Delta Surveying Cycling Team

Dang

2010-05-08T18:02:00.000-07:00

So I crashed out of the Sterling Road Race today. Not a bad crash by any means, but enough to put me on the deck and off the back.
It was pouring when we set out, first across the 2.5 mile neutral section, then around the first of 6, 8 mile laps. I was feeling comfortable in the pack as we descended heading for route 12. You could tell that wasn't the case for everyone as people were opening up gaps and looking nervous. As we rounded the corner onto route 12 the first 2 guys went down. I think the guy just slid out. I decided I needed to "burn a match" and move up on the wide shoulder. I rode up to the front third of the field and found my team mate Cliff and slotted back in line. It was really pouring now as we rolled up route 12. Sitting on the right side of the field I was riding close to white line. I could feel my bike slipping on the line, even just going straight. I had no sooner thought that I needed to move away from the line when people are sliding along the road in front of me. I thought I had an opening to sneak through but ended up clipping a guys and going down. I wasn't going fast, so I didn't hit too hard.
Cliff yelled and asked If I was OK, I said I was and that I'd be back in the race. By the time I got straightened out though the pack was half a mile away. Two of us chased to get back on, but by the time we got to the start of the second lap the gap was still the same and it continued to pour. We both looked at each other and said fuck it. I didn't feel like riding off the back for 40 more miles. Cliff stayed up and in the main field, which according to him was down to about 20 guys at the finish. Way to go Cliff.
So what did I learn? the biggest thing, stay away from the lines, like on the other side of the group if possible. Even though I didn't go down on the line, it ultimately took me out. Also, I'm second guessing not finishing the race, but it's too late for that. Orchard Assault mountain bike race tomorrow.

Stick A Fork In Me

2010-04-18T18:19:00.000-07:00

Did my first cat 1 mountain bike race today at Winding Trails. I didn't know what to expect, all I know is that I've been working hard this spring and have spent a lot of hours with frozen hands and feet. I'm really happy with my result. I ended up 10th out of 27 against some pretty stiff competition. Winding Trails can't really be used as a benchmark though, because it's barely a mountain bike race. What it can tell you though is how your fitness is. I feel good. Next up for mountain bike is the Orchard Assault at UMass. We had a good showing of Expo guys, hopefully we can build on that.
So...After yesterdays ride and todays race, I'm cooked. Luckily tomorrow is a rest day (on the bike anyway, have a ton of work to do).
Later!!!

A Hard Ride

2010-04-17T19:03:00.000-07:00

Tough ride today.
Next weekend is the Quabbin Road race, a race that I've been looking forward to. All this past week we've been planning to do a recon ride today. Well, as the weather forecast got worse and worse throughout the week, the ride kind of fell apart. TJ, Mikey and myself decided the forecast didn't look too bad and we'd go for it. Of course TJ and Mikey were late, but it actually worked out OK. While I was waiting for them I got a call From Steve Douville who said he and Jeff Buske wanted to ride and were leaving his house.
We all met up at the tower at Quabbin reservoir and got ready to go. Unfortunately the rain was still falling. We got underway and as we turned onto route 9, we discovered that the road had been milled for paving. I sure hope this is paved before next weekend because it wasn't fun to ride on.
To make a short story even shorter the rain never really stopped and there are a lot more climbs than I was expecting. This is going to be another tough race. Expo has about 7 guys registered in the cat 4 race (which rumor has it will have a field of 200! Hey why not, there are no rules, it's a Norton Production) so if we can hang in and get together we might be able to produce a decent result.
I decided that since I basically coerced the guys into riding in the miserable conditions that Delta should buy dinner. We stopped at the first pizza place we saw, Charleys Pizza and Sea Food, and chowed down. Everybody left happy. We got in 63 miles and 3 1/2 hours of riding. I figure riding on a day like this builds character, or is it "kills brain cells", I can never remember.
Time to rest up for my first cat 1 mountain bike race in the morning. Till next time, stay dry.

Here's a little taste of the fun.

I Loved That Race!

2010-04-10T17:55:00.000-07:00

There I said it. Ask me after next years race and maybe I'll have a different answer. For those of you not in the know, I just returned from racing my first Tour Of The Battenkill in Cambridge, NY. I didn't win, I didn't even finish with the main group, but I'm pretty sure I finished higher than most of the guys in my race and had a miserably aganizeing blast doing it.
This race is usually referred to as a "Paris-Roubaix" type race, but it's really more of a "Tour of Flanders" type race given the number of climbs. The course winds around looking for the right combination of dirt and hills that whittle the field down until all that's left are a few hard men (and women). Maybe next year I'll be hard enough. Crit's rule the racing season around here, but as far as I'm concern, give me a race like Battenkill anyday.
Nine of us Expo boys rolled up Friday morning to preview the cource and register. We went out for pasta and pizza and spent the night in a clean but somewhat over the hill "motor lodge". After a great breakfast we headed down to the race.
We had Mikey with us who was doing the junior 17-18 race, and Buske, who raced cat 5 along with the rest of us; myself, Paul, Cliff, Lance, TJ(oh yeah) and Dave H who were all doing the 30+ race. Several other guys from the club also raced. Here's who I can remeber: Dave D, Dave J., Marty, Rob, Andrew, Tom and Brian. Really good turnout for the team. Results..........Not so much. Not one of us, that I know of, finished with their field. Tough shit, who cares, this was an awesome experience and an awesome weekend. Next up my first cat 1 mountain bike ass wooping, than another crack at a road race. Great trip guys!!!

Welcome Back

2010-03-14T17:31:00.000-07:00

Well racing season 2010 is under way. The log's title is a little misleading since I no longer have the Delta Surveying Services team. Thanks to the the guys who raced last year, but the opportunity came along to join an upstart team with a lot of experienced racers, and I decided to join Exposition Wheelmen. Delta is also one of the sponsors. We spent the winter riding together whenever the weather was decent (if you call the low 20's decent) and have finally started racing together.

Cyclocross season ended with me feeling fairly satisfied with my results. I ended up 20th out of about 100, 45+ masters guys in the Verge series. I earned enough points in the smaller cross races to upgrade to cat 2 and I also upgraded to cat 1 (expert) on the mountain bike. I've been training pretty hard over the winter with some fairly simple goals for the season. I want to be "in the game" in mountain bike races, and would like to be able to get some high placings on the road. I need to improve my riding skills on the mountain bike, but that takes time. You can get yourself in good shape, but the technical skills only come by pushing the limits and really practicing the skills. It's really hard to ride fast on a mountain bike for a long time. It's super tough! On the road I have to learn to race smart. Road racing is really hard too, but on the road, if you ride smart, you can use the other riders to save energy, but you have to make it happen. You can't just pedal along anywhere on the road and expect to be successful!
Cyclocross is going to be my main focus. I want to get in the top 10 of the series next year. I know it doesn't sound like much of a goal, but most of the guys in the top 10 have been racing bikes for years and are really far ahead of the rest of the field. I love racing cross and am committed to training hard for that goal.
I've done the last two weeks races at the Bethel spring series, racing in the cat 3/4 field. We have the most team mates in that field, and the most experienced racers. These guys really try to race smart. Our team mate Aki Sato is the race promoter as well as good sprinter and long time racer. We're all racing for him. My job has been to ride at the front and chase break away riders in order to keep the field together. Last week I did OK for the first 10 laps or so, but after that I really wasn't very helpful. That was my first race with the cat 3's, so I was just seeing what it was all about. Today I feel like I did a much better job. I chased down 4 or 5 breaks including two riders who tried to get away with two laps to go. After recovering at the back of the field for one lap, I managed a pretty good surge at the finish to get up to mid pack. My main problem is just lack of experience riding in a fast pack and being able to remain calm in tight quarters and taking and holding a wheel. I'm not going to rush this. I want to get my fitness level up higher and let the experience come.
Enough rambling. I try to keep this short and will use it mostly as a diary to reflect on the races. I really don't think anybody missed reading about the number of intervals I did on the trainer over the winter. Next week, 4 of us head to North Carolina for a week of hill training before the big Battenkill race on April 10th. Later.

