Cycling Concepts Racing Team

CX Worlds: A course of Transitions

2012-02-19T07:34:00.000-08:00

The first ever CX (Amateur) Masters Worlds competition held in the USA took place this past January 11-15th in Louisville, KY. The races were well attended by nationally ranked CX racers across and many World champions, such as Steve Tilford, Ned Overend, Gunnar Shogren and Kathy Savary (NH). Only a handful of Canadians and Europeans participated.

My boyfriend, Paul, had traveled with "the crew" from New Jersey to Madison, WI - where they attended Nationals - and had circled down to Louisville, KY arriving at the course early to glean any insights. The report came back:"All is well and the course is dry with a steep fly-over... fast, with one technical section". Well...this all changed in a matter of hours because the weather changed. In cross, the weather can affect everything from your tire selection, to your warm up plan - and to a greater extent your entire race strategy. The race started on Wednesday with the qualifying races for the men. At some point shortly thereafter, it started to rain - and since the race promoters thought it was a good idea to set up the course in a flood plain - it was pretty awful. Weds eve the temperatures dropped and Thursday is was cold - and it started to snow. Thursday eve it got even colder and then the course froze. So you're thinking "So what? This is what cross is about "Just do it". Here's what made CX World the most exciting race ever: The course froze such that every tire track made a criss-cross of tire tracks making it impossible to take the normal lines. It was now not only a race of fitness, but a race of technical skill and just basic luck. Friday the 13th, the first day of finals, became a very difficult day for many riders. This was a Worlds competition and no one was going to hold back. The start was a long 200+ yd paved section with a transition on to choppy terrain. To summarize, I saw more crashes that day than I've seen all year. When I pre-rode the course that day, my heart sank. It was so difficult that I sincerely believed, if I finished my race on Sunday, I would be darn lucky. Many of my friends raced Saturday when the conditions became even worse as the sun created a glaze on top of the frozen ruts. The only thing that could make it worse is if it snowed again. I kept practicing, re-riding the tricky sections several times until I wasn't apprehensive in my approach.

Although it snowed the morning of my race, I was actually feeling quite good - somehow, my tires were handling the conditions well. At the line up, you usually know who is who - but in this case, there was no qualifier and you had to have done your homework. All I knew was Walker & Walberg (both Cat 1) were duking it out for the title as they did at Nat's the week before. Walberg was the favored rider and would probably win. I had a good start and was pretty excited because I was toward the front and had made a safe transition from the tarmac through the choppy section. Catherine Walberg got the hole shot. Karen Trip flew by me as she's done in every New England race. Before the barriers I had caught up with Catherine Walberg and she barked "NOT HERE!" She was probably right, it wasn't the best place to pass...but then again, this was Worlds. All decided in a mili-second, I let her go. Unfortunately for her, frozen ruts didn't suit her well and at the next big turn she and her bike landed miles apart. I kept the pressure on and rode "clean" the rest race. My friends & Paul were all there - giving me encouragement. Elated to finish, I crossed the line 7th in the World.

Photos: Top: Local, Todd Bowden (EXPO) finsished 4th in the men's 40-44 field.
Middle: Amanda & Karen Tripp at the finish. Everyone gets a medal!
Bottom: The "run up"

Greylock TT well attended by CCRT

2011-09-26T04:14:00.000-07:00

By Karen Franzen:
My season's goal was to be a BUMPS Ironman, completing all 9 races in the series. Still having a bit of a competitive nature left in these old bones, I sometimes forgot my goal and found myself dwelling on slower times and finishes that weren't what I had hoped for. An older gentleman, one who has received numerous BUMPS Ironman plaques, made a comment to me early in the season along the lines of "there's a reason not too many do all of them...." I'm starting to learn why. Although they are short, they do take a toll and I am now only one more race away from getting that goal. Soooooo God willing and the creeks in VT don't rise anymore, I hope to tackle App Gap in October and then hit my "playtime"....

Okay-back to the races. Burke Mountain is considered by many the toughest in the series, average of 14% with a "wall" of about 1/4 mile or so that is between 20-22%. I did it last year and learned a lot about the climb & the area and couldn't wait to get back. Only this year, I stayed the whole weekend and brought my mt. bike as well because there are over 100 miles of trails there in the Northeast Kingdom trail system and a lot of dirt roads so I spent the day after the race be-bopping all over the place. I will have that one on my calendar next year as well and plan to do the same thing by staying the weekend. Love the area and am getting to know more of the back roads and such.... also found a great B&B so all's good. As far as the race, I bettered my time by about 1 1/2 minutes and did make the podium for my division with 3rd place. Was happy with that weekend and loved taking the time away.

Greylock was this past weekend, only a week between races. I didn't THINK it would have made too much of a difference but in hindsight, I guess it did. Felt good, had a blast staying at Bascomb Lodge with team mates and new & not-so-new friends. Went into the warm up feeling good, plenty of time even though I did have to change a flat & rim tape but no problems. Got to the line, had a nice surprise that one of the women I was concerned about, who was supposed to start right after me, didn't show..... hmmmmmmm..... my little competitive gears start to turn.... get into the race and am staying in the ranges as much as I can.

