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Race Report: Church Creek 3/4 TTT
We took the win AND second place. ‘Nuff said.
Race Report: Dawg Days of Summer
After many months of training, racing and recovering — a process that was rinsed and repeated many times — the season came to something of an end this weekend with the Dawg Days of Summer Circuit Race in Bowie, MD. But unlike many other late-season races, this one was special in its own way — it was our race.
Well, let me be more specific. This is the second year we’ve worked with the crew from Artemis Racing to put on the circuit race, and it’s the second year it has gone off excellently. Artemis brought years of experience and a huge logistical capacity to the process of organizing the second installment of the race, and we couldn’t have picked a better team to learn the ropes from.
Coming into Sunday’s race, the weather wasn’t looking too encouraging — we were being promised 70 percent chance of rain and thunderstorms. And while it did rain on the early races and dump on the 1/2/3, the majority of the day’s races took place under cloudy, though dry skies.
On top of our day-of responsibilities — road guarding, manning registration and food sales, and driving the pace car — District Velocity Racing p/b The Bike Rack put riders in a number of the races. Michelle and Lisette survived a soggy early-morning women’s race, while Kevin, Chas, Grayson, and Seth jumped into the 35+ field. It was in this race that we saw some of the day’s true race excitement — Kevin jumped off the front of the pack with about 12 laps to go, gaining over 20 seconds on the field and coming within less than two laps of taking the victory. I watched the whole thing from the pace car, and it was an impressive show of strength and mental fortitude.
Brian S., Tony, Kevin, and I jumped into the fast 1/2/3 race, which was relatively uneventful spare the Indian monsoon that hit us a few laps in. It’s not an understatement to say that I’ve never raced in such objectively frightening conditions. For the better part of five laps, visibility was just above non-existent, and water pooled on large sections of the course. Thankfully, that the race course wasn’t particularly technical ensured that we all stayed upright during the drenching. The race was cut short due to lightning, but we all came out of it alive. That’s a victory in and of itself.
The Cat 4 race may have been one of the most exciting of the day. There were attacks and counter-attacks, and a breakaway even survived until the bitter end. Tom S. led out an early breakaway that seemed promising, but wasn’t to be. Jon tried his own flyer, while Marcus, Corey, Nate, Seth, Tom J. pushed the pace and closed gaps. Matt R. made it into a four-man break with a few laps to go, joined by NCVC’s Nick S. in the closing miles of the race. In the end, it was a three-man contest for the win, and Matt took second third to a hard-charging sprint from Nick. The rest of the DVR crew led out the field sprint, and though I haven’t yet seen the results, I’m pretty sure we took places six through 11.
All told, it was a great day to end the season on. Our most sincere thanks go to Artemis for letting us jump in and co-promote the race, and for everyone who showed up even when the weather radar would have encouraged you to stay home instead. We also owe a serious debt of gratitude to our friends and sponsors who kicked in for prizes and premes — Lyons and Sucher Advertising, The Bike Rack, View14, The Farm at Sunnyside, and Johnny’s Half Shell Restaurant. Thanks for everything.
A load of great race pics are available here.
Race Report: We Are The Champions
It was a great weekend for District Velocity Racing p/b The Bike Rack, if only because we claimed an important title during the punishing Page Valley Road Race — Cat 4 MABRA Road Race Champions.
Yep, champions. Corey took second place in the race, but given that the first place finisher was on a non-MABRA team, his strong performance won him the area’s most coveted road race award. And we couldn’t be prouder, both of his accomplishment and the teamwork that it took to get him there. Corey was joined by Matt, Chas, Troy, and Marcus, all of whom did the right amount of work at the right moments to make it count. Matt also claimed tenth, after burying himself to set up Corey’s final move in the closing mile of the race. We’ll be happy to see Corey slip on the champions jersey when he gets it early next year.
In the Cat 3 race, Dennis placed fourth, while Grayson, still on the road to full recovery, put in a brave ride and came in for 16th. Tony nailed 18th, while Kevin, who put in a huge chase on a dangerous breakaway late in the race, placed 26th. I dropped a chain and dropped myself, but in preferring a DFL to a DNF, came in 44th, ahead of only nine other guys. We also had Amy take on some of the local women, and she deserves a big high-five for making this one of her first road races. Quite a place to learn, huh?
Marcus took a lot of great pictures of lots of the different races, and Grayson caught Corey’s strong sprint to the finish during the road race on video.
