Cheshire Cycle Racing

New England Regional Cyclocross Championships

2011-12-19T12:40:00.001-05:00

Day 1

35+ Race

Tim rode a smokin race! He stayed in a super fast group all race long and was leading the chase group in third place going into the bell lap. A couple of small mistakes during that last lap cost him the podium but he hung on to finish 6th place. A good amount of footage of Tim can be watched here.

Day 2

Elite Men

Tim, who never races at any speed other then "full", went back up in the super cold for day 2 and the Elite Race. He finished 13th place. Report coming soon.

Here's Tim chuggin thru the sand pit. Day 2

Cat 3

Cosmo had a great race. Finishing well in the money at 5th. Great finish to his super long season.

Limestone Cross at the Kiln - Atlantic Regional Championships

2011-12-12T10:16:00.002-05:00

Cat 2,3

Hunter takes the win! Hunter took the hole shot and never looked back. The course was mostly grass with an couple of intense, steep uphill sections. One set of barriers was the only time off the bike. Plenty of rain during the week made most of the grass sections super soft and slow. There were lots of tight, twisty, slick turns... Some of which stayed in the shade all day and had a layer of ice on them.
Hunter was able to carefully pick his first lines thanks to the holeshot and after the first lap he had a narrow 3 bike gap over 2nd place. He hammered out a fast second lap, putting several seconds into his lead and he continued to extend it out to about 20 seconds over the next few laps. He rode the last lap carefully, which let the chaser get back a bunch of time but Hunter still rolled across the line with a safe margin. An impressive wire to wire win....
Hunter closes out his long season with a shiny Gold medal from the Atlantic Region Championships.
He also ends the MAC series Cat2,3 in 6th place. Pretty good seeing as how he only did half the races in the series.

SalvageCross

2011-12-12T10:14:00.004-05:00

Men's Open

After hemming and hawing over whether or not to go due to lack of training, slight cold, and just plain old holiday-time laziness, Joe K decided at the last minute to race Salvage cross race in Manchester. He lined up with the Men's open class, a small field of only 14 riders but with the likes of Todd Bowden (Canadian National Champion!) and some other fast cat 1/2's it was no easy race. Conditions were great, sunny 40's for the start.
The course was super technical, lots of "S" turns, many off camber sections, a tough steep hill run up, and few long grass straight sections. Joe got a good start in the second row and was in the top 5 heading into the first corner, he stayed with a group of three for the first two laps. After that the gaps started opening up with a solid 30-60 seconds between all the leaders. Joe rode a clean race without any mistakes and held a solid pace all race long to finish 7th. Great way to close off the season

Cat 4

Sean takes 15th place from a big field in Manchester. Well done! Report coming soon.

Geler Votre Cul Cyclocross

2011-12-12T09:30:00.005-05:00

Cat 2,3

The Votre Cul course was on fairgrounds in Eastern Maryland just over the Delaware state line. The course itself had a lot of different features and was long. Lap times were about 8 minutes for the 2,3 field. I was lined up first row because a couple of the regular series racers weren't there. I got the holeshot off the line but was passed a few turns later by one rider. He was going good and got a bit of a gap but I kept him right there. The rest of the field was close behind. The first time thru the steep ride up guys dabbed behind me which let me loose in pursuit of the 1st place rider. A short while later he faded and I caught and passed him. Soon after that though Alex Bremer, who is the leader of the series caught and passed me. I stayed close to him but He was gaining on every straight power section. I would make back time on the technical sections but it wasn't enough to bring him back.

2nd place for the day.

The Ice Weasels Cometh

2011-12-12T09:27:00.001-05:00

The Ice Weasesl race has become New NEgland's informal season ending race party and there is always a good time to be had there. plenty of fans and racers braved the cold temps to either close out the season or make sure those that were going onto Nationals, New England Championships, or any other last races got in a good workout

Cat 1,2,3 & 35+

Tim and Larry entered the masters race, which was raced along with the Cat1-3's. It made for an interesting race and Tim struggled a bit but still finished a solid 16th place out of 70 starters. Larry got in at 48th but we bet he was taking beer hand-ups during the race.


Tim, banging out a good race.

Cat 3

Cosmo rode hard and pulled out all the stops to get the victory in this race. He probably ended up sacrificing a solid chance to get 3rd place in his "I'm all in" approach, but ain't nothin wrong with that. He takes 4th on the day and looks to continue with a good ride at the New England Championships at Fitchburg next week.

NBX G.P. of Cross

2011-12-07T22:24:00.002-05:00

SATURDAY

Master 35+

Tim and Larry ! The dynamic Masters duo!
Tim finally gets a good call up and makes good on it! He had enough points scored to get a 2nd row call-up... 16th to be exact. He advanced on that as per usual and fought up to 3rd place during the first lap. Tim has been getting better and better all season long ( his first full CX season ) . He had to settle back into a group fighting for top 10. Tim got caught out at the sprint finish and lost a spot to settle in at 11th. His best so far for the Verge Masters series. Larry also rode to a season best 22nd place in the race. Great job guys.

Cat 3

Cosmo found the Cat 3 \ Junior field to be a little chaotic. He went down in the sand run due to someone crashing into him and that put him out of the usual first couple of groups. He rolled in 32nd, ready to rock in roll the next day. Dave also raced Saturday and finished 66th.

SUNDAY

Elite Men

Hunter's "elite" racing season ended with Sunday's race. The tight, twisty course never has suited him well, and starting dead last again in the field of 48 was going to make it a challenging day. He rode a clean race, except for one instance of a rider hitting him during the beach run. 30th place on the day. Hunter will race the Cat2\3 race in NJ next weekend as his season ender.

Master 35+

Tim was back at it today, and he also found Sunday's course to be harder then Saturday's. He toughed it out tho and finished a solid 15th place. Tim now looks to have a good ride at Ice Weasels and then take a shot at bringing home a regional championship jersey in Fitchburg in 2 weekends.

Cat 3

Cosmo rode with a fire in the belly today and it showed. 15th place

Baystate Cyclocross, the Verge Series, Sterling MA

2011-11-28T13:13:00.001-05:00

Saturday

Elite Men

Hunter P started in the last row of about 40. He got up to about 25th midway thru the first lap but then crashed badly in a sandy corner. He rode on to the pit without the use of his front brake, switched bikes and managed to chase down 4 riders before getting lapped and pulled.

35+

Tim put the throw down and finished 15th place. He managed to avoid a first lap crash and chased down riders all race long to get up there.

Cat 3 Men

Cosmo was riding a different bike ( again ) for the Cat 3 race. This time he was more comfortable and finished a strong 16th place, just getting beat to the line by a young McCormack.

Sunday

35+ Race

Tim was joined by Larry today and the 2 were a bit tardy to the line. Tim didnt realize that would mean no chance of getting to his 3rd row callup and therefore started last row. Kudos to him anyway as he raged his way up another 14th place finish in the Verge Series 35+ men. Larry rode strong all race and finished 33rd.

Cat 3 Men

Cosmo takes 19th place but manages to get some coveted air time with the jersey on Cycling Dirt SWEET!

Hopbrook Cyclocross - CT State Championships

2011-11-21T17:05:00.002-05:00

The Hopbrook race played host to the state championships this year and it was a barnburner. The course itself was a fast one that covered a lot of ground each lap. It had a little of everything.... A long sandy section, slippery mud, uphill pavement, 50 meters of straight off camber, a steep ride-up, 2 barrier sections and minimal tight corners made for a varied course that favored the rider with raw power. The wind also played a factor.

Masters 35+

Joe K takes Gold in the 35+ division!
Joe finished 2nd place overall in the Masters race today, despite sliding out early on and messing up his chain. A skipping drivetrain didn't stop Joe from placing 2nd and taking the Gold medal as the race winner, Dave Hildebrand was in the next age category up. Great job Joe on another in a long line of State medals.

Joe K hopping the Barriers!? Awesome!

Cat 1,2,3

Tim, Hunter, Larry, Cosmo, and Dave all lined up for the premiere event. Larry and Cosmo raced on Saturday but were ready to go for the medals. Hunter, feeling tired from working at Cheshire CX the last 2 days, in addition to the hour long race there was unsure about doing Sundays race. At the last minute he decided to give it a go ( thanks to the Hopbrook staff for slipping him in past registration cut-off ). Tim was also not at 100%, coming off of 2 races at Cheshire Cross the day before. The rest of the field was thinner and less stacked compared to what the team was up against at Cheshire Cross.

Larry ( after nearly missing the race start along with Tim ) grabbed the holeshot only to get tripped up on the barriers shortly into the race. Hunter hit the ride-up second wheel as a rider along side him dabbed, which sent the rest of the field stacking. So it was Richard Bardwell from CycleSmart and Hunter off the front early with a 15 second gap. Hunter sat on the wheel for a while to see who would be coming up. Tim was leading a large group of chasers. Larry and Cosmo where there as well. Hunter put in some attacks but Bardwell stayed with him. By lap 3 Tim had brought the group up, but it was a small group, so it left Cosmo, Tim, Hunter, Bardwell, and James Harmon in the lead. Going thru the start section, Tim went straight where the course wasn't marked off the greatest and got gapped. Hunter spent the next couple of minutes staying in front of the group as Bardwell was trying to take advantage and ride Tim off. Tim got back on half a lap later, just in time for the long road section. Cosmo lit up the front on the uphill, forcing Harmon and Bardwell to chase. The effort put Cosmo in the red but it also gapped Bardwell. Cosmo would get hit with a flat soon after that, knocking him well out of the hunt. In the lead it was down to Tim, Hunter and James. That trio would stay together for the next 2 laps as riders were taking turns hitting each other. Harmon had the road section into the barriers down pat. Hunter would punch it on the long off-camber section into the ride-up and Tim was sewing it back up pretty much everywhere else. With 2 to go, Harmon punched it at the very top of the road section going into the barriers, gapping Hunter. Tim worked hard to keep him close but James had too much left was able to ride away from the 2 on 1. Good job to him. Tim hung in there as Hunter worked to close the gap down to a few seconds. In the process though Hunter cracked spectacularly in the last half lap. This let the rider in 4th work past him and bump him from the podium. Tim 2nd with Hunter 4th, but Hunter ends up with Silver for 30-34's.


Hunter leading the group with Tim waiting and Cosmo	in the distance

Cat 4

Sean continued improving his form by taking 9th place in a good sized field of nearly 40 riders.

Cheshire Cross

2011-11-21T09:21:00.005-05:00

Another great Cheshire Cross is in the books. Keep it tuned here for results, photos, recaps, and all sorts of other good stuff. More info coming up soon.

Results page is here

Team Photographer Gregg Ferraris has posted his awesome shots of the day here. ( with more coming )

Congratulations to Tim Ratta for winning his first Cyclocross race. Tim took the 35+ race over a few determined and able chasers. Great job Tim!

A quick thank you to the companies that made the race possible this year:

Strava
UCAN
Charles Coaching and Nutrition
SecretDrinkMix.com
Thule
Zanconato Frames
EMS

Westwood Velo Paolo Zenoni Memorial Day 1

2011-11-12T19:53:00.003-05:00

Cat 1,2

        Hunter took 3rd place today from the small field of 15 elites assembled for the very muddy day 1 of the Westwood Velo Weekend at Bear Mountain in NY.
        Even though there was little rain over the week to the area, the ground and topography didn't let water drain. By mid day the upper parts of the course were as muddy as can be imagined. It took most racers by surprise. Hunter got a good start and powered thru the first sloppy section into 2nd place. The eventual race winner, Richard Sachs Team rider Christian Favata led wire to wire. Hunter kept him close for the first lap, but then in a slick corner, Hunter wiped out, letting the gap go up to 30+ seconds. There was always the chance that a mechaincal to the leader would stop him, so Hunter kept on the hammer.
      Riding an aggressive rear tubular he brought just to be on the safe side, Hunter was able to slowly charge thru slightly uphill muddy sections that others were running. The wet, thick mud was 4+ inches deep and the rest of the course was covered in thick, long grass. Pretty much a drive train's worst enemy. Hunter was putting time into third place with the next 3 laps, but then slid in the mud into a brick building that was making up one side of the course. Hunter pinballed off his shoulder and hand and went down. He lost time thru all that but was still a solid 20 seconds ahead of 3rd place. He was able to get going again, hand bleeding badly, and hit 3 laps to go.
      Next lap after that, on a short, steep ride-up that Hunter was acing every time, his front wheel hit a rut at speed and at an angle, causing a couple of inches worth of front tubular to come off. Fortunately he was able to squeeze the tire back to the rim and continue on. There was no pit bike waiting for him so he had to take the fast corners on that tire with care for the rest of the race. That, coupled with the fact that the drivetrain on his bike was starting to act up with all the mud and grass caked in it, let the 3rd place get back into it. Hunter had to run those sections he was riding for the last 2 laps due because shifting in high gears wasn't possible anymore and the fact that the bike was about 30 pounds heavy by now. He had to give up 2nd place but was able to calmly ride the last lap to stay on the podium for 3rd place.

Cheshire Cross is coming!

2011-11-08T12:23:00.000-05:00

The Team's annual bike race is quickly coming up. Saturday, November 19th. The race, in its 6th year, continues to be refined and tweaked to maximize the enjoyment and challenge factor for all participants. Watching the race is always fun too, as "The Hill" offers a great chance to get close to the racers without the need of course tape or barriers. Come out to watch, race, or both !

Cycle-Smart International UCI Verge Series

2011-11-07T10:58:00.000-05:00

Day 1

Despite the course being under snow just a few days earlier, it dried off well and by Saturday it was typical Northampton fast. The first races of the day had to content with a little ice from the low temps, but that is pretty normal for CSI. By mid-morning, it the course was full throttle, thanks to wide open straights, gentler turns where you could rip it as fast as your traction would allow and minimal mud.

Elite Men

Hunter got a good start in the main event after lining up near the back of the 60 rider field. He avoided the start chute crash, took the steeper right hand side of the run-up and gained a few spots by the middle of the first lap. He would battle to get into the top 30 for most of the race before getting caught with 2 laps to go by a group headed up by 3 Embrocation riders. From that group he out sprinted 2 of them, taking 34th on the day.

Cat 3

Report coming soon.

Masters 35+

Larry and Tim raced the super fast Masters event. Tim, started 6 rows back but continued his habit of flying into the top 20 quickly in the race. He ended up finishing 14th. Great job considering his lack of a good starting spot.

Cat 4

HPCX - MAC series Race #9

2011-10-31T19:47:00.005-04:00

Cat 2,3

The weather improved overnight, but the Sunday race down in Jamesburg NJ was still super nasty. The course in there at Thompson Park is known to be a muddy even when it is dry out. With 3 inches of wet snow being ridden into mud all day, it was as gloppy as one can imagine. 2 sections had to be run, and another 3 sections were being run by half the field as it was nearly as fast as riding them. Speeds were slow, turning was tricky and muddy ruts were throwing guys into each other and into the course tape. Hunter started 2nd row again and despite not being a true "mudder", Hunter had a great race and finished 2nd. Here's how it went down.

"The start chute usually suits me here. It is a 150 meter paved uphill drag race that goes into a steep section of grass, which was of course this year was super muddy and slick. I think a lot of the guys in the field expected to have to run as soon as they hit the grass. Getting in front of that mess was important and I got to 3rd wheel. I went around one guy in front of me pretty quickly and the next rider had a bit of a problem in the first 180 turn. So i got to lead the race for the next 3\4 of a lap which was nice. I think there must have been some bottlnecking after that first tricky corner cause there was a solid gap to 2nd place group pretty quickly. I just tried to settle in and get used to the course, as I did not preride it. The course was almost the same as year's past so I knew pretty much what was coming. But with so much mud EVERYWHERE, it was important to know how to hit certain sections. There was one rider who went by me ( the winner from Saturday ). I went to work on keeping him close but He was going pretty good.

Hunter, running the start chute late in the race.

