Bethel Training Race #2

There was less of a team representation this week than for the first week of racing action in Bethel Here is the recap of Stephen Gibertoni's Category 3/4 and 1/2/3 race. 

"Was out for another Spring day of racing...37 degrees with 30mph gusts. 

My intention was to be aggressive, attacking early or instigating a break. After a few laps I went taking a few guys but we're caught about a lap later. I sat back in the group and watched a few counter attacks and took a little to long in the back of the pack when a stronger rider and two Expo guys got off the front. I worked like a dog with Jeff Weaver and a few Edge guys trying to get to the break but Expo did a great job slowing the chase. 

At the sprint there was another serious crash right in front on me. It was like The Matrix Reloaded, first the sound of spokes shredding each other, then seeing a guy inches from me flip over and his bike start flying toward my line. I thought I going down, but was able to stay up missing his bike by a few inches and making it over the line for 16th. Unfortunately the excitement wasn't over as a junior decided to take a left right in to me just after the finish line. We bumped, he fell and got an earful but was fine. 

I got right back on for the 123 race but race #1's work had me feeling it and I bailed after 10 laps."

Cat5

Dave Lawlor broke open his race season with a hard fought 16th place. Look for him to improve upon that in the coming weeks!

Bethel Spring Series Race #1

CAT1/2/3 

Here is Joe K's race action recap:

     "Hunter, Steven, and I lined up for the P123 race. My goal for the day was to sit in, stay safe, and see if I could pull anything out in the end. Last time I raced Bethel was 3 years ago when I broke my collar bone! So was just looking to get through this one safe and get the monkey off my back. It was a chilly 38° with a stiff 15+mph wind blowing. Conditions were OK, sandy corners and flats, and a wet melting snow crossing half way down the hill after turn one. Our race was cut to 30laps due to a pretty bad crash in the 3 /4 race. An early group got off the front but nothing to serious. I decided to pull it back after a few laps. Once together the move of the day took off and Hunter was able to go with it. A solid group of strong riders, maybe 8-9 guys including ,Eneas Freyre, Jordan Lynn, Champsys guy, Sean Cahill. They stayed away but never got more than a 10-20 sec lead. The main field seemed content to just let them dangle. Hunter and a few others came unglued from attacks within the break with about 7 or 8 laps to go.
     A few late attacks from the field strung things out with 4 or 5 laps to go but did not work. Steven was off the back fighting fatigue from the previous 3 /4 race but hung tough. I was not going to risk a knock down drag out sprint for 8^th place so I stayed tough with the front group and took 16^th. My legs were good and I felt like I could have landed a top ten but was glad to finish safe."

CAT3/4 

This race was the main focus of Stephen G's for the day. Christian Duncan was also out for his first race of the season! Here is Stephen's race action recap:

      "Christian stuck around from the Cat 4 race to join me for the 3/4. It was a good size field with a few guys trying to get things going. The Green Live Velo and FGX teams both had 4+ riders. I sat mid pack waiting to see who was going to go and when a break got going with an FGX, GLV, and Aetna/Expo guys in it I knew it was probably time to get up there. That said it was a group of about 8 and wasn’t sure how well they would work together or if the pack would bridge for me. After two laps of trying to time things I saw an opening and shot up the hill, around turn one, and bridged up but it was like showing up to the JR prom…no one wanted to dance. The break was moving slow and soon after the entire group came together with about maybe 8 laps to go. I figured things wouldn’t stay away for anyone from this point on so I sat in toward the front of the group and coming in to the last turn before the hill I saw the guys go and launched moving up a spot or two but mostly maintaining 6th position. I have to say I hesitated a bit after hearing what sounded like a car crash in the pack behind. Joe re-capped my first attempt at a 123 race pretty well. With the shortened length it was like a CX race…whistle... FULL GAS!"

