Thank You East Coast Bikes

I just wanted to say thank you to East Coast Bikes for their support over the last year.  When we were in need of a bike shop, they stepped up and really full filled our need.  They are also sponsoring the Cyclocross race we are holding in November.  Look them up the next time you need something.

Monday Morning Coach: American Pride Crit and Sprint into Spring Crit

Its been a little while since I have blogged.  I could point to many excuses but I think the item to blame most is my new iPhone.  The iPhone has kept me off my computer a lot and thus less chance to write on my blog.

A lot has occurred since the Richmond Raceway Crit.  I got hurt and so have been fighting a nagging injury.  This injury has reduced the amount of time I can train and at the level I can train at.  It seems to have zapped a fair amount of my power.  I didn't want to give up racing and relied on just experience to get me through some of these races.  Competing at the Roanoke Twilight race and Meadows Farm race required power and speed, neither of which I was able to produce.

After two consecutive drops, I needed a mental win.  My injury is improving and my training was getting better.  I was still very nervous entering into this weekends racing.  If I didn't do well, it could effect me the rest of the season.

American Pride Crit on Saturday, May 14th at Todd Stadium
I have always liked this course and it always brings good racing.  The forecast of rain may have kept people away, but the rain held out and the Cat 3 race had 20 or more participants.

Photo by Dan Gibson

Myself, Mike Tamayo and Jon Gray lined up representing the Virginia Beach Wheelmen.  The race played out pretty predictable, a few attacks that were chased down followed by a few more attacks.  Two back to back primes prompted a break of two riders, Byran Hoy and Kevin Horvath.  The Virginia Beach Wheelmen gave an effort to pull them in.  Kevin dropped from the break and as he was caught, I pulled off the front to find no one willing or able to pull through.  The pack sat up and Bryan road away with the victory and left everyone else fighting for second place.

There was a little confusion.  Two of Bryan's teammates had dropped from the pack and had been lapped.  At one point most of us in the field thought that one of those riders was Byran being pulled back in.  There was even rumors going on that the riders had dropped from the pack to help Bryan in the break.  I did not see any of that and I even asked my wife who was watching the race if she had seen it and she did not (of course she also said after the race "oh, was that the last lap").  The officials didn't see it, so I assume the rumors were just that, rumors.

Photo by Dan Gibson

Fast forward to the final lap.  I feel my strength lies in lead outs.  My team has racers that can sprint well but since Jon Nisbet, our primary sprinter is a Cat 2, sometimes my leadouts results in simply high placing for our team and not necessarily a win.  My top finishes have been from leading the pack out whether or not one of my teammates come around.  I guess that has been my "safe" finish.  The bell lap I was on the wheel of Mike Tamayo when I saw on opening.  I rode past him and told him to get on my wheel.  I made a shot for hole through the gate in turn number one and found myself on Terry Turners wheel in second position.  My thought was that I didn't know if my teammates were on my wheel or not but me being in the front would give the best shot a high finish.  If I stayed on Terry's wheel, I felt he would slow down the pace because he can sprint and someone else would attack.  So I got on the front and led out the sprint for the last lap.  I was first out of the final turn but didn't have it in my to finish my sprint.  My teammates were not on my wheel.  We finished with me in 5th place and John and Mike in 9 and 10th place.

Here comes the Monday Coach.  Since I didn't here from my teammate that he was on my wheel, I should have assumed he was not.  Instead of just leading out the pack, I should have attacked and tried to get some separation.  If it didn't work, I would have been in no worse position than I was, right?  Also, I hate the fact that we let a rider just ride away from the pack, we should have organized and brought him back.  These are all things I say sitting at the computer, but my legs and lungs dictated my decision on race day. 

