GamJams.net: Where Mid-Atlantic bike racers roll

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly: Mike Githens on Jeff Cup

by David Kirkpatrick, Features Editor

Of the many things that more experienced and successful racers have to teach, pre-race mental preparation and post-race analysis are two of the less appreciated aspects.  As an experiment, GamJams will periodically solicit a pre- and post-race analysis from members of the peloton who we wish we had more chances to learn from.  The pre-race portion is written and sealed prior to racing.  After the race, the subject will debrief the race and compare the events and outcomes to his or her predictions and prognostications.  For the debut edition, Mike Githens of Your Ad Here p/b Bicycle Pro Shop offers his before and after look at The Good, The Bad and the Ugly of Jeff Cup 2010.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly: Jeff Cup
by Mike Githens

Pre-Race Forecast:
Teammate 1, sounding profoundly profound, “Its Jeff Cup. THE Jefferson Cup Road Race. The Clash of the Titans. The Holy Grail. You win and that’s it—you’ve made it. Have you seen that cup?”

TM 2, slightly sheepish, voice cracking, “Or just an early season race to tune up the legs? Right? I can just use it as a tune-up? A tune-up?”

TM 3, an octave higher, bouncing, akin to a golden retriever, “But no, no, dude—it’s JEFF CUP. JEFF CUP! Man, ya know JEFF CUP?!!”

We’ve all been there, the team meeting before the first “big” race of the season. And for us in MABRA-land, it’s that time again: Jeff Cup. So what do you do with a race like this- an early season icon, made more difficult by the unpredictable weather and constant barrage of attack-counterattacking than the course itself?  Do you treat it as an early season race to train through or seek eternal glory?  To the Jeff Cup haters, as much as you want to deny it, Jeff Cup is a big race. It fills up in 3 seconds flat.  And you know you will be there, so stop your hating. There are those with good early season form looking to absolutely and unequivocally rip the legs off of their once-upon-a-winter friends. And then there are those whose fate is to end up on yougotdropped.blogspot.com.  Damn those photographers.

Love it or hate it, you will be there.  A race is a race, right? The point is to win. How will you do it?

Here’s the Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Your Ad Here p/b The Bicycle Pro Shop.

Our team is new. And we are the opposite of deep. These attributes make winning a race like Jeff Cup difficult. But not impossible.  There are 8 of us and we are fit. That’s what we are telling ourselves at least.  For starters, the race is predictable, and by predictable I mean predictably chaotic… absolute mayhem. Some years a break goes on lap 2, other years on the last lap, maybe not at all this year. The point is pre-race strategy only goes so far. But it is worthwhile none-the-less.

Could'a, Should'a, Would'a: 02/23/10

Here's how this weekend's racing could'a, should'a, and would'a played out if it hadn't played out the way it did...

In the Snowball Criterium Training Series, hosted by Virginia Beach Velo, a few folks found the early season racing to be just as competitive as last year's late season racing:

• The Vanderkittens turned a beautiful day into a beautiful start to the season: first and third on the podium speaks for itself.
• One of the newest additions to the region's women's racing scene, Tradewinds Racing, kept the action hot and nearly stole the show in their debut race.  With a little more time together, these ladies are going to be a formidable force.
• Stormyworld bypassed the whole "could'a, should'a, would'a thing" and went straight the "see for yourself" stage with a few pictures he snapped while planning his own return to racing very soon.
• Celerity Cycling p/b Fitness Together took it a step further with a race report, some photos, and some video of the finish.  They put racers in the mix in every race and were very disappointed that the rest of the region did not seem "excessively fat and filled with residual Christmas cheer."  Welcome to reality, folks!

In the collegiate racing scene, all racers converged on Wake Forest University for some road racing:

• Fiddleharpa tears himself away from his Ke$ha worship long enough to write his thoughts on what seems to have been a fairly vicious event.
• My Daily Ground captures the essence of the Hokies Cycling Team with a photojournalism essay on the race, the day, and the fun of having a solid team working together.
• George Washington University Cycling was "rolling pretty thin" and got a little thinner when one of their guys decided to cheat on his girlfriend with a really attractive section of pavement.
• Okay, call me a sucker for Scooby Snacks, but the men at East Tennessee State University gave us a tease with some videos and a promise that they would race and then...  Someone get in touch with those guys and ask them to give us the rest of the story, please! 