The first part of this one is pretty tough and did go WAY above on my wattage but that's to be expected with how steep it is on that part. Settled in and decided to check out what my HR was doing on my PowerTap.... stupid, stupid, stupid. I've done this before and should've have known NOT to do this in a race situation.... my finger slipped and I ended starting a new interval and lost my current data. It's still there, and all I have to do is merge it when I down load it but during the race, I had no idea what my time was now or accurate distance, nadda! SOOOOO settle in and try to do the best I can to keep in in the ranges and guess at my time.

I ended up over a full minute slower from last year and didn't make the podium like I did last year BUT that's okay now. Having a chance to go out on the Airline Trail for 3 hours on this glorious afternoon put everything into perspective for me, so here goes:

I was blessed with 2 wonderful racing & riding weekends in a row. How cool is that? I got to know a bunch of people a whole lot better after spending some great time together this past weekend. I was inspired by my friends as the challenged themselves and overcame their own personal struggles and doubts, kicking it up a notch when they thought they couldn't & finishing when they thought they couldn't. That was an amazing thing to be part of and is what I feel sets this team apart from many of the others. We all go out there and give it our all and for me, it was wonderful to have been able to be a part of it.... and oh, yeah.... the food was pretty darn good, too! # KF

Results:
http://www.nohobikeclub.org/nccwp/?general=greylock-hillclimb-results-2011

Lynn Cochrane wins Silver at NE Regional Crit Championship

2011-09-20T05:37:00.000-07:00

Podium smiles: Lynn Cochrane & Denise Mitchell-Dignum

By Lynn Cochrane:

The dead flat track at Ninigret Park, RI, where this race takes place was a welcome antidote to the vertiginous heights of the Mt. Greylock TT. Racing Saturday's TT with (or, more precisely, behind) many others from our team may not be the best prep for a crit, but with winter ahead, packing in as much racing as possible is imperative.

Sunday's women's crit race comprised ages 30-54. Unsurpisingly, the pack split in half before the end of the first lap, and never regouped. I raced with about 5-7 other women close to my own age, including three from Mystic Velo who are great women, and great competitors. The younger bunch were off having their own race. Those of us in the slower group averaged about 20 miles per hour, not too bad for such a windy place. In fact, it seemed at times that the wind was blowing strongly from both the East and the West.

For almost the entire race, our group of 6-7 racers were in a long pace line which sometimes bunched up at corners. I tried, not always successfully, to huddle in the middle to stay away from the wind. Although my legs were feeling pretty normal, I wasn't sure how long they would last after Saturday's hill climb.

The three MVC women consistently stuck with a strategy of dominating the three front spots of the paceline. Every lap or so, the third MVC racer in the line would surge ahead and take over for the first MVC racer, allowing the tired person to drop back just one or two spots. Consequently, I and the other two women were usually at the rear, and MVC ended up doing the vast majority of the pulling. We three non-MVC racers did pull for a lap or two, but not nearly as much as the others. Is that fair? Should I and the others have tried harder to take the front for more laps to share the workload or should I have allowed MVC to wear themselves out if they wanted to dominate the front three spots of the line? Had there been more CCRT racers, I know I would have pulled more, but I was a loner. (I can hear some of you out there saying, "Let other teams knock themselves out if they want to.") Anyway, I would be very interested to hear some feedback from wiser and more experienced racers.

This pattern played itself out for about 11 of the 15 laps or so of the race - at one point, the three leading racers lapped us, and we pushed harder to keep up with them for about three laps, but it was tough. There were no mid-race breakaways, we were all pretty evenly matched, and the three MVC women had raced the New England TT yesterday in RI, so maybe they weren't feeling that springy themselves.

You could sense things heating up during the last lap and I wondered what MVC planned to do- meanwhile, I was planning my own positioning, edging to the right of the now bunched up paceline, waiting until we all pulled through the last left hand corner to stomp on the pedals and make a beeline down the last straightaway to the finish. I felt like I was ahead, and could not see or hear anyone behind me, until I was about 30 feet from the line and heard a moan of exertion behind me, so I just stepped on it as hard as I could. My wheel crossed the white line mere millimeters ahead of the other racer - I won 3rd place by 5 100ths of a second. Due to the 1st place racer, who was with the faster group, being from New York, we New Englanders were bumped up a notch, and I was given the silver medal for the 50+, and 8th overall. Denise Mitchell-Dignum of MVC took the bronze. The rest of our group came in after, but very close.

Afterwards, I joined two MVC racers for a bit while they talked about the pulling issue. They were not of one mind about whether they caused the problem by dominating the front of the line or whether I and the other racers should have, in the cause of good sportsmanship, unilaterally stepped up our efforts to take more pulls. I promised them I'd help out more at the Jamestown Classic on 10/10. Anyone care to join me there? #

Newtons Revenge Report: Franzen Conquers the Big "Rock Pile"

2011-07-11T18:42:00.000-07:00

Once in a while we coin a term that sticks. Mt. Washington, has been nick-named the "rock pile". I kinda like that...it makes it less scary in your mind. So keep that in mind if you attempt the most challenging climbs anywhere in the U.S. - "It's just a big rock pile".

