GamJams.net: Where Mid-Atlantic bike racers roll

Breakaways the Order of the Day at Inaugural Fort Ritchie Criterium

Corroborating the stereotype that road racers are largely anti-social beings, small groups of racers repeatedly peeled off from the community of the peloton-at-large and rode into their respective finishes at Fort Ritchie alone. Despite the open views of two and even three corners ahead afforded by the serpentine course, stiff winds and smallish fields contributed to the success of breaks in nearly every race.

In the Women's Open, a group of 7 rolled clear. Powered with two racers each from C3-Sollay.com and HPC p/b Altarum, and with representation also from Team CycleLife, Artemis and Team Kenda Tire, the group comprised all of MABRA's heavy-hitting women's teams. C3-Sollay.com went 1-2 with Janet Olney towing new teammate Sonja Evers across the line. Kenda's Heidi Goldberg rounded out the podium in third.

In the Men's Elite race, the two-man break of Ryan McKinney (Clean Currents p/b Don Beyer Volvo) and Nate Coleman (Immediate Mortgage / Artemis Elite) reached escape velocity with about 12 to go. McKinney won the sprint to the final corner and hung on down the short straight for the win. The field sprint for third was won by David Bozak (Clean Currents p/b Don Beyer Volvo).

Battley Harley-Davidson had to content themselves with a single podium placing on the day: California transplant Chuck Hutcheson won the 30+ event.

A group of 3 rolled clear in the opening laps of the Men's Cat 3 race. Containing talent from Bike Doctor / Bayside Velo, Haymarket Bicycles and LSV, the group was quickly afforded some respect and more racers bridged to join it. Ultimately the break settled into 6, which proved to be the magic number. With about 10 laps to go they had lapped the field. Josh Kahney (Bike Doctor / Bayside Velo) was catapulted to the win off a Wrobtastic leadout. Bruno Neto (LSV / Kelly Benefit Strategies) sprinted home for 2nd, and Ian Morrison (Bike Doctor / Bayside Velo) claimed the podium's third step.

Complete results are already up on AVC's website.

Additional Coverage:

• The Chicks in Black earn their chocolate chipotle cookies.
• Chick in Black vonteity offers another perspective, but fails to disclose the recipe for said cookies.
• girloffroad notes the aggregation of power among the MABRA women's elite teams and lobbies for a TTT. But not on the Fort Ritchie course, I expect.
• Pete Rides Bikes makes the point that when it's 20 guys in a field of 40 starters, it's not a "break" - it's a "field split."
• Brian at racing and all that other stuff makes a similar point, and goes on to question the strategic wisdom of blocking in the back group.
• Nick Mulder's recount is shinier and happier. And with good reason. His teammate got the win, another won the field sprint, and he followed in for fourth.
• The Wrob opens the Bike Doctor kimono and alludes to the secret team strategy. The one that didn't work. But then he shows us what did.
• Top 10 finishes in stereo for Estebe.
• And finally, think racing is hard? Try your hand at a long day as a Moto Ref.

Battley Harley, Kelly Benefit Strategies / LSV and Artemis Power to Poolesville Podiums3

As ever, the strongest showing at NCVC's esteemed Poolesville H.S. Road Race was made by the course itself. Attrition rates of 50% or more laid fields low, with mechanicals, crashes, flats, dehydration and too-friggin-hard being the principal culprits of truncated race days.

Battley Harley-Davidson avoided most major mishaps to dominate the elite men's field. The break of three containing Dave Fuentes (Battley Harley), Ryan Dewald (Battley Harley) and R Muoio (Kelly Benefit / LSV) proved decisive, and they took podium spots in that order. Battley Harley seems to be pursuing an inverted BAR championship strategy. Whereas most clubs with Team BAR aspirations aim to capture about 20% of the points in 80% of the different category events, Battley Harley appears to be on track to capture 80% of the points in 20% of the category events. The team went on to capture 4th, 5th, 7th and 12th at Poolesville as well.

R Muoio's podium in the Men's Elite race wasn't LSV's first trip up the steps at Poolesville on Saturday. Earlier in the day teammate Susanna Matsen Nazarian claimed the coveted Box-of-Rox trophy in the Women's Elite event, soloing to victory ahead of Kate Flore (HPC p/b Altarum) and Leslie Jennings (Team CycleLife). Last year's winner Marjan Huizing (Team Kenda Tire) finished 6th.

