CRC Racing Central

Brownie Crit Results September 4, 2008

2008-09-04T17:33:00.001-07:00

Great Crit Course with a gravel road climb to the fire road and then a ripping descent, all to do it again!!
5 laps of pain felt great. Some of our normal fast guys and gals were not on top form after that SM100 thing this weekend.

Place Name Lap 1, Lap 2, Lap 3, Lap 4, Lap 5/Final
1 Bucky, 3:25, 7:12, 11:11, 15:07, 18:54
2 Shawn 3:38, 7:22, 11:15, 15:06, 19:07
3 Dave T3:37, 7:32, 11:32, 15:36, 19:51
4 Kevin 3:42, 7:58, 11:26, 16:56, 21:36
5 Dan O 3:50, 8:42, 13:36, 18:40, 23:34
6 Dan.....4:51, 