By Karen Franzen:

Bob-you were 100% right, great weather for the pre ride, expect "challenging" weather on race day. Truer words have never been spoken. Nice at the base but the top had been covered in mist all morning and wasn't about to change anytime soon. What looks like mist from below was actually cold WINDY mist.... my lens of my glasses on my right eye not only misted up but FROZE so I was not able to see out of that eye. I actually did better just closing that eye while I rode. Wind gusts averaging around 20-30 with gusts over 50 made it a bit tricky. Nice when it was a tail wind but HELL as a headwind. After the dirt section we hit the "mist" and visibility went from bad to worse. The final mile I tried to stay with a guy from Stage 5 team just so I could figure out where to go. Sometimes it was sooo thick I could barley make out the lines on the road! While I was coming to the final right with a sharp left to the "wall" at the end, I took my left hand off the handlebars to wipe some water that dripped down my left lens (the only one I could almost see out of) and promptly start to fall over, slow motion of course.... had to get around the corner, hop back on and ride over the line.

Then to try to find Dan. I couldn't even see 10 feet in front of me but was able to locate him and that was a very good thing. Lots of others weren't so lucky to find their rides that quick. MANY were wondering around shivering in their bike clothes wrapped in the PolarTec blankets we all got.

I learned a few things: keep pedaling even if you can't see... NEVER take your hands off the bars! I know now to take my glasses off as soon as I hit the mist on that mountain. Couldn't see anyway so wasn't much different than being blind like I am with out the glasses.

Proper warm up was key, even though we all stood on the line for quite a while before the cannon blew (yes- no starting gun or bell or whistle... a CANNON).

I saw a couple women I wanted to try to stay with, did pretty good until hitting the dirt section, keeping them in sight and sometimes getting right on their wheels. I was starting to cramp though so cut back and decided to stay with in some saner ranges on the PowerTap. At that point, we had a great tailwind but I knew it was going to be awful as soon as we hit the hairpin to the right and sure enough, smack dab into the headwind with gusts that were whipping me around pretty good. Started cramping in the quads so tried to adjust my pedal stroke, the cramping in the quads eased but then started in the hamstrings.... and that's pretty much how the rest of it went to the finish. Thank GOD my legs didn't cramp up completely. I know the cold damp conditions were the major problem there as that's been what has happened to me over the last few years. My legs don't like the cold damp & working hard all at the same time.

Not sure how I place over all but came pretty close to my goal time of 1:30 with finishing time of 1:37:54. Happy with that. Had a great turkey dinner post race (yes, I said TURKEY DINNER), Dan loved that! Then hung out for awards and low and behold, I ended up with 3rd for my division. Pretty cool as I thought I was about 5th or so but with them lumping a bunch of the master fields together, it was tough to
tell who was in my age group.

More CCRT podium finishes

2011-07-03T17:37:00.000-07:00

Daria Vander Veer placed 2nd in her division (and 7th overall) at the 4th Annual Stamford KIC IT Triathlon last weekend and Jason Renaud gets the CT silver at Keith Berger Crit in the Juniors division. Below are their stories:

KIC IT Tri: (by Daria Vander Veer)
I have to compliment race director Beth Shluger on pulling off a logistically challenging event smack in the heart of downtown Stamford. Huge post-race party and lots of happy participants. The main things I enjoyed were the absolutely flawless swim conditions; dead flat calm, waters a lovely cool (not cold) temp, no jellyfish. Heck, there wasn’t even any seaweed! Ended up 2nd in my age group, about 1:00 behind the winner, thanks to the woman I told you about who gave me a “lift” through miles 3-5 with her beautiful tempo that happened to match mine (and her slightly greater speed). How often do you get such a perfect draft on the run? Although getting up at 3:30am hurt, I am glad I went.

Keith Berger Crit (by Jason Renaud)

This was the first time I ever did this race, so I wasn’t sure what to expect having never even ridden this course before. The junior field was 14 riders, which was not that bad of a junior turn out compared to other races I have done with just one or 2 juniors. I thought that this criterium would follow the same rhythm of criteriums I had participated in at Rentschler Field, but I was most wrong! As soon the whistle blew the field was blow apart as attacks came from the left and the right of the field. The Bay Hill Capital/ CLNoonan team was the most represented team in the race, having 3 (or 4?) riders from that team out there, and they were certainly the causes of the early chaos as they were the primary attackers, leaving the rest of the field scrambling for positions against the onslaught. After lap 2 the chaotic mess had let a breakaway of 2 riders to slip away, and the main field began a pace line in an attempt to pull them back. The main field also split as the younger and/ or more tired riders fell off the back, leaving a 6-man pace line. The paceline happened for the rest of the race until the final lap, with sporadic attacks and accelerations from the 2 Bay Hill Capital. CLNoonan riders that remained with the field. And the breakaway of 2 guys actually lapped the entire field!!! Which was the most impressive junior racing I have seen to date. They ended up taking the 1st and 2nd spots for the race, leaving the field to duke it out for 3rd place in a field sprint. At the beginning of this race I was completely caught off guard at the intensity and speed, and I paid for that dearly. It was very challenging until I just found my rhythm and stuck with that the rest of the race. The accelerations throughout the race with also very taxing, and I think that if I had warmed up better before the race I would have been able to respond to those attacks better. I have never been all that great at sprinting, so that showed near the end when I lost some ground during the field sprint and ended up taking 6th (or 7th?, I am not quite sure). So all in all, it was a great race, and other than my sprinting during the field sprint at the end of the race I am pleased with my performance and look forward to doing it again next year!