The purple of Artemis stormed the under categories. Jorge Marccenaro (Artemis) and James Drane (Artemis) powered to 1st and 2nd in the Men's 4/5 event, with Manny Samaniego (HPC p/b Altarum) rounding out the podium. And Amanda Watson (Artemis) claimed top honors in the Women's Cat 3/4 race, ahead of Ainhoa Perez-Diez (NVRC) and Joyce Gearhart (unattached, but what a great cyclist's name).

Kevin Gottleib (Squadra Coppi) continued to show great form, leading home a late 2-man break in the Men's 3/4 race, and outkicking Ben King (Guy's Racing) for the win. Russell Weber (Cycles 54 / YSG Racing) won the field sprint for 3rd overall.

Spared the pain of Speed Week that his teammates endured, Haymarket Bicycles' Chris Hayes stayed home and won the 40+/50+ race, ahead of Arthur Brown (ABRT / Latitude) and Paul Morse (Clean Currents p/b Don Beyer Volvo).

Full results are available at NCVC.net.

Additional Coverage:

• Bryan vs the Poison Ivy
• Brian Fouche found the butter line in the dirt, only to get caught in a crash coming out of it.
• Il Nessie battled to an impressive top 10 for the home team in the Men's Elite race.
• Flamenco Chuckwagon ended up one of the course's many statistics.
• So did RayMan.
• And Nick Mulder.
• TerribleCyclist finished, at least.
• Says Indy, "I have a love-hate relationship with Poolesville. I think she’s trying to break up with me."
• Gay Bike Racer adds his Cat 4 Race Report to the Poolesville Mix. But more importantly he vows, "I'm going to start checking you boys out a little more closely and will come out with a palmares based entirely on looks, musculature and tan lines." So we've got another competition within a competition - a prime for sexy.
• Keep the Shiny Side Up has an insider's perspective on the 40+/50+ race.
• 1km2go details his podium-worthy effort in the 4/5 race.
• Followed closely by Bryan of On Cycling in 4th.
• The C-3 Sollay.com Chicks in Black have race reports from the Women's 3/4 and Women's 1/2/3 events, and also a bunch of pictures.
• Compare their notes with perspectives from the same events from Team CycleLife.
• Anna Kelso points out that in 1760, John and Joseph Poole bought 160 acres of land which would ultimately become Poolesville. (At least one road surface since then has remained virtually unchanged.)
• Jim Wilson (naturally) has photos from the race, and also an update on his blog.

Robb, Winfield post fastest times at Wintergreen

Over 200 racers turned out for the VA State Annual Gut-Wrenching Championships at Wintergreen on Saturday. The fastest time of the day was posted by Phillip Robb of Nature's Path. His 35:47 netted him a victory in the Cat 1/2 event by over 2 1/2 minutes. The next fastest time of the day was Ted Michaels' (Evolution Cycling) 35:55, giving him a comfortable margin of victory in the Cat 3 race (and leaving him with enough in the tank to win the 30+ race with a time of 37:13 a scant hour and a half later). Rounding out the men's virtual podium was Cat 4 strongman Elliott O'Brien (Team Traveller) with a time of 36:14.

Diedre Winfield of CRC raced to victory in the Women's 1/2/3, and posted the fastest women's time of 42:55. Second fastest women's time on the day was Cat 4 Catherine Von Storch (CRC), whose time of 47 flat netted her a category championship. 1/2/3 racer Brenna Santoro (TriPower) rolled across with the third fastest women's time of the day, scoring second in her category with a 47:21.

The GamJams Honorable Order of Suffering award goes to Danny Oughton of Team Carytown Bicycle Company. Danny won the Juniors 10-12 event with a time of 1:18:47. An hour and a quarter is a long time for a racer Danny's age to even be out for a ride, much less racing full bore up an interminable wall into a headwind. If suffering has formative years, it's 10-12 for Danny.

Complete results are available on the CRC website. CRC also points us towards an extensive photo gallery of 200+ shots.

Additional Coverage:

• Nelson County Life Magazine has a story and some pictures by Paul Purpura
• Bryan at OnCycling breaks out the Geekulator to back into some power data for a Haymarket teammate
• Stormyworld has a photo and shoutout to teammate Matt Keane, who won the Cat 5 championship for Fat Frogs. (More Fat Frogs photos from the event here.)
• Karen Got Wheels put in a solid training day at Wintergreen, and is on schedule to peak exactly as planned sometime later in the season.