CAT4

Here is Christian's race recap:

    "The road conditions were decent except for all of the gravel which kept flying in my face throughout the race (water on the course didn't happen until after my first race finished).  The pace was pretty relaxed but several riders must have been dropped anyway because we finished with far less than we started.  It wasn't much effort when tucked in the group but if you ventured out of it you got hit in the face with some serious head-wind.  Very few breakaway attempts.  About halfway through the race (10 laps to go or so), a small group of 6 riders split off on the climb.  I accelerated up the hill to join them. I first latched on to 4 of them who had already sat up, swung around them and tried to catch the lead group of two about 20 yards ahead.  Hitting the headwind, I wasn't making much progress, looked over my shoulder and saw the field catching up to me (and the leaders).  So, I rejoined the group to recover.  Four others immediately swung around to catch the other two and the six of them stayed a few seconds ahead for about a lap.  But it was gruppo compacto with at least 8 laps to go and basically stayed that way until the end.
     I pretty much stayed in the middle to back of the field for most of the race but did push my way forward to the top 5 or so on the climb with 5 laps to go, hoping to stay near the front.  My nervousness got the better of me, and I wasn't able to fight for the top slots because by the end of the lap I was near the back again.  On the last lap, I still was lingering near the back as everyone was trying to get to the front and took up the whole half of the road (yellow line rule until last climb).  Just before the final climb, I decided to cross the line anyway (they didn't say where the climb started), fought the headwind, and worked my way to about middle of the field, maybe 10th-15th position, but it came at a cost as halfway up the hill my legs blew up and I dropped back fast.  Ended up 25th but with the main field."

MASTERS 40+

Miquel was out for his first race of the year. He battled a shredded feild and windy conditions to come at 37th

Plainville Spring Seires #1

The team was looking forward to getting the racing year started off right! The course in Plainville was run a bit differently than years past, but it still offered up some great racing action.

Here is a recap of the Category3/4 action from Stephen Gebertoni!

Peter K and I rode up to Plainville yesterday for the first race of the season.  As clouds rolled through the wind from the Northwest really started to bite.  The installation of "tri-inspired" number system this year was pretty difficult with freezing fingers.  Once I got that squared away I rolled over to the start but the course was closed to finalize the prior Miss N Out race.  I was cooling down quick but was able to get in a lap and survey the course before the 30-40 racer group got started.  A quick overview of the course…the start line is about 100 meters before where they used to park their hut/shed thing.  Immediately after the start there is a manhole that has dipped into the pavement.  Just after that and as you approach corner 1 there is a long tire-eating rut that you have to navigate wisely, being sure to stay away from the snowbank that was creeping into the road on the inside.  Coming out of corner 1 there is a another heave bump on the outside of the middle line that  you have to look out for.  As you bend around the new backside, there is a pothole that was patched with fresh asphalt and there are remnants of the tar that was still on the road.  That backside corner is harmless and wide with a lot of riders using the inside to pick up spots as you lead in to the last and hardest corner.  The finish is a little weird as the road shifts to the left and then back to the right, more than you notice if racing in the clockwise direction.

As far as the race went, I was feeling good but after not riding outdoors or in a tight group I was more timid than normal.  For the first 10-15 laps I sat in watching every break be pulled back by the two or three bigger teams.  Feeling good I decided I would have a go after the Prime.  I was sitting a few wheels back and hit the last corner pretty hard but only strung out the group for a lap.  Not enough to get a gap or break up the group but maybe it helped us shed a few guys.  After that I settled back in to the front 1/3 of the pack knowing I did not want to get stuck behind the group in to that last corner.  There were quite a few snap, crackle, and pops happening in the background on the last few laps so I was extra cautious but wanted a good finish.  Made it through that final corner a little farther back than I wanted but made up a few spots in the sprint to get 8^th.  Overall felt good and happy to get that first race done and dusted!

Thanks Peter for coming along and Zack for some CX style heckling!

DAS Beaver CX

Cat 4/5

Sean gets the honor of being the first to don the
new team kit atop the podium!

Sean was the lone CCR racer out there today and he capped off a great late-season run by taking 2nd place on the day. Here is his recap:

Today started like yesterday, an early start and frozen ground; I decided to run about 28 PSI front and rear.  The pressure would turn out to be an interesting choice.

The start was a free for all and I managed a first row spot of the 30 plus riders.  We got a 2 minutes to go signal.  About 20 seconds later we were given an under 1 minute warning.  I removed my jacket as did the rider next to me; an NBCC rider (I think).  At the same time we got the, ‘whistle can come at any time’ warning.  As my jacket hit the ground to the side of the field the whistle blew.  I and the rider next to me had a total of 4 feet on the ground.  As we were overtaken by 20 or so riders I finally found both pedals.

The start was a slight uphill wide dirt road.  It was easy to move around and I made up a few spots quickly.  Next up was an inverted ‘W’ on a hill.  I made up a few spots on the uphills and things started to spread out as we headed back down hill towards the start.  The first barriers came next after a 180 turn.