Whiteface Hill TT Report & video

2011-06-21T13:29:00.000-07:00

The weekend was great, primarily because I had two great teammates with me and we enjoyed every moment of our weekend which was filled with much more than the race. Lynn did fantastic for her first hill TT (as we knew she would!), placing 7^th in her category and Karen was right up there at 6^th.

The race was intense for me. I had marked it an A priority race back in December and I’m thankful all my training stars aligned: 2^nd place in my category and 7^th overall.

Below is my mile-by-mile recount.

Forty women of all abilities are lined up at the start. Marti Shea and Kristin Gohr, both Pro hill climb specialists, are present and take their places in the center front. They are both gracious supporters of the rest of us “wanna-be’s”, but are arch rivals and I notice don't acknowledge each other. Marti empties her one water bottle to half full (are you kidding me?!) Kristin backs her bike in at the center and Karen & I both glance at each other - jaw dropped. It appears Kristin has dropped another 5 lbs. Both women are expected to finish the race somewhere around and astonishing 50 minutes. I am shooting to beat my personal best of 1:11 and according to Dan Jansen’s power-to-weight calculator I could potentially finish at 1:06:32.

With five minutes and counting, I was having a mental melt down second guessing what gear to start in. I nervously re-adjust at the line. Mile 1: I make it over the first hump with the lead group. Marti & Kristin are quickly fading into the distance. Paula T and I are with our Canadian “carrot”, Domonique Codere, - but not for long - she clicks down and takes off. Paula T follows, but I know better and hold back. I’m already going into the red zone and there’s a fine line between letting someone motivate you and allowing someone to set your pace. Mile 2: Paul T has fallen back and some dude walks out in the road and asks us where the men are “or are we just that good”. I don’t have one ounce of energy to laugh or reply, but Paula lets him know the men start 5 minutes back. We pass the toll both and catch Sylvie (Canadian carrot #2). Now the three of us are playing cat & mouse. Sylvie lets me pass. Mile 3: I’m settling in and my time is where I want to be - “Just gotta keep it going” I tell myself. Sylvie clicks down and takes off. The lead men fly by like we are standing still but somehow manage to eek out messages of encouragement as they pass. Then, some young gal that I’ve never seen before passes us. She’s looking way to comfortable. We hit the frost heaves and I joke with her that “This is why they call it the bumps series.” We all chuckle and it helps the pain for two seconds. Mile 4: I’m at 32 minutes. If I can keep this up, I will finish way ahead of my goal. Mile 5: I start to fade and I am not able to stay with Paula — or young thing. Mile 6. This is the point in the race where you don’t want to look up at the summit because not only will it strain your neck, but it finishing seems impossible and sets an undertone of discouragement. I keep my head down and focus all my effort in my spin. Eventually, the road takes a sharp turn left and I glance back. No one. The road flattens now and I put it in the big ring and do a mini TT (and I mean “mini”.) I almost hit a big sinkhole and swerve, narrowly missing it by 2 inches - yikes! Near the top now and the Westerly wind hits quite hard. I look up and Paula T is only 20 feet away – but the grade is much steeper and my legs are starting to go into a full-on seize. I dig just a little deeper and spin just a little bit faster. The crowd is going crazy and their cheers are numbing the pain. I pass Paula. A quick thumbs up to the cameraman and cross the line at 1:07:13.

Afterward, I make a point to tell Paula what a great race she rode and then ride down to the line, just catching a glimpse of Karen, who arrives at top, all smiles. Then I see Lynn coming up to the line – she is super focused and driving hard. Good efforts by all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liL1bVe_B6o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmVC4mkdShQ&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jE2K3jQbuYk&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfgLVrnnuuQ&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

Let it rain...we don't care

2011-06-17T15:03:00.000-07:00

Photos (top): Men's 4/5 start, in the pouring rain! (bottom) Jeff Scala leading

That's what most racers (apparently) thought last weekend at the Nutmeg Classic Crit.

Recap: Congrats to Christine Poulin who won the CT silver medal - way to go!

Jeff Scala wrote up the following detailed report. Don't be surprised to feel your heart rate increasing as you read on. Good solid effort Jeff - thanks for sharing your insights to make us all more patient racers.

By Jeff Scala:

I did the Nutmeg Classic Criterion last weekend. After some self reflection, I extend my apologies to Karen for being so grumpy after my race. I was full of lactic acid and adrenaline and felt I should / could have done better. Sorry… thanks for your kind words and support.