Keeping Tempo: 4-28-08

Some quick updates to report on:

• Matt Cooke, the Mid-Atlantic's connection to the domestic pro peloton, finished the Tour de Georgia in 27th position, 5'06" off the pace and the second highest-placing Health Net / Maxxis rider behind team leader Rory Sutherland. Awesome race, Matt. Congrats. Matt's next race is Mount Hood, and he asks in the comments here if you all want more reports from him. I think I know the answer, but leave a comment and an attaboy for Matt anyway.
• Lots of folks were up in Ephrata for the stage race. Final results aren't posted yet, but this finish line video from the Cat 4/5 race is. Uninteresting? Watch it frame by frame and you'll see a crash unfold about 6' before the line, with the falling racer crossing the line shoulder first. Unfortunately for our over-zealous hero, he was unsuccessful in his bid for 25th place, which went to rider 510, who narrowly escapes the flailing arms and legs to hold on for the coveted placing.

• Some other local folks are revving it up down at Speedweek in GA, SC and NC all week. Athens Twilight was on Saturday, and then they circle counter-clockwises for races again Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. So don't complain that you're tired after your Tuesday Night Worlds this week. Nick Mulder reports that some DC Velo folks are making the trip, as are the Jokers from Richmond Pro Cycling. The most comprehensive reports are coming from The Granfalloon and the Haymarket Cycling crew. Jared's got pictures (from the race as well as the computrainer TT for positioning, video, race reports, logistics and everythang. Definitely watch the videos Jared has posted throughout. He captures the computertrainer TT and some interviews with teammates.

BTW, I finally added a "Search" feature to GamJams, in the top left corner of every page. I did this to make it easier for you to find videos of Cat 5s crashing 3 months from now (see above), and to make more money for Google, in the interests of any of you who own the search giant's stock.

You might also notice the little green "share this" icon below every post. That makes it easy for you to email a post to anyone you want, or send a link as a TXT to a cellie, or even IM a link to someone. If'n you ever want to do that.

Dolan out the Suffering

There's nothing heavenly about rains of biblical proportion, but that's what we had at Carl Dolan on Sunday. Still, we showed up, kitted up, warmed up, and sucked it up. Who among us would have missed such a perfect chance to be a hard wo/man of spring?

• Not Battoowoo Greekgreek, who did the 30+/40+ bike race / swim duathlon. According to his Power Tap, they averaged 26mph for that one - with standing water above their rims in some places. (Yes, that means he has power data.)
• Fatguy Racer gutted out (sorry, dude - couldn't help myself) the 3/4 race. First I've seen of his blog, which is so far a comprehensive and candid training log that you (er, us) data geeks will love. Have a look.
• Some excellent pictures of Carl Dolan from The Long Ride. More please. His whole blog is eye candy, in fact.
• Mr Cranky Pants brings some sweetness and light to RayMan's Carl Dolan update.
• Teammate Don't Train Like Me sloshed through the Master's Race: "During the whole race it rained, sometimes harder than others. On a few laps, the rain felt like hail. Ouch!! Sometimes I could barely see a few bike lengths in front of me. I knew many times we rode through 5-6 inches of rain on the ground, as my whole wheel was completely underneath the water. I use the 50mm deep aero wheels. The splash sound it makes is pretty cool. WHOOSH with the carbon sound." Not having had enough, he then started the meteorologically doomed 1/2/3 event as well.
• The women's race got a break from the rain, but not from the savage tornado that is the CycleLife Women's Elite Team. 1,2, buckle my shoe. Great showing, ladies.
• Just ask DCVeloBella if the pace in the Women's race was hot.
• GBR pounces on his break companions to win a prime in the 3/4 race. Acceptable, or uncool?
• GBR's NCVC teammate Flamenco Chuckwagon, again, says "we had a good race" before uttering a single "I" or "me." Maybe that means he's taking credit for GBR's twin primes, but it might also mean there's a genuine team commitment there. I'm pretty sure I heard one red and white say to another at the start, "Just let me know if there's anything you need me to do for you." Now that's not indicative of a gelled team strategy, but it's at least intent. And intent is the greater battle in the under categories.

Update:

• Seems I missed one, from the new C3-Sollay.com Chicks in Black Blog. Thanks Beth.

Off-Road Update: Bakers' Dozen, Twisted Tire and more

After spending some time in the middle of the 3/4 race at Carl Dolan upside down in the grass, I was reminded that many of us race our bikes off the tarmac on purpose. This was a good weekend for so recalling, as the race schedule and weather created an off road weekend spanning from glorious to epic in two short days.