The crit was less well-attended, but Chas and Troy braved the 35+, while Chas (yeah, he doubled up) and Matt survived the Cat 4 shell-fest (Matt took fifth). I rode in a tiny Cat 3 field, and pulled the plug after something like seven laps. Apparently my desire to not DNF from the day prior was quickly diminished every time we had to sprint up the main hill on the course. Congrats to GamJams’ Greg Wittwer for a solid solo win, and Ben Reynolds from CycleLife/Raw Talent Ranch for almost — almost! — catching him in the final laps.
All told, Page Valley and its promoters delivered a great race weekend — again. The road race is about as hard as they get, and the crit, well, it’s about as epic as they get. Sadly, the fields were somewhat small, but I’d wager that it’ll be on the calender for next year and will draw much bigger crowds. There’s simply no other crit in the area that’s all up or down, and lots of local riders who otherwise dislike crits should take solace in the fact that this course does not favor people who can sprint real fast in the final few hundred meters.
The Droppage at Lost River
So Linc Brookes went ahead and posted a whole bunch of pictures from the Lost River Classic, and what I had hoped was a moment left best forgotten on the roads of West Virginia has instead been immortalized for all to see. Yep, I got dropped. And badly. Grayson has a good excuse — this was his first race back after a pretty tough accident and more than a month off the bike. (And he’s even smiling in the picture — good sport.) Not me. I just plain got shelled.
At some point, we had a car in front of us with a guy hanging out of the sunroof with a video camera. He even stopped, got out, and filmed us going by. I’m not sure if the folks over at You Got Dropped have gone multimedia, or this was simply NCVC trying to document how badly the race destroyed virtually every field. Either way, soon enough I may have more to worry about than a simple picture — there will be video of me slowly slinking up the road, so far off the back that race officials likely thought I was winning the Cat 5 race. (Which started a good 10 minutes behind the 3/4 field I was in.)
I’d like to say I’m a sprinter, and that climbing’s not my thing. But let’s be honest — anyone who has seen me in crits knows that I’m no Mark Cavendish. I’m not even a Tyler Farrar. There’s not many excuses for what happened at Lost River. I just wish it had stayed at Lost River. Damn you, Linc Brookes!
Race Report: Lost River Classic
District Velocity Racing p/b The Bike Rack sent a large group into the wilds of West Virginia for one of the hardest, if hotly anticipated road races of the year — the Lost River Classic. While we quietly scoffed last year at the designation of “classic” — how can an inaugural race be a classic? — this year’s running of the race certainly earned it the title.
In the 3/4 race, we had a number of cards to play, and we looked to both Dennis and Tony (second and eighth at Giro di Coppi, respectively) as our strong finishers. The race was relatively tame to begin with, spare an early attack by NCVC’s Nick S. , a deer jumping in front of the field as we approached the first climb to the church, and a brazen solo attack by Sam that lasted but a few glory- and pain-filled miles. Things picked up from there, but the decisive move came when Squadra Coppi’s Tom B. attacked on the final lap.
Seeing that no one was responding, Tony went into full chase, soon to be joined by Dennis. They pulled themselves within a few seconds coming into the final climb, but the catch-up effort alone was enough to do them in. Dennis rolled in for seventh, while Corey picked up thirteenth. The rest of the team struggled in with what was left of the field. Tom J., though, suffered the worst fate — he flatted just as the neutral roll-out started.
Tony decided to double up and try his hand at the 1/2/3, and he wisely pulled the plug after a lap. The way he told it, the field didn’t even last a few hundred yards on Route 259 before it was shattered into multiple groups by vicious attacks.
After the race, we all decamped to the Lost River Guest House and sat by the pool. That’s how racing should be, I think. You put in a lot of work, and then you get to spend the day and night at a well-appointed lodge that seemed more appropriate for a romantic weekend getaway than it did for a bunch of clowns like us. A heartfelt thanks goes out to the Guest House, their wonderful accommodations, and their friendly staff. And the pancake breakfast on Sunday. Amazing.
On Sunday, we joined in with Jay and a solid group for a 50-miler on the Lost River-area roads. It wasn’t 10 miles before Russ Langley and Chuck Hutch had attacked themselves off the front, leaving the rest of us to more comfortably deal with the climbs to Moorefield and up to the Raw Talent Ranch. As we descended, a thunderstorm rolled in, soaking us for the last stretch back to the Guest House. We all made it back safely, thankfully, though we were forced to dodge falling branches on the way back.
Congratulations to NCVC on a great race, and thanks to the Lost River community for hosting us.
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