Updates:

• Fiddleharpa came through on his promise and provides a video of the Virginia Tech racing experience.
• Scooby's Snacks answers the call and gives us "the rest of the story..."

Know of any more great race reports from last weekend? Send them to me here.

--

Gus Grissom races for Team GamJams Racing, teaches Greek and Latin at DeMatha Catholic High School, and writes a dissertation in his spare time.  He compiles this column strictly for fortune and glory.

Could'a, Should'a, Would'a: 12-09-09

Here's how this weekend's racing at the Capital 'Cross MAC Championship could'a, should'a, and would'a played out if it hadn't'a played out the way it did...

• Indy's Small World was filled with low expectations which were exceeded and a back that sounds like it's less-than-optimally functioning for 'cross races... 
• The Unholy Rouleur starts with excuses and ends by blaming his Paleo diet.  But, sandwiched in the middle is the honey-sweat thrill of a lifetime: a "hey, you're not dead last again!" heckling by Joe Jefferson.
• Mike Festa gives a great blow-by-blow summary -- complete with an action shot of his own faceplant! -- of the Rockville Bridge Cyclocross Classic
• One racer who is StillTryingNotToSuck at Rockville Bridge returned to the scene of a crime: the race that started his 'cross addiction.
• Captain Crunch apparently sees course-marking tape as a viable raceday nutrition strategy and eats his way to a top-5 at Rockville Bridge.

Update:

• Scott's Right Of Way turns out to be a comedy of errors; his son's right of way, on the other hand, is the right to crush some adults by moving up from the junior's field.

--

Know of any more great race reports from last weekend? Send them to me here.

--

Gus Grissom races for Team GamJams Racing, teaches Greek and Latin at DeMatha Catholic High School, and writes a dissertation in his spare time.  He compiles this column strictly for fortune and glory.

Could'a, Should'a, Would'a: 12-02-09

Here's how this weekend's racing at the Taneytown MABRA Cyclocross Championship could'a, should'a, and would'a played out if it hadn't'a played out the way it did...

• Idiot Cyvant somehow found a stripper pole in the slopfest.  Weird analogy, but it works for him...
• The Unholy Rouleur explains his 12% loss in FTP with one of those computer generated videos.  Maybe it hurts less when a computer Lego-guy says it for you...
• FatMarc Vanderbacon doesn't have a race report per se but he does apparently race through some of the toll booths on the way to the races and -- let's be honest -- isn't a little bit of anarchy (but not the hurtin' kind) part of the whole 'cross experience?

--

Know of any more great race reports from last weekend?  Send them to me here.

--

Gus Grissom races for Team GamJams Racing, teaches Greek and Latin at DeMatha Catholic High School, and writes a dissertation in his spare time.  He compiles this column strictly for fortune and glory.

The Could'a, Should'a, Would'a: 11/25/09

Here's how last weekend's racing could'a, should'a, and would'a played out if it hadn't played out the way it did...

• The Hebrew Cyclist admits that he's just another angry Jew with an affinity for the sandpit at Rockburn Cross.
• Estebe boils Howard County's Double Cross Weekend down to its essential component: fun.
• One Poor Dumb Bastard won a (very) little cash during the Howard County Double Cross Weekend but is still holding out for future "hole shots."
• WrenchOut focuses on the details of his Rockburn Cross race and the entire 'cross phenomenon.
• The UnholyRouleur starts his race report with a strong list of reasons he shouldn't have raced the Rockburn Cross.

--

Know of any more great race reports from last weekend?  Send them to me here.

--

Gus Grissom races for Team GamJams Racing, teaches Greek and Latin at DeMatha Catholic High School, and writes a dissertation in his spare time.  He compiles this column strictly for fortune and glory.

A 'Coaches Roundtable' Question in Real-Life

A 'Coaches Roundtable' Question in Real-Life
Susan Hefler
Hefler Performance Coaching

Last week's GamJams Coaches' Roundtable question was about what tactics to use when outnumbere by other teams. I wasn't able to participate as I was in Fitchburg, coaching Nathan Wilson (Kelly Benefits Stragegy / LSV Amateur) through the race where he was outnumbered by other teams. His experience there are a real-life example of the Coaches Roundtable question.