Sprint into Spring.  Sunday, May 15th at Fort Lee
On Sunday John Gray and myself represented the Virginia Beach Wheelmen at Fort Lee in the Cat 3-4 Race.  We were both pretty active.  I had it in my mind to try and get in a break for this race.  John rode very well on the front of the race the whole time and covered a lot of attacks.  Nothing worked although I thought I was in a few that had potential.  So I will fast forward to the final few laps.  Once again a double prime with just 5 and 4 to go sparked a little activity.  A Richmond Velo rider took off and everyone just watched.  Since Richmond Velo had the majority of the racers, I knew they were not going to chase.  Then Terry Turner attacked.  Still everyone watched.  Terry caught and dropped the Richmond rider.  With two laps to go I decided I needed to bring him back.  I chased him down and caught him before the bell lap.  However, I fried my legs so I told John he was on his own.  The sprint didn't play out for us and John finished in the pack as I rolled in at the back of the pack.  We raced well but didn't finish well.

The Monday Coach in me is pissed about this one.  I absolutely should have attacked and bridged up to Terry.  I obviously had the fire power to catch him.  I kicked it a little out of the turn but I didn't attack.  Would I we have been caught, or would the pack had reacted?  I don't know, and if they had, the results would have been no different.  It boiled down to again doing the "safe" finish.  I chased a flier down to give my teammate the best chance of a win.  It seems though that maybe I am using sacrifices for the team to get away from putting myself on the line.  I have to get into my head that I want the win more than I fear the loss.

Richond International Raceway Crit: March 20, 2011

I was very pleased to see this race return this year.  I registered for the CAT 3/4 race which had 93 racers in it.  We managed this year to go crash free.  I heard a few people say that they wish the organizers had broken up the fields into separate CAT 4 and 3 races.  For me, part of the draw is the huge field.  We don't get many opportunities to race in fields this size and I think it is good practice for moving through the field.  Ideally I would like it to have been a 100 racer field with all CAT 3's, but that is just not realistic.
(Here are a few pictures I found on Kevin Horvath's Facebook site)

Large field spread out.

Before the race trying to locate my spare wheels placed in the pit by my wife.

An attempt at a break.  Bridged up to a group of 4 and only 1 was willing to continue.  We got caught pretty quickly.

I started on the front and stayed at the front of the race for most of the time.  There were occasions, when a surge would happen on the opposite side that I would move back and then work my way back up.  I was the only one from Virginia Beach Wheelmen racing on this day so my plan was to stay attentive and maybe try to go with a break.  With average speeds around 26.5 mph, I knew it would be tough for a break to succeed, but you got to try anyway.

My second plan was going to be to simply try and make a move to the outside on the final lap.  I really didn't want to get mixed up to much with a field sprint, but I also didn't want to not try.  I thought I may have a really good chance at a high place if I made a move to lead things out on the final lap.  I was in good position, top 20 racers when we came to the bell lap.  I made a move going around the first bend, but the pack speed was already too fast.  Then a faster move come from the inside, which surprised me a little because of how tight it was to the inside of the track.  Those of us that attempted to use the outside of the track pretty much got overtaken by the move on the inside because they were more protected from the wind.  When I realized my move had failed, I just kept up my speed and rode safely in.

For me this race was not about a win, although I wanted it.  This race was about moving through racers and staying safe.  I am racing Jeff Cup next weekend with a large field and this race will help me feel that much more comfortable.

On another note, after the race I noticed what might be a crack in my stem:

I really can't tell if it is a chip in the paint or a crack but I think its time to get rid of it.  I have contacted FSA to see if I can send it in for them to look at and give me advise.  The only other stem I had at home was another FSA stem, aluminum nice one, probably even lighter than the carbon.  When I went to go put it on I noticed a crack in the carbon face plate of that stem.  Wouldn't you know the two face plates are different.  I originally used a torque wrench to install them, but I don't own one so I think I have taken them on/off without the use of a torque wrench.  I always felt though that I may have been under tightening them and not over tightening them.  Anyway, I think I'll swing by Sears and buy a torque wrench.