I had a little trouble on the 3rd lap, falling twice on a slippery off-camber section. In the process I bent the derailleur hanger bad enough so that it was rubbing the spokes and so I had to pit. The Shelbatron was waiting with the pit bike, but that bike had way less bite in the mud, which took some getting used to. I had the benefit of riding alone so I could choose my lines and slide side to side in the mud without worrying about pin-balling off other riders. It probably helped me keep building on the gap to the chasers, which ended up being about 30 seconds by the end of the race"

Canton Cup

2011-10-31T10:23:00.002-04:00

Cosmo finished 16 in the Cat3,4 race....
Race report coming soon for this race.

Beacon CX

2011-10-31T10:22:00.001-04:00

Cat 2,3

Hunter made the trip down for the MAC series race weekend. The rain was already falling in NJ by the start of the days races. Cold, sleet filled rain with some snow thrown in made it super cold for the race. Hunter stayed in the car right up till race staging and was off without a warm-up. The conditions were miserable, even for cross. The officials, eager to be done with the day, made the race very short. Just over 35 minutes. No one was really complaining.

Hunter started 2nd row and grabbed the holeshot. The course had multiple room-sized icy puddles that had to be ridden thru. The rest of the course was slick, sandy mud. Dealing with the cold was tough, and Hunter rolled thru in 14th place.

Downeast Cyclocross

2011-10-24T10:02:00.000-04:00

Saturday, Day 1

Cat 3

Cosmo had a tough time with the slop. Muddy conditions led to a few extra running sections. It was a tough day and he finished 36th.

TCC Mansfield Hollow Cyclocross

2011-10-17T14:59:00.000-04:00

The Manfield race is always a good time. This year the course was stretched out over more terrain then in years past. Despite the extra distance, the fast, dry conditions allowed for some quick lap times. One log hop, one rideable beach section, one beach that was 90% rideable, one set of weird wood planks before a double step-up hill, a single barrier and then one set of double barriers in the fast field section made for a tough, but fast course.

Cat 1,2,3

Hunter almost got DQ'ed before the race ( do not pre-ride the course if the official is in a bad mood ) but was allowed to start all the same. He was sitting 5-8 seconds behind the leader for the first 3 laps when he wiped out badly in a sandy, slightly downhill corner. He banged up his knee and hands but kept going, opting to not switch bikes. He got passed by a couple of riders shortly after, one of whom dropped out of the race after having a mechanical. So in the end Hunter rolled in at 4th place.

Masters 35+

Joe was feeling pretty confident for this one. A power course that suited him and an easy to manage field meant he was looking for victory overall. Dave Hildebrand from CT ExpoWheelmen however had a great start and was able to stay out in front of Joe for nearly the entire race. Joe certainly tried his best, riding the run-ups, beach section and log hop nearly every time thru.

Cat 4

Sean got involved in the very crowded Cat4 race and finished a strong 23rd out of 60, despite mechanical problems. Without incident he would have rolled in top 15 for sure.

Providence Cyclocross Festival

2011-10-10T13:45:00.003-04:00

Cat 3

Cosmo was looking to get back on track after going scoreless in Gloucester. He rode a strong race, making few mistakes, and was just outside the lead group both days. He ended up with 11th place on both days. Good results that will move him up from 18th on the overall Verge Points list. Dave also raced both days and got 59th on Saturday and 49th on Saturday.

Cat 4

Master and chief Dillon P, hurriedly built up a Scott CX bike, complete with some untested Kite alloy tubulars and suited up for both days of racing in the Cat4's. Not that easy, with the race being the first to go off at 8 AM. Both days Dillon started last row. On Sunday, he managed to get up to 51st both place. Sunday was a better day. Despite going down once and nearly destroying his front wheel, he rolled in at 38th place. The wheels held up great.

Dillon, working the "Rugby Hurdle"

Masters 35+

Larry and Tim raced this race on Saturday. Both had to start near the back of the field. Tim charged up to the top 25 in a lap or 2 and stayed there until he rolled a tire and when down pretty hard. Larry also was chasing the top 30 for the whole race and ended up in 38th place. Tim rolled in at 46th after getting a spare wheel.

Dillon screaming with Tim and Joe flying

On Sunday Larry was back. Tim couldn't register day-of in the Elite race so hustled his way last minute into the 35+ field. Joe also made the trip up and decided to do this race instead of a last row start in the Cat3 race. All 3 Cheshire riders were almost immediately into the top 30. By lap 3, Tim was only 20 seconds down from the lead group of 5. Larry and Joe were not far behind. Tim stayed up there and ended up in 18th place for one of his best results of the season. Joe got 29th and Larry rolled in at 42nd after he had to shake off an injury that happened during the last time over the barriers.

Elite UCI

Hunter started both Saturday and Sunday at the back of the 70 rider field. On Saturday he got thru the first couple of 180 corners better then usual and rolled into a good group around mid-pack. That group of 4 or 5 riders would slowly pick off a couple of riders and Hunter ended up in 39th place. Not bad for C1 race that pays 30 deep. Sunday's race was a little tougher cause of the heat, a little easier with the course being more for a power rider. Hunter was feeling Saturday's effort and had way less snap in the legs. He had to settle for 45th.

The Night Weasels Cometh

2011-10-06T09:13:00.002-04:00

Cat 1,2

The Superweek of Cyclocross continued with the Night Weasels race at Ski Ward Wednesday night.
Tim entered the race but without preregistering, he was started dead last in a combined field of 80. An immediate crash on the starting straight turned the holeshot into a long muddy run for Tim. After that, he was able to find some type of rhythm on the muddy course and ended up finishing an impressive 17th place.

Cat 3

Cosmo never backs down from a good cross race. Report coming soon but rumor has it that Killer C turned in a top 10 result in the Cat 3 race. UPDATE: He got 9th... Great job Cosmo!

Next up for the team is the Providence Festival weekend. The team will have a tent in the VeloSwap area and will be showing off the new team issue Kite's

Gran Prix of Gloucester - Day 2

2011-10-03T17:31:00.000-04:00

Amateur Men

In a show of consistency, Cosmo rode in at 30th place to be the highest place Cheshire racer on the day.

Masters 35+

Larry also raced and finished in similar fashion to his Saturday's race. He took 49th place.

Gran Prix of Gloucester - Day One

2011-10-03T17:26:00.002-04:00

Elite Men, Cat 1,2

Hunter and Tim got their new international licenses dirty in the main event on Saturday. Tim pulled a better start number then Hunter and lined up about mid pack, while Hunter was 2 rows from the back. The start was fast but as soon as the run up came into view, the bunch-up had started hard-core. Tim made it thru the most crowded spots during the first lap better then Hunter who got stuck behind some clumsiness. Tim worked his way into a group of 4 and rode consistently to the finish. Both he and Hunter went down a couple of times in the slick, rutty conditions. Toward the end of the race, Hunter got hit with a flat and had to ride a bit before the pit. Another 30 seconds later to get a neutral wheel and he was off again, although by then, the leaders were bearing down hard and he would get pulled shortly after. Tim made it onto the finishing pavement stretch and was so close to getting onto the lead lap before Jeremy Powers and Christian Huele came flying by, so he too got pulled.

Amateur Men

Cosmo and Dave Anderson raced this one. Cosmo was coming off some strong racing in VT and was feeling good. Today though he didn't have the greatest day in the mud and went down more then he's used to. He still ended up at 28th place out of 150, but that was not the race he had hoped for. Dave finished right in the middle of the pack at 75th place. No bad considering he had to ride a solid 2 laps at the start in heavy traffic.

Masters 35+ Cat 1-4

Larry raced and placed 45th in the super fast masters race. Go Larry go !

Whirlybird Cross - Bryn Athyn, PA

2011-09-26T10:36:00.000-04:00

Cat 2 \ 3

     Hunter went down to South Jersey with the Shelbatron to take part in the "Philly to Shore MS Charity Ride" on Saturday. 80 easy miles on the cross bike with road tires installed left him a little tired but ready for Sunday's MAC series race at Bryn Athyn College. About 94 lined up to race. Hunter was called up to second row thanks to the previous week's results at Charm City CX.
     The racecourse was thoroughly soaked and being it the last race of the day, very rutted and muddy in a couple of spots. The straightaways were slow thanks to the soft ground, the corners were mostly slick, and a couple of slippery steep riding sections would have to be run if traffic got in the way.
     Hunter went with a little firmer tire pressure on a knobby tire and seemed to be hooked up pretty well. He had an ok start and went into the tough sections sitting 6th wheel or so. A lap later, when the leaders got caught up in a muddy ride\run up, Hunter was able to cruise by and claim the lead spot for 3\4 of a lap. With the top 6 guys within 30 meters of each other on the course, no one was holding onto the lead for very long and it changed hands a few time up till the end.
     Everyone, including Hunter, had some type of bobble or slip-up on course. Hunter was able though to ride the toughest, longest, muddy to a 180 uphill section every time. With 2 to go, and with everyone starting to feel gassed, Matthew Harris from Philadelphia Ciclismo was able to get off the front for good and start to ride his own race. Hunter was in the chase group with 2nd, 3rd and 4th on course when he got caught behind a bobble on the muddy run-up. 2nd and 3rd places were able to get cleanly away while Hunter had to settle in for an eventual 4th place finish, 8 seconds down.
   Hunter will miss the next series stop in Delaware but should be back down at the end of October for Beacon CX and HPCX.

Weekend of the 17th and 18th

2011-09-19T13:50:00.000-04:00

The team has been part of a massive variety of racing this past week.

Special event racing in Las Vegas, tough road bike racing in NY to conclude the season, and of course the cyclocross is now in official full swing and CCRer's were in VT and MD for the most important races.

Charm City Cross - Baltimore MD

2011-09-19T13:38:00.001-04:00

Cat 2 \ 3

Hunter made the trip down with the Shelbatron for the second week of the MAC Race Series in Baltimore. Hunter missed the first weekend, so without points, had to start mid pack in this field of 125 racers. A long up hill start chute on both days helped him get into the top 50 before the sweeping curves of the grassy park took over. Day 1 was slightly muddy thanks to rain the day before. There were only a few tricky corners on course. Speeds stayed high all lap with mostly sweeping turns on fast rolling mud. Punchy uphills with longer downhill sections gave opportunity for a bit of recovery. This suited Hunter as he was coming into Saturday with lots of travel in his legs. He rolled clear of a group of 3 with a lap to go and was able to hold onto 13th place. Good for some points to be used in next weekend.

Day 2 started nearly exactly the same for Hunter, although a 2nd uphill section shortly into the course let him pick his way up a few more places and he was sitting top 15 within a lap. The course was run almost exactly backwards from day one. This led to shorter, technical downhills and longer uphill drags. The addition of two sand pits further made this day far tougher then the first day, although Hunter had to run the sand only on lap 1. Again, a group of 3 formed, fighting it out for 7th place this time. On the last lap Hunter got in front during the most muddy section and led the way for the final half lap, thru the sand and grass sections. He hit the pavement first with both riders right there behind. Hunter waited for another to start the sprint but when no one would go immediately, Hunter took off and was able to hold full throttle for 100 meters to the line to snag 7th place.

2011 Green Mountain Cyclocross - Williston VT

2011-09-19T13:00:00.002-04:00

Cat 3

Day 1

Cosmo and Dave raced both days of the opening weekend of the Verge Series. Cosmo finished with a strong 9th place and Dave rolled in at 35th.

Day 2

With more points up for grabs, Cosmo assured himself of a good starting spot for the next races in the series with a 13th place, good for a couple more points in the overall. Dave rolled in 39th spot and is looking forward to mixing it up in the smaller fields of local races.

Tour of the Adirondacks

2011-09-19T12:43:00.000-04:00

Cat 3\4

Jordan Lynn closed out his already fantastic road season with a strong 3rd place in the Cat3\4 field. Look for a re-cap soon.

Congratulations Jordan on a remarkable season!

Cross Vegas

2011-09-16T01:27:00.000-04:00

The Wheelers & Dealers Race

Hunter P got to do this much hyped raced but he had to start 3 rows from the back of this 165 racer field. He spent the entire race chasing down guys along with a rider from Team Denim. He ended up 30th place. A solid race considering the 8 plus hours of riding he and Dillon did at the Outdoor Demo Monday and Tuesday.

In lesser official news from the Demo, Hunter also won the Strava road bike loop competition and had the best overall time over all four official stages of the competition. Bragging rights! Dillon was leading the segment but his time was mysteriously deleted from the Strava server in a move that can only be explained by sabotage.

In even lesser official race news, Hunter got to have a dance off with the SRAM Pink gorilla Thursday at the end of the day. Hunter overcame a busted wii controller and edged out the monkey according to the crowd's vote.

Green Mountain Stage Race

2011-09-05T08:37:00.002-04:00

Jordan Lyn takes 5th on queen stage up App Gap!

The Cat 3 Criterium was cancelled due to heavy rain and already flooded areas. But Jordan, thanks to a great opening day TT and a strong finish on the hilltop finish of day 3 locks in his 6th place overall. This despite going down in a finish line crash during day 2's circuit race. Awesome job and a great way to close out the road season for the team. Cosmo also rode well, finishing 28th in the time trial and staying up there to finish in the top half of the field. He also gets the bad-boy award for the team for being penalized 4 seconds and $20 for "extended pacing" during the TT.

The team will cover the costs of your aggressive riding Cosmo.

Cosmo getting ready to rip it up in the TT.
He looks like a rule breaker huh?

Monson Cyclocross Race

2011-09-01T13:27:00.001-04:00

Cat 1,2,3

The Monson CX course was completely revamped from last year's torture fest. The new course was super short at sub 5 minutes, featured some good off camber sections, some paved climbing, tricky descending, and a tough short run up. Tim & Hunter showed up for this one. Dave Anderson could not make it due to the storm. Hunter got an ok start again but dropped his chain on the 3rd lap. By the time he freed it up and got going he was sitting in 10th. Tim started solidly but faded toward the end. Hunter was looking to take 6th place but then fell on the run-up and then rolled his front tire a little but on the next lap. He was able to remount it by hand but had to watch the corners from there on out. He ended up in 7th with Tim right behind in 8th.

Cat 4

Sean Whitehurst started his CX season with a good showing in the Cat 4 race, finishing in 11th place.

Blunt Park Cyclocross Race

2011-08-22T12:50:00.000-04:00

The team had Larry, Hunter, Tim and Dave out for the start of the cross season in Springfield MA. The course was fast this year. There were some silly log crossings that broke up the singletrack woods sections but most of them were rideable. Some tight and twisty tree sections were well thought out and needed some technical skills to get through quickly. All in all a great race despite the heat.

Larry did the 35+ race while the others did the 123 race. He had some mechanical problems early on that kept him far from the front group. In the 1,2,3 event Hunter got off to a decent start but faded during the last 3 laps. Tim rode solidly all race and despite not really racing any cyclocross in recent years, finished 9th. Dave, without any racing in his legs this year and not as much training as he should have had, finished near the back.

Next up is Saturday's Monson cyclocross race.

Congrats to Jordan Lynn

2011-08-16T12:10:00.003-04:00

Jordan has been granted his Cat3 upgrade.

Well earned we all say.

Jordan has been tearing it up all season long and out on the training rides he goes just as strong as the 2's and 3's out there. No doubt he will be continue to go fast in the new surroundings. Joe K, Larry, Matt, Cosmo and the rest of the Cat 3 team will welcome the added firepower to future races.