My advice to Nathan was this: Do not be afraid to ride hard and push several attacks, just be aware that you must level the playing field. So, make sure that each of your efforts is actually tiring the big team that you are racing against. Do not attack and dangle 10 seconds off the front for 5 minutes. Do attack repeatedly and see if you can draw some other opportunists into your move- then control the move and get the others to ride hard with you. You may also expect some riders from a big team to latch on too, so, make their life hard- don’t just tow them to a sprint. Put them in the wind, on the shoulder, or apply pressure with your efforts. No free rides.  Make friends with the other solo racers. They want results too!

At Fitchburg Lonjso, Nathan (Kelly Benefits/ LSV) was racing for G.C. Against EIGHT Riders from Hot Tubes- a very hard tactical situation. Nate followed what I have described above… It was hard, but it works very, very well. Nathan performed incredibly by getting in all the big moves with Hot Tubes, and
rather than just sitting, he pressed the attack whenever possible. He placed Second on G.C, wore the Points leader Jersey, and if there was a red number for “most aggressive rider” he would be wearing it! A Big Shout Out to Steven Kendall (NCVC) who applied some mad pressure to Hot Tubes to help both Nathan and Himself! Awesome.

--

Next week, Nathan, Steven Black (NCVC), Ben Salibra (CRCA JR development), and Kevin Gottlieb (Squadra Coppi) will have the power of a full team with them at the UCI Tour of the Red River Gorge in Lexington, Kentucky. We also have a few bullets from Garmin/Holowesko to fire- but that’s our high altitude secret weapon! HPC U23 will be there in force! Stay tuned to GamJams for updates on these excellent Junior riders.

Isaac Howe grabs Working Man's Classic Lead

Isaac Howe (Team Mountain Khakis) followed up Tuesday's 4th place finish at the Working Man's Classic with a sprint win on Wednesday, and now leads the GC by two points over Jeff Buckles (Richmond Pro Cycling) and Todd Hipp (Battley Harley-Davidson). Buckles finished 4th on Wednesday to surge upward in the GC. Battley Harley-Davidson placed both Todd Hipp and Keck Baker on Wednesday's podium behind Howe.

The race was animated with many breakaway attempts. Battley Harley-Davidson was particularly aggressive, sweeping up primes like my vacuum cleaner does Cheerios under the high chair. Keck Baker pocketed a $100 gift certificate from jandwseafood.com, and Russ Langley was on a solo break for a stretch as well.

In the 4/5 race, Curtis Smith (Team Natures Path / 3Sports) solidified his GC lead with a 3rd place finish on Wednesday. Chris McMillan (HPC) finished 2nd last night and moves into 2nd in the GC. Wednesday's 4/5 winner was Chad Rathbone (Kazane Racing), whose victory catapulted him to 3rd on the GC.

Course marshaling duties fell to River City Women's Racing, and we thank them for their support.

Pictures to follow. In the meantime, enjoy this helmet cam video of Tuesday's night's race, courtesy of Bryan Vaughan.

Tonight's conclusion pits Isaac Howe and his Team Mountain Khakis squad against local hero Jeff Buckles and the rest of Richmond Pro Cycling, along with Todd Hipp and the powerful Battley Harley-Davidson team. The course includes a technical 120 degree turn and will be particularly challenging.

Cat 1/2/3 Overall after Stage 2:

1.     Isaac Howe (TMK) 17
2.    Jeff Buckles (RPC) 15
2.    Todd Hipp (BHD) 15 tie
4.    Dave Fuentes (BHD) 11
4.    Chuck Hutcheson (BHD) 11 tie
5.    Keck Baker (BHD) 11 tie
7.    Mason Haymes (TNP) 5 tie
8.    Craig Dodson (RPC) 5 tie
9.    Dan King (Van Dessel) 4 tie
10.    Ben Zawecki (RPC) 4 tie
11.    Craig Dodson (RPC) 3
12.    Andrew Alli (CBC) 2 (Top Cat 3)
13.    Jared Nieters (Haymarket) 1
14.    Brendan Cornett (RPC) 1

Cat 4/5 Overall Results after Stage 2:
1.    Curtis Smith (TNP) 18
2.    Chris McMillan (HPC) 15
3.    Chad Rathbone (Kazane Racing)  13 tie
4.    Grayson Cobb (Kazane Racing) 13 tie
5.    Johnny Phan (CBC) 13 tie
6.    Ken Fennema (Bike Works) 8
7.    Michael Myers (TNP) 7
8.    Wick Smith (Fitness Together) 6 tie
9.    Christian Sherridan (TNP) 6
10.    Mike Yengling (TNP) 4
11.     Ethan Lindbloom (CBC) 2
12.    Nickolay Eremlin (JRVS) 1

Jefferson Cup Race Reports: "I had good sensations."