The weather was terrible. During my warm up I could not decide what I was going to wear during the race. Decided on a long sleeve synthetic shirt with my cycling concepts jersey and shorts. Not sure that was the way to go as we stood around at the starting line longer than planned and cooled off a bit. I race my best when I’m warm, but I never got to the point of being warm that day.

It rained hard on and off for the entire race making seeing difficult. So much water was flying around that my contacts were floating all around. (For those who wear contact you know the feeling.) At one point, I thought I lost them and was riding with one eye closed. Not good for depth perception or peripheral vision.

The group of riders consisted of both cat 5 and 4 so the group was pretty big. The course is pretty fast with mostly fast corners with one moderately tight and one pretty sharp corner. One small short hill. You really had to fight for position and fight to stay in position as the action was very dynamic and it seemed that I always got stuck on the wrong wheel.

The inside line on a few of the corners were very dangerous as there was a few times that I got pinch off by riders not holding their line and apexing the corner. I got pinched three times by the same rider! I yelled at him the 2nd time. Yelled again the 3rd time. He blamed me because I was “making a move in a bad spot”! Go figure… He actually caused a three rider crash which I narrowly missed by inches. He squeezed someone else off, like he did to me. Fortunately no one was hurt. Lesson of the day… be aware of erratic riders at all times!

First prime (lap 5) I moved to the front 5 but did not go for it as I was concerned about a break attempt after the prime. A two rider attach on lap 7. They got a quick 50 yards on the field and were pulling away. One of the riders was from Bethel. Three Bethel riders were now on the front of the peloton. Too obvious as they tried to control the pace. I surged ahead with two other riders to chase them down. When we made our move to cover the attack the rest of the peloton followed along and helped us out. Attack was caught quickly. We are now once again one big happy family.

Second prime on lap 9, Expo Wheelmen and another team surge to the lead the peloton. The pace must have jumped at least 7 mph! The peloton got stretched out. I kept my eye (one eye as the other was closed) on the leaders but sat in trying to conserve my matches and fix my vision... But looking for another attack.

Bell rings again on lap 10… back to back primes. Now we are having fun! I expected someone or team to surge forward. Nothing. The peloton compresses to the full width of the road minimizing maneuvering room. I’m stuck in the middle of the pack. The hill frees up some room and I move forward. I have no intention of contesting the prime just want to be in position to cover any attach following the prime. A couple of riders shoot off the front to easily take the prime. Pace is very fast but nothing crazy. Must be too many miles to go as no attacks following the prime.

Everyone regroups and a few laps go by with some minor surges in speed. Not sure if they were caused by weak attack or just someone pulling harder on the front. Nothing happening. Just missed being caught up in the crash. It was like watching in slow motion as it unfolded in front of me. Someone / team attacks on the crash (not cool but good strategy as there is a lot of confusion following a crash.) The race gets strung out but comes back together within a lap or so.

Four laps to go! Four miles of rain soaked fun. There is a lot of action and movement in the peloton. Once again I find myself behind the wrong wheel and end up in the back of the pack, so I make a strong move to move up to near the front. As I reach the front a few riders attach. I make a split second decision and I go with them. I’m in third position. Lead guy takes a good pull and pulls off front. Second place guy seems reluctant to take his turn on front, but takes a short pull but pace drops a little. My turn on the front. We have about 30 yards on the field which is not much. I take a good hard pull and signal to move off front. Second place guy just sits on my wheel. Signal again and pull to the left, he still sits on my wheel. Signal a third time and waive him around, still sits on my wheel. I decide to sit up and make them work or we drop back to the field. Nothing! I’m pissed for wasting energy so near the end of the race. The peloton comes racing by.

I jump into the pack about mid pack. We hit the bell lap all bunched up. It seems the teams are looking for a bunch sprint. We hit the hill still bunched up at very fast pace. I’m still stuck near the back which is not good at all. The hill frees up some space but the front of the peloton has surged and I’m losing ground. I power up the hill gaining a lot of positions but my race to a top ten finish is over!

I lost my chance at a top ten with 3 laps to go when I went with the attack. Maybe I should have attacked the attack since they didn’t want to work… maybe I should of just put my head down and kept going and let them sit on my wheel… maybe I should have been more patient with three miles to go…. Maybe … maybe… next time.

What I do know is … I made a mistake, but if you don’t try you will never succeed.

Nicole Drier competes in Quasi Half Ironman

2011-06-10T05:43:00.000-07:00

Don't let Nicole's quiet demeanor fool you - this woman is an animal! Congratulations Nicole!

By Nicole Drier: On Sunday, I completed my first half Ironman! The event consists of a 1.2mile swim, 56mile bike and 13.1mile run (in that order). The Rev3 took place at Quassy amusement park in Middlebury, CT. It was extremely well organized with tons of support! The weather was perfect with a low of 59, a high of 72 and a water temp of 69. My goals were to complete the swim in 40mins, bike in 3hrs 45mins and then run the entire half marathon. Two things I am glad I purchased for this race are my new blueseventy tinted goggles for sunny mornings and 2XU compression tri shorts. On a recommendation from Daria, I had the Cycling Concepts folks order me a longer pair of tri shorts and they were excellent!!