Tokeneke Classic Road Race

2011-08-15T15:28:00.001-04:00

Cat 3

      Joe K and Cosmo represented CCR in the Cat 3 field for this epic event. On a normal day this course makes the toughest competitors cringe. Today was even worse with cool temperatures and a hard driving rain all race long. There were 73 riders pre-reged and only 66 brave enough to make the start and at the end of the day only 45 finished.
        The race began with a tolerable pace due to the rough conditions and Cosmo and Joe were riding smart at the front of the group staying out of trouble. There were a few solo attacks during the first lap but they never got out of sight. For the most part racing was just staying focused on the road and wheel in front to ensure not to make any silly mistakes. Eating and drinking to stay fueled and warm was top priority but difficult especially on the long descents. The first time up the finishing climb was fast paced but Joe & Cosmo were able to hang with the pace easily. Heading into the hills on Lap 2 there were already some tired legs with grunts and groans coming from some of the riders. No real attacks on this lap either. It was tough to stay warm on the downhill's as Joe was feeling the chills and even shivering at some points. Cosmo seemed to be alright with a base layer and arm warmers to use when needed. Smart move. The pace was fast on the assent of the final climb again with some major gaps and splits in the field opening up. Cosmo was riding strong with the front group but the hill started to take it's toll on Joe as he was slowly loosing contact with that group. He dug deep and turned himself inside out to catch back on by the start area and it was onto the 3rd and final lap. The hills, rain, and chills were taking it's toll and after catching back on fueling and recovering was priority. A few attacks tried to get away but nothing succeeded. Joe and Cosmo were still with the main group over the first few hills on the final lap until we hit the last section on 181, reservoir climb. First Cosmo and then Joe got popped off the back. This section cracked a lot of guys, one by one riders were coming off.
       Cosmo threw in the white flag and rode to the finish with panache as he was not going to quit today. Joe muscled onward as the lead group was with in sight for many miles, trying to claw his way back. He settled in with a chase group of 6 riders, pace lining as best they could to catch the peloton but to no avail. Once at the base of the final climb it was every man for himself. Joe finished the day in 31st, 5:54 back from the winner. Cosmo rolled across in 42nd. Not the best day for CCR in the 3's but proud to stick it out and finish.

Cat 4

Gregg, Dillon and Jordan were in the 4's. Jordan was looking for a top finish to get the needed upgrade points, Gregg was coming off some good training in the hills and Dillon was fired up to test out the new Kite bike and see if he too could continue with his improvement in the hills.

Jordan quickly made his way to front and drove the pace for much of the first lap. The first time up the North Hollow Rd finish climb, there was separation and Jordan was right there where he needed to be, in the lead group of about 20. Gregg soon settled into a chase group of about 8 guys and Dillon was a little farther back. Everyone stayed out of trouble, despite the 2 crashes and the multiple flat tires that happened during the race.

Jordan's group would get cut down to about 14 guys on the backside of the course, but he had to settle for 6th for the finale. Still a solid finish. Gregg hung in there for 23rd place at 3 minutes back. Dillon was glad to roll in at 41st place.

Next up: Cyclocross! Yep it's that time and the season again cracks open with the Cyclenaut's race up in Springfield Mass on Sunday. The road season isn't over just yet though as the Green Mountain Stage Race looms in the short distance and a couple of guys from the team will be making that trip in a 2 weeks.

Recent racing

2011-07-27T15:13:00.000-04:00

The team has been out and racing hard.

Donovon Ruhlman Crit in Naugatuck:

Hunter raced the 1,2 race and hung in for 23rd place. Dillon and Gregg did the 3,4 race. Gregg managed to get into a break for a couple of laps but this one was destined to end in a pack sprint where Dillon took 16th place.
Joe K and Tim raced the 35+ and Joe was able to sneak into a break that was chasing the 2 leaders from Target training. Joe got 7th in the sprint with Tim patrolling the rest to make sure the break stayed off.

Tour of the Hilltowns

Gregg never misses Hilltowns and this year he had some problems in the feedzone, losing contact with the chase group he was with, resulting in a hard rest of the race as he was isolated from any help. He finished 53rd place. Cosmo, getting stronger as the weeks go by, raced the Cat3 race and stayed with the main chase group to hang on for 15th place. Great result ! Cosmo, Joe and Hunter are on track to have great cyclocross seasons.

Next up for the team is the very demanding Tokeneke Road Race.

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2011-07-22T16:29:00.000-04:00

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New Britain Criterium

2011-07-11T14:11:00.001-04:00

The team was well represented at The New Britain Criterium on Sunday. It was another in a seemingly endless line of recent "Championship" events. This time, the New England Regional Championships for Cat1\2's.

Pro1,2

Hunter, who has been taking it easy on the crits this year, started out well in the top event. There were 2 Pro teams in attendance, Mountain Khakis and Kenda Geargrinder. Also there was a Garmin Development Team Rider. Throw in a bunch of Bikereg.com guys and you have a fast fast event. Average speed was a hair under 26mph. Hunter, knowing that his chances at the sprint finish were slim, got a couple of decent looks at breakaway groups, but speeds were high enough so that no break got more then 5 or 6 seconds for all 40 miles of the race. The last 2 laps were full gas and gaps started to open in the field just 15 guys deep in the pack. With no advancing wheels to follow for the last lap Hunter rolled in 49th out of 80.

Cat 3

Joe K, fresh off a family vacation started this one. With 6 laps to go Joe went deep in the red to get into a break that had some strong guys in it. Cyclonauts and CLR Racing were represented in the group of 7. Even still, the break had some lazy legs in it, and Joe couldnt pull the group by himself. They got swept up with 1 to go and Joe hung around the front to finish 18th.

Cat 4

Dillon, Peter K, and Antontio. Antonio was racing in his 2nd race of the day and still managed to chase down a lot of attacks and even bridged up to a couple of breaks. Dillon hovered around the front all race and was riding "prototype" wheels ( more on those in a few days ). For the finale, Dillon managed 11th and Peter was at 19th.

35+ Race

Tim Ratta was out in another very fast race and finished 18th.

45+ Race

The highlight of the day for the Team was Antonio taking 5th in the 45+ race. Great Job Antonio! Here is a recap from him: The first 2 laps wore very fast and then we start getting attacked by some of Cyclonauts. I was trying to stay on the wheel of Rich Foley, since he all ways places well on most races. But it was still very hard for me to do that, sometimes I had to chase and bridge to the leaders. I asked Miguel how he felt for the end, and to watch for me with like 2 laps to go and get on my wheel. I was feeling good and as one of the cyclonauts was away for like 4 laps solo the bells was rung for a prime lap. I turned and looked at the peloton and to me it didn't look like they were going to chase, since that leader had a 15 second gap. So I went off the group with all I had and I almost had it at the little hill. The peloton was like 10 or 12 yards back pedaling hard. On the last turn the guy had like 5 seconds difference between me and the peloton and we catch him up in the first turn. At that point I was tired so I decided to get in the back and rest for the big sprint. With 5 laps to go, I re-started my game again to look for Rich Foley's wheel. On turn 3, last lap, I was like the 12th or 13th guy so we start sprinting I hear a crash in the back but I got 5th with Rich Foley behind me in 6th. So I placed 5th overall & 4th in the State. As for Miguel and Bruce, they did a good job Miguel finish in the middle of the pack Bruce DNF do to his previous race where he finished in the pack.

Keith Berger Memorial Criterium

2011-06-28T13:34:00.000-04:00

Cat 1,2,3

Tim put a rear wheel on from neutral support before the race had started. More on that later. As always Dave Hildebrand from Expo Ct Wheelmen took off from the gun. Nobody seemed to flinch and he got reeled in pretty quickly. Another small break went and Cosmo chased it down. It was pretty low key for the first few laps. A flurry of attacks tried to get away but at about 30 mph on a non technical course it would have been a long hard break away and that wasn't happening. About 15 laps in Tim had problems with his wheel. The aforementioned rear wheel from neutral support had come completely loose. Kinda scary. From Tim: "Upon realizing what was wrong I went to the pit and TJ wrenched that thing on and I was good to go again. Cosmo did a great job of pacing me back in and all was normal except for the fact I couldn't shake the thought of the loose wheel. All 3 of us were very active in the front 20 ready to pounce if anything solid looked like it might get away. With 6 to I bridged a gap solo to get with a few guys that I thought my have a chance to make it stick. Unfortunately nobody was working real hard and we got caught. At 3 to go there was a small crash in the middle of the pack. It couldn't have been to bad because all was clear next time around. So now everybody was all together again and was setting up to be an interesting finish. It was a very fast last 2 laps and with some consistent sketchy riding from Somerville team everybody was on high alert. It turned into a pack finish that was relatively safe. All in all a good day at a fast crit."

Cat 3

Cosmo raced twice today and scored 17th place in the Cat3 race. A race that had the same overall pace as the 123 field. Which was FAST!

Cat 4

Peter and Dillon did this race. Dillon lined up with a new secret speed weapon from the shop. 80mil uber-deep carbon rims that liked to stay fast once he got them up there. Again, no breakaways stuck. In fact, besides the lopsided Juniors race, there was not a single race today that ended in a break away. Sprint finishes in every event. Dillon managed to hang in there for 17th place. The Cat 4 race was only 7% slower then the 123 race!

Housatonic Hills Road Race

2011-06-20T12:05:00.000-04:00

The HHRR is one of the hardest races on the calender and this year was no differnet.

Props to the finishers,
Miguel, Gregg and Hunter toughed it out to the end.

Jordan Lynn continued his success in the Cat 4 field by taking 6th in the under 40 race. He also took the Silver medal for CT finishers.

Nutmeg Classic Criterium

2011-06-13T10:15:00.007-04:00

30+ Race

Antonio, Bruce, Joe, and Hunter lined up for the 20 mile 30+ race. The field was on the smaller side and the plan was to not miss any breaks. On lap 2 Hunter rode solo off the front and quickly was allowed a 12 second lead that he kept up for a couple of laps. He turned off the gas when it was apparent that no one was willing to follow suit so early on in the race. Joe got into a move shortly after that but that too came back. With about 12 to go a group of 3 were up the road and the team did a good job of staying near the front. Joe did some tempo chasing work and the gap was under control. A subsequent reshuffling of the front a prime lap came up and Hunter took the 2nd place prize for it. Then shortly after, a couple of dangerous riders got into a group up the road and it was time to get to work. Antonio did some great last minute chasing work, burning the last of his matches with 3 to go, getting the break close. Hunter put in a long pull with one and a half to go, getting Joe right onto the back of the bunch, which after the chase, was down to about 10 riders. For the bell lap everyone sat up, giving Hunter and other riders a chance to latch back on for the final lap. Joe got into great position before the speed went up and went up the hill in 3 rd place. Hunter used to the hill to sneak into the top 5. Joe went thru the last corner in first place and started the sprint from a long way out. Too far to sprint alone off the front and he was passed by a few riders by the line. He finished 7th place but 3rd out of CT residents, good for the bronze. Hunter was right there in 8th.

A Sleeping Giant Podium... The 30+ race

Cat 3

    Cosmo was the sole rider for CCR in the Cat3 Race. Cosmo knows the field well and always brings a calculated approach to a race like this. Here is his "gold standard" report:
      Race started and the pace was pretty tame, no one really wanted to take over the pacemaking. I had talked briefly with some people about organizing a break, but as the first sprint prime (tires) came up, two of the dudes I talked to went for it.
     Since we were all at the front, I counterattacked it, and got free with a group of 6 or 7. I rolled through a few times, but it was really disorganized, and with ~18 miles to go, no one really seemed like they wanted to commit. We were caught about two laps later, and I drifted back into the pack to rest up. Things weren't too sketchy, but personally, I prefer my crits with actual hard corners to line the bunch out. I think while I was sitting up Green Line Velo took a prime.
      Around 10 to go, I felt pretty rested and so moved up through the field. They rang a prime bell for a pretty hefty prize ($100, maybe?) and as the field lined out, I heard Bryan McGill from CLR shouting about taking off. 9 laps was a little longer than I wanted to try for, but the opportunity was there, so I counterattacked again.

We got clear pretty easily and worked well together, but never got a huge gap. Donny Green from Cambridge Cycles bridged up to us around six to go and really started driving it. Looking at the KSR TT results, Bryan was 1st, Donny was 3rd, 3" back (on a road bike) and I was 27th, 1:30+ down. No points for finding the weak link in that trio. I think I started missing pulls at 3 to go, mostly because I couldn't accelerate past the other two guys. Still, I managed to come around when i could.

We were out to 20" and hovered at 14" for a while, but the course is just so tepid and non-selective (like I said, no corners, little rises that you don't feel in the pack, but that slow you down solo) that it was just not quite enough. Plus, I think Green Line had a bunch of riders in hte race (5, 6?) and I'm guessing they chased us. We got caught between the last two corners on the bell lap, and adding insult to injury, some dude sprinting for 40th place crashed Bryan McGill out in front of me. I managed to dodge the carnage, but seriously—downhill finish with a tailwind? If you aren't top 15 around the final corner, show some brains and pull the plug.

35+ Race

Tim Ratta's schedule only allowed his participation in the 35+ race. Here's how it went:
"I went right from the gun hoping to get a good gap and bring along one or two strong guys. Well I brought along one cvc guy who just wanted a free ride. I stayed away for a lap maybe two and then let myself get absorbed by the pack. While in the pack a small break went up the road and I sprinted up to try and bridge. I got up there but there were too many strong guys left that weren't gonna let that one get away. The middle of the race was pretty much a lot of that on repeat. Get a good gap and then get reeled in. I went for one of the primes and got it. NICE! However, not substantial because it was a two place prime and the winner was up the road. With about 4 to go I was looking for Eric Merril because I thought him and I together could make a good go at a break. But to no avail, and a two man break went with 3 left. They eventually got sucked up w a half lap to go. Then chaos ensued as it always does on the last turn before the finish. Everybody dancing on their pedals, banging elbows, the smell of carbon brake pads, etc. Anyway a couple of heros that wernt seen all day go to the front and either crashed or rode off into the grass. Which always makes for an interesting sprint there. Not sure how I finished but was happy w my race." Tim ended up 11th place on the day. Not too shabby.

Cat4
Reports coming soon

Lake Auburn Road Race

2011-06-08T11:36:00.000-04:00

Cat 3

Matt Sack takes 11th place! Great job Matt. Showing his form is coming round nicely.

Killington Stage Race

2011-05-31T13:41:00.000-04:00

Matt Sack and Cosmo lined up for the Cat3's and finished toward the

front each day. Cosmo finished 27th overall on GC with Matt getting

in at 42nd. Solid results from the 2 considering neither had trained to

peak at this race.

The weekend news belonged to Cat 4 Jordan Lynn. Jordan continued

his dominance of the 4's with top ten placings in the TT and the RR.

Good enough to finish 2nd overall and 5th in the points competition.

Here is his race re-cap:

Stage 1 was a 3-lap, 53-mile circuit race and my goals were to simply
finish with the pack and to not let a breakaway be successful.
Fortunately, that was the case.  One guy (who eventually took the GC
Leader's jersey going into Stage 3) kept making moves but none were
successful.  The course (believe it or not) was pretty flat and very
fast.  I finished with the pack and was 21st after stage 1.  Nothing
too exciting here.

Stage 2 was the time trial and this day went great.  Fortunately, I
was about as aerodynamic as possible (thanks Matt for letting me use
your ZIPP 404's!) with my fitted TT bike, aero helmet, shoe covers,
and Virginia Tech skinsuit (I will need to look into getting a CCR
skinsuit next year for sure).  To make a long story short, I passed 6
people on the course and had the 4th best time of the day and ended up
4th in the overall GC.  The best part of that stage had to be my (in
my Virginia Tech skinsuit) passing a guy wearing the MIT kit.  Nothing
like a little college rivalry.

The 3rd and final stage was 62 miles and had a long, very tough climb
up East Mountain Road at the end that basically went to the highest
base lodge at Killington Ski Resort.  I stayed in contact with the top
three until about halfway through the course up the 1st KOM climb of
the day.  A 7-man break formed there with me, the current race leader,
the current second-place on GC ( eventual GC winner ), and 4 others. 
We worked together and had at least a 2:30 gap
going into the final climb.  As soon as it started the 7-person break
splintered with the eventual winner leading, another guy chasing him,
and three people (me, another guy, and the current race leader) duking
it out behind him.  Once I got into a rhythm, I dropped the other two
and was trying to make up ground on the 2 people ahead of me but
couldn't close any gaps.  I finished 3rd on that stage, 1:16 behind
the stage winner and GC winner.  I held nothing back, seeing my HR
reach 197 at one point.  From what I hear, the race winner summitted
Mt. Washington in less than an hour.  He was certainly the strongest
person the field.
The results for me were as follows: 21st in the GC after the first
day, 4th in the GC after the second day, and 2nd in the GC (1:43
behind the race leader) after the third day."