Not so fast!!

2009-11-29T15:40:00.000-08:00

Todays plan was to get a better start. So, first thing I missed my pedal, but regained quickly. Just as we're reaching full speed, I hear the dreaded sounds of a crash, right at the front. I had to brake hard and swing way to the side, but I missed the crash. Now I'm just battling to get back up to speed and get to the first turn. Not a good start. Oh well, I didn't really make any big mistakes and did pretty well finishing 16th of 57 finishers.
Since this is only my second year racing I really am happy with my results. Most of these guys I'm mixing it up with have been doing this for years. But I know I need to work on some things for next season. Such as: Sam Morse was one of the guys in the crash, after about a lap and half he caught and passed me. I figured I'd stay with him as long as I could. Turns out that distance is about a quarter lap (or less). He came from the ground in DFL to finish in 6th. So I need to work on better fitness for next year. I spent the last three laps battling with Brian McGinnis. Brian owns a bike shop and says his main training is his commute to work. He also doesn't race road or mountain bike, he races BMX! Today's course had a lot of swoopy, uphill, downhill turns and when I was sitting behind Brian he would slowly open a gap on me through the turny parts. I could fairly easily close the gaps, but each of those chases is a match burnt because I'm slow in the corners. So I need to improve my cornering for next season.
Tom Stevens really puts together a killer course. He's done Gloucester, Providence and Baystate this weekend. He's so good at using the terrain to the best advantage. He puts in lots of uphill and downhill, but nothing crazy. He fills the course with turns that are usually grouped together and keep you on your toes. Just when you think you have the rhythm, he tightens it up. He puts barriers in places that seem odd at first, but turn out to be really fun and challenging. His courses are really tough and challenging and technical and I've loved every one!
Here is one reason why I like being a bike racer

Ribeye with mushrooms and onions, baby carrots, broccoli, Parmesan bread, apple cider. One more week to eat like a pig.

I knew I shouldn't have had that sixth piece of pie!

2009-11-28T16:34:00.000-08:00

No joke, six pieces of pie on thanksgiving. The tally: 1 pumpkin and 1 pecan before dinner, 1 pumpkin, 1 pecan after dinner, 1 pumpkin, 1 blackberry later that night. The blackberry was delicious, by the way, my brother and sister-in-laws own berries.
So that's how I felt this morning before the Verge Baystate Cyclocross race in Sterling Ma. Like I had eaten six pieces of pie. I warmed up pretty well, but just felt logy.
I really need to be more aggressive in the start and take advantage of the call-up. I've figured out that I'm fit enough to move up through quite a few places, but I'm wasting that fitness in the start. Rather than let people by and worry about going into the red zone, I need to fight for a better position and than move up. Anyway, I ended up 17th today out of 50. I had a small mechanical. My back skewer came loose again and my wheel was just flopping around in the dropouts. I had to stop and lost the group I was with. I did fight back up to the remains of the group and got two spots back. Today was a pretty technical course, but tomorrow's supposed to be better. We'll see.

Cheshire Cross

2009-11-22T18:09:00.000-08:00

This is what happens when you bring in the single speeds. Just kidding, just because I don't get it doesn't mean in doesn't make sense. Cheshire turned out to be another fun local race. Not huge, but good atmosphere. It was also the Connecticut State Cyclocross Championship. No, really, what you didn't know that? Well it was. I did the 45+ race along with probably 20 others. We were the first race of the day for a change. John Funk, Paul Nyberg and myself quickly formed a group and put a good gap on the rest after the first lap. John Funk pedaled around with Paul and I for another lap then decided he was ready to race and left us. Nyberg went down in the sand and I got by and he never did catch back up. I didn't get beat by John by all that much this time though, maybe 30 seconds or so. Anyway He is the 45-49 Connecticut Champion, I'm the silver medalist and Paul got bronze.

The course was fun, Fairly technical, pretty mountain bikey. We've had a lot of really fast power courses this season, so some extra technical was fun. The long run-up was tough. I shot a video of the cat 4 race which a bunch of my mountain bike buddies were in. During the 3-4 race I went over to check out the "Hill People" and there was quite a commosion going on. You have to love a bike race where someone brings a drum set. Not just a drum, but a drum set. Major heckling going on. I think I'm happy that nobody was there during our race, I think it would have been annoying.
Two more weekends of cross, then it's break time and hopefully some skiing.

Mercer Does('nt) Disappoint

2009-11-14T16:14:00.000-08:00

It's like adobe, the mud at Mercer. A fine texture, blended with freshly cut grass and earthworms to form a brick like structure that encapsulates your drivetrain. God, that was great, or kinda good, well maybe just OK. It's the stickiest most life-sucking mud ever encountered.
Actually the race was pretty good. We did four laps and it took and hour to do. I got my typical slow start, but rode up to 10th by the end of the second lap. But the life-sucking mud just ground me down and I ended up in 16th out of 60. Of the Connecticut people I knew, I was the highest placed.
It hasn't rained all day, the winds been blowing and it's been pretty warm. Hopefully the course will be dry enough tomorrow to pack into a groove. That would nice. We'll see.

Friday Night in New Jersey

2009-11-13T15:22:00.000-08:00

We made it down with no excitement. Stopped by the venue and walked the course. An earlier email from the promoter said they didn't want anyone riding the course due to the weather , but lots of people were. The new location looks like the grass should hold up better. It's in a really flat area with the exception of some berms and swales which they've used to make off-cambers. Hard to say for sure, but it looks like another fast course. We ran in to Troy Wells giving his clinic to the youngsters. He was taking them through all the off-camber corners and showing them the best lines, but also the alternate lines. Maggie got a picture of him bunny hopping the barriers. I don't think the little guys will be doing that. We also ran into Wayne Barlow checking out the course. We'll be racing each other tomorrow.

We checked in to the hotel. We've been staying at the Homewood Suites the last few times we've travelled and really like them. For $99 it's hard to beat. There's so much room and they have a full size fridge, microwave, sink, oven, stove. Makes it very comfortable.
Our daughter Lynn and Her boyfriend are staying with us tonight and possibly tomorrow. Because the wind is blowing so hard, the promoter isn't putting up any tape until morning. We all plan to get to the race early to volunteer to run tape. I might bale once I get the others working so I can ride a little. Shhhh, don't tell them.

Check out this picture of me that the USGP is using. No really it's of me, Tim Johnson was just about to get it the way.

Later

Armageddon Cross (a.k.a. Mercer)

2009-11-12T15:42:00.000-08:00

For a year now I've been checking the weather for this coming weekend. It was looking so good. What went wrong? Who angered the gods? If you remember Mercer from last year you know what I mean. If not google it.
The only thing that might make it a better situation than last year is that they moved the course location. Oh well, this will be one of those races where you can say "I was there". More to come...