• CityBikesMike has a report from Leesburg Bakers Dozen, where he was one of 18 City Bikes MTB team members. Sheesh, what a turnout. My guess is that only one of them had socks like Darren's though. (If that doesn't give Kyle sock envy...)
• For about a gazillion photos from the Bakers Dozen, check out Gearshift Photography. Find one of yourself? Buy it for $15. 13 hours is a long time to sit out there with a camera, too.
• Far and away front runner for uncoolest thing to happen at a bike race this year - someone stole the Bakers Dozen race promoters Moots. Blacknell has the deets.
• (Not a bad time to remind everyone, by the way, of the GamJams Bike Recovery Registry.)
• For as glorious as Saturday was, Sunday was equally epic. Bikevoice describes the race as "less of a competition and more of a survival of brake pads, deraillers and mental faculties."
• Scott's Right of Way has reports both from eponymous Scott and also son Jake. If you look closely, you can almost read that the jersey says "Coppi." Almost.
• First Dropped was there also. In his report I'm counting 7 crashes in the first lap alone. "I ended up finishing fourth with which I am happy." Dude, you could leave out "fourth" and it would still make sense.
  
• JMK Photography braved the downpour and will have pictures posted later this week. Can't wait to see those.
• And finally, the Haymarket boys were in upstate New York for the famed and feared Battenkill-Roubaix, an epic race amidst glorious conditions. Technically, it's a road race. But as you'll divine from the name there are some stretches where the term "road" applies rather loosely. The Granfalloon labors mightily against the gods of fortune. Alas, most battles against gods of any type end badly. But expect Jared to bring good form to Poolesville. TerribleCyclist seems to have found a course to his liking, scoring a 5th in the Cat 4 race. Uncharacteristically silent, his result is found instead on OnCycling, his teammate's site.
  

Down South and Up North Weekend

It was double down in the 757, with the Virginia Farm Bureau's Conquer the Canal Time Trial on Saturday, followed by Fat Frogs Langley Speedway Criterium and track races on Sunday:

• Keirin Racer was at both, dueling with his 30-second man on Saturday, and then drooling off the back in the Track A race at Langley.
• riDe it Like you Stole it has a mess of pictures from the Canal, including this excellent shot of TriPower's Mike McCann conquering not just the Canal, but the boat in it:

• N Plus One has a link to the history of the Canal (part of the Great Dismal Swamp), which played a role in the Underground Railroad. And yes, he has some race reports.
• Dish all you want about the Under Category Racer / Bloggers, but I'm starting to see a pretty clear correlation between guys who wear their power data and training regimes on their sleeves, and podium appearances. First it was RayMan and Le Amateur Domestique winning at UMD, then Cyclochris won the Cat 4 race at Jeff Cup. This week it's Stormyworld, crossing the line first in the Cat 5 crit at Langley, and writing about it. Congrats, Stormy.
• If you don't see the new featured photo from Langley, hit reload a few times. Kazane Racing has some backstory on Keck's day at the speedway. Or rather, getting to and from it. You think your race was hard? Try riding 75 miles to your race, then racing.
• BJ Samuel has started posting her race day galleries. Here are shots from Conquer the Canal and another set from Langley. (She also has some from the VBW Smackdown and Jeff Cup). If you or your spouse have race day galleries, why not do the same? Thanks BJ.
• Karen Got Wheels thanks BJ also, by featuring a picture of BJ on her site (on that gorgeous new Specialized Transition).
• Kevin Dillard was down at Langley over the weekend, and has pictures of the racers, if not the races themselves. He makes us look fast even when we're standing still.

And that's not all. Many MABRA folks headed north for an away game up at Mount Joy in PA.

• Full results are here. Lots of names you know. See who is bringing good form to Carl Dolan.
• Pictures are promised here. So far none are up. Until then, why not look at a bunch of pictures of the Rite Aid Pro team riding faster than you.
• Anna Kelso calculates that the cost of racing at Mt Joy was $1.55 per mile - about as steep as that climb halfway through each lap.
• Flamenco Chuckwagon continues his own meme, where he leads with team results instead of his own. Methinks a lot of the Under Category squads are starting to think the same way.

Race Reporting by Race Reporters

Earlier this week, Jay Moglia suggested that we find a way to report on local races from the outside, as well as from the inside:

I’m suggesting to www.gamjams.net that all of us racers make a small donation of a dollar or two and we hire an actual reporter to tell us what happened.  Otherwise it is just one person’s blog-eye view of the race.  I would love to know exactly who was doing what.  I know where the charges were and when the moves went and vaguely how big they were but don’t know who specifically was animating the action at any given time. 