Results are posted for the 2011 Sleepyhole Smackdown

Thank you to everyone who came out to open up the VCA BAR racing.  It was a good day with fast racers and a very clean and fast course.  We only had one crash in which everyone ended up being okay even though there was an ambulance trip.  

I want to thank my team for all the help in making this race a success.  A very special thanks goes out to my wife, Jenni, who manages registration and all the race day admin work.

Men's Cat 5	1	Immeker	Dan	Tripower
	2	Guerra	Elias	Hilton Cycling Club
	3	Vann	Andrew	Celerity Cycling p/b Brooks Systems
	4	Tempest	Nicholas	TriPower
	5	Kent	Roland	Team Kainer Cycling
	6	Crandell	Eric	Fat Frogs Racing
	7	Stockdill		Hilton Cycling Club
	8	Burbey	Ryan
	9	Northup	Adam	Richmond Velo Sport
	10	Callam	Brian	College of William and Mary
	11	Clarke	Ryan	Richmond Velo Sport
	12	Baldwin	Michael	Tripower
	13	Sumrell	Kenneth	Fat Frogs Racing Team
	14	Reichelderfer	Jeff	Fat Frogs Racing
	15	Murray	Ben
	16	Clarke	Taylor	Team Whole Foods
	17	Kennedy	Samuel	Hilton Cycling Club
	18	Callery	Bryan	Christian Cycling / Hammer Nutrition
	19	Eanes	Sterling	Team Three Sports
	20	Bream	Anthony
Women Cat 4/40+	1	nicholson	Sharon	tripower	40+
	2	winters	leslie	va asset	40+
	3	Craddock	Glenda	Fat Frogs Racing	40+
	4	Hill	Marci	Walt Racing	Cat 4
	5	McNelis	Mallory	Team Nature's Path/3Sports	Cat 4
	6	Schutz	Morgan	Fat Frogs Racing	Cat 4
	7	Schaefer	kristin	Rostello p/b Fiorucci/Cycor	Cat 4
	8	Leary	Sharon	Rostello p/b Fiorucci	40+
	9	Fink	Julie	Fat Frogs Racing	Cat 4
	10	Hunter	Julie	VA Asset Group p/b Trek	Cat 4
	11	Peacock	Amy	Red Hammer Racing	40+
	12	Wood	Denise	Red Hammer Racing	40+
	13	Gonzales	Megan	Fat Frogs Racing	Cat 4
Women 1/2/3	1	joyner	emily	va asset	1
	2	Ingram	Ali	Vanderkitten Racing	2
	3	Cook	Laura	Vanderkitten Racing	2
	4	winters	leslie	va asset	1
	5	Pope	Jennifer	Vanderkitten Racing	2
	6	schmitz	avanell	va asset	3
	7	Macdonald	Brittany	Vanderkitten Racing	3
	8	Eichert	Amanda	Fat Frogs Racing	3
	9	Seymour	Jane	Fat Frogs Racing	3
	10	Craddock	Glenda	Fat Frogs Racing	3
Juniors 10-14	1	Clarke	Taylor	Team Whole Foods	14 - M
	2	Carey	Thomas	Team Portsmouth	13 - M
	3	Lloyd	Chris	Fat Frogs Racing	13 - M
	4	mcnelis	mallory		14 - F
	5	Dujua	Matthew	Richmond Velo Sport / 3Sports	14 - M
	6	Brookfield	Grant	Richmond Velo Sport / 3 Sports	12 - M
	7	Craddock	Dane	Fat Frogs Racing	11 - M
	8	Fitzgerald	William	Hilton Cycling Club	12 - M
	9	schaubach	Micah	Walt Racing	13 - M
	10	Pounder	alastair	Raleigh Allstars	10 - M
	11	Warner	Jacob	Team Natures Path	13 - M
	12	Dujua	Leigh	Richmond Velo Sport / 3Sports	11 - M
	13	FULTON	CASEY	FAT FROGS	10 - M
	14	Horvath	Judy	Fat Frogs	10 - F
	15	Carey	Christopher	Team Portsmouth	11 - M
Juniors 15-18	1	King	Jake	hot tubes development	16 - M
	2	Keeling	Chris	Miller School of Albemarle	17 - M
	3	Brookfield	Parker	Richmond Velo Sport / 3 Sports	15 - M
	4	Schaefer	Kristin	Rostello p/b Fiorucci/Cycor	15 - F
	5	Clarke	Taylor	Team Whole Foods	14 - M
Men's Cat 3	1	Mull	Stephen	Richmond Velo Sport
	2	Grosicki	Gregory	College of William and Mary
	3	Turner	terry	Hefler Performance Coaching/CBC
	4	Gray	John	Virginia Beach Wheelmen
	5	Netzer	Dan	Celerity Cycling p/b Brooks Systems