That's what the pros say when they're interviewed after an early-season race they didn't win, isn't it? "The sensations were good so I am happy with the way my form is progressing. I'll be ready for (insert name of NEXT early-season race here) where I hope for a good result."

Here's what some of this year's competitors had to say about their Jefferson Cup sensations:

• On Cycling: "The high point of my day was lobbing a water bottle to Chris Hayes."
• Aphex Nexus: "I had been told east coast racers are of a higher calibre than Michigan roadies and that has certainly rung true at least for this race. They defiantly pushed the pace.."
• Timothy Christopher Hargrave: "With 2k to go I had more than halved the gap and I thought I had them. The final turn and a spectator yells, 'Yea man, you got it. 8 sec'. I was well in the hurt box, and dug deeper..."
• Ride it Like you Stole it: "i'm just glad no one crashed me out."
• Sim Jetlag: "The racing was frankly soft. Everyone raced defensively and no one grabbed the bull by the horns and got on with it. There were some teams who had a bunch of riders in the field. And I believe that the Richmond Pro Cycling team actually have a couple guys who have spent some time in Belgium. Why either Richmond, Kelly or Harley Davidson cycling team didn't just get to the front, wind it up on a hill, put everyone in the gutter with the cross-winds, nail it over the top, line us all out, hit us right and left and split the entire field apart still baffles me."
• The Robot Diary: "My plan was to sit in for the first 30 miles, and go with dangerous moves after that. This part of the plan went perfectly..."
• gay (bike) racer: "Some folks need to get to leg-shavin. It's almost April for crying out loud."
• Chuck Hutch: "On the 4th lap I tried to shatter the field on the rise past the start finsh, and even manage to string it out and break it up into little groups, but before the next hill most everyone was back. On that same lap I got away with Mike Githens and we were drilling it..."
• good time cycling blog: "Fast forward to the last lap. I decide that I'm going to attack and at the same time a Harley rider did the same. So, it was two Harley riders, a Kelly Benefit rider, and myself in a small break away. I guess we had about 10 seconds on the field going through the start/finish area and it looked like a legit break. But, it wasn't."
• Jimmy James and Bikes: "This field was brutal and very fluid with riders constantly changing lines and battling for position. I was doing well following Tim from VT and trying to just survive with the intense changings in tempo. The line when strecthed out was HUGE..."
  
• DRIVE FASTER ALSTUBLIEFT: "Starters = 125 riders = INSANE. Aggressive level = 5. Sketchyness = 5. Cramping Lap = 5. Place = 30..."
• Cyclist @ Law: "Greg Abbott rode up to me at that point and asked me to shadow him and make sure he kept contact with the field. Greg is a teammate, a great sprinter and given the conditions of the day it was likely that the race would come down to a field sprint.."
• Something totally lame: "This definitely isn't how I wanted to look after Jeff Cup. Sorry for the nudie magazine pic..."
• haters ride their bikes slower: "A flat!!!! ugh... no neutral support at all. The field rolls by and one of the girls stops and gives me her wheel. If you know Anna Kelso(sp?) you are lucky cause I found out yesterday that she is super nice."
• Chain Free: "About that time I hear this awful bike on asphalt noise coming from my rear left.  I didn’t look since I was fixated on the line and had just jumped out of the saddle to sprint..."
• Avery's Blog: "I think the main reason for which I got dropped was because my quantity of miles covered in a one hour trial of timing effort (some people may use the phrase "Miles per Hour") decreased significantly during this final lap to such an extent that everyone else's one hour time trial effort miles output quantity number was greater than that of mine."
• Signal 13: "At some point on last 4, the last lap, a group got off the front. I had no idea this group was away. I knew there were two people up the road that were still in sight and I figured we would catch them on the final stretch to the finish, which we did. But, apparently there were two more guys in front of them."

Rockburn Cross in Words, Pictures and Video

Lateral Stress Velo hosted the BikeReg.com MABRAcross Series Event #4 on Sunday, as Rockburn Cross rolled out under clear skies and warm temps. C3-Sollay.com delivered the 1-2 crane-style punch in the men's elite event, with Andrew Wulfkuhle (C3-Sollay.com) and Michael Gallagher (C3-Sollay.com) leading the way, both adorned in the special edition Cobra Kai skinsuits. Third was Sean Galegher (Hunt Valley Bicycles / Marathon Roofing).

