, awarded to me last weekend at Sleepy Hole Smackdown for placing 2nd in the Masters race. I'm fairly certain that those socks only make it into circulation as prizes and that everyone knows this and pays particular attention to those socks. Anyone wearing them is a threat and cannot be allowed to go. It's a very clever ploy and one that I'll not fall for again. As I type type this, I'm bleaching them within an inch of their lives in hopes no one would bother chasing pink socks. Stay tuned to see how this pans out.
I resigned myself to working with Rick to chase down whatever happened to get off the front. Had he been able to break, I'd have joined him and I'm sure the two of us could have made it, but the timing was never right. So I chased break after break and kept things intact as best I could.
With 4 to go, one rider soloed off the front, opening a gap of 15 seconds. I turned myself inside out reducing the gap down to roughly 5 seconds and finally gave up with 1 to go, turning chase duties over to Rick. I drifted to the back and got ready for the sprint. While not completely exhausted, I couldn't move up the way I wanted and consequently went into corners 3 and 4 on or near the back. I sat up and coasted in, taking 9th. Frank, on the other hand, took a tight line through corner 4 and wound up on the wheel of the Rick who had gone wide then quickly moved right. Frank held on as the two rocketed toward the rider off the front. The C4 rider took the win by a wheel-length while Frank took 3rd. Steve finished in 15th.
And with that our race weekend came to an end. We collected Frank's winnings, loaded up the Subaru and headed for home. Many thanks to Cross Creek Cycling Club, Fayetteville and Wade, NC for playing host to a mob of unruly cyclists. We'll see you all next year, if we can remember.
Yeah, I just said that.