Congratulations Jordan!

Winsted Woods - CT State Champs.

2011-05-16T14:17:00.000-04:00

Sport Division

Maison Chen, our resident MTB Racer competed in this ultra wet, ultra muddy race. He did his fair share of walking and pushing of the bike due to the sloppy conditions but ended up finishing 2nd in the state for his division. And his wife won her race making her the Cat3 champion of CT. Awesome!

Sterling Classic Road Race

2011-05-09T10:28:00.006-04:00

Cat 1,2

Hunter was looking to get some good training in, as he hasn't done any 60+ mile rides since last year. So lets go out and race 80... Sure enough, he hit his limit with 4 laps to go, got popped from the main group, settled in with a group of 6 and rolled in for 43rd place. Not bad for a field of 70 and a good start to the road racing season.

Cat 3

Matt rode strong all day in this one. He had no problem

staying in the front until a break of four riders solidified their lead off the front with 3 laps to go. He ended up sprinting in for 28th out of 85. Up next for Matt is the Killington Stage Race where he looks to ride strong.

35+ Race

Larry and Tim raced in this super fast, super aggressive shorter race of 48 miles. The race was fast the whole time, getting lined out over the climb with people trying to create and make stick a break, but that never happened. Everyone was pretty aggressive throughout the race. Tim broke a spoke on the first lap and would have to stop to pull it out of his rear mech. This of course caused him to get gapped off and unable to rejoin on the false flat open highway. Larry rode at/near front of race hoping to get into a break but that never happened. On the last lap there were 3 riders up the road including Jonny Bold the cyclocross legend. It seemed like it might stay to the finish and Larry figured his best chance at a result would be to get across to them and not have to uphill sprint against some dudes better suited for that. He bravely attacked on the highway section into the wind and got across with another rider as the road started to make the final uphill pitch before the corner going into the uphill sprint. The fast chasing field reeled both Larry's group and the Bold group before the corner and that left Larry little to sprint with. A strong finish that was more gutsier then his finishing place would show.

Blue Hills Classic

2011-05-02T20:48:00.002-04:00

Cat 3

Cosmo and Matt Sack rode strong for the team in this one....
Take it away Cosmo....

"The loop at Blue Hills is about 7 miles. The primary obstacle is a gradual, stair-step climb that is not hard enough to be decisive, at the end of each lap. It's followed by a flat-ish stretch with a tailwind, then a corner, a small rise, and a gradual, stair-step descent that is, again, not tricky enough to be decisive. The road surface was declared in the pre-race instructions to be in "pretty good shape for New England"—I give it a 6.5 of 10, with most sections being easily rideable, but punctuated steadily with a few mostly-well-marked potholes, dips, and broken shoulder pavement.

Matt Sack and I met up at the start, where I said I'd be stalking a few key players—among them the Harvard squad made entirely of Collegiate A riders sandbagging in the 3s—and trying to go with them. Otherwise, I'd be more than willing to lead him out in the sprint, as there are few finishes I like less than a drawn out, gradual, non-selective climbs.

On the start line, it was clear that several teams were well represented, especially Green Line Velo, Cambridge Cycles and 545 Velo, all Boston-area squads. Almost immediately, though, Cambridge lost two riders to flats, which made things feel a little nervous in the bunch. I was a little worried about getting forward before the descent, and as we rattled over the course's most rugged section of pavement, I counted four bottles spinning and bouncing past me in the field. First time up the climb was pretty sedate. I started a little further back than I wanted, but moved up easily, which made me pretty certain I wasn't going to get dropped.

We went into lap two with a little more pace, but after rotating to the front a few times to sample the wind (and let people know that I'd pulled a few times) it was pretty clear that outside a serious attack, the race wouldn't split up. Things got pretty pokey the second time over the climb, and a Cambridge guy attacked a little, but then sat back down when he realized it was going to be hard.

Lap 3, things started finally getting interesting, with two of the Harvard riders trying to get away together up the rise leading into the descent. I was on it, as were a few others, and I was really hoping that it was early enough for the rest of the race to let us go. But it was just too easy for the pack to sit on once one or two guys started to come across, it was all together again.

I'd burned a few matches on that lap, so I hung back on #4 to cool the jets a bit. And of course, going up the climb, I watched three Harvard dudes and someone from 545 Velo attack through the last but of the climb from the front of the field. Apparently everyone else was OK with this—or rather, OK enough that they'd go to the front for 15 seconds and then flail about looking for someone else to come through. I was like "eff this" and went to the front and started stomping.

It wasn't really a bridge attempt, or a pull, just a general attempt to not allow a very strong Team Time Trial to go clear. I shortened the gap up, but coming onto the rise, I really didn't have the power to close it solo on the climb. As I slowed, people started to bunch around me but not come through, so I still found myself plowing away at 80 rpm until the top of the descent, where some people came around, soft pedaled the descent and the gap went back out.

Coming into the climb, Steve from GLV asked me who was up the road, and I said "Harvard, Harvard, Harvard, 545" which took him by surprise. Not enough by surprise to get him or his team to the front, however. Tempo up the climb, probably stoked by people who realized the problem at hand, was pretty good, though the pattern of "be on the front for a moment, slow down and complain" continued. I actually found myself in no-mans land over one of the rises because I didn't feel like slowing down to get out of the wind again.

Over the top on the bell lap, I was 4th wheel about 7 seconds back, and in what I really, really hoped would be a good second group. Pace-lining with 6-7 dudes is easy, pace-lining with 6-7 dudes while 50 other people crowd up at the front and do nothing is very hard. Sadly, the separation was not to be made, and other than a few attack-pulls/bridge attempts up the last rise, people pretty much gave up on the case, and decided to wait on the sprint.

As I said earlier, I'm rarely going to contest this sort of finish. It combines the people-doing-stupid-stuff of a not fast enough sprint with the bland, unproductive agony of a not hard enough climb. I was pinned out against the yellow line, getting chopped by a lot of people advancing over it, and hearing all sorts of yelling-crashing over on the other side of the road. I probably should have taken a look behind me to see if Matt was there, because it turns out he was, and I definitely could have put in a good late charge to at least get him to where things were interesting.

As it was, I floated in with the back of the field, and I think Matt was further up, in the thick of it. After the race, he asked me if his rear wheel looked broken, which it most definitely was."

Fat Tire Classic, Winding Trails

2011-04-29T14:55:00.001-04:00

Sport Division ( Cat 2 )

Maison Chen and Gregg Ferraris lined up for this longtime popular mountain bike race. Neither Gregg or Maison have spent much time recently on the off road rigs. ( It was Maison's 2nd ride in two years! ). Anyway Maison deserves a round of applause for winning his age catagory, the 30-39 division, in the Sport ( Cat2 ) race.Gregg hung tough and finished mid pack in the same race.

Quabbin Reservoir Road Race

2011-04-25T10:14:00.009-04:00

In a absolutely brutal day to race for 64 miles, a few tough men from the team made it up to Quabbin to race. In a day where a good number of other tough bike racers drove up, took a look, and DROVE HOME, just finishing the race in sub 40 degree temps with constant rain ( and some snow ) was an accomplishment. Many riders dealt with Hypothermia after the race. Props the those that started and props to the Cyclonuats for running a solid event in horrible conditions.

Cat 5

Jordan Lynn WINS! He hit the front after a couple of climbs and was determined to split up the lazy field. Attempt #1 with one other rider was caught after a short bit. Another attack shortly after had 2 guys in it and Jordan jumped into it ( if at first you don't succeed, try and try again ). This break stuck and with the 3 working well together it was good enough to stay the distance. Near the entrance to the reservoir, on one of the last climbs, Jordan accelerated and dropped 1 rider. Then on the final climb Jordan was able to shed the last rider to cross the line alone. A great victory!
Next stop for Jordan: Cat 4

Cat 3 & Masters 45+

Cosmo, Larry M, Tim, and Miguel all have to counted among the worthy. Larry actually pulled off a 20th place in the Cat3 race, which isn't too shabby for any day, let alone one so miserable.

Ninigret Crit April 17th

2011-04-18T13:21:00.002-04:00

Cat 1,2

The race had a good turnout probably about 60-75 starters. It was super super windy.
Hands down one of the windiest days Tim has seen on a bike. On 2 of the small
straights the wind almost completely stopped you, and the crosswind wanted to knock
you off your bike. A break of four went off pretty early including Ernie, one of
the Keoughs (the Kenda 5 Hour Energy one) and 2 other guys. There was a lot of
CCNS guys so they policed the peleton pretty well. There was no reason the
group couldn't have caught the break but given the wind nobody wanted to get in
the front and work and even more frustrating was the slowing of the group due to
an abundance of 6 packs of beer field primes. So in what seems to be Tim's lot in life
this season he just got on the front and hoped some organization would assemble. Of course
none did and he ended up burying himself to get a workout in. With a few laps to go a
small group got and Tim just kept pulling the rest of
the group until they decided it was time to sprint for 20th place or beyond.

April 10th - Battenkill, Lux et Velocitas & Bethel week 6

2011-04-11T10:02:00.002-04:00

It was a big race weekend for everyone in the northeast. Here at CCR, the team was spread out over 3 different events on Sunday. Great job to everyone who left it all out there on the course.

Battenkill

      Joe k, Bruce M, And Antonio made the trip up to Cambridge NY for Battenkill, the largest one day classic in the USA. Weather was absolutely pristine, 50° sunny and no wind. Joe lined up for the master's 30+ race and Antonio & Bruce were in the ever popular Cat 4 field. Joe's race started slow with a 4 man break going at the gun and no one eager to chase. Speeds in the peloton crept up to race pace just after the first climb but the four-some's 1min gap would hold steady for the first hour or so. Joe was hanging strong mid pack and putting in solid efforts as needed. Mid way through the race the break would be reeled in and on some of the climbs the field would split in two, Joe found himself in the 2nd group twice but each time the two main fields would eventually come together. After this happened again on another climb Joe bolted to the front of the group to make sure if the fields split again he would be in the lead group. Sure enough another steep gravel climb and a major spilt happened. Joe hung tough but found himself drifting toward the back of the leading group and lost contact. Once over the climb Joe had experienced a cyclist worst nightmare….the BONK! He went into survival mode and rode solo in no mans land for the next 8 miles. Eventually a group of 8 came by and he hung with them for a few miles but just had no gas in the tank and cramps were setting in big time.
      Joe crossed the line 16min's back of the leaders in 68th place. He suffered like a dog but still managed to beat more than half the field.
      Bruce and Antonio started out strong but Bruce got caught behind a small pile up about 10 miles into the race, Antonio was ahead and missed that one. Bruce caught up to Antonio at about mile 30, both were suffering the effects of a brutally hard course and decided to ride together to the finish. Not a very good finish but, they did finish. And with 40 to 50 DNF's, finishing this race is a major accomplishment.

Lux et Velocitas
Cat 3,4
Dillon, Maison, Larry, Peter K and Matt Sack (!!!) lined up for this always super fast end of the day crit. It was a short 20 laps, and Dillon was active in most of them. With just a handful of laps to go, the always dangerous Kyle Foley attacked and took 2 riders with him. With 3 to go the break was still out there. Dillon put in a last ditch effort to give Larry a chance to bridge. Larry made it halfway across the gap and then stalled. Dillon put in a out-of-gas sprint and rolled in 20ish. Everyone else was right behind.

Bethel Training Series week 6
Cat 1,2,3
Hunter P and Cosmo hit up this one. Hunter was supposed to race Battenkill, but his free entry ticket evaporated. Cosmo raced the 3,4 race earlier in Bethel but was feeling pretty good. Within 2 laps the break was going clear. Hunter had a good opportunity to bridge but made the mistake of sitting up, expecting it to come back together. It didn't and the break ended up lapping the field again. Until that happened, Cosmo put in some hard chase efforts and Hunter did what he could to rally a chase. There were a couple of guys who seemed willing to help and the series leader was also riding possessed as he missed the break as well. But it was for naught as the break steam-rolled away. With about 12 laps to go, Cosmo broke a shift cable, ending his race. Hunter sat in and tried to save up something for the sprint, where he got 13th on the day. A lot of work for a little payoff. Unfortunately, that's how the whole Bethel Series seemed to go. It's all experience in the bank though and a long season awaits.

Bethel Training Series week 5

2011-04-04T11:06:00.000-04:00

Cat 1,2,3

The team had a great showing today with Hunter, Tim, and Larry lined up for the race. Tim did a great job patrolling the front of the race for several opening laps. A couple of moves tried to sneak off and either Hunter or Tim were there to get involved. The field came together in time for the 2nd prime and Hunter was in a good spot to go for it. Tim provided a short lead-out to the base of the hill and Hunter hit the afterburners and rode away with it with plenty of room to spare. The prize was a sweet Thule back-pack worth 115 bones. Thule rocks! As Hunter retreated to recover Tim stayed up front and continued to represent the team at the sharp end. The wind was taking its toll today and attacks were getting slowed to a crawl on the backside section. Eventually a split did happen with about 10-12 riders getting a gap. Tim was still up front, Hunter and Larry mid-pack. Tim rode across the gap at the last possible moment and with all the GC contenders in the group the break looked good. Hunter and Larry immediately went into defense mode at the front. Taking their turns in the rotation, keeping the pace controllable. Larry stayed first or 2nd wheel for 3+ laps, despite already raced the Cat3 race earlier in the day.
Up in the break, more than the usual amount of prime lap prizes were shaking things up and keeping the group volatile. Mike McGinley from Zane's deserves props for smartly riding his teammate, Eric Merrill, into an attack that ended up shedding a couple of guys, including Tim. So the lead group was down to 7 or so and Tim moved back into the field. He stayed right up front for the final 5 laps and made a bold move on the bell lap, into the wind, but couldn't keep the swarm from getting him. Hunter finished 21st with Tim and Larry right behind him.

45+ Race

Antonio and Bruce did this race. The speed of the masters race is somewhat comparable to the 123 race. A few of the top finishers in the 123 race are winners from the 45+ race. So Antonio deserves some congrats for finishing 15th overall, 13th in the field sprint. A good result for sure, showing Antonio is ready to get some results in the Cat 4's during the next phase of the season.

Plainville Spring Series Week 4

2011-03-27T19:04:00.001-04:00

Cat 4, 5

Dillon and Jordan rode this race hard the whole way. They both dropped the hammer after the first sprint which took a handful of riders out the back. By the end of the race Dillon had been involved in 3 different strong breaks. Nothing stuck though but he was still able to gallop to a 3rd place finish in the bunch sprint. A great way to end the series for the team and it was the start of a good day for everyone.

Cat 3, 4

Peter K and Peter F lined up with Cosmo. Larry Merling also broke open his race season today. A few laps in, with a break of 5 up the road a bit, Larry charged off and cleared the gap. He was the last one across and it had enough power to stay off the front. Cosmo and the Peter's went into defense mode and had an easy day in the saddle as the break would eventually lap the field. Larry finished 2nd in the sprint, picking up some upgrade points and putting CCR back into the running for the team classification.