In the women's elite event, Betsy Shogren (SoBe / Cannondale) outsprinted Melanie Swartz (Velo Bella / Kona) for the win. Arley Kemmer (Hub Racing) finished third, after a crash going into the bell lap allowed the lead duo to squirt away.

Other Winners:
Elite Masters Men 35+/45+: Gunnar Shogren (SoBe / Cannondale)
Cat 4 Men: Paul Rades (Artemis)
Masters Men Cat 3/4 35+/45+: Joe Lillibridge (Kelly Benefit Strategies/LSV Amateur Cycling)
Masters Men 55+: Nunzio Dibiasi (Yellow Breeches Racing)
Cat 3/4 Men: Alex Driscoll (Adventures For the Cure)
Juniors 18 and Under: Steven Black (NCVC / Inova Health System)
Juniors 16 ahd Under: Jimmy Klose (Adventures for the Cure)
Cat 3/4 Women: Jessica Gallagher (C3-Sollay.com)

Additional Coverage:

• Bill Schieken has a photo gallery from the 3/4 race up on Flickr.
• Oh yes. 7 full minutes of video from the Men's Elite adn Men's Elite Masters races at Rockburn, by Eric Schmitt
  
  (and also a video from Fair Hill the day before).
• FatGuyRacer has pics from the Masters Cat 3/4 race also. A lot of them.
• girlfoffroad Melanie Swartz wishes she could have another crack at Plan A on Sunday. After all, it worked on Saturday.
• If you really like racing cross, like the Unholy Rouleur, it shows in your cross race reports.
• Except when it doesn't.
• Gay (bike) racer had third place in his sights with 2 turns to go. And then finished 8th. Such is Cross.
• The Complete Jewish Cyclist battled the Cat 4 field, the course, and finally the results pages. He's got pictures of much of it, including the packaging for nutritional supplement CeraSport (CERA? Really, that's what you want to call it?) which is - yup - kosher.
• Cross racing makes The Muscle feel like The Little Girly Muscle.

Schempf defends at DCCX; Buerkle tops sizable Women's Elite Field

Wes Schemf (C3-Sollay.com) hasn't lost a DCCX race yet. After winning the Men's Elite in last year's inaugural event, Schemf outpaced teammate Michael Gallagher (C3-Sollay.com) and Bobby Lea (Rite Aid Pro Cycling) with a 27 second winning margin to successfully defend his title.

In the Women's Elite, it was Patty Buerkle (Vanderkitten) who broke clear of 2-person break-mate Kristin Gavin (Human Zoom / Pabst Blue Ribbon) to win by 15 seconds. Betsy Shogren (Sobe / Cannondale) surged ahead of the chase group to finish third. The Elite Women's field was 22 strong at DCCX this year, up from only 6 in 2007. If Cyclocross were a stock (and I had any money), I'd buy it.

Other winners:
Elite Masters: Blair Sauders (Secret Henry’s Team)
Juniors 17-18: Steven Black (NCVC / Inova Health System)
Juniors 10-16: Jimmy Klose (Adventures for the Cure)
Masters 55+: Rob Lea (T.E.A.M. Fuji)
Cat 3/4 Men: Ian Mathias (Hunt Valley Bicycles / Marathon Roofing)
Cat 3/4 Women: Lynne Oliver (DCMTB)
Cat 3/4 35+ Men: David Blodgett (All American Bicycle Club)
Cat 4 Men: Matthew Bartlett (The Bike Rack)
Little Belgians: James Kline (Artemis)

Complete Results and Write-up:
Have a look at the DCMTB blog for the play-by-play as well as the full results list.

Additional Coverage:

• Gwadzilla naturally has photos - these of the Lil' Belgians race.
• Joe Foley also has photos from DCCX in his Flickr album.
• In which Scott's Right of Way is called a wheelsucker by a guy he nipped in the sprint
• The Unholy Rouleur lives for this stuff, man.
• Indy has some photos of teammates, most with snarky captions.
• Gay (Bike) Racer made the (extended) podium in the Cat 4 race. Swapping out the road shoes and pedals helped.
• Poor Dumb Bastard finished on the lead lap, had a beer in the pits, ate a bean and cheese burrito and rode home with a dog in his lap. By almost anyone's standards, that's a good day.