Cycle Smart International November 7 & 8

2009-11-09T17:19:00.000-08:00

So Saturday was my birthday, and I can now officially race in the 45+ geezer class. Yep, 45 on Saturday, and a 10th place finish as a present to myself. Those geezers are fast and really know how to ride. They never let up.
It's amazing how much confidence has to do with it. As I've had some good results lately, I start to realize that I deserve to be there, and that all my hard work and "training" is paying off. But confidence is only part of the equation. I've definitley been feeling strong and have been getting a lot better at chasing, attacking and recovering along with just plain riding faster. I'm a little slow to pick up on the strategy part though.
On Saturday I didn't get a great start, but through the first three laps I managed to ride up to a group that was basically the "chase" group to the leaders and had some fast riders in it. The next few laps I noticed that I was faster than them through the sand, which was only a quarter lap to the finish. I knew all I had to do was not blow it this last time through the sand and I had 'em. When I hit the grass they were ahead of me, but the thing with riding vs. running is that you usually have the major advantage of acceleration, which I did and never looked back.
Hey, 10th isn't that good, but I'm getting closer.
Sunday was a real fun race. The course was quite a bit more turny, but still really fast. Again, not a great start, but I worked up through the group. I caught up to Nyberg in about 8th or 9th place but he wasn't having any of it and left me in the dust. just as we settled into a group, I clipped my pedal on a root while trying to take my super secret line and went down. There goes the group. I think that was my first fall of the season. I didn't think I would catch back on but I did and even managed to beat all but two of the guys in the group. I finished 13th and managed to move back up to 20th overall for the series. I'm looking forward to Mercer next weekend, for the racing and the chance to spend some time with our daughter and J-dog (sup).

The youtube clip above was made from the exact same .mp4 clip as you see below. The only difference was Maggie copied the file to her mac and then uploaded it to youtube. It sounds like the problem is with my PC. I'm open to suggestions.

West Hill Cyclocross

2009-11-01T15:53:00.000-08:00

Good race today at the West Hill Shop in Putney, Vt. The fields weren't huge, but there were some good racers there. The weather was beautiful, and with the rain overnight the course was slippery enough to keep it interesting. The 45+ masters race had about 12 guys today, with Eric Marro, Paul Nyberg, Wayne Barlow and other fast guys. The start here is a long drag up the pavement from the bottom part of the course and up into the field, then immediately over the barriers. This is the only time you ride that section of pavement. Next the course winds through some slippery corners and down into a pit with a short run out of it. This is followed by some more grass, around the shop, through the BMX jumps and then down the hill. The hill is pretty tricky with a left hand turn followed by a right onto a steep, bumpy hill with a deep mud hole on the left and a narrow strip of hard ground on the right. A final stretch of muddy trail led out to a lap around the cornfield where the wind made it tough if you were riding alone. A quick trip up the dirt road and you shoot up the first part of the run-up and hit the ground running without loosing your momentum. A quick remount and repeat 6 more times.
A group of 5 of us formed at the start and rode together for the first four laps. On the road section of the 5th lap, Eric Marro put the hammer down and took one other guy with him. Nyberg and I put on the gas and dropped Wayne Barlow. No matter how hard I tried to drop Nyberg, he kept closing my gaps in the slippery corners. I knew I was waisting my effort trying to drop him. It felt like I was slightly faster than him in the run-up, so, on the last lap, I waited for him with the intention of gluing myself to his wheel and coming around just before the run-up. I knew this was a gamble because in the past I've had issues keeping someone elses pace. But the rest I gave myself letting him come up to me made me confident that I could get him. As we came up the road, we caught two lapped riders and when we did Nyberg went, with me glued to him. As soon as we were at speed I hit it as hard as I could, coming around and headed for the run-up first. It was funny, because I was thinking "here comes the puke", but it didn't and I ended up in third.

Finally A Podium

2009-10-18T04:31:00.000-07:00

Yep, I made it! Second place at Mansfield Hollow 45+. Yeah, it was a small race and some of the fast guys weren't there, but there were a lot of other fast guys there. It felt good! Thanks to all my new team mates and everyone else who was cheering me on. Really fun time with a good showing by the Expo team. Lets see How many team mates I can remember: Me, Dave, Hildebrand, Cliff, TJ, Lance, Keith, Martey, Tall Paul, Paul Novatosky, Brian Specyalski, Steve Yau. There's probably more that I didn't see or didn't know were team mates.
That was a fun race, good atmosphere. There's nothing like a whole big batch of free food after your race, and the generous payouts and prizes.
Hopefully we'll see a good turn out next week at Hartford.

A Gloucester Documentary

2009-10-16T16:15:00.000-07:00

So here it is the not long awaited premiere of my first ever attempt at video. All I can say is it goes downhill fast!
Check it out anyway. Constructive criticism accepted!

I think drill!

2009-10-11T16:58:00.000-07:00

Providence day 2...A better day! I felt SO much better today. I think mainly because I wasn't any where near as nervous. I won't go into a lot of details, but just say I think if you can drop a group or bridge to a group then you have to. I ended up 17th today out of 60 starters. I'll take it. Paul and TJ raced the 3 race and finished ahead of mid field. Paul seemed pretty relaxed and happy with the day. Congrats on your 3rd place finish in the 5k at the Hartford Marathon. Dave raced the 35+ masters and I think his ass hurts. He was riding TJ's bike and it's always tough to ride someone else's bike. Not to mention that that group is only a small step below the elite men's field.
Fun day and weekend. Looks like a lot of people will be going to Mansfield this weekend. Good!

TJ suffering

Chris Jones and Tim Johnson. Johnson ends up winning, Jones 3rd.

Checked out this cool trials demo. Forgot the dudes name

To Drill...Or Not To Drill...

2009-10-10T17:02:00.000-07:00

Providence day 1 is done and I'm a little bummed I shouldn't be! 21st out of 70 starters isn't bad. I'm bummed with the way it went down. I rode good, got a good start, didn't go down, didn't really make any mistakes and I pushed myself cross-eyed (lost a contact, right one this time), so why be bummed? Because I really think I could have made 18th and not 21st. Wtih a lap and a half to go I caught the guy in front of me, with a lap to go we caught the guy in front of us, with 7/8 of a lap to go another guy catches us, so we're now a group of four. I really thought I could ride away from the group and thats what I proceeded to do, try anyway! I drilled it for the last lap and everytime I looked they were all still right there. So with a quarter lap to go, one guy goes and they all follow, except me I'm cooked from trying to drop the group.
So here's the question. Did I do the right thing and continue to drill it or should I have sat up and played tired and let someone else set the pace? Maybe I could have just let off and the group would have followed my pace. I doubt it, cross never seems to be any thing other than full gas, or is it? See why I'm confused.

Day 1...Can you say rain?

2009-10-03T18:13:00.000-07:00

Wow did it pour today! I know I've been saying how I like to race in the rain (and I do), but it can get tedious. All the trying to stay dry while you're warming up and try to get warm after you've raced is kind of like work. The actual racing part is awesome though. You have to stay so focused that it seems like the race flies by. Today went pretty well, I definitely made a few poorly timed blunders, but that's racing. First lap I had ridden up to about 8th place and hit a rut which shot me off course, right off the course and behind the tape. By the time I got off my bike and back over the tape I lost at least 10 places. Then with 2 laps to go, I had just caught and passed a group of 5, as I made my way through the backstop curve... same thing with the rut, only this time I shot right into a stake and the netting. Bye bye 5 guys. I caught that group again but wasn't able to gain any more places back.
So now we're ready for bed. Belly full of Pizza joint food, laundry done, tweets sent, blog posted. Time to get ready for tomorrows nervous stomach and more awesome Gloucester racing.
But there is some bad news. We've told that gorilla man or monkey man as his friends told us has had to move away to pursue a real job in Philly. It's a sad day in cross and he will be missed. Come on young devil, time to step up.