	6	Tamayo	Mike	Virginia Beach Wheelmen
	7	Harville	Lucas	Triangle Velo
	8	Schwartz	Dan	NCVC/UnitedHealthcare
	9	horvath	kevin	Fat Frogs Racing
	10	King	Jake	hot tubes development
	11	hunt	mitch	Fat Frogs Racing
	12	Cundiff	Frank	Celerity Cycling p/b Brooks Systems
	13	Pope	Timothy	Fat Frogs Racing
	14	Sheridan	Christian	CRC
	15	McNelis	Edward	Richmond Velo Sport
	16	Goyet	Joshua	Virginia Beach Wheelmen
	17	yengling	michael	Richmond Velo Sport
	18	deaton	jimmy	Team Tripower
	19	Blend	Nick	Richmond Velo Sport
	20	Marques	Joseph	Charlottesville Racing Club
	21	Pope	Jennifer	Vanderkitten Racing
	22	Glasscock	Robson	Carytown Bicycle Company
	23	Cook	Laura	Vanderkitten Racing
	24	Ingram	Ali	Vanderkitten Racing
	25	Macdonald	Brittany	Vanderkitten Racing
Men's Cat 4	1	Hoy	Bryan	JRVS/American Pride Auto
	2	Keeling	Christofer	Miller School of Albemarle p/b CBC
	3	Kyle	Charles	Freshbikes p/b SKANSKA
	4	Dujua	Oliver	Richmond Velo Sport / 3Sports
	5	Hale	Wilson	JRVS/American Pride
	6	Levesque	Rick	Richmond Velo Sport
	7	Clevinger	Noah	JRVS/American Pride
	8	Younkin	Joe	Southside Tri & Cycle
	9	Hadley	Jerry	Tripower
	10	Smith	Brandon	VCU Cycling
	11	Mitchel	Brian	Richmond Velo Sport
	12	Hendricks	Steven	Fat Frogs Racing
	13	Magnussen	David
	14	Baumgartner	Ed	Richmond Velo Sport
	15	Skinner	Ron	Hilton Cycling Club
	16	Kunz	Brian	JRVS/American Pride
	17	Benjamin	Steve	Richmond Velo Sport
	18	Zarate	Jorge	fat frogs racing team
	19	Altomare	Joe	Hilton Cycling Club p/b Walt Racing
	20	bozarth	anthony	hilton cycling club
	21	Iannuzzi	Mark	JRVS/American Pride
	22	Wang	Junjie	Team Tripower
	23	Poteat	Ivan	Carytown Bicycle Company
	24	Marks	arthur	TriPower
	25	nalls	jeffrey	BikeWorks Racing
	26	Brookfield	Tom	Richmond Velo Sport / 3 Sports
	27	Moore	Andrew	William and Mary Cycling Team
	28	Kidd	Vince	JRVS/American Pride
Men Pro 1/2/3	1	king	daniel	CRC/Wired Bike.com
	2	carithers	sean	team whole foods
	3	Scanlon	Bill	CRC p/b Wired Bike
	4	king	mark	CRC
	5	Fabiato	Francois	3sports/RVS
	6	greco	marc	tripower
	7	Custer	Pete	North Tek-Aria
	8	huss	terry	raleigh all stars
	9	Clarke	David	Team Whole Foods
	10	Kendall	Steven	Kelly Benefit Strategies / LSV
	11	Evans	William	BikeWorks Racing
	12	Craft	Daniel	Fat Frogs Racing
	13	Mull	Stephen	Richmond Velo Sport
	14	ward	paul	atlantic velo
	15	Warner	Mark	CRC/Tridim
	16	warren	ben
	17	mullins	timothy	team whole foods
	18	Schaefer	James	Rostello p/b Fiorucci/Cycor
	19	Hosang	Michael	Tripower
	20	Winck	Adam	CRC
Master 40+/50+/60+	1	Clarke	David	Team Whole Foods	50+
	2	king	mark	CRC	50+
	3	Warner	Mark	CRC/Tridim	40+
	4	king	daniel	CRC/Wired Bike.com	40+
	5	mullins	timothy	Team Whole Foods	40+
	6	Fabiato	Francois	3sports/RVS	40+
	7	Schaefer	James	Rostello p/b Fiorucci/Cycor	50+
	8	Scanlon	Bill	CRC p/b Wired Bike	40+
	9	ward	harlan	atlantic velo	50+
	10	King	Wesley	Richmond Velo Sport	50+
	11	Marks	arthur	TriPower	40+
	12	Netsch	Robert	TriPower	40+
	13	Fletcher	Eric	CRC/Wired Bike	40+
	14	McNelis	Edward	Richmond Velo Sport	40+
	15	Blend	Nick	Richmond Velo Sport	50+
	16	nalls	jeffrey	BikeWorks Racing	40+
	17	sheridan	christian	CRC	40+
	18	brown	greg		50+
	19	Bond	William	Fat Frogs Racing	50+
	20	Fitzgerald II	Thomas	Hilton Cycling Club	40+