My morning started pretty early; the transition area where you rack your bike and set up all your gear for the race (cycling shoes, running sneakers, etc) was open from 5:15am – 6:40am. Everyone had their own spot in transition with their name on it and there was plenty of room. At one point I took a look around and it was interesting to see what everyone else was doing to warm up, how they set up their gear, what kind of bike they had etc. I tried to make some friends, but everyone seemed really nervous and quiet. I ended up giving a lesson on pumping tires. Doing a good deed pre-race always helps ease my nerves and makes me feel good!

Once transition closed I had a snack and headed down to the water in my wetsuit. The swim was broken up into waves each with its own start time. While I waited for my wave to start I tried to make conversation with no luck yet again. Oh well! The swim was a little crazy. There seemed to be an excess of arms and legs flying everywhere. I had to make my way around quit a few panicked swimmers and ended up catching a slower group of more arms and legs everywhere. I got hit a few times, but managed a decent time of 38 mins.

In transition I had a quick snack (I love my snacks!) then swapped my wetsuit and goggles out for my Cervelo S1. Time for my favorite leg of the race! It was a little chilly at the start heading downhill and my knees were achy, but I warmed up quick. It was a lovely ride with a good mix of steep short climbs, long steady climbs and short down hills which usually turned into up hills. I believe it was 3, 850ft of climbing over 56 miles Once again, tons of support with 3 water/food/rest stops. At mile 20 I noted how great I was feeling and then at mile 23 I felt sick. I eased up a little, unzipped my jersey, ate more food and drank some water. We had a steady climb that started at mile 23, leveled out for a moment, and then continued climbing to mile 31. I was feeling better after the climb when I got a good breeze cruising downhill. I finished in 3hrs 30 mins with an average speed of 16mph. When I returned to transition someone had racked their bike in my spot. A volunteer immediately recognized my confusion, and came over to shuffle the bikes for me.

I was feeling pretty good so I pulled on my running shoes and took off. A man caught up to me in the 1st mile and informed me that I was insane for riding my bike down hill so fast. I reassured him that I knew the course and it was ok, but he threw his hands in the air and yelled something as he ran off. My max speed was 40mph and I think that was pretty reasonable for the course. So anyway, the run started off easy, but as expected, the hills started at mile 4 and just kept on coming! Luckily there were food/water stops every mile with lots of awesome volunteers. Most of the run was shaded which helped. At mile 6 I had to pull over for an ambulance and it was hard to get going again. I was dragging my feet through mud at mile 11 and reminded myself I had a massage booked for the next morning! I managed to run the entire thing although mile 11-12.5 was more of a shuffle run. I finally crossed the finish line at 6hrs and 18mins! I met my fan club and then headed to the water to cool my legs. I was lucky to have so many people cheering me on; my father, brother, future sister-in-law, and Dave. My mom and grandma were at home, but they watched live online as I made it across the finish.

Would I do it again you ask?? Absolutely! Is there a full Ironman in my future? You only live once so why not!?

Donna Davis races Coyote Hill Classic

2011-06-05T16:35:00.000-07:00

Not just a MTB race - three races in two days! The following is Donna's recap of last weekends two-day event - Nice job Donna!

From Donna Davis:
This MTB camp is situated in a Vermont setting surrounded by a trail network which includes miles of single track, mowed fields of double track and dirt roads. It is run by Tom Materson who also comes up with these challenging courses. Short track and XC: For these courses he took his lawn tracker out and started mowing, when he came across water, he built homemade bridges using planks or trees cut in half lengthwise with chicken wire over them for traction or on most occasions you peddled through the mud. When he lead you into the woods, be assured it was technical. Saw Jon Tarbox there, he said this entire place is really tough. All courses were changed from previous years.

Race 1 Short Track: Got there plenty early so I was the 1st to pre-ride it and my front tire was slipping out on the grass, which made me really nervous and cautious. (I need to figure out if there is a way to avoid that). The woods part was short but nuts, rocks strategically placed so if you managed to avoid one, there was another and don't forget the slippery big root and the tree. There were 14 of us including me and 2 cat 1 women. He said 20 mins + 3 laps, if you get lapped, don't worry, your last lap will be the winners last lap. This race was a mass start. You start out climbing around his yard, get on the dirt road, onto the grass that seemed drier by then, and try to go like heck. I saw the 2 laps to go sign and said, "omg, not sure I can do this" then when I came around again he said that's it, I said "thank you". I came in 1st (because I was the only cat 3 women there). Once it was over it didn't seem that tough, but doing it seemed like torture. Looking back on it now, this one was cake!

No rest for the wicked............

Race 2 (one hour later) 1.5 mile Hill Climb (think he meant to say "side of a mountain climb"): The start was in someone's dirt driveway across the dirt road, 1 minute between each rider. Single track, with switch backs, roots, rocks, sharp turns and thundering in the background, I tried to hurry up. I thought this wasn't that technical, others thought it was too technical. Made it to the top in 9+ mins, winner came in 4+. (1st again, because I was the only one).