We made it

2009-10-02T18:21:00.001-07:00

We're here!! Yee haw. We made it without a hitch thanks to Maggie's navigating skills!? Drove up to Gloucester after we checked in to the hotel to check out the course and get something to eat. The course is quite a bit different from last year and looks quite a bit tougher. Should be really fun in the rain. I heard there's not going to be a sand pit on Day One, which is good (I'm not a fan). Ate at The Gull, one of the local dive joints. The food was actually pretty good, better than I was expecting.
Now we're all sitting here, Maggie, Nikki and I, typing into our computers and chatting, but it's time for me to hit the sack. Looking forward to tomorrow!

Heading to Gloucester

2009-10-01T19:08:00.001-07:00

An image like can mean only one thing...Some serious cross racing is about to go down. Maggie and I are heading out to G-ster tomorrow for the weekend. We're picking up our friend Nikki at Logan and then heading to our hotel in Peabody. Nikki works with Christian Vandevelde's father, so she and Maggie got to be friends through the VdV fan club.
Paul and I raced up in VT last weekend. Those were two hard races, but I managed to get some points, so I should get a call up to the second row (for day one at least). I've been racing in the masters 45+ races. So far it feels like the group I belong in. I'm by no means the fastest, but I feel like I'm holding my own and because most of these guys are really fit and they have good riding skills it's forcing me to step up my game. I realized in VT that you can't make mistakes if you want to stay anywhere near the front, plus when you're getting beat by guys your own age you can think "if they can do it I can Too". When the 20 year old kids are kicking your ass you just say "I'm old, leave me alone".
I don't know who knows what, but team Delta is being retired as I've joined up with the Exposition Wheelmen Club both as a member and as a sponsor. We don't have our kits yet so in the mean time I'll continue flying the Delta tricolor.
Anyway, I haven't put anything up here in a while so I thought I'd do that. I'm going to bring a computer to Gloucester and try to post a race update. We'll see.
Check out this picture of Paul Railing a corner at the recent Crossin 4 Canines race. Later!

We Open The Door To The Pain Cave...And Step Inside

2009-09-13T16:19:00.000-07:00

Doing double cross races seems like a good idea when you're sitting in front of your computer, looking at Bikereg and feeling tough. But doubles hurt. They leave you feeling wasted, which of course is why they really are a good idea. You pay today for good results tomorrow.

Cliff Kenyon, Paul Novotasky and myself made the trip to Bedford Mass. for Quad Cross. We all decided to do double races, but the only combination that worked, was for us to do back to back 40 minute races. Paul and Cliff lined up for the Masters 35+ with my 45+ group going 30 seconds afer. Paul got a good start and ended up in 12th with Clif apparently taking it a little easy in 21. My race went pretty well and I finished in 12th also. I probably could have made top 10, but the little voice in my head was saying "don't forget, you have another race to do".

So, we finish the first race and quickly get ready for the second. We all had our second race numbers pinned under our first, so a quick tear off and we were ready. As we head to the line I notice Paul lined up on the front row and I'm thinking are you crazy? but that's how he rolls, as you kids say. Cliff lined up behind him with me behind Cliff, and off we went. Paul and Cliff nailed their starts and were gone, my first lap was brutal and I wondered, "what am I doing", but by the third lap it's all one big blur and you just pedal. Paul ended up in 9th, Cliff 19th and me in 24th out of about 50.

The course was good, just the right amount of slipperyness with lots of corners and not too many crazy obstacles. There was a lot of moaning and groaning on the way home, but a good time was had by all. Don't forget, Crossin' 4 Canines this Saturday in Rocky Hill. I hope to see a good number of my new team mates there.

Final TT results

2009-09-01T12:41:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody! Thanks a bunch to everyone who participated this year. We had a great time putting the event on and based on the amount of participation, even when the weather didn't cooperate, you people enjoyed it as well. As of now, we plan on doing it all over again next year. Any feed back you have that can make the series better will be appreciated. The final picnic was a success. I hope nobody got a raw burger. Thanks to everyone for coming and especially those who brought food. See you next year. Keep in touch. Here are the results from the last two races. email me if you want the overall series results.

Jon Tarbox

Results from Week 9, 8/27

Place Name Category Time Speed

1 Ben Carbonetti MR2 14:00.7 26.54

2 David Hildebrand MR3 14:26.0 25.77

3 David Marti MR5 14:47.8 25.14

4 Joseph Nucera MR4 14:56.1 24.91

5 Paul Novotasky MR3 14:58.3 24.86

6 David Head MR4 15:00.4 24.80

7 Steve Abbot MR5 15:10.1 24.53

8 Cliff Kenyon MR3 15:15.4 24.39

9 Sebastian Dunn MR4 15:22.8 24.18

10 Paul Armstrong MR4 15:27.0 24.08

11 Jonathon Reid MR5 15:34.7 23.87

12 Jon Tarbox MR4 15:55.1 23.37

13 Sven Malten MR3 15:56.1 23.35

14 Bill Hurley MR4 16:24.8 22.66

15 Jim Dunphy MR6 16:42.4 22.28

16 Steve Dauphinais MR4 16:44.4 22.23

17 Dean Montgomery MR4 16:56.1 21.97

18 Stacy Head FR3 17:06.0 21.75

19 Bob Ludecke MR6 17:06.0 21.75

20 Robert Winter MR5 17:10.2 21.67

21 Al Tisko MR4 17:29.1 21.28

22 Dan Massucci MR4 17:48.3 20.90

23 Steven Yau MR3 17:55.4 20.76

24 Donna Davis FR4 18:12.2 20.44

25 Kelsea Mullaly FR1 18:12.5 20.44

26 Frank Davis MR5 18:13.6 20.40

27 Katie Mullaly FR1 18:16.9 20.35

28 Laura Mullally FR4 18:22.4 20.25

Results from Sunday August 30:

Place Name Category Time Speed
1 David Hildebrand MR3 14:22.3 25.89
2 Aiden Charles MR2 14:42.6 25.28
3 Bob Hannon MR4 14:58.4 24.86
4 David Marti MR5 15:02.8 24.72
5 Stan Lezon MR3 15:09.5 24.53
6 Dave Hoyle MR2 15:42.4 23.69
7 Paul Novotasky MR3 15:43.8 23.64
8 Cliff Kenyon MR3 15:53.9 23.40
9 Dave Dubos MR3 15:56.2 23.35
10 Lance Jones MR4 16:08.8 23.03
11 Barry O'Grady MR4 16:15.6 22.87
12 Juan DeJesus MR4 16:20.2 22.78
13 Trent Sullivan MR3 16:22.5 22.71
14 Robert Winter MR5 17:00.4 21.88
15 Bruce Taylor MR4 17:13.7 21.59
16 Rob Recalde MR2 17:18.6 21.48
17 Donna Davis FR4 18:04.3 20.59
18 Michael Martin MR1 18:11.9 20.44
19 Bill Hurley MR4 18:19.6 20.29
20 Laura Mullally FR4 18:36.0 20.00
21 Katie Mullaly FR1 19:01.4 19.56
22 Taylor Hildebrand MR1 20:37.7 18.03

Blunt Park Cross Race 8-23-09

2009-09-01T03:22:00.000-07:00

Let the fun begin. Blunt Park was the first race of the season and the turn out was good (even though everyone says it's too early for cross). Paul came up to race along with Frank Navone and the Brazilians. Frank, the Boys and I raced the cat 4 race. Before the race I said I was just going to ride around and not go too hard since my shoulder and elbow are still on the mend. What do I do at race time? Line up on the front row. I guess I am racing. Anyway, long story short, I felt good and got 6th out of 52. Frank looked like he was having a little trouble, but finished strong and said he felt pretty good. Ed (not his real name) Got third on his mountain bike and Jesse got 12th, even riding with one foot clipped in (he brought one road shoe and one mountain).
So I had registered to do the cat 3/4 race as well and was feeling OK when start time came around. I decided to start farther back and let the fresh guys have at it. Paul was up there. This race was a little faster and I stayed fairly close to the front for about the first 30 minutes. I kept Paul in sight. But then, my mind decided my body was tired and I slowed way down. For some reason I was thinking there was about 5 laps to go. I got passed by about 5 guys just as I heard the bell ring for the last lap. Paul did pretty well and finished 12th of 63. He was pissed because some kid who had no skills totally clogged the course right in front of him. I'm sure he could have got top 10, but that's cross, the start is everything. I ended up 28th.
The course was greatly improved over last year and was a lot more like a typical cross course. Now if they can get rid of the log crossings, it'll be a really good course.