Sleepy Hole Smackdown. March 12, 2011

Photo by Kevin Horvath

The official beginning of the racing season started on a gorgeous day in Suffolk, VA at the Sleepy Hole Park.  VA BAR racing started today and racers came out to race.  My team, the Virginia Beach Wheelmen, put on this race like we have over the past 4 years.  Beside promoting the race, we had a chance to put 3 racers in the CAT 3 race and 1 into the Pro/1/2/3 race.  Here is how the CAT 3 race went.

Like most of the racing of the day, the CAT 3 started fast.  With 25 starters, all wanting to make an early mark on the season, the pack got stretched out fast.  My teammates stayed near the front and covered attacks.  At one point it really started to stretch out.  An attack was put in by Stephen Mull from Richmond Velo Sport (who is flying through the ranks, he was a CAT 5 last year) matched by Gregory Grosicki from the College of William and Mary.  Just a little behind them were John Gray of the Virginia Beach Wheelmen and Dan Netzer of Celerity Cycling.  Behind them were 3 or 4 more riders just dangling in front of the pack.  With a teammate up the road, myself and especially Mike Tamayo controlled the pack and covered attacks.  This allowed these breaks to get further away.

We chose to reel in the small group just ahead of the pack.  Then, unfortunately, John was hurting up the road and got dropped by Dan.  That put us in a chase mode.  We chased hard for many laps and finally caught Dan, but the other two riders had built a huge lead and looked like they could lap the field.

For the rest of the race, everyone put in little attacks but nothing more got away.  With 5 laps to go I got to the front of the pack in 4th or 5th position with Mike and John on my wheel.  I fought to keep the front to make sure they were protected.  On the final lap we were in good position.  Terry Turner of Carytown had attacked and put himself out on a lone flyer for the line.  I kept moving up and creating holes for Mike and John.  After the 3rd turn we were in good position.  Mike then went around me with John on his wheel and took him around the final turn.  The sprint was on and our leadout worked perfectly.  With the exception of Terry not being caught, John got the sprint.  He ended up 4th overall and Mike was able to hold on for 6th place.  I coasted across the line in 16th.