Cat 1,2,3

Tim, Hunter and Cosmo were out there for the team in the smallest field so far for the Plainville 1,2,3 race. Right off the line a rider went clear and Cosmo was the 2nd guy to jump and chase him. So within a lap Cosmo was in a break of 4 guys, letting Tim and Hunter patrol the front. Within a couple of more laps, Guido Wolmann and Anthony Alessio went up the road as well it decided that the team would still ride in defense of Cosmo up the road. The break ended up being 8 riders strong and with Eric Merrill and Chris Crowle doing most of the chasing in the pack, it was a controllable situation for Hunter and Tim. As the race got down to under 10 laps the break was threatening to lap the field so CCR went to front and rode strong tempo to keep it from happening. Tim rode the last 3 laps in the top 3 and was rewarded by winning the field sprint. in the break, Cosmo was starting to feel the previous race in his legs and the attacks on the bell lap pushed him into the red. He rolled in perhaps 7th with an upgrade point or 8th place. There was confusion on the line regarding the break and the final finishing order.

All in all, a great day for the team. Next up is the remaining 2 weeks of the Bethel series, Battenkill, and the Chris Hinds Crit in Rhode Island.

Plainville Spring Series Week 3

2011-03-21T11:21:00.001-04:00

Cat 4,5

In almost a repeat performance of week 2, Jordan gets on the board with a 6th place finish and Dillon scores a 10th right behind.

Cat 3,4

Gregg, Pete Kenny and Peter Frenzilli rode this one. Everyone was using the race for training and with a couple of strong teams fighting for points up front, it was just that. Solid training. Gregg worked his way into a promising break after a prime lap but was caught after a couple of laps. Everyone finished in the pack sprint.

Cat 1,2,3

Hunter and Tim lined up. Hunter had a headcold and Tim put in some hard training over the week, so expectations weren't sky high. 7 laps in, a group formed off the front that would ride super hard the whole day in what seemed like a constant head wind. They stayed out front to take all the money spots. Tim put in some hard efforts at the front for the chase and Hunter chipped in where he could. The gap was down to just a few seconds with 12 to go, but a lack of willing chasers let the gap go up again for good.

Bethel Training Series week 2

2011-03-14T10:33:00.001-04:00

Cat 1,2,3

Hunter was the lone CCR rider in the last race. This year, some laps were added to the 123 race, making the total 43 go rounds. In usual Bethel fashion, there was a head wind everywhere on the course except for the hill.
The field was stacked with a NYC heavy crowd numbering over 50. The attacks started the first time up the hill. Each lap for the first 6 or 7 there was an attack on the hill. Hunter was there for most of the action but retreated to settle in on lap 8. Next time around, the move went off. It was initially 5 or 6 guys, but the speed in the break being powered by Peter Hurst, Rob Sweeting from Kenda, and the always fast Sean Smith, was fast enough to dislodge a couple of guys from the break several laps later. Zane's went from defense to offense when their guy came out of the break, giving Hunter some more opportunities to get off the front. Then, once the lead group lapped the field it was a contest to see who would roll off the front once again with them. The final 7 laps were fast, but that cut out some tired legs that would normally be moving up for the final lap. Hunter took 8th in the field sprint, but factoring in the lead group, and a couple of riders stuck in between in no man's land, ended up 13th on the day.

Also out racing today was Miquel. He started and finished both the Masters race and the 3,4 race, getting in 50 laps of solid training.

Next week should be good, with a few more CCR riders scheduled to come out for week 3.

Plainville Training Series Week 2

2011-03-14T10:17:00.000-04:00

Cat 4,5

Jordan Lynn was racing his first event in CCR colors and he had Dillon along with him. Jordan made a good effort for the first prime but came up a bit short. He ended up finishing 8th on the day and Dillon took 10th in the sprint.

Cat 3,4

Cosmo was back to try to secure some more points for the leaders jersey. Report coming soon.

45+

Antonio and Bruce lined up for this race. A group of 3 strong riders moved off the front and CCR had to watch that roll away. Antonio had a strong showing in the final sprint, chasing Mike Norton's wheel around the block for the last lap and getting 5th in the field sprint, 8th on the day.

Cat 1,2,3

Tim, Joe and Hunter were back for this week's event. The field looked similar to last week's, and it was expected to be fast. Just like last week, early breaks saw a CCR rider in each of them, but nothing stuck. A move of 6 riders or so hovered out in front by about 20 seconds for the middle segment of the race, and that let Joe and Tim get to the front to do some solid pace making. At one point, Joe pulled back 5 seconds on the break over 2 laps. Tim also pulled for multiple laps, ensuring that no bridging efforts would derail the chase. The break was caught with about 9 to go. With 6 to go, a crash in the last corner sent Hunter off the road and into the grass, where he laid the bike down in spectacularly dirty fashion. At least it was very soft grass.... Thank goodness for lots of snow melt. In the commotion of the crash 2 riders went off the front, giving CCNS a chance to play defense for the remaining laps. Joe found Tim's wheel for the last lap, and Tim did a great job of getting Joe into 5th wheel for the final corner. That's were Joe stayed for the sprint. 5th in the field sprint, 7th on the day. A great considering all the work Tim and Joe did. The team rode like it was 6 strong, not just 3. Joe looks strong as ever, Tim has got his new Jamis dialed in, and Hunter's springtime form is the best its ever been.

Bethel Training Series week 1

2011-03-09T09:35:00.001-05:00

Cat 3\4

Maison Chen trekked out to Bethel for the 3-4 race.

Maison is coming off a bit of a hiatus from racing due to a growing family, so he was looking to get back into the swing of things. The weather was downright nasty for the whole race. He reports that the race pace was totally manageable until with 5 laps to go. The last 5 where a bit different as the bad conditions and the sudden increase in speed made for some sketchy racing. He had good position up till 200 meters to go when some braking riders in the top 10 ( ?! ) boxed in him and forced him to sit up for the finish. It's good to have him back in the races and he will no doubt continue to improve quickly with each race.

Plainville Spring Series Week 1

2011-03-06T17:42:00.005-05:00

Cat 4 \ 5

Antonio, Dillon, Bruce, and newest team member Monty Burgess toed the line and broke open the season for the team. The one and only Bob Roll was in attendance and watched a little of the race before heading off to do some work at ESPN. The pace in the race was expectantly nervous and the wet roads didn't help the situation. There was crash in the first third of the race as the boys just did their best to control the surges from the new look Team Edge. Dillon P took advantage of a 2nd crash right as the field got the bell for the last prime and attacked on the backside, holding it to the line easily to pick up some points and some cash. Antonio D stayed tucked in and awaited the sprint where he finished 22nd

Cat 3 \ 4

Cosmo, Peter Kenny, Peter Franzilli and Antonio started this one. Cosmo has been riding strongly during training rides and was looking to finish high in this one. Here is his recap:

 
It was clear just based on number of jerseys on the start line who'd be controlling the race,
and sure enough CLR was sending guys up the road before the first lap even finished.
The pack reeled them in pretty quick, but almost immediately, another group went,
with another CLR guy in it. Antonio and Peter Franzilli did some great work early bringing
the escapees back, but it became clear about 10 laps into the race that this pattern
of us chasing down moves just so that the big teams could launch another was going to be a
losing proposition.

I got a flat around 15 laps in, but a calm wheel change (two free laps!) and a few
minutes of discussion later, the team hatched a strategy of trying to get a guy into
one of the moves by trading off attacks once the group came back together.
After Peter Franzilli made a move that didn't quite get free, I came up a tried a few

jumps of my own, but the CLR guys—despite my attempts to verbally charm them,

still didn't want to come around.

I drifted back into the pack, and recovered a bit while the other guys tried
their luck. We had some good digs, but no one could quite get free, so I met up
with Pete Kenny to let him know I was gonna make one last effort, and give him a
leadout in a sprint if it came back together.

At about 8 to go, Bryan McGill, a CLR guy who I knew to be decently strong from
'cross, took a solo flier. I let him out for a lap or two, and as the pace eased
up, I attacked through the start-finish and got a small gap. By the time I hit
the wind on the back stretch, I took a peek back and saw (surprise!) a CLR
rider, but there was open space behind him. 2-to-1 isn't ideal, but at ~6 laps to go,
I wasn't likely to get another shot. Plus, the burden would be on CLR to set the
pace in the break, and since none of the Cheshire guys loved their chances in a group sprint,
I wasn't really risking anything by continuing to pull. Plus all those CLR guys controlling things in
the field would now be working to keep the three of us clear.
( Peter Kenny moved up as soon as he saw the break was established and put his footprint
on the front of the field. ). So I kept hammering and closed the gap to Bryan, took a pull, but almost
unbelievably, the other CLR guy was reluctant to come around. I believe I said
"Seriously? 2-on-1 and you won't pull?" but with all that wind noise, it might
have sounded like something a bit ruder. I put my head down and cranked for a
few more seconds, and miraculously, the second CLR guy decided that yes, it was
finally OK to come around.

Once the rotation got going, we actually worked pretty well together, with one
of the CLR guys smartly pointing out "see, we can pull through" after a few
laps. I tried to game it a little bit, wrapping up my pulls right before the
back stretch to keep out of the headwind, but all in all, the effort was shared
evenly.

As they rang the bell, I could just barely see the pack in my over-the-shoulder
glimpses, so I took the risk and stopped pulling through. CLR Bryan either made
an attack or took a stronger-than-normal pull, but he seemed tired, and I closed
the gap down pretty easily. I sat on his wheel until the other guy came around
on the corner into the home stretch, which was exactly where I wanted to be.

I could make excuses about waiting too long to jump, or about coming off the CLR
guy's wheel too soon after I finally did, but there's no real way to put it
other than he was just faster than me—a point drilled home by the fact that'd
he'd taken two of the three primes on the day. Guess I know what I need to focus
on in training for the next few weeks.

Still, the Team rode great despite the numerical disadvantage,
and now that we've got an idea of who the other strong riders are, I think we
can definitely make a few friends in the pack, isolate a few enemies, and put
together a good challenge over the next few weeks of the series.

Cosmo rolled thru in 2nd. The rest of the team rolled in around 20th place. A great way to kick off the season for the team, and Cosmo gets some well deserved upgrade points.

Cat 1 \ 2 \ 3

Joe K, Tim Ratta and Hunter P started. Cosmo was back for some more training time but wasn't going to take on much responsibility in the race. The race had 53 in it but was 103 guys fast! There was NRC Pro Rob Sweeting from Kenda Geargrinder, 6 ready to rock CCNS riders, the Zane's crew, a couple of MetLife guys, and many other random strong riders. Hunter was going to watch early moves, with Tim and Joe taking turns covering the front. Sure enough it took half a lap for the attacks to start. Hunter, Joe and Tim all got into separate moves in the first quarter of the race, but nothing stayed away. A well represented group of 10 or so eventually rolled off the front so CCNS and Zanes went into soft pedal mode up front. The gap yo-yo'd for 15-18 laps with it sometimes looking like the break was gone for the day. Joe moved up front and did some full effort chasing, disregarding the blocking of other teams. He got help from some other teams but was also slowed by many attacks to try to bridge the gap. Tim did a bunch of work too and both of them at times were in small chase groups. The peleton would not fracture though and Hunter put in a crucial pull into the wind to kick start the chase that would eventually bring the break back in its entirety. Once it was all together there was some more attacks that Hunter and Tim covered, but with only a few laps to go, the Geargrinder pro and a CCNS rider moved off the front and were allowed some room. After a couple of laps it was evident that the rest would be sprinting for third. The usual chaos ensued and in the end, Hunter rolled thru in 15th with Tim and Joe right behind him.

All in all, a good first team effort. Everyone seemed to be aware of each other and the team did an appropriate amount of strong chasing, seeing as how we missed the break.

New Riders on the Team

2011-02-23T14:22:00.002-05:00

CCR has picked up a couple of new riders for the start of the season.

Dave Anderson and Cosmo Catalano.

Both are Cat 3 on the road and cyclocross. No doubt these two experienced racers, along with the rest of the Cat3 squad gives the team true flexibility and muscle in almost any racing situation. Dave also races mountain bikes and it will be good to see the CCR colors out there in the woods come summertime.

Are you looking for a good bunch of guys to race with? CCR offers plenty of perks and a no-pressure environment to those that are on the team. Stop by the shop to talk to Dillon to see if you would be a good fit for the team.

______________

Updated:
And now we can add Cat4 rider Sean Whitehurst as well. Sean is a former collegiate cyclocross rider who is just getting into the road scene.
___________________________

Results for 2010

2011-02-11T11:15:00.008-05:00

Here is a run down of the top finishes for the team in 2010. As always, CCR's number one goal is to race solidly as team, represent the shop and other sponsors well and try the best to get good finishes.

Road Season

2nd - Joe Kubisek \ Cat 3 \ CT State Criterium Championship
2nd - Rob Ehrman \ Cat 3 \ Sprint points overall Fitchburg Stage Race
7th - Rob Ehrman \ Cat 3 \ Fitchburg TT
5th - Joe Policarpio \ Cat 4 \ Fitchburg Crit
2nd - Laurence Merling \ Cat 3 \ Three Village Tour
3rd - Rob Ehrman \ Cat 3 \ Three Village Tour
6th - Joe Kubisek \ Cat 3 \ Three Village Tour
CT State Road Racing Champion \ Cat 3 \ Joe Kubisek
4th - Joe Kubisek \ Cat 3,4 \ Housatonic Hills RR
6th - Joe Policarpio \ Cat 4 \ CT Stage Race, Circuit
6th - Larry Merling \ Cat 3 \ Sterling RR
5th - Joe Policarpio \ Cat 3,4 \ Donovon Ruhlman Crit
5th - Joe Kubisek \ Cat 3,4 \ Plainville 4/17
3rd - Matt Sack \ Cat 4,5 \ Plainville 4/3
7th - Hunter Pronovost \ Cat 2,3,4 \ Plainville 4/3
7th - Joe Policarpio \ Cat 4,5 \ Plainville 4/3
3rd - Joe Kubisek \ Cat 2,3,4 \ Plainville 3-27
1st - Joe Kubisek \ Cat 3,4 \ Plainville 3-20
4th - Dillon Pronovost \ Cat 4,5 \ Plainville 3-6

Cyclocross season

7th - Hunter Pronovost \ B Race \ NBX Cross Day 1
Bronze Medal - Hunter Pronovost \ Men 30-34 CT Cyclocross overall
1st - Larry Merling \ Cat 3 \ Paradise Cross Frenzy
2nd - Hunter Pronovost \ Cat 3 \ Moser Farm CX
9th - Hunter Pronovost \ Cat 2,3 \ Beacon Cross UCI
2nd - Hunter Pronovost \ Cat 3 \ Stratton Brook Cyclocross
5th - Joe Kubisek - 35+ \ Mansfield Hollow CX
4th - Hunter Pronovost \ B Race \ Gran Prix of Gloucester Day 2
5th - Hunter Pronovost \ B Race \ Gran Prix of Gloucester Day 1
5th - Joe Kubisek \ Cat 3 \ Crossin 4 Canines
4th - Hunter Pronovost \ Retailers \ CrossVegas
2nd - Hunter Pronovost \ Cat 3 \ Monson Cyclocross
3rd - Joe Kubisek \ Cat 3 \ Monson Cyclocross
3rd - Hunter Pronovost \ Cat 3 \ Blunt Park Cyclocross

2011 Season is fast approaching....

2011-02-07T15:35:00.001-05:00

The new road season is coming up quick. Less then one month away!

Cheshire Cycle Racing is always on the look-out for new recruits for the team.
The team prides itself on it's strong Cat3's and 4's but anyone with a USA Cycling Racing License is eligible and there are defined racing requirements to be on the team.

We are looking to branch out into:
-A Women's team
-Mountain Bike cross country and down-hillers
-Cyclocross racers of all sorts.

If you are interested, feel free to stop in or call the shop and talk with Team Manager Dillon

New England Regional Championships of CX

2010-12-23T10:34:00.001-05:00

Masters 35 + Race

With most of the team's racers already started on base mileage for next year, Larry had the honor of wrapping up the season for the team in Fitchburg. He opted to race the 35+ and was able to line up behind a couple of newly crowned National Champions. Obviously it was going to be a fast race up front and Larry did a good job chasing the lead group for a while, but the effort caught up with him and he faded back to finish a solid 13th out of 20 in what could be called an equal to the 123 race. Larry wraps up his season with some strong races starting with his win in VT. Crossresults.com points lookout! Congrats to Larry, Hunter and Joe for putting in some solid cross racing and representing the team all year long.