Time Trial 8-30-09

2009-08-13T12:40:00.000-07:00

I'm heading to Gay City to give it a go. I can't guarantee it won't get canceled later, but we're going to try and race. Come on if you don't mind taking a chance.

Jon

TT July 16, 2008

2009-07-16T12:57:00.000-07:00

It looks like the weather will hold (we hope so anyway), so we'll see everyone at Gay City this afternoon.

Here are the results from tonights race with some commentary from Matt:

Dear Participants – Last night’s race was spectacular. We had very good weather conditions (for a change) and good turnout. All 22 participants rode 20 mph averages (if you round up) or better. We also had 21 year old Alister Ratcliff from Colorado. Alister broke the course record set in 2008 by Jeff Kozlowski by 27 seconds. At 27.45 mph Alister said it was 2.5 mph slower than his TT speed on a course in Canada earlier this year – “because this course is hillier”. Congratulations to Alister and thanks to all participants. The next race is July 30. See you then! Place

Name Category Time Speed
1 Alister Ratcliff MR2 13:33.1 27.45
2 Michael Chaplean MR3 14:28.6 25.68
3 Paul Novotasky MR3 15:08.6 24.55
4 David Marti MR5 15:31.6 23.95
5 Cliff Kenyon MR3 15:33.9 23.90
6 Joeseph Nucera MR4 15:37.2 23.82
7 Steve Abbot MR5 15:46.9 23.57
8 Paul Armstrong MR4 16:22.5 22.73
9 Barry O'Grady MR4 16:36.6 22.39
10 Amanda Lawrence FR3 16:38.1 22.36
11 Neal Popovich MR3 16:42.9 22.25
12 Jim Dunphy MR6 17:23.4 21.40
13 Dean Montgomery MR4 17:37.2 21.12
14 Bob Ludecke MR6 17:43.2 21.00
15 Jeff Buske MR3 17:47.5 20.90
16 Troy Hopkins MR4 17:48.4 20.90
17 Donna Davis FR4 18:23.9 20.22
18 Robert Winter MR5 18:24.6 20.20
19 Laura Mullally FR4 18:24.7 20.20
20 Steve Cabelus MR3 18:30.0 20.11
21 Steven Yau MR3 18:35.6 20.00
22 Katie Mullaly FR1 18:54.2 19.68

Jon

It's not if, but when

2009-07-09T18:18:00.000-07:00

So I decided at the last minute to go out to Bethel and do the Wednesday night crit. I asked Paul to come , but he had a premonition, I guess, and declined. I should have known better my self. Of the three times I've done this race, two of the nights there were crashes. Last night it was my turn.
I was accomplishing my goal of geting a hard workout in. I rode solo off the front for a lap and a half and was in a short lived break of about 4 laps, so the workout was good. As we got down to the last few of 30 laps, I was thinking, "OK, good ride this will help with this weekends mounntain bike race". All I have to do is ride in the last two laps and go home. Wrong, winding up for the final sprint, coming around the last corner before the hill, and ther it is, my crash. The only image I remember is the guy leaning at a 45 degree angle right in front of me. I hit him had and go over the bars and slam to the road on my elbow and side. I think the reason I didn't get much road rash is because I just slammed down. I ended up in Danbury Hospital emergency room with a fractured elbow, 13 stiches, a seperated ACjoint in my shoulder and some cracked ribs. Since I'll be off the read for several week while my elbow heals, it's time to revise my race schedule. Thanks to the guys at the race reassuring me it wasn't as bad as it seemed and showing me how quickly there road rash healed. Extra special thanks to my friend Frank Navone, who also went down and had to get checked out. If you need an awesome guy to help you out, Frank's your man. As they say...."that's bike racing"
Jon

Tip: Cross the Finish line

2009-07-05T13:06:00.000-07:00

Today was the Domnarski Farm race. From every thing I'd been told about the course, I wasn't really looking forward to it. After a pre-ride on Friday, I was less than enthusiastic. Jonathan Sawn and I lined up for the start and had at it. Jonathan went out two groups before mine. With my lack of enthusiasm, I got a pretty crappy start. I pushed fairly hard for the first half of the 10 mile lap and ended up in 2nd with the Snowman (Matt Snow). I drilled it on the pavement, thinking we could get a gap, but when we hit the dirt again, John Allen and Will had caught us. The second half of the lap is a lot more technical, but there are a couple of hard climbs. I thought I had dropped everybody on the climbs, but by the top of the last one I had been caught by two guys, Will (riding flat pedals and sneakers) and Bikebarn guy. Will got by me in one of the extra deep mud bogs when I didn't see the go around route and plunged head long into the slop. I think I swore! Bikebarn Guy got me just at the end of the Jeep trail before the last section of single track. I knew I was done then. Bikebarn guy played that expertly and I totally appreciated being beaten fair and sqaure. This is where the tip comes in. I was in such a hurry to congratulate Bikebarn guy for his skilled tactics and riding that I sort of forgot to ride through the finish line. I took probably 30 seconds for all the people screaming to get my attention and when I turned to see what all the yelling was about, they were all staring at me and screaming in this disgusted tone as if to say "I can't believe they let someone so stupid do these races". That's when I realized what I thought was the finish was actually the start line. Duh!! Anyway three guys crossed the line before I managed to drag myself over the line. I think I would have been in 4th, but probably will get credit for 8th-ish. I talked to the official in a half hearted plea for my spot, but didn't press the issue. Who's the idiot? (that would be me!)
In the end I actually liked the course and the racing was good. So often these races turn in to a time trial, solo ride through the woods, but we had some good action. Good race boys. Matt crashed hard and hit his head, he was pretty banged up. Hope he's OK. Props to John Allen for stopping and checking on him. Good to see my buddy Frank Navone.

CCTTS July 2, 2009

2009-07-03T18:09:00.000-07:00

I swear, it wasn't raining when I left my house, but it sure was when we got to Gay City. After stalling for a while it cleared and had the race. My IT department just got back from vacation and is unavailable to post the chart, But everyone who aced should have gotten an email from Matt. If you want the results, shoot me an email. No race next week. See you in two.