Overall it was a good race for the team.  I think it is always good to come home with a top 5, especially when your whole team was out all day setting up the course.

Thanks for everyone who came out.  There was some extremely fast racing in all categories out there.  Good job and I am already looking forward to the next one.

Now its time to prepare myself for the Dismal Dash TT tomorrow.

Snowball Crit #2 March 6, 2011

The weather was not going to be nice for the second Snowball race of the year.  It wasn't going to be too cold, so a little wet roads and rain would simply make it a classic fall race.  For me, racing in the rain is tough.  Drafting is pretty much out, and there are always attacks and the race breaks up quickly.

The CAT 3/4 race started out with a solo flyer who was dangling out front.  He wasn't going anywhere and it was actually nice just to let him hang out for a while.  I think he lasted 3-5 laps.  Then my teammate, John Gray, initiated an attack to bridge to the solo break.  The break was covered and it strung the field out.  Then in corner number 2, someone decided to go straight and caused a crash.  The crash created a little chaos and the pressure was still on at the front.  This allowed John, Tim Pope and another rider to form a gap.  I decided that I could probably bridge up to them without pulling anyone with me.  That is what I did.  One really hard lap effort and I was on the back without bringing anyone with me.  The problem at that point was that I was not feeling comfortable in the turns.  I think I had too much pressure in my tires (110 psi on clinchers).  I was getting a lot of skipping of my tires through the turns.   Every turn I was allowing a bike length gap to form and them having to close it was burning my matches quickly.

I ended up getting dropped from the break leaving my teammate and two other riders.  I went back to the next chase group of 4 riders ( I made number 5).  This group was led by Dan Netzer who was chasing hard.  I had a teammate up the road and just sat on.  At this time I started to get a lot more comfortable on the turns and was able to reduce the skipping of my wheels.  Dan, with not much help, was starting to bring back the break.  I took a couple of rotations to slow them and to break up the momentum.  That solidified the breaks lead and ensured they would be caught.  By the time we came to the finish, the break was 2 riders (John and Tim) and the chase was 4 riders.  I led out the final lap and gave it all I had for a strong finish.  John ended up with a 2nd place finish being out sprinted by Tim and I got 4th.

It was a good race for us, 2 riders in the top 5 is always a good thing.  The rain really started to come down and we both chose not to start the 1/2/3 race.

Photo by Kevin Horvath

Photo by Kevin Horvath

How Rude: Cyclist Doing it Again

 

The Virginia Pilot at times has a section titled "how rude!"  Readers send in their stories of how others have mistreated them or just acted like complete asses.  Monday's paper had a little story about cyclists in it.  Here is what is says:

Valerie Jones of Virginia Beach was driving down Atlantic Avenue when she slowed down to let two racing bikers have the full lane where the road narrows (because of construction) to one lane each way at 60th Street.  It was safer, she figured, to let the bikers go ahead of her despite the growing line of traffic behind her.  One biker even waved a "thank you."  When the road switched back to two lanes, Jones eased into the left lane as the bikers stayed in the right.  Suddenly, one biker veered into her lane to turn left without signaling.  She swerved and missed him, but he cussed her out- after she had gone out of her way to be courteous on the roadway.

There are always two sides to every story, but in this case only one was published in the newspaper.  Cycling is supposed to ease our stresses and give us an outlet to vent and release our troubles.  I know if I'm having a bad day, a hard ride eases me and gives me a constructive way to vent.  I know this is true for many people, yet cyclist still hold onto a "road rage" style of anger toward everyone we are supposed to be sharing the road with. 

I'm not saying I'm perfect in this manner.  There are times I get startled by a car passing too close, or blowing their horn and my initial reflex is one of anger.  Just remember the next time you cuss at someone or flip them the finger, your story could end up in the paper and give the rest of us bad names.