A fairly long section of flat allowed me to put some space on my followers and close down the gaps ahead.  A 180 at the end of the flat pointed up quickly uphill.  Taking the inside line I gained another two spots and 1 more before I crested the top of the climb.

Now comes the fun part, the rock decent.  A stone/rock road took us down to water level.  I had pre-ridden the course and knew I could clear it, but just had to let the bike do its own thing.  The worst part was the bigger loose rocks at the very bottom.  By the time I was taking pictures, a line through the upper part of the downhill had formed, but not so at the bottom.  I passed a rider on the way down and saw another grabbing his shoulder at the bottom of the descent.  He ended up at the hospital with a dislocated shoulder, fortunately not a broken collar bone.
By this time I was somewhere just outside the top ten.  I could see the leaders coming at me on the long out and back.  I started counting riders; the leader had a few bike lengths on a chasing group of four.  There were scattered riders between me and them.  I went into the drops and pegged it, passing a rider and coming up on the next.  At the end of the out and back we had to get back to the top of the hill.  This required a dismount, a walk over some large wet flat rocks, 2 stairs, across a cement bridge, down two steps, across even more large wet stones and finally a long single wide staircase.  I kept my head down up the stairs each lap and pushed until I saw grass.

Fortunately I got a bit of a rest on the downhill.  What goes down must go up in bike racing, and the course pointed right back up the hill.  I gained another spot on the uphill.  I was now sitting somewhere around 7th or 8th.  The next part of the course was a series of twisty winding tape where you could see and be seen by those around you.  A short triple set of barriers forced me off my bike before heading into a short woods section.  The woods were very tight and a double switchback proved faster to run than to ride.  This completed the first lap with me sitting in 7th or 8th.  

The field had spread out even more.  A lone leader and a small group of pursuers had a sizeable gap on me.  After the second rock downhill I made another pass on the long grass straight away and saw a rider walking his bike off course.  I was now sitting 6th, like yesterday.  I had a pursuer that was not making ground on me, but I was not getting away.  I pushed and pushed and pushed and after 2 laps saw no laps-to-go sign.

On lap number three I made up more ground on the 5th place rider.  I eventually passed him on a flat section and was one spot up on March Farms.  Around this time I started to notice that I was bottoming out my rim on the rock decent.  What I was doing was working for me so I did not change my riding at all.

The last lap was almost uneventful aside from the knots in my stomach as the fear of not making the podium continued to increase.  It must have spurred me on as I widened the gap on 3rd place.  When all was said and done I held him off by 18 seconds, and was 40 seconds off of second. My first cash prize ever.

March Farms Cyclo-Madness

Masters 40+

Joe K wins! Joe beat the tough conditions (cold, mud ) by running a key section of the course. He pulled away and takes the win to solidify his top 10 placing overall for the series! It was his 3rd victory of the year and it completes the cycling "Hat Trick" for Joe. During 2014 Joe won a MTB race, a Road event and a CX race. Nice job Joe!

Cat 4/5

Sean Whitehurst continued his upward trajectory by finishing in 6th place today.

Cat 3/4 

Dave Maynard wins! Dave also used his running legs to his advantage, out stepping the rest of the field in the mud to take his first win of the year! Nice job Dave!

Joe and Dave atop the March Farms Podium!

Rockland County Supercross Day 2

Cat 2/3

Hunter had a first row start for this race but went on to drop his chain 3 times during the first lap. Each time requiring 10-15 seconds to fix. He started the second lap outside the top 30 but would go on to finish in 11th.

Hop Brook Cyclocross

Cat 4/5

Sean Whitehurst started a late season improvement surge at Hopbrook. He took 9th place on the day.
Nice job!

Masters 40+

Joe continued his solid season with a 4th place. Not bad considering the amount of work he put into Cheshire CX the day before.

Cheshire CX!

The team's own race, in its NINTH YEAR, was a huge success!
Check out the main page for the event here!

Cat 4/5

Gregg nearly missed the Podium! He had to settle for 4th place on the day, after being held up by some lapped traffic late in the game. So close! Dillon took 22nd place and looked great doing it. Andy had an impressive ride to finish right behind in 26th place. Zac Hawk takes 27th.