Rest up for tomorrow's XC (6 miles......."oh come on, how bad can 6 miles be")

Race 3 XC: I started pre-riding what I thought was the course and got freaked out. Had to walk down part of it and then turned around. Then I was told it started in the opposite direction from yesterday's race, did part of that and felt better, but was told that other section is part of the race. Cat 3 race 9:30, there were alot of racers with 6 women. I was really nervous on the line, even thought of chickening out on this one. At that point I decided to stay in the back and play it safe, well, 2 others thought the same and I wasn't in the back. The 1st part was doable, then came that nasty section and I flew down it (2nd time's a charm) so I started to feel better and started ramping it up, but it was kinda late since there was only 1 person behind me. I managed to get up all the hills, walked a couple scary downhills, didn't want to get the shoes dirty so made it through all the mud pits, fell a few times and was grateful it was only 6 miles. Some cat 2 guys passed me that were pre-riding it and I heard them say "what is Tom doing to us"!! I Came in 5th, 5 mins behind 3rd or 4th.

When I was done with my race, it seemed like there were a couple/few hundred people there for the next races. Great turnout.

Looking back/Lessons learned: Never count on any mtb'ers option as to how technical a course is, you'll need to form your own opinion. Depending on your ability, likes and dislikes, it's all........well you know. So in my opinion, I think the 1st 2 races where not technical at all, just different. The last one was fun, very technical, grueling and never judge a book by it's cover, 6 miles was plenty for me!! Need to stay clipped in more, wasting too much time unclipped worried about not unclipping in time. Overall great races. A special thanks to Frank my weekend domestique/photographer, you are the best babe!!

On the road, on a track, or a TT course - you’ll find CCRT members in action

2011-05-28T15:11:00.000-07:00

It seems like wherever you go this season you’re bound to run into one of CCRT’s 24 members. Below are some recent highlights:

May 7 & 8: Kissena Velodrome/Track

Donna Davis attended opening weekend at the Kissena Velodrome and placed 5^th overall in the Womens 4. Nice job Donna!

May 22: Ninigret Criterium
We knew it was coming – it was simply a matter of time. Congratulations to Karen Williams on her very first win! Karen noted after the race “It felt fantastic to be the first over that white line. It’s all mental.” Veteran racer, Daria Vander Veer, made a great day better with yet another first-place win of the day in her field. Nice job ladies!!!

May 22: Shamrock Duathlon (2^nd photo)
The lucky Leprechauns were with us this day also as several CCRT members took home medals including Nicole Drier, 1st and Diana Cohen 2nd in their respective categories. Jeff Scala placed an amazing 30th overall out of 342 finishers and Fritz Pameijer 35th overall - both placing 5th in their categories. Nice job guys! Cycling Concepts was the sponsor partner for the event.

Back row, left to right; Andy Wayner, Jeff Scala, Fritz Pameijer, Keith Sherman (Owner, Cycling Concepts, Team Sponsor). Front row: L-R Julia Wayner, Nicole Dreier, MaryLynn Hadix, Diana Cohen, Carmen Carlton.

May 25/Expowheelmen Time Trial (first photo)
Although the weekend was over, the action didn't stop. This past Wednesday’s ExpoWheelMen TT was well attended by CCRT members. Pictured below are: Andrew Wayner, Donna Davis, Amanda Bedard, Lynn Cochrane, Julia Wayner, Frank Davis (Karen Franzen not). Special thanks to Steve Yau for the photo!

The next Expo Wheelmen TT is set for June 8th/Gay City State Park/Bolton. Bring your lungs and come out and join the fun.

"Race with your head, not your legs."

2011-05-20T04:53:00.001-07:00

This was the gist of the message expressed by elite racers Stephanie Chase and MaryAnn Martinez during the women’s racing clinic which took place at Rentchaler field/East Hartford this past Saturday. Beginner and intermediate racers had the opportunity to race and practice tactics the same one-mile course where many criterium enthusiasts meet to test the limits of their fitness. This event – as well as a junior’s racing clinic - was organized by Karen Franzen, team captain for CCRT, and other members of CVC racing team. The event was made possible by a grant from NEBRA (New England Bike Racing Assoc.) hoping to attract more women to racing events. Stephanie and MaryAnn shared a wealth of racing knowledge with a group of 20 women, and educated riders on various tactics such as cornering, bridging, sprinting, and blocking. There was a big emphasis on team strategy and awareness of what’s going on around you the course. And also lots of advice you typically don’t get reading books on racing such as “check your ego at the door” and “respect the officials”. It would be impossible to share all the knowledge these two masters riders know in one session, but they gave it their best shot – and all of us who attended appreciate the effort! Both coaches also attended the Woman’s 3/4 race at Ninigrit Park in RI on Sunday. The officials allowed Stephanie to ride in with the field to observe and provide “in race” coaching which proved to be very beneficial to the racers as well as allow Steph to assess the womens' skills first hand. The day concluded with a post race recap (pictured above).