Look for a year in review for the team soon.

The Ice Weasels Cometh

2010-12-13T13:34:00.000-05:00

Cat 123

Larry Merling contined his late season hot steak with a solid 25th place in the Pro 123 race at the always popular Ice Weasels cross race. Report coming soon!

NBX Cyclocross \ VERGE Final Weekend.

2010-12-05T20:13:00.004-05:00

B Men

Hunter lined up for both days of the final Verge Race weekend. He was bummed to have missed the Sterling weekend in its entirety due to a cracked rib. Here are his thoughts on NBX:
"I was not sure how I would feel. With no racing in 2 weeks and only 1 or 2 intense rides in that time period I was definelty nervous at the start Saturday. Because I scored some points at Northampton, I got a call up into the 3rd row of 10 riders each. There's a big difference between the 3rd and the 4th row. The start was also in my favor as it was a solid 400-500 meters of straight road \ grass before the first sweeping corner. I knew that if I just stayed on the gas, a seam would open up to the front group before the corner and that is what happened. I jumped from 15th to 6th in the final part of the start chute". A lap and half later, Hunter benefited when 3 riders in the front group, 5 seconds up, tangled up and went down in a corner. He went by and was able to hang on to 7th place for the day, finishing right behind series leader Synjen Morraco.

"Sunday I felt like crap. Sleeping on the floor at a friend's house with a bum rib wasnt ideal for getting a good night's rest." Sunday's course featured a second beach run, but both runs were half rideable as opposed to Saturday's long single beach run section. Sunday's course was also much more twisting, making for what seemed like a slow race to watch. "The second run killed me, and I didnt have enough punch out of the corners. For how slow I felt, I guess 12th isn't so bad a result.

The weekend was enough to put Hunter into 22nd place overall in the series. Not too bad seeing as how he raced in only 4 out 10 of the series' races.

Look for Larry to be ripping it up at the Ice Weasel's race and perhaps both He and Hunter will be out at the New England Champs the following week.

A weekend off

2010-11-29T08:59:00.000-05:00

Hunter and Larry were supposed to line up at Sterling this weekend..... But...

Larry's busy holiday travel schedule got in the way and Hunter was out with an injury due to a fractured rib sustained during a thanksgiving day football game. Hopefully he will be back in action for the final Verge Weekend in Rhode Island.

Cheshire Cross Medals and Kids Race Results

2010-11-26T16:34:00.000-05:00

We were proud to have Cheshire Cross be the Connecticut State Championship Race. And with over 90% of the racers being from Connecticut, we think it is a good race to award the medals.

Here are the Connecticut State Medal Winners:

ELITE MEN 23-29: GOLD    David Maynard
ELITE MEN 23-29: SILVER    Scott Frison
ELITE MEN 23-29: BRONZE    Ryan O’Hara

ESPOIR MEN 19-22 GOLD    Anson Ross
MASTER MEN 30-34: GOLD    James Harmon
MASTER MEN 30-34: SILVER Alistair Sponsel
MASTER MEN 30-34: BRONZE Hunter Pronovost

MASTER MEN 35-39: GOLD    Johannes Huseby
MASTER MEN 35-39: SILVER Joshua Wilcox
MASTER MEN 35-39: BRONZE Cliff Kenyon

MASTER MEN 40-44: GOLD    David Hildebrand
MASTER MEN 40-44: SILVER John Meerse
MASTER MEN 49-44: BRONZE Bryan Atwood

MASTER MEN 45-49: GOLD    Jonathan Tarbox
MASTER MEN 45-49: SILVER Paul Nyberg
MASTER MEN 45-49: BRONZE Thierry Blanchet

MASTER MEN 50-54: GOLD    Bill Thompson
MASTER MEN 50-54: SILVER Jay Mongillo
MASTER MEN 50-54: BRONZE Dave Geissert

MASTER MEN 55+: GOLD    James Themig
MASTER MEN 55+: SILVER    Bob Ludeke
MASTER MEN 55+: BRONZE    Curtis Burwell
JUNIOR MEN 13-14: GOLD    Nicolas Catlin

And the Women:

ELITE WOMEN 23-29: GOLD    Jordan Dube
ELITE WOMEN 23-29: SILVER Jena Greaser
ELITE WOMEN 23-29: BRONZE Nicole Drier

MASTER WOMEN 30-34: GOLD Rebecca Blatt
MASTER WOMEN 30-34: SILVER Lara Kroepsch
MASTER WOMEN 30-34: BRONZE Janis Sandlin

MASTER WOMEN 35-39: GOLD Laura Summers

MASTER WOMEN 40-44: GOLD Jan Tanner
MASTER WOMEN 45+: GOLD    Kirsten Begg-Sweitzer
MASTER WOMEN 45+: SILVER Amanda Bedard

Here are the results from our Kids 12 and under race

1.   Ryan Zwick
2.   Eli Brazeal
3.   Kyle Crowell
4.   Wyatt Gelt
5.   Nicollet Lafranboise
6.   Ian Sullivan
7.   Seamus Bowden
8.   Little Antonio Diaz
9.   Owen Moore
10. Jillian Stevens
11. Royal Barsky
12. Julia Stevens

Cheshire Cross Photos

2010-11-24T21:11:00.000-05:00

Gregg Ferraris is on the team and in between all the work he was doing at the race he found time to shoot a boat load of good shots. Here is a link to the online album. Gregg shoots all types of photography so when you are done checking out the race shots, head on over to his main photography site here.

Cheshire Cross Photos

2010-11-22T19:45:00.004-05:00

There were at least 4 really good photographers out on the CheshireCross course at various parts of the day. Here is just a sampling of some of the great shots taken. We'll try to keep this site posted with all the links to full albums as they become available.

Check out Jen Millas's photo site here

Young Austin Vincent is gonna go places...

Hey! Who brought the cool mountain bikes to the party?!

Eneas Freyre doesn't race much CX
but when he does he goes fast. Today though he would get hit with a broken shift cable and have to end the race on a bike too big for him.

The start of the kid's race!

Donahue was killing it in the Mens Elite Race

Everyone liked being able to ride the run-up...
It was still pretty steep

Thule Thule Thule!

All of these shots are courtesy of Gregg Ferraris.

Cheshire Cross !!!

2010-11-22T09:46:00.003-05:00

Cheshire Cross is in the books! The event was a success and everyone had a good time. The one bad spot was seeing an ambulance roll up to cart away Ernie Tautkus, who was sitting in the lead group of the 35+ race when he crashed in the woods. Ernie ended up refusing the ambulance ride to the hospital, instead having his girlfriend take him ( so Pro of him ). Good news is that nothing is broken... Just some bruised ribs and arm bones. Get better Ernie!

There were plenty of stories to tell from the day. We will start with the usual update on how the team did racing.

Cat 4

Dillon decided last minute to race this one along with Aaron the Scott bikes rep. Aaron brought a full compliment of Spark MTB and 29er's. Of course riding the run-up was no problem for them. Dillon finished ( in jeans ) toward the back of the Cat4 field

Cat 1,2,3

Larry, Joe K and Hunter lined up for the main event. The were 38 starters for this event. The most we have ever had for an Elite event. Hunter was feeling pretty tired from all night and early morning race preparations and almost didnt start the event.
Joe got the best start on the team and was 5th or 6th heading into the woods the first time. Hunter and Larry started behind the whole field and needed some time to get thru traffic. There were a couple of crashes on the first lap and a couple of mechanicals. A couple of strong guys got hit with flats or broken parts so after the first lap Joe and Hunter were looking good and fighting for the top 10. The front 3 or 4 lit it up early on and simply rode away, lead by veteran Alec Donahue. Hunter got stuck behind a rider who came out of the pedals on the run-up and was forced to run it twice. Joe also had to run it a couple of times. Larry rode it smoothly each time and that made a huge difference in his race. With 2 laps to go he had Hunter in his sights. Once Hunter got going he found his racing legs and was able to finish in the top 10 at 8th place. That was good enough for the Bronze Medal for 30-34 year old's. Story of the day though is Larry coming thru, following up his win in Vermont with a solid finish at 9th. Joe rolled in at 16th.

Keep your computers tuned right here for more news, highlights, photos, Kids Race results and more!

Paradise Cross Frenzy - Windsor VT

2010-11-15T10:50:00.004-05:00

Cat 3

Larry Merling made the long drive up to Windsor VT for the relatively new Cross Frenzy Race. This was the 2nd year the race has been run. It's a great location and the shop that puts it on shares a parking lot with Harpoon Brewery. The course was fast, "swoopy" ( ?!) even. Two sets of barriers, the usual grass crit stylings. The promoter has big plans to build one of those flyovers you see in Europe and maybe a sandpit too for next year. Should be good, and something to look forward to. The course wrapped around in front of the brewery so it was a good spot for people to have a beer and watch some bike racing. The brewery gave about 200 free beers to the racers, which you got at the brewery's restaurant, so you could get something to eat and enjoy a free pint afterwards.

Larry rolled up for the Cat 3 race with about 20 guys at the start. Larry had a good start and hit corner one in 5th position. After some fast corners turned into slower off camber stuff the racer in 3rd took place took a fall and also took out the 4th place rider. Larry, with one other rider, snuck around that mess and quickly caught onto the guys in 1 & 2 position. The four leaders quickly got a gap over the rest of the field and from then on Larry and Sean Kennedy from Competitive Edge were taking pulls at the front and keeping the pace high. After a lap or two of this Larry decided to retreat to the back of the group to consider his options. Sean got anxious with 3 laps to go and went to the front and ramped things up. With 2 to go Larry acted decisively and moved past the 2 riders who were sitting in just as Sean was really starting to ramp it up. That made for an instant gap to 3rd and 4th that Larry further capitalized on by heading into the barriers fast and then attacking after them. Sean, no doubt feeling the effort couldn't respond and suddenly there was a 15 second gap with one to go. That let Larry focus on riding a smooth last lap and on hitting the straights as fast as possible. Mission accomplished as he enjoyed a nice winning margin. Larry has had a solid season spoiled often by some unfortunate crashes and mechanicals. Good to see him rack up a solid win.

Larry leading over the barriers.

Next up is our own hometown CheshireCross on Saturday. The trio of Larry, Joe K and Hunter will do their best impression of Cyclocrossworld.com \ Cannondale as they fight it out for Connecticut Gold medals.

Moser Farms Cyclocross - Tobacco Valley Series

2010-11-15T10:03:00.002-05:00

Cat 1,2,3 & Cat 3

The second to the last of the growing Tobacco series was set in a large field on a huge farm. The course was basically a big rectangle with a decent amount of elevation change per each short lap. Whereas all the races of the series were home-runs ( especially promoter Jim Thompson's races ), this one was more like a ground rule double. A mind-numbing 4 sets of barriers were laid out each lap, 2 of them before long straight-up-a-hill runs. There wasn't any technical sections to the course, and the inside-out spiral made yet another appearance.
For the Cat 3 race, he got a good start following a strong rider from CLR Racing. That guy wiped out badly though in a fast 90 degree corner leaving Hunter to charge off the front with Cat1 roadie Ernie Tautkus in tow. Hunter lead the race the entire rest of the way and Tautkus was content to sit on his wheel. Hunter tried a couple of times to shake him with surges up the long climbing straight-away, but the 2 stayed together with the youngster Austin Vincent sitting strongly in 3rd place, just unable to close 25 second gap. Austin was remounting after the barriers to quickly ride up the hill but losing time on power sections. Tautkus attacked on the final climb putting a few seconds into Hunter and was able to hold it to the line.
Hunter's 2nd place finish means he has clinched the Cat3 title for the series, which ends Sunday with Palmer CX.

Cycle-Smart International Day 1 and Day 2

2010-11-07T20:12:00.003-05:00

B Race ( Cat 3 )

The 20th edition of the Cycle-Smart International was again a big event. CCR had riders in the B Race both days. The B race was a zoo each day, with 150 riders signed up for both days.

Saturday

Hunter was hoping for a spot in the top 3 rows but without any Verge Series points, had to settle for row 5 on Saturday. Joe K was also there but had his race number taken by someone else at registration. Joe had to wait for a while to get a replacement number and sure enough it put him in the dead last row. His original seeding was for somewhere in row 7 or 8. Joe pushed up and took his place up in row 8 anyway. 10 seconds after the start there was a high speed crash right in front of Hunter, taking him out and getting his bike tangled up with another. By the time he got clear, he was sitting in 100th place with bent handlebars. Joe rolled safely by the crash. There was a steep, narrow run up placed intelligently 30 seconds into the race. By the time our guys got there it was pretty much a parking lot due to the bottleneck. Joe had a little quicker time getting up it while Hunter used the pause to straighten out his bars. Once clear of that mess, both started picking off riders quickly. Hunter made up ground quickly and didn't get passed by anyone else for the whole race. The only one to pass Joe, ironically, was Hunter. Hunter took a digger in a bumpy corner with a couple of laps to go, slowing his progress a bit. He ended in 33rd place and Joe was 43rd.

Sunday

Larry and Hunter lined up for day 2. Staging position was even worse this day for Hunter, getting put someplace in row 6. Larry was a couple of rows behind that. This time there was no crashes. The run up was a little farther into the lap this day but it was still a slow, crowded mess for Hunter, pretty much erasing any hope of getting into the top 10. After that, he rode the run up every time and was quickly jumping up places. He settled into a group of 3 that was fighting for 11 place. After dropping one guy the last time thru the sand pit Hunter had some cramps for the sprint and settled for 13th. Larry rode a solid race and finished as strong as he has yet to this year... His reward: 56th fricken place! Jeezzoo it was mess out there, but the its hard to not have fun with so many fans and friends at the race.

The crowds will thin out a bit now. With the time change today and the cold weather coming more then a few guys will close up shop for the racing season. Next up for the CCR crew is a probable stop at the Tobacco Valley Series on Saturday. The real focus though is preparations for Cheshire Cross, which is getting here quickly and less then 2 weeks away.

HPCX uci, NJ

2010-11-01T14:24:00.002-04:00

Cat 2,3

Day 2 of the NJ weekend for Hunter took him outside of Trenton for HPCX. This year's event was dry and fast, as opposed to year's previous where any significant amount of rain turns the park into a mud bog. Hunter nailed the fierce uphill start, taking the holeshot and leading the the field for 3\4 of the first lap. After that reality set in and Hunter faded into a chase group made up of the same top 10ers from the day before. After some jostling about, catching some and dropping others, Hunter was left to sprint it out with 4 others and finished in the middle of that group for 11th place.

Hunter leading the field after getting the holeshot

The season is just past the halfway mark and next up is the CycleSmart International. Joe K, Larry and Hunter will all be seeing action during the weekend in the B race.

Canton Cup Cyclocross , MA

2010-11-01T14:07:00.001-04:00

B Race

Larry rolled up to this always popular Massachusetts event along with over 100 other Killer B's and scored 26th out of 110. 3 sets of barriers, a steep run up and the famous lap around the high school track. Larry missed out on the free for all start, as he was expecting staging to be done by crossresults.com points. So what should have been a 3 or 4th row start ended up being 6th row. Larry rode a solid race without any technical mistakes and picked off plenty of guys to finish where he did.

Beacon Cross UCI, New Jersey

2010-11-01T11:11:00.013-04:00

Cat 2 \ 3

Hunter drove down to make it a long weekend of racing in NJ. First up was the always fast, always sandy race in south jersey, Beacon Cross. The course this year was fast, but with plenty of sand lurking everywhere it still took finesse and skill to race well. Definitely a course where you had to drive your bike, not just ride it. Back again were the 2 long running sections, a long 80 meter beach dash and the "amphitheater of pain" with 24 inch steps spaced 3 feet apart. Hunter started in row 2 thanks to registering early and was 2nd wheel going into the woods, just missing the holeshot. A group of about 7 riders formed off the front soon after with Hunter just behind them in a group of another 6 or 7 riders. It would stay that way the whole race. Hunter would make time up on the 200 meter climbing sections and was able to ride the first 20 meters of the sand where others were getting off right away. But with fast dirt road sections where drafting was key, it would all come back together each lap.