East Hartford Crit June 30, 2009

2009-07-03T18:02:00.000-07:00

Yep, That was fun. Paul and I just pinned it and attacked repeatedly throughout the whole race. I won the first prime and Paul won the next two. He finished second to some young whipper snapper in the final sprint. I think I was around 9th. It's cool to have the fitness to be able to go hard like that for the whole race. We'll be back

Putney West Hill Mtb Race June 28, 2009

2009-07-03T16:54:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite courses of the series. Plenty of climbing, some nice single track and some wicked fun downhills. The recent rain made things a little slick, but there really weren't any mud holes. A couple of the climbs turned into run-ups, but that's the way it goes. Paul forgot his tube and CO2, so he started the race with my lame ass mini pump and cheapo performance tube. I told him the pump would take only slightly less time to fill the tire as it would to walk back. Needless to say, he flatted on the first lap. when I passed him he was struggling trying to get the tire off the rim, but he was gone on the next lap so I figured he got it fixed. I had made a couple of water bottle holders out of some old ski poles for us. When I came through the feed, Paul's bottle was gone, so I knew he was back in the race. Trust me there was no way he was going to DNF, if he had to carry the bike for three laps, he was going to finish. After the race he said he had to stop every half lap and pump the tire with the near-useless mini pump. With all that he managed to hang on to 15th of 23 starters. Awesome effort.
I got a pretty crappy start, but after some sketchy passes (that I probably would have complained about) just before the single track, I got up to about 5th. I was right behind George and was watching Matt and Sylvain at the front. After the next single track I had passed George and closed in on Matt. Matt went down next, which suprised me. That left just Sylvain at the front. I just couldn't get up to him and that's how the race ended. Sylvain in 1st and me in 2nd. George got 5th and Matt finished 10th. This was my first sport race last year and I think I finished 2nd from the other end. I'm really happy with the way the season's going. Makes all those cold rides in January seem worth it.
Check out some pictures taken by Scott Frison and Paul.

Taylor Valentine (one of the sketchy passes, sorry Taylor)

Scott Frison, checking his email, I think

Paul on Cemetary Hill

Heartbreak Hill

Cycling Videos on CyclingDirt

Check out this video where Paul Novotosky randomly rides past during the Seamus Powell Interview- too funny

Time Trial July 2, 2009

2009-07-02T13:03:00.000-07:00

I'm no weather man, but the radar looks like this storm will be gone by race time. So we're on for tonight. Hopefully we don't get caught in a storm.

Jon

6-25-09

2009-06-25T18:45:00.001-07:00

Above: Alister Ratcliff UCI BikeReg/Cannondale

Above: Donna Davis

Great time tonight. Finally a break in the rainy New England conditions. We had a good turn-out of 18 TTers.

Helen Nutter (aspiring photographer from the UK took many awesome pictures. You can view the pictures on Flckr by clicking here http://www.flickr.com/photos/mtarbox20/sets/72157620431847753/

You can contact Helen if you would like a color copy of any of the pics. cleefox@gmail.com and on Twitter search Lucky_you33. Visit Helen's Bike Blog at http://helsy33.skyrock.com

Thanks for coming out. Jon and Matt will be emailing and posting results soon.

Housatonic Hills Road Race

2009-06-21T15:27:00.000-07:00

WOW! That was one hard F*#$ing race. So I'll keep this short. Started out with a nice neutral climb up the first hill then right into a wicked fast scary descent and onto the first climbs, of course I was already lurking at the back of the pack, so by the top of the last of the first climbs I was off the back, along with quite a feew others. We got a little group of four together, but by the top of the evil little climbs on Davenport road, we were down to two, Me and Zane from Horst/Benidorm. Basically we suffered together until we went up Davenport the second time and I couldn't hang. Zane road on with a group of guys from the 3/4 race and I rode in solo. Paul had a flat early in the first lap and wasn't able to repair it. He got a free ride in the sag wagon, sucks.

It's funny, I think I'm a halfway decent climber...until you crank it up to race pace and all bets are off. I really need to work on that. Our race (masters 35+) was driven by Roger Aspholm and Johny Bold, so it's no wonder the pace was insane. Great workout and prep for Putney mountain bike race next weekend. One last little thing I noticed...I spent so much time out of the saddle climbing that I have two blisters on each hand from gripping the brake hoods. Awesome. Can't wait for next year!

CANCELED- June 18, 2009

2009-06-18T12:42:00.000-07:00

SORRY!, We're cancelling the time trial for tonight. It just doesn't look like the rain will stop in time to make the race safe to run. We are going to reschedule for next Thursady, June 25th. You people doing Fitchburg can still get in at least one more TT. Hopefully next week's weather will be better.

Jon, Matt and Maggie

TIME TRIAL June 18th 2:20 PM

2009-06-18T11:19:00.000-07:00

We're watching the weather radar to determine what to do. We'll decide by 4:00 whether to cancel. Stay tuned.

Jon

Christian Vande Velde Rocks!

2009-06-16T16:03:00.000-07:00

So I come home today and there is a package from VDV!!!! This is the Jersey he was wearing when he crashed out 10K from the finish of the 3d stage of the 2009 Giro. OMG! I can't decide if I am happy or not cause I soooo wish he hadn't been injured. But this is totally going to be framed!

Inside is a signed poster for my kids AND the signed, battle scarred jersey from the '09 Giro!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What an awesome dude! He is totally my adopted nephew!

Go VDV!!!!

Posted by Maggie

Philadelphia International Championships 2009

2009-06-08T12:46:00.000-07:00

Leaky Gas Daniel Oss was in a three man break for most of the second half of the race. It was weird on the 2nd lap of Lemon Hill he just sat up and said f-it.

Columbia Highroad dominated both the women's and men's fields. Kind of surprised Boasan Hagen didn't win; he was at the front of the second group of about 20 in the final 18 or so Ks.

Can you believe I walked out of the Star Trek exhibit at the Franklin Institute and there were the Leaky Gas boys. Of course I ran over for a photo op. They told me I had to cover the Garmin shirt though. LOL! They were super nice (and Quinziato is quite handsome in person.) It was funny- they were letting this little Black kid ride one of their bikes. Pretty nice dudes. The dude on the right just kind of popped into the pic, and rather than crop him out I decided he needed to stay.

Dan Holloway from the US Development Team (sponsored by Garmin Slipstream) dominated the first 5 laps. At one point he was 11 minutes ahead of the peloton. I saw him at the end on Lemon Hill giving people high fives, thought for sure he would finish and get serious KOM points and the 3,500 Benjamins associated with it, but when I checked the results it said he DNF. WTF?

Now as usual I bring my usual silly youtube montage of the race highlights from this fangirl's perspective. A totally awesome weekend. If anyone wants to come over, up, or down for it next year do it! Check out my flickr account if you want to see more pics. Search mtarbox20

Phillty TT 06-06-09

2009-06-06T08:21:00.000-07:00

Philly Time Trial in the can. Pretty fun, worth the effort of lugging the stuff down. I got 18th out of 28 in the masters crew. I think my time was 21:51.48, or so, which was 2:30 behind the winner. I guess that's not so bad considering (insert excuse here).

Cycling Concepts Time Trial Series 6/4/09

2009-06-05T11:35:00.000-07:00

Great turnout this week with 26 racers. The most ever. Thanks everyone for coming. We hope to continue to grow. If anyone has any suggestions as to ways to make the series better, feel free to post a comment. Maggie and I are heading to Philly for the weekend to visit our daughter. I'm going to do the Philly Amateur Time Trial on Saturday and then we're all going to watch the Philadelphia International Cycling Championships on Sunday. Should be fun, never really been to a big pro race.