Winsted woods mtb race repot.

2011-05-15T13:48:00.000-07:00

Not so quick - that isn't one of our crew. This is Mo Bruno, cyclocross champion & MTB elite who finished first in the womens pro field at Winsted Woods today. Too bad I missed Donna's race! but I can attest to the conditions...they were deplorable - and yes, many DNFs - but our Donna hung in there! Way to go Donna!

Below is Donna's write up of the race today -

Well, that was 'knarly dude'. I pre-rode 1 lap yesterday and I was whiped out the rest of the day, so I new it was going to be interesting doing 2 laps today in wet conditions. That course is pretty technical......or shall I say, "the hardest thing I've ridden so far".

We are at the start line and the official groups all the women together (7 of us) and then it started raining, but she said "it's suppose to be heavy rain at 11", she asked us if we wanted to do 1 lap, of course no one admitted it, so 2 it was! We didn't even make it up the 1st climb, people were falling, walking and it was pretty much a downpour, then torrential rain, then the glasses wouldn't stop fogging up so I couldn't see going down hill so I had to walk alot of it. I was wondering how I'd finish in one piece. I came up on one section where there were cow bells and a guy in a grass skirt with a camp fire going :) That made me laugh.

So some of the crazy sections from yesterday were under water by then, so I didn't remember where they were, so I guess I just rolled over them, hence the saying "what you can't see, won't hurt ya", something like that. Imagine the big puddles at Winding Trails x 5, they were everywhere and I couldn't avoid stepping in them, some where 6 inches deep. And Imagine that steep climb at Winding Trails, but with logs, big rocks mud and roots and down hills designed to endo if you didn't do them correctly. The open grassy single track section was a muddy mess where dirt was coming off your tires....which was great, but going into your eyes....not so great..and if you went too fast you couldn't stop at the end, woe betsy, alot of slipping and sliding. Before the end of the lap there was a steep muddy slippery downhill that was forcing your front tire to go where you didn't want it to go, therefore 2 endos and 1 face plant, I decided to walk some of that downhill.

The 2nd lap seemed to be easier for some reason, seemed as though I was able to roll over more stuff or shall I say slide over it, maybe that was the section I couldn't see in. Some of the hills you couldn't make up because there was NO traction. There were some guys on the course with us checking out the conditions, I was told the later races would be shortened from 4 miles to 3.2 miles and maybe reduce the laps also. There is a first for everything and today I had alot of 1st's. It was crazy, trecherous, dangerous, insane, but it was still fun. I was doing the math in my head about what place I was in, and I was convinced I was in 5th place.........so another 1st is "never give up", because your math may be off. I came in 3rd for my age group. Some cat 3's were getting pulled for taking too long in the 1st lap and quite a few DNF'd. Crazy race. Go legs go :)

Karen W gets top ten at Sterling

2011-05-09T10:03:00.000-07:00

Karen Williams rocked the course Saturday at the 17th annual Sterling RR placing 7th out of 37 finishers in Womens Cat 4. The race was a brisk 24 mi, rolling terrain with a finish climb. It was great seeing CCRT women in action! On the first lap Daria passed the entire field and moved up front (I would presume to get Karen in good position before the hill). At the start of the 2nd lap there was a two rider break and Karen and I found ourselves in the chase group where we stayed for the remainder of the race. At several times the pace got "pokey" and Karen was there to liven things up - sprinting ahead while everyone chased. 1 mile from the finish I passed the field and got in front thinking I might be able to give Karen more protection before the rocket boosters launched. At that time some CycleLoft gal screamed up the right side and the small group of 12 chasers split apart. Karen got out of the saddle on the finish climb and flew by a few women. Yeah Karen!

http://www.bikereg.com/Results/2011/05/07-Sterling-Road-Race.asp

Race Schedule

2011-03-21T18:03:00.000-07:00

Hey CCRT members - here is a list some upcoming races in March. I am going to the Coxsakie race this Saturday...check it out:

http://www.bikereg.com/events/register.asp?eventid=12268

March 26-Mar Sat Plainville Spring Series Plainville, CT Criterium
March 26-Mar Sat Trooper Brinkerhoff Memorial Spring Series Race #2, Coxsakie, NY Circuit Race
March 27-Mar Sun Wells Ave Training Crit Series Wells Ave. Newton, MA Training Race
March 27-Mar Sun Michael Schott Memorial Circuit Race Marblehead, MA Circuit
March 27-Mar Sun 2011 Outdoor Sport Center Bethel Spring Series -CDR Gold Race Bethel, CT Criterium

Road Racing

2011-03-21T17:58:00.000-07:00

Christine taking a pull.

Some Old Photos

2011-03-21T17:47:00.000-07:00

Mary Lynn Making a splash!

Spring Kick Off Meeting

2011-03-09T14:35:00.000-08:00

We had a good showing at the season "kick off" meeting this past Monday at Luna Pizza, Glastonbury. We all got to know each other a bit better - Karen walked us through a list of the races coming up over the next few months and Keith treated us to some good pizza! It was fun meeting all our new male members too!