Single Speed Open

Andy also finished 26th in this race ( and had the honor of being passed by Mo Bruno Roy! ). Zac took 36th place but had a podium finish in the hand-up department. 

Masters 40+

Joe K took a huge lead off a fantastic holeshot! He would contunue to have a stellar race and lead for most of it. With 2 laps to go, he hit an off-cabmer section hard and rolled a tubular though! Such a tough break for Joe, who really wanted to win this race again.

Joe K, tearing off a big lead after the holeshot.

Cat 1/2/3

Joe was back, replacement wheel in the bike, ready to make up for his Masters race. Hunter got the best of the team's start, and was soon chasing down 7th place. 2 riders ahead were hit with flats, giving Hunter 4th place on course temporarily. He ended up being caught by a chase group in the closing 3 laps and had to settle for 8th place. Dave was right behind in 10th and Joe rolled in at 12th place out of 22 starters.

Newtown Cross

Cat 4/5 

Gregg continued his upward climb up the rankings with a strong 9th place finish. The course at Newtown was roadie-centric and he took full advantage. Drafting and using a decent sized chase group all day long. Nicely done Gregg!

Veterans Memorial CX, Hartford CT

Cat 4/5 

Gregg Ferraris, in preparation for Cheshire CX, rolled up and hit this race hard. The early morning course was challenging and heavy. Gregg, ended up with a 12th place, right outside the chase for the podium. Dillon rolled in at 26th place.

Masters 40+

Joe has been in the points mix all season long in the 40+ field. Today he kicked it up a notch and continued his solid improvement. It only took him a lap or 2 before he was riding alone off the front of the very fast chasers. In the closing laps though, a single rider was able to chase him down and go thru to the front. Joe had to settle for a hard fought 2nd place on the day. The points he earned catapulted him up the CT Series rankings though. He looks to have a solid line on a top 10 finish overall!

Cat 3/4

Dave Maynard takes 2nd! Dave was involved in perhaps the best battle of the day. He and 2 other riders distanced themselves from the rest and took turns leading each other through the course. Dave ride error-free, setting up an epic sprint finish, where he was able to come around one rider for 2nd on the day.

Cat 1/2/3

Hunter lined up and took 6th place out of 12 starters.

Cycle-Smart International Day 1

Cat 3

Dave Maynard - 31st

Mansfield Hollow Cyclocross

Masters 40+

Joe K had a couple of slips during his race but still managed to hold onto 7th place on the day.

Cat 3/4 

Dillon missed his race start by 20 seconds and spent the day chasing back the field. He ends up in 25th place out of 30 riders.

Cat 1/2/3 

Hunter P started off in great position, moving thru the first lap in the top 5. During the second traverse of the long off-chamber section, a rider in front of him crashed. The delay put him outside the top 15. He chased back a couple of those positions and ended up in 13th place on the day.

The KMC Providence Cyclocross Festival

The team had a great 3 days of racing and hanging out in Providence!
This event is one of the best in the county! Reports coming soon!

Day 1

The weekend kicked off with evening races. Shop Mechanic Andy raced the SS event and took 41st place against some of the best guys in the country.

Day 2

Regular racing got going and here's how it went down:

Cat 4/5 

The team had a few in this huge race (150+ starters). Stephen Gibertoni took the best result of the team at 17th place out. He had a 4th row start. Miguel (92nd) beat out Dillon (110th). They had to start near the very back of the field.

Cat 2/3 

Hunter P and Dave Maynard each took pretty good starting spots and ran hard with them. Hunter finishes in 7th and Dave in 19th.

Day 3

A couple of the guys hung around the final day.

Cat 4/5 

Dillon gets one back on Miguel. He finishes ahead this day but both of them had their work cut out for them, starting waaaaaay back in the huge field.

Cat 2/3 

Hunter P hung tough for 9th place on the day.

The Night Weasels Cometh

Cat 3

Dave Maynard made the drive up to Ski Ward, knowing full-well that it was going to be a messy race. Rain the whole day soaked the course and made for a slick, tho-not-so-gloppy day.
He had a midpack start and turned that into a 29th place out of 100 starters.

Rapha Super Cross Gloucester Day 2

Cat 4,5 35+

Stephen made the trip up to the legendary Gloucester race for day 2. He benefited from a 2nd row start and managed to make good on that, powering away to a 5th finish. Nice work!

Yep, it was dusty at Super Cross