Place	Name	Category	Time	Speed
1	Paul Novotasky	MR3	14:57.2	24.88
2	David Marti	MR5	15:25.9	24.10
3	Joseph Nucera	MR4	15:51.2	23.47
4	Paul Armstrong	MR4	15:52.0	23.45
5	Matt Patterson	MR4	16:29.3	22.57
6	Karl Schachter	MR5	16:55.4	21.99
7	Kimberly Edwards	FR3	16:56.2	21.97
8	Marty Spallone	MR4	16:59.7	21.88
9	Barry O'Grady	MR4	16:59.9	21.88
10	Jim Dunphy	MR6	17:16.6	21.52
11	Andy Chambers	MR2	17:31.5	21.22
12	Troy Hopkins	MR4	17:37.5	21.12
13	David Jacobski	MR4	17:37.6	21.1
14	Jeff Buske	MR3	17:40.6	21.04
15	Robert Recalde	MR2	17:40.7	21.04
16	Steven Yau	MR3	18:01.1	20.65
17	Robert Winter	MR5	18:10.2	20.48
18	Carmen Carlton	FR4	18:20.9	20.27
19	Dean Montgomery	MR4	18:25.8	20.18
20	Bill Hurley	MR4	18:33.0	20.05
21	Dawn Keeney	FR2	18:40.6	19.91
22	Donna Davis	FR4	19:19.7	19.24
23	Laura Mullally	FR4	19:22.6	19.19
24	Taylor Hildebrand	MR1	19:53.7	18.69
25	Nicole Hildebrand	FR	20:28.1	18.18
26	Karen Memmott	FR6	22:14.9	16.72

CT Stage Race-Day 2

2009-06-02T19:16:00.000-07:00

Whoa, somebody needs to lighten up!! This picture pretty well shows the mood before the start of the road stage on day 2. This isn't my "I'm going to kill this" look, it's my "I'm going to get killed" look. Paul and I were both pretty nervous. Neither of us has done a 91 mile road race before and didn't know what to expect. I've got to give Paul credit though, he has completed at least one Iron Man triathlon. That's pretty hardcore!!!

Paul and I rode the first loop last week and drove the second loop, so we knew the course fairly well. The Masters group went off at 12:00 and the cat. 4's went at 12:30. We rolled pretty easy for the first section of the first lap. I had a little more confidence building as we got going and was able to move around in the bunch more comfortably. The first loop was fairly uneventful for us. There was a break off the front of 3 or 4 guys, but nobody seemed too concerned. I know I wasn't. When we started the second lap the pace quickened as we hit the climb from yesterdays circuit race and I said to myself "it's on" and struggled to stay attached.

I had given Katherine (you don't know her) a bottle to hand up at the second feed station. It had my name written on it. I saw a guy going up the climb with my bottle!? All I could think was will I have anything at the feed.

The next half hour or so was pretty intense. Shitty pavement, and one short, sharp climb after another. It took me about 4 of these to figure out that if I got up close to the front before each climb, I'd have room to "drift" to the back and not get dropped. This worked pretty well, but I was getting cooked. Luckily up ahead in the bunch I heard someone yell "hey, you gotta pee" and we all pulled to the side of the road and took a piss. That was so pro. There was one more climb after that that I didn't even remember, but it was tough. I was so close to getting dropped there, but I said to myself "do you realize how miserable it will be to ride in from here alone" and dug hard and got back on just before the feed zone. Remember the bottle.

I saw Katherine and she had a bottle. Hallelujah. Ice cold water, possibly the best water ever. THANKS Katherine!! Katherine is a good local racer who has been kicking butt in our time trial and recently won the cyclonauts crit in Stafford. Thanks again.

Pretty much down hill from here except for the 5 mile grind up Sandy Brook Road with the little kicker at the end. When we hit the kicker and every body went, I knew I had to just stay with my pace. Three of us got together at the top with about 1-1/2 km to go and rode in 40 seconds behind the field. I couldn't believe it, I didn't get dropped!

I waited for the cat 4 field to come through, but there was no Paul. He rode in about 20 minutes later. He said he cramped up really bad before the second feed zone and just couldn't hang on. He wasn't alone. In my group , there were only 30 of the 68 starters left at the end.

So for GC Paul ended up 45th of 57 starters. I know he's a little disappointed, but he's already talking about the next one. I ended up placing 20th out of 40 in my age group. I was 32nd of 68 for the whole masters field. I'm really happy with that for my first stage race, first long road race and first masters race. I really liked racing with the masters, it seemed to be a lot calmer and orderly than the 4's. I'll try another one soon and see if this was a fluke. Maggie spent the day riding in the Official's car behind the cat 4 field. She said it was pretty cool.

This was a great experience and Paul and I are both glad we did it.

Jon off the back in the circuit race

the view from Mag's Official's car- Cat 4

CT Stage Race-Day 1

2009-05-30T17:08:00.000-07:00

I'm going by memory here:

Paul had a solid TT and finished 14th about 1:02 behind the leader. He finished in the field in the circuit race and maintained his position. He's in a great position for a top ten finish.

Me, on the other hand, not so much. I finished 30th out of 40 in the TT, almost 4:00 minutes behind JB ( Johny Bold not James Brown). I probably shouldn't feel too, too bad... the guy in second finished almost a minute down. As I was afraid of, I got dropped in the circuit race, but didn't get lapped, at least. Somehow I managed to move up to 29th. Go figure.

Tomorrow is going to be tough. Paul's chances look good for a top ten. I'm hoping to hang on as long as possible and not lose any places.

Jim Thompson and all the USAC officials and vounteers are doing a great job putting on the race. Maggie will be in the Official's car for the Cat 4s in the RR tomorrow. 91 miles coming at us!

Thursday, May 28, 2009 Cycling Concepts Time Trial Series Results

2009-05-29T12:59:00.001-07:00

Thanks to everyone who came out in the drizzle last night. We'd like to extend enthusiastic congratulations to Bill Hurley for the most improved time from last week. Bill shaved 1:07.2 from last week's time. Go Bill! You win the Garmin Slipstream CamelBack Water Bottle!

Congrats to Pete Murphy who set the course record for category MR7! Matt says Pete is a "smokin' rider!" We agree.

Kudos to other riders who improved over last week go to:

Cliff Kenyon
Jim Dunphy
Jon Tarbox

Here are this week's results. Matt will be sending an email over the weekend as well.

Place	Name	Category	Time	Speed
1	Cliff Kenyon	MR3	15:29.6	24.00
2	Paul Novotasky	MR3	15:33.0	23.92
3	Joseph Nucera	MR4	15:37.0	23.82
4	Jon Tarbox	MR4	15:48.1	23.54
4	Paul Armstrong	MR4	15:59.4	23.27
6	Katherine Papillon-Rodrigio	FR2	16:30.9	22.52
7	Karl Schacter	MR5	16:46.4	22.19
8	Pete Murphy	MR7	17:33.5	21.18
9	Jim Dunphy	MR6	17:34.9	21.16
10	Austin Vincent	MR1	18:13.1	20.42
11	Dean Montgomery	MR4	18:17.4	20.35
12	Laura Mullally	FR4	18:51.8	19.72
13	Steven Yau	MR3	19:02.6	19.53
14	Bill Hurley	MR4	19:03.3	19.53
15	Karl Webb	MR3	22:36.2	16.46

Coyote Hill Classic 5-24-09

2009-05-24T17:13:00.001-07:00

What?! You don't like mud?!

It's a long drive to West Fairlee, VT. Luckily the Coyote Hill course is good enough to make it worth while. I love the north country, whether it's Maine, the Adirondacks, New Hampshire or Vermont. I love the smell of the woods, the mountains, the dirt roads and the lifestyle. The Coyote Hill facilities, if you can call them that, are rustic, but cool. At the end of the road, it's all there. The trails are really good. They're tough, but rideable, not super gnarly, just steady hardness.

It rained just before the start and for most of the race, so things got pretty slippery. I can't say I really minded it. The temperature was good and the mud seems to be suiting me well. The first lap went fast, the second lap I just held on and hoped to not get passed. I ended up third. Starting the second lap I closed the gap to Matt Snow at the top of the road climb, but by then my mind was detaching from my body and the lines just weren't working. Matt was gone. He got four minutes on me in one lap and finished second.

Jonathan finished 7th out of 15. Rob rode in with his usual smile. He said he had a good time. Can't ask for more than that.

Maggie spent the day stalking Jeremy Powers, I mean officiating at the Hartford crit. It was her first assignment. Sounds like she did OK.