Hunter leading his group
up the Amphitheater of Pain
(photo by the Shelbatron)

Hunter rode the last lap conservatively and was able to out sprint all but one other rider to the line, finishing a solid 9th place.

Downeast Cyclocross UCI Day one

2010-10-25T13:29:00.002-04:00

Cat 3

Larry Merling hit up this fast race in beautiful New Gloucester. The best Killer B's made the trip up to Maine and the race had over 60 in it. Larry started well, moved up to about 12th, then went into an off camber section pretty fast, washed out, and was taken out by riders behind him. Larry was already nursing some wounds from Providence and Saturday's crash hurt them all back over again. He toughed it out and finished 29th, just 30 seconds out of a top 20 and may have had a crack at a top ten if he didn't go down.

Smith Farm Cyclocross

2010-10-25T13:24:00.002-04:00

Cat 123

Hunter took advantage of the nice weather and did the double today, racing the 123 and then the next race the cat3 event.

This stop in the Tobacco Valley series was another nice one. The Smith Farm offered plenty of elevation changes, smooth well-worn grass and just the right amount of mud. Flying thru an orchard was a nice departure for the cross season. Definitely plan on hitting this race if comes back on the schedule for next year.

Hunter, as usual, was able to start very fast, getting the holeshot in the 123 race and then settling into a group fighting for 3rd. He faded toward the end and rolled in at 7th. Likewise for the Cat3 race, a fast start was hard to keep up with one race already in the legs. After riding solidly in 2nd all race, he had a tough last lap and finished 6th.

New Team Member

2010-10-22T12:16:00.001-04:00

The team would like to announce the addition of Cat 2 racer
Tim Ratta!
Tim lives outside of Hartford and as a cat 3, has finished on the podium of the famed Housatonic Hills RR.
He will be a great addition to the team for the Cat123 race and Masters racing as well.

Stratton Brook cyclocross

2010-10-18T14:36:00.005-04:00

Cat 3

Hunter, unable to make the 11 AM start for the elite race, continued his sandbag assault on the Non USA Cycling Tobacco Cross Series B race in Simsbury CT on Sunday. Hunter is leading the series and will try to keep it that way to the end at Palmer Cross, the day after Cheshire Cross.

Jim Thompson is an artist of a race organizer and He didn't disappoint at Stratton Brook. The course was 70 % wooded fire roads and hiking paths that could be ridden very fast. Significant elevation changes made roadie style climbing important. Laps times were fast and drafting played a part. There were still some very challenging sections of the course, the highlight of which was a leg-sapping 100+ meter beach sand section that also proved very decisive as only 60% of racers were able to ride the whole length of it.

Hunter got a gap by pushing it thru the climbing sections on the first lap, taking one rider with him. Gaps grew as the 2 leaders rode the sand very fast on the first lap and that was all that was needed. Hunter traded pulls and attacks for a couple of laps but then chose a slower line thru the sand and then had a bobble in a weird corkscrew section which put him behind the leader for good and settled him into another 2nd place finish for the series.

Mansfield Hollow Cyclocross Race

2010-10-18T14:10:00.001-04:00

35 + Race

Joe K traveled up the Mansfield Hollow CX race on Saturday. It was a cool, super windy, but sunny day. Course conditions were great. Joe decided to try his luck in the always fast 35+ race. There were 13 starters. Joe had a good start, front row, but had trouble clipping in and was 5th wheel into the 1st turn. Trying not to crash like last year on the first off camber embankment he decided to run it and lost 3-4 bike lengths on the leaders. Trying to make up time he went fast down the long grassy straight and into the gravel mound and almost crashed. He hung on tight but washed out and went down in the next gravel turn. He got run over by a few guys and then got up and pushed on. He passed a few guys and was sitting in 6th. He crashed again on a grassy corner on lap 2 but quickly got up and did not loose any positions. Joe settled in and rode strong on the remaining laps, passing one more guy before the finish to take 5th. Probably was looking at a podium if not for the crashes.

Providence Cyclocross Festival - Day 1

2010-10-11T10:22:00.000-04:00

B Race \ Cat 3

Hunter and Larry, CCR cross racers extraordinaires, lined up for day one of the weekend. Hunter in row 4 and Larry further back. The course was fast and dry but there were plenty of sketchy corners and many spots were tires were puncturing. Hunter got a clean start but in a dusty corner before the barriers got stacked behind a crash. That put him back in 20th place. Larry crashed badly in lap one and was forced to drop out. Hunter was able to fight back into a group of 4 fighting for 6th place but had to settle for 10th, unable to get anyone in sprint.

The Night Weasels Cometh, Shewsbury Ma

2010-10-07T10:59:00.005-04:00

First off, props to the crossresults.com crew for putting this race together so quickly to really cap off this "New England's superweek" of cross.
The night weasels race was held at ski Ward in Massachusetts. The course was all grass, two twisting uphill sections, two twisting downhill sections and a couple of long straight-aways to connect them. That's really all you can do when u need to stay under the lights.
It had rained for a couple of days up to the event which sure enough, made this a slow mud fest. Corners were very slick and most downhills were thick, rutted mud that could not be bombed down and anything off
camber soon was stripped of course tape by out of control bike parts.

Cat 3

Larry Merling rode an impressive race. Despite having more then his fair share of problems with staying upright in the mud, he was able to power out to season-best 12th out of over 60 riders

Cat 1,2

Hunter Pronovost started mid pack and was able to hold that spot the whole race to finish 33rd, despite some derailleur problems on the 2nd lap.( Cheshire Cycle Racing on Velonews.com! )

Next up for the CX team is the Providence Festival of Cyclocross this weekend.

Great Brewers Gran Prix of Gloucester Day 2

2010-10-04T15:11:00.002-04:00

B Race \ Cat 3

Hunter was back for Day 2 and this time was joined by Cat 3 racer Larry Merling. Larry is still getting over a bit of a virus, but it was good to see him out at the races anyway.

Sundays race was run on the traditional Gloucester course featuring the uphill start, the full seawall road with the steep run-up and the long s curves on the far side of the grass field. Definitely better for the power riders with more long stretches and less speed sapping twisty turnies.
Hunter nailed the holeshot off the line with a long 250 meter full out sprint ( in the Scott Kit today ) and hit the grass with just one rider dangling out in front. From there he was able to watch the front all the way to the run-up and was in good position. The 2 fast guys from saturday rode off the front midway thru the first lap and soon Hunter was in a battle for 5th with 2 others. Synjyn would flat on the 3rd lap, leaving the group battling for 4th. Hunter stayed in contact despite some traffic with lapped riders with only a few hundred meters to go. As the group hit the road for the last time, Hunter was 4 bikes back but was able to time the sprint better and out kick everyone to the line to nab 4th place. Here's a picture with Hunter at far left. Thanks to the Shelbytron for taking pictures.

Larry rode improved on his 9th row start to finish 40th out of 119 riders. Next up, the Night Weasels Race this Wednesday up at Ski Ward in Massachusetts.

Great Brewers Gran Prix of Gloucester Day 1

2010-10-04T10:33:00.001-04:00

B Race \ Cat 3

There is always a full field for Gloucester races, which is affectionately called the "New England Championships". Hunter, without a UCI license for this year, lined up in the B race, technically called the Cat 3 race. The name is misleading though as there could be found at least 5 cat 2 road racers in the first 4 starting rows of this race. Starting positions were assigned by crossresults.com points ranking. A method of starting we suspect will continue to grow among large races.

Hunter had a first row position and was gonna need it as the start for today was unlike anything ever seen at this race. Usually the park access road is used for a starting chute going uphill and into gentle grass corners, making for an uneventful mess of 100+ riders. On saturday, the race starting downhill, and very quickly turned onto a never used patch of rocky, loose dirt earth for a couple of 90 degree turns and a 180 turn before hitting the road again for a quick bit and then into the traditional course area. It was a confusing choice, and it ended up being bypassed for the Elite Men and Elite Womens race, so go figure as to why it was used for the rest of the day.

Hunter, after dashing off the line first, made it thru the section 2nd wheel, without incident, and soon settled in to a group of 3 fighting for the last podium spot as Nate Cambell and the ex-junior fast man Synjyn Moracco quickly separated themselves from the pack. The rest of Saturday's course was just as different, as per Gloucester standards.... Twisty, without a run-up, and required a lot of finesse for a rider to gain time with so many slow corners. Hunter lost track of the laps and was caught out midway thru the bell lap as the 2 he was with attacked each other to get any gaps possible. 5th place for Hunter.

WhirlyBird 'Cross - Bryn Athyn PA

2010-09-27T13:05:00.001-04:00

Cat 2,3

Hunter traveled down to southern NJ as soon as he got back from Vegas to take part in the 76 mile MS Philly to Shore fundraiser ride on saturday. On sunday he lined up at Bryn Athyn College for the cross race. The course here was bumpy, but mostly fast grass with a lot of 180 degree up hill corners and a couple of fast descents. More a power course then a finesse one, Hunter's chances looked pretty good as he started 3rd row in the field of 100. The start was fast as expected, but a couple of minor incidents right away in front of Hunter kept him from hitting the front group. As the laps wore on, Hunter started to fade a bit from all the week's travel and the miles put in on Saturday. He was unable to crack into that super fast top 10 group that always seems to ride away in the Cat 2 M.A.C races, settling for 13th instead. Not bad, but not good enough to get some points to start in a better spot for the October M.A.C races he will be back for.

Crossin for Canines - Rocky Hill CT

2010-09-27T13:02:00.001-04:00

Cat 3

Joe K, despite battling a cold all week, lined up on this super hot day but was having wheel problems even before the race started.

Joe, who never seems to catch a break with his equipment during cross season was forced to start with a donated wheel that was rubbing brakes for the first 2 laps. He hung on to a very respectable 5th place on the day.

CrossVegas - Wheelers and Dealers Race

2010-09-27T12:54:00.003-04:00

Hunter lined up in the 5th row for this huge field of 150 racers. The race was broken up into divisions;

Media. Guys like the reporters for Velonews and The Embrocation Journal.
Manufacturers. Guys like the outside reps ( who are often former pro's ) for Specialized, Fuji and Trek.
Distributors. Employees of various distributors.
Retailers. Guys and girls who are at Interbike in association with a shop. This is the division that Hunter was in.
Advocacy. Anyone at the show in association with a non-profit org.
Single Speed. Single speeders who come from any of the above categories.

In front of Hunter at the start was mostly strong Manufacturers. The first lap was a blitz, with Hunter slotting into a small group of 5 that was right on the heels of a large group of 15 or so led by East Coast Fuji Rep Mark McCormick. Hunter stayed close to that group for 2 laps but was unable to make contact with it and ended up finishing 4th among retailers.

Monson Cyclocross, Monson MA

2010-08-30T11:10:00.005-04:00

Cat 3

Hunter and Joe lined up for the second stop in the Cyclonuats renegade, non-USACycling "Tobacco Valley Cyclocross Series". The course in Monson was tough! Tougher then CheshireCross tough! Each lap featured a death-defying, mountain bike worthy descent along with a long, rocky run-up, followed by a series of step-ups that required full sprinting power just to get up. Most riders were shuffle stepping up the hills by the end of the race.

Hunter got the whole shot and settled into 2nd before the first run-up. Joe had a terrible, traffic filled start from the second row, hitting the single track sections in 10th or so. He used the run-up each lap to hustle past weaker riders and was soon riding himself into 4th. Hunter put time into the 3rd place rider with each lap, but was out of touch with the WheelHouse rider in first. ( a Cat 1 roadie who DNF'ed with a mechanical out of the Cat1,2 race just before ).

Joe rode smart, picking off the 3rd place rider on the last lap, making it a 2nd & 3rd finish for Team CCR. The Tobacco series continues with a couple of stops in CT later on in October. Next up for the team will be a Crit in NJ Labor Day weekend and then the Rocky Hill CX series starts up on Wednesdays.

Blunt Park Cyclocross - Springfield, MA

2010-08-23T16:44:00.002-04:00

Cat 3

Cross season kicked off with a proper, rainy, messy first race. Hunter did the Cat3 race cause the 1,2,3 race was added just a few days ago. Hunter went into the woods in about 5th place and kept a solid pace. Without any technical problems or major falls in the mud he was able to ride into 3rd place by the 3rd lap and hold that spot till the end. The 2 leaders in front ( an up and coming Junior and another sandbagging Cat2 roadie ) slipped away pretty early on and stayed 20-30 seconds ahead the whole time. Overall a good start to the season and a good first race on new tires.

Tokeneke Classic Road Race 2010 - N.E. Regional RR Champs.

2010-08-09T10:41:00.002-04:00

With the road season winding down and only a couple more events on the team's radar, Tokeneke was the going to be the finale for several riders seasons. Let's not forget about cyclocross though, and the first race will be coming up in just a couple of weeks.

Cat Pro1\2

Hunter survived this fast race that saw nearly half the field drop out simply cause they couldn't climb fast enough and didn't want to suffer thru the remaining laps. 35th out of 56, good for 7th in the state.

Cat 3

CCR represented well in this race of 70 starters. Larry, Rob, Joe K, Chris, Matt, and Miquel took the start. All rode strong races. Matt bounced back well in his first RR back from injury finishing 31st. Joe was the team's top finisher at 22nd and the second place finisher from CT. ( 17 of the top 23 were out of new england residents, with NY \ NJ accounting for the most ! )

Cat 4

Gregg and Dillon started and both finished with Gregg rolling in at 36th, good for 11th in the state.

NCC Tour of the Hilltowns

2010-08-09T10:35:00.002-04:00

Cat 3

Any race at Hilltowns is gonna be super tough.... Chris Butler rolled in 15th for this race.

Cat 4

Gregg, Joe P and Dillon ( starting his first true hilly road race ) survived. Dillon rode smart support for Gregg avoiding crashes and driving the peloton on the middle flat sections of the race for his captain Gregg.

Donovan-Ruhlman Naugatuck Criterium

2010-08-09T10:29:00.003-04:00

Cat 3\4

The team had a good showing in this race, with Joe P, Dillon and Gregg taking the start. Gregg was active early in getting into moves off the front. Dillon was there to assist as well. Even though a couple of move went off the front without CCR guys in them, everyone stayed calm, raced smart and in the end it came down to a group sprint. Joe P, rode an intelligent race and was able to sprint strongly to a 5th place finish. Good job against a very deep cat 3 field.

Cat 1/2/3

Hunter and Chris B started this race. Hunter was involved in an early move that lasted for a couple of laps. After that, the CCR guys struggled and eventually DNF'ed along with a third of the field.

New England & CT State Championships Criterium, New Britian CT

2010-07-12T13:39:00.003-04:00

Cat 3

Joe K pulls off another great finish and proves himself one of the best overall Cat 3 racers in the state with a 6th place in this race. He was the 2nd place CT finisher, combined with his Gold in the Road Race a month ago is quite a feat! Here is a recap of the action:

Lining up for the Cat 3 race was Joe K and Miguel. The race was very poorly run in terms of time management. This race was supposed to go off at 11:30am and the field did not take the line until about 12:50pm. That's a lot of sitting around and waiting. The race started off quickly and Joe K was at the front watching over things. On the second lap as the field hit the back of the course on the hill Joe K hit the gas and initiated a break. One guy bridged up and the two worked together very well trading pulls and getting a gap of about 50seconds. They maintained the break for 9 laps until the hungry field got organized and pulled us back. Joe settled into the pack to recover. With about 8 laps to go the announcer calls out $20 prime laps for three laps in a row. This made for some very fast sketchy laps. On the third one Joe grabbed the wheel of a bethel Cycle rider and was 4th wheel rounding the corner when he gunned it, reeling in a two man break to take the prime. With 4 laps to go the field really let up, no one wanted to be at the front and speeds slowed. Nice recovery time for the big finish. An IRS Medic guy tried to solo away but did not go very far and was just dangling off the front. Once the bell rang for the final lap it was like a pack of wild horses set free, everyone gunned it. Coming up the back stretch Joe was sitting good in the top 8 or so guys, rounding the final turn he got stuck on the outside. Elbows were flying with guys fighting for position, Joe almost hit the outside curb but with the long drag to the line he was able to keep it upright and take 6th place, 2nd for CT. Miguel finished safely in the pack, and considering his age and fitness he was very happy with his performance on the day.