Jay and I exchanged some emails about it, and I think it's a fabulous idea. No small part of what GamJams tries to do is to let some of us rank amateurs know what it feels like to be our idols. If there can be magazines and websites devoted to what Stijn and Oscar are up to, why can't there be something that lauds our own efforts, perhaps meager in comparison to racers-by-vocation, but personally herculean to us.

Jay's idea that the racers shoulder the cost is perfectly equitable. But that's not really how GamJams rolls. My goal is to create enough media around local racing (online, offline, before, during, after) so that the expense of racing is borne far less by the racers, and more by the sponsors. I dream of a season where entry fees are $0, weekend in and weekend out. So finding a way to charge racers more en route to this finish line, however equitable, isn't aligned with GamJams vision.

So I'm looking for reporters.

If you know the local racers and will be at a local event, and want to cover one or more of the events from start to finish - naming names, lauding powerful moves, even snapping some pictures - I want to run your articles here.

Salary is negotiable, but please negotiate mercifully. I'm hoping some of you will want to do this to make GamJams newer and improveder, and boost your own personal profile in the process. But even if you'll only do it for cold hard cash, let's talk anyway.

Reporter applications now being accepted. Send a sample of your writing as well please, and what event(s) in the next few weeks you'd like to cover.

Keeping Tempo: 4-8-08

Here's today's news. Most of it is actually Saturday's news from Walkersville, and Sunday's news from Tyson's. But you know you're not over it yet either. So here:

• Fruity Pebbles, Fabric Softener and Synchronized Swimmers - that's Anna Kelso's race weekend in pictures.
• RayMan raced hard on Saturday, then found himself strangely tired on Sunday. I smell a meme.
• Kyle at Pedal'n Around raced hard on Saturday, then found himself strangely tired on Sunday.
• TerribleTerry raced hard on Saturday, then mystically transformed into Racee Retardo, before morphing into TiredTerry on Sunday.
• girloffroad is fast onroad, with a 4th in the women's elite race at Walkersville.
• His Tyson's reports from the Cat 4 and 3/4 races are the first GamJams has seen from Gay Racer. The curious among you can see much more here.

Walkersville and Tysons Weekend

Hoping for a snappier title? I'm saving my energy for the sprint.

• We focus a lot here on how to train harder, mentally prepare better, eat smarter, race faster. But one vital aspect of the race day experience has largely been overlooked - until now. The Granfalloon, perhaps in retaliation for getting mooned last weekend, points out how not to park on race day.
• On the topic of etiquette, Kazane Racing reminds us, "After the race is over you go back to your normal identity, and calling a stranger a punk in a parking garage is no way to start a conversation. You can say whatever in a race and chalk it up to adrenaline, but afterwards….."
• Haymarket's Bryan of On Cycling has a photo of the Tysons Cat 4 sprint finish, as well as a race report.
• Compare your Cat 4 Tyson's power numbers with Battoowoo Greekgreek.
• From the Flamenco Chuckwagon's recounts of both Walkersville and Tysons, it sounds like the Cat 4 races around here are evolving from quick tempo rides preceding a mad gallop into, well, races. Anybody else noticing the change?
• Brian at Racing and all that Other Stuff points out, though, that even the 1/2/3 races don't feel like they've evolved too much: "Next week I'll have my race wheels, so I'll have to attack. prediction for next week, I'll sit in a few laps to warm up, go with couple moves that get 10 seconds, then it will come together and i'll "sprint" for 50th. that describes 90 percent of bike races."
• Le Amateur Domestique has an inside-the-peloton view from the 3/4 race at Tysons.
• As does Bryan, who doubled his 3/4 day at Tysons up with the 1/2/3 race as well. Uncharacteristically, his Tysons post is absent power data. You'll have to go to his recount of the 30+/40+ race at Walkersville for your numbers fix.
• There's at least one every week - someone who sprints for the win one lap before the finish. Congrats to 1km2go for his pyrrhic victory.
• Nick Mulder scored an actual victory in the Juniors event at Tysons - his first of the season.
• velochicken is cutting her beak in the Women's 1/2/3 fields this year. Read about how the women rolled at Walkersville and Tysons.

You want the photos? You can't handle the photos.

But if you can, you'll find:

• SuePerSeven's Walkersville pics here.
• And Jim Wilson's Tysons snaps look like they're on their way to this page.
• Any more photo albums you come across, send them my way and I'll link them. (And if you have a few pics of your own, why not throw them up on Flickr or something to share?)