5-21-09 Cycling Concepts Time Trial Results

2009-05-22T13:29:00.000-07:00

above: After the TT, Dunphy contemplates his time

May 21, 2009--This year's second Cycling Concepts Time Trial Series went well. There was a strong headwind, but at least it wasn't raining :) We had 18 riders. A couple of first timers and an awesome junior racer who did a great job!

Next week we'll be giving away a couple of prizes; a Delta Surveying Tee, and a Garmin Slipstream Camelback Water Bottle. The Tee will go to Best Time and the awesome water bottle will go to most improved time from this week. We're also looking into some gift certificates for the remainder of the season. The most improved award we'll give the following week so you don't have to hang around while we calculate.

Great Job Everyone! See you next week!

Maggie

Above: Matt "the man" calculates scores

PLACE	NAME	CATEGORY	TIME	SPEED
1	Dave Hildebrand	MR3	15:00.2	24.80
2	Paul Novotasky	MR3	15:09.6	24.53
3	Stan Lezon	MR3	15:12.1	24.47
4	Joseph Nucera	MR4	15:21.7	24.21
5	Jon Tarbox	MR4	16:00.7	23.23
6	Sebastian Dunn	MR4	16:04.7	23.13
7	Cliff Kenyon	MR3	16:16.7	22.85
8	Kimberly Edwards	FR3	16.41.8	22.28
9	David Jacobski	MR4	17.33.0	21.20
10	Jim Dunphy	MR6	17:40.6	21.04
11	Jonathan Sawn	MR2	17:49.1	20.88
12	Izzy Lowell	FR2	18:24.7	20.20
13	Carmen Carlton	FR4	18:31.2	20.09
14	Steven Yau	MR3	18:36.0	20.00
15	Bill Hurley	MR4	20:10.5	18.43
16	Donna Davis	FR4	20:30.2	18.15
17	Taylor Hildebrand	MR1	21:55.5	16.96
18	Karen Memmott	FR6	23:09.4	16.07

Winsted Woods 5-17-09

2009-05-20T18:37:00.000-07:00

All right, I'm a little behind with this report, but here you go. I thought it was a good race, tough yes, but good. Definitely the hardest course so far this year. The mud had pretty much dried up on most of the course with the exception of the obvious mud pits. What I thought was cool was that the mud in most of the single track corners had been pushed up into little berms that actually made the corners pretty fast. That wasn't the case every where, there were still plenty of slimy roots and rocks to keep you on your toes. There was a lot of grumbling before the race about how cold it was. As far as I'm concerned, that was nearly the perfect temperature. "Back in my day" we only rode our mountain bikes in the fall when the weather was cool and we rode the road during the summer, but that was then, this is now.

Jonathan looked like he'd been kicked when I passed him on the last lap, he ended up getting 6th. (he says he was sick all week)
Frank had a solid ride, all those crits are helping, he finished 15th.
Rob was riding happy as ever as you can see in the video. He really likes to ride his mountain bike, you can tell. Too bad he ended up flatting on the last lap and went out with a DNF.
I made the podium for the first time this year in third. I was really happy with that since I really didn't think I would do that well.

Thanks Karensa for the bottles, everybody really appreciates the help.

Check out this video that Maggie put together. She has a bunch more from cross season on youtube. Just search under "tillytarbox"

Cycling Concepts Time Trial Series 5-14-09

2009-05-14T17:57:00.000-07:00

We had a good turn out despite the wind and rain. Same time, same place next week. Thanks to Diane for help with the finish timing.

We will be trying a start list next week with newcomers going first, then slowest to fastest rider from previous week.

If you would like to subscribe to the blog for email updates please use the RSS subscribe tab.

Results: 5-14-09 6:30 PM Start

Place	Name	Category	Time	Speed	Points	GC
1	Paul Lynch	MR1	15:35.7	23.85	1	8
2	Paul Novotasky	MR3	15:55.4	23.37	2	7
3	Joeseph Nucera	MR4	16:11.2	22.99	4	6
4	Sebastian Dunn	MR4	16:35.1	22.43	3	5
5	Cliff Kenyon	MR3	16:50.9	22.08	1	4
6	Jon Tarbox	MR4	16:54.9	21.99	2	3
7	Katherine Papillon-Rodrigio	FR2	17:27.9	21.30	1	4
8	Bill Kenney	MR4	18:29.8	20.11	1	2
9	Jim Dunphy	MR6	18:45.9	19.82	1	1
10	Carmen Carlton	FR4	19:47.8	18.79	2	3
11	Donna Davis	FR4	20:14.6	18.37	1	2
12	Karen Memmott	FR6	24:11.8	15.37	1	1

The First TT

2009-05-14T13:25:00.000-07:00

IT'S ON!!! The weather looks like it's going to hold. See you at the race.

Orchard Assault UMass 5-9-09

2009-05-09T17:00:00.000-07:00

Jonathan and I went up to Amherst today to do the Orchard Assault mountain bike race. We both did the race last year and knew it was going to be a good time. This course reminds me of being a kid of about 12 when BMX bikes were first coming out. We had trails everywhere around town, through peoples back yards, connecting the different wooded areas, along the train tracks and the creek, we had a blast. The course basically consists of tight switch back single track down a hill, then back up, then back down and up again then........around a field, repeat. With the rain last night and into this morning the trails were slick. This was definitely a technical course. Not real fast, but you had to really pay attention with all the switch backs.

They started all the cat.2 riders together. I guess there were around 28 racers. I got a pretty good start and moved up more during the first lap. Jonathan was a little farther back, but by the end of the fourth lap he rode into 7th place. I ended up getting 6th. Kerensa, Jonathan's girlfriend came with us and was great, taking pictures and helping us with bottles.

This is a really fun, low key race that I think will continue to grow in the coming years.

Bunny Hop Brook Dam 4-11-09

2009-05-05T19:08:00.000-07:00

The team’s debut had some great results! The conditions were tough if 43 degrees and rain isn't to your liking. After the experts and pros churned up the course it was nice and juicy which made for some great mountain bike racing.

RESULTS:

Jon got 4th in Cat 2 Men 40-49 in a field of 33
Rob Lockhart had a rough day. He’ll step it up in the near future.

Jonathan Sawn got 8th in Cat 2 Men 19-29

Thanks to Scott Frison for the photos

Fat Tire Classic, Winding Trails, 4/26/09

2009-05-05T18:55:00.000-07:00

First of all, it was EXTREMELY hot considering it was 43 degrees at Hop Brook. Not only that, but Maggie tells me the black flies were Bru-Tal. It was a fast, dry, and relentless course. Not very technical- just HOT, FAST and PAINFUL! Ouch

RESULTS:
Jonathan Sawn 4th Cat 2 19-29
Jon Tarbox 10th Cat 2 40-49
Kerensa Galloway raced in the 1st timers race. Go Kerensa!

Jiminy Peak 5-2-09

2009-05-05T17:42:00.000-07:00

Maggie with world famous cyclist J-Pow (Jeremy Powers

for those of you not in the know) at the Jiminy Peak

Road Race on May 2, 2009. Maggie was Jeremy’s

saunier for the day, handing him bottles in the pro race.

The first road race of the season went pretty well. Paul and Jon rode smart at the front of the pack, but not on the front. When the field split the first time over the climb they were in the front group of about 20. Three guys got away on the first lap so DSS Cycling and the rest of the guys in the front group were racing for fourth. The second time over the climb to the finish, the guys found themselves near the back of the front group. Paul finished somewhere around 15th with Jon around 20th. All in all not a bad day.

2009-05-05T02:46:00.000-07:00

Coming soon!