Cat 4

With the plan being for Dillon P to be the early attacker, the team planned to step up the game a notch and wanted to control this race of 51 starters. Peter K, Dillon, Antonio, and Joe P were there. Dillon started repeated breaks, giving the rest of the team plenty of time to be fresh for the finale. Antonio did not disappoint and sprinted to a strong 10th place. Well done!

Circuito De Evesham - NJ

2010-07-12T13:26:00.003-04:00

Cat 1,2

Hunter P was in town for this fast crit for the second year in a row. It is a safe course with no real hard corners and a small climb each lap. Races here usually end in a break as there are about 4 strong regional teams that consistently force a selection. The heat was blazing with temps at 103 degrees. After mixing it up in a couple of early breaks that were not allowed much room, Hunter finished 24th with about a third of the field eventually dropping out.

Fitchburg Stage Race

2010-07-12T13:01:00.002-04:00

The team was made proud by the efforts of all those racing at the Fitchburg Stage race. Unfortunately all the strong efforts and good finishes are grayed by Matt Sack's serious crash during the final crit. He suffered a lot of road rash and a couple of serious knocks to his face \ head. He is ok and recuperating at home and we cant wait to have his energy back out on the training rides and races.

He are some of the highlights from the weekend.

Cat 4

Joe P finished 12th in the Day 1 Circuit race and a splendid 5th in the final Crit. He had Antonio out there for support and Antonio finished strong each day and scored 18th in the crit.

Cat 3

Matt Sack and Rob Ehrman were together for this always very competitive field. The TT times are never that far off from the Cat2's and lap time for the circuit race and the crit are very close to the higher categories as well.

The both finished top 25 for the circuit race.
Matt got 23rd for the road race.
Rob finished an impressive 7th in the TT which put him into 6th for the overall classification. He was also up to that point 2nd in the points classification.
During the crit both Matt and Rob were taken out by separate crashed. Rob was able to finish the race and scored enough points to hang onto 2nd for the sprint jersey. Chapeau!

3 Village Tour & Keith Berger Classic

2010-06-28T10:59:00.006-04:00

Another solid weekend of racing for CCR

Cat 3

It started out with some solid pacemaking by Joe K. He was upfront right away,
letting everyone know we meant business. Larry and Matt Sack got a 2 man break going
on the first lap. They had a decent gap but got chased down at the top of the
big hill on lap 2. There was some confusion as the catch was made and it wasn't
long before another break sailed off the front and out of sight. In that break
was none other than Larry again plus 1 other. That was the last we'd see off them
til we crossed the finish line to find Larry and his girlfriend sipping drinks
in their road-side cabana--that's how much time they put into the field.

Back in the pack the rest of the team worked to control the pace and cover any
attacks. They came fast and furious at first but we matched them all and with
1.5 laps to go the field knew we owned them.

A couple of central wheel guys tried to TT it on their own but Chris B, who is no stranger to riding strong at this race
chased them down with relative ease. So much ease that he eventually blew their legs
off and found himself between the leaders and the chase. He eventually got
swallowed up at the top of the hill on the last lap. But the damage he inflicted was real, as the motivation from anyone else to chase down the break was fading fast.

Coming off the last hill an unattached rider tried to break free, but he was
quickly reeled back in by Matt, who had bearly broken a sweat since being in the
break.

Some confusion ensued at we re-grouped and then came a small riser--Rob E powered up
it thinking the pack was charging behind. With about 4 miles left at this point he figured
Larry was un-catchable so he decided to go for it. Rob - "The gods must have
taken pity on the pudgy guy trying to ride his bike fast cause I was able to
stay away and get 3rd. As I crossed the line I spied the aforementioned Larry
having a relaxing post-race cocktail. I think he had had time to shower and
change too."

The rest of the pack charged hard to the finish and Joe K got pipped on the
line, just missing 4th.

All in all a solid race with near text book team domination.

Cat 4

Gregg F and Dillon P were in this race. Gregg finished strong
with 16th and Dillon P, who usually saves
his bullets for the crits,
also duked it out to finish in the lead field.

Keith Berger Classic

Cat 4

Dillon, Joe P, and Antonio lined up and all 3
were affected by 3 very late crashes. Dillon got 24th.

Housatonic Hills.

2010-06-22T10:16:00.002-04:00

Joe Kubisek takes GOLD in the Category 3 Connecticut Road Racing Championships!

The day started off with warm temps and clear hazy skies. Representing for CCR today were Joe K, Larry M, Chris B, and Rob E in the cat 3/4 race. Joe P was flying solo in the Cat 4 race. Bruce and Miguel were together in the Masters 45+.

The 3/4 race...started with 80+ riders. The race started off quickly after the neutral start up constitution hill. The pack was pretty calm and stayed together for most of the first lap. Larry M was sitting comfortable in the top 10 riders for most of the race and Joe K was not to far back from that. Chris B and Rob were waiting to pounce but playing it safe toward the back of the main pack. There was a 2 or 3 man break that took off shortly before the KOM hill and the peloton was comfortable with letting them go for a bit to duke it out on the climb. The group came back together after the KOM which did take it's toll with some riders already getting popped off the back. What was left of the peloton made it safely through the feed zone. A minor crash took out 3-4 riders on one of the smaller hills but thankfully none of the CDR boys were involved. The 3 man break took off and got a gap of about 1min at the most. The peloton was chasing half heartedly but brought it back to about 10 seconds on the final assent of the KOM hill which was lead by a hard tempo from Joe K and Larry M. Rob E's day ended prematurely when he double flatted. CCR was still three men strong but despite some strong chasing from the Kissena boys and some others the gap to the break was not coming back quick enough. The speed was fast on the final decent heading toward the final few kilometers, not sure if it's right but Joe K clocked 54mph on his Garmin 305. As we passed the final 1k to go marker a flying Larry M passed everyone on the inside, Joe K grabbed his wheel and his herculean effort launched Joe into the finishing corner in 1st position where he was somehow able to sprint all the way to the line despite cramping in both legs to take the pack sprint for 4th place overall and 1st for CT! Chris B took 20th and Larry M 23rd. The 3 man break stuck and won the day but still an amazing finish for Joe and the team.

Nutmeg State Games & Whaling City Crit

2010-06-17T16:18:00.003-04:00

Cat 4 race and Cat4,5 30+

Dillon, John B, Peter K, Antonio and Joe P raced the Cat 4 race. The team rode solid for the event and Dillon took 19th in the fast sprint finish. Dillon stayed on and did the follow-up 30+ race, nabbing a 9th place finish in that one.

Masters 30+

The race started at 1:30pm and so did the rain showers and cool temps. As the field toed the line most guys were shivering cold and anxious for the race to start quickly. In the mix for CCR was Hunter, Joe K, Larry, & Rob E. The race started pretty fast, the nasty road spray from the tires made for very poor vision. There were attacks all race long but nothing really stuck. Joe K tried a solo attack but no one followed and was swept up by the pelaton after a few laps. VQ Rob nabbed a prime and Joe K had one locked up with a nice gap on the field but lost it at the last second due to poor gap management. The rest of the race was relatively fast and for the most part safe. Coming into the final lap Hunter was on the outside looking for Joe to jump on his wheel and despite some good position for the sprint, he ended up getting boxed in. Rounding the last corner Joe put his head down and gunned it all the way to the line, right up the middle with no one in the way and nabbed 7th place, 3rd place for CT. All in all a good race considering the conditions.

P123 race

The sky's cleared and the race course was mostly dry. Getting to the line for CCR was Hunter and Joe K. A big field of 70 riders including some of the U23 Dutch National team made the start for the 40lap event. The speeds were fast and breaks were trying to get away all race long. Constant attacks came from CCNS, Expowheel Men, and many others. Nothing stuck in the beginning. We hung in the pack all race long averaging 27mph. A 5 man break got a decent gap toward the end of the race but was caught just at the finish line. We finished strong and safely in the pack.

Whaling City Crit ( coming soon )

The CT Stage Race

2010-06-07T15:46:00.003-04:00

The team was made proud by the efforts of Chris Butler, Matt Sack, Miguel Torres and joe Policarpio. BOTH Matt and Chris were 2 of only 28 riders who were able to finish the brutal 91 mile road race.
and
Joe P was able to use his strong sprinting to score a 6th place in the Cat 4 curcuit race. Hats off to all the CCR'ers who rode this past weekend.

Slow season.....

2010-06-03T15:41:00.002-04:00

Racing has been slim round these parts. Matt Sack made the trip up to Lake Sunapee but other than that its been slim pickins. This weekend brings the CT Stage Race where Chris B and Matt Sack will be racing in the 3's, Miquel T will be in the Masters and Joe P will be representing in the Cat4's .

Race strong guys.

May 8th, Sterling Road Race

2010-05-11T10:07:00.002-04:00

Cat 3

Newest Team racer Larry Merling rode to an impressive 6th place ( on a Bianchi! )

Cat 4

The weather pretty much sucked the whole race. We had lightning, thunder, torrential downpours, heavy flooding, slippery roads, crashes and cold temps. Unfortunately, it was race organization and officiating, not the weather, that decided the cat 4 race.

Halfway into our 4^th loop (out of 5), the 45+ masters started catching up to our group so the official, who was on a very poorly marked car, neutralized our group. However, because of the poorly marked car and the slightly downhill section, 8 or so riders had gone slightly ahead of the rest of the group during the time he was attempting to neutralize the group. After we realized it was an official and figured out what was going on, some of us started yelling at the other riders but they either did not hear us or decided to ignore us. After we told the official what happened, he advised us that he would go after the riders and let them know and get the group back together. Unfortunately, he never did tell them while we slowed down the race thinking that it would be game on once we were all back together. Then to make matters worse, someone completely miscounted our laps and stop our race 1 lap too short. We were told at the start we would the 8 mile loop 5x and we finished on our 4^th lap. Riders literally crossed the finish line thinking we had the last lap to group together to decide the race but instead were told that our race was over. Nice!

Needless to say, the organizer and official both apologized for their screw up later on but decided to uphold the results based on the fact that the leading group were never told that we were neutralized.

Oh well, what are you going to do? We all make mistakes I guess. Despite the weather and bad officiating, still glad I came out to race. Good practice for bad weather racing...

Joe P

Weekend of May 1st, 2nd

2010-05-04T09:58:00.002-04:00

Wayne Elliot Memorial Race

Cat 2,3

Hunter P made the drive up to Haverhill to race on the new course for this old race. It was a 7 mile circuit with minimal climbing and a fast downhill sprint finish. Roads were overall ok with a couple of sketchy sections that had many well marked obstacles. There were over 60 riders and a couple of well represented teams. For the opening 5 laps it seemed like the same teams were putting the same amount of guys in moves off the front. 4-7 riders each time. Any one of the groups should have gone away but the course, which seemed more down then up, kept things together. Hunter was in a move during the 4th lap but it too got reeled back in. Then with about a lap and a half to go, a move went up the road with about 7 guys who worked hard and stayed away. Hunter was caught out recharging and missed it. He rolled in without contesting the sprint midpack.

Quabbin Race Report

2010-05-04T09:54:00.004-04:00

Cat 3 report by Joe K

The true meaning of 'TEAM'

I don't think I would have made It through the day with out my teammates. The day started off on a sour note for me when my local quick mart did not have my usual egg ham & cheese breakfast sandwich. I grabbed a power bar but I seem to perform best with a good morning breakfast. I met Miguel, Antonio, & Chris B at 6:45am and we followed each other up to the race. On the way up to the race my car overheated, the coolant reservoir was low, we emptied our water bottles into the reservoir and started going again. We drove another 5min and it overheated again. I pulled into a gas station, now we are really late and I was worried none of us would make it to the race. Thankfully Miguel drives a extended cab pick up truck, we all worked quickly to unload all the gear and bikes into the truck and try to make it to the race. We arrived with about 25min till our race start time, got our numbers and got dressed with about 10min to spare.

Chris B and I went for a short loop around the parking lot and somehow we both missed the call up for Men's Cat 3. We missed our start! My head was in the clouds thinking about my car and being rushed and somehow we both missed it. DAM! We had the option of jumping in with the 4's or go off solo trying to catch the group ahead of us. Chris and I took off like a two man rocket ship, TT-ing like crazy. We started to pick off riders and groups on the first few climbs. We got into a good group of about 8 riders but by mile 50 I was completely cooked, nothing left in the tank. The Cat 4's finally caught us. Chris managed to stay with them and finish strong, I hobbled across the line, battered and beaten. The grueling hilly course took it's toll on Miguel and Antonio too. Although they got dropped from their groups, they persevered and finished the race.

After the race, it was great to have each other to commiserate with, convincing each other that the day was long, hard, and difficult but we all gained some valuable training and learned form the experience. If I had to drive home alone after that kind of day I would have been beating myself up about such a bad day. When we got back to my car and without the help and support of the guys I would have not been fix it and get home. Although we did not perform well as a team on the bike, it was the off the bike comradery that made the day a success.

Weekend Racing April the 17th

2010-04-22T10:45:00.001-04:00

The Final Plainville Race

Cat 3\4

Conditions were less than favorable at 10am Saturday morning, light mist/drizzle and temps in the mid 40s. A pretty good group of riders showed up but the field was on the small side, only 21 riders. We toed the line with 5 riders and a chance to take 2nd place in the team standings. The race started off pretty moderate, I think guys wanted to see how slick the corners were going to be. As the race started to heat up the C'nauts were sending riders off the front trying to attack and wear down Guido who was in 2nd place in the individual points standings. The team was working well and staying out of trouble. Coming into the 1st prime lap Peter F came to the front and did as monster pull to keep me at the front and out of the wind. I sprinted hard from 1000m and took 2nd, just got nipped at the line by John B, the C'naut, and individual points leader. Not sure why he did that, he had the points all locked up anyways. With about 16laps to go a C'naut takes off on a solo break and I thought about going with it but held off slightly and suddenly found myself caught in no man's land. In cycling you have to make hard and fast decisions, you either go balls to the wall and chase, or sit in and fade back. Well the mistake I made was to sit out there in no man's land for about 3-4 laps contemplating what to do, in the end either choice would have been fine. The next prime lap was coming and I thought I might be able to at least stay out there and nab 2nd in the prime but the pack chassed me down. Dillon was alert to the situation and made a hard power move to jump onto a 4 man train and out sprinted the bunch to nab 2nd in the prime (C'naut was still away) At this point we were tied on points for second place with Central Wheel, with only one CW rider present today our chances looked good. While recovering from my no man's land effort and looking for Dillon to see if he was able to nab the prime a flying Guido, made a break for it and tagging along for the ride was John B and the CW guy. They caught the solo C'naut and suddenly had a solid 10" gap on the field. Joe P and Peter F came to the front and did some good pulls to try and reel them in but the break had to much power. Can't believe the break went and I was not paying attention, I'm usually right up front keeping an eye out for that kind of stuff. The break succeeded and the CW guy nabbed 3rd place. I got a nice draft off of the C'naut train and took the pack sprint for 5th place. 3rd place in team standings is pretty good considering we only had multiple riders in 2 of the 7 cat 3/4 races. Good job guys......looking forward to racing with all of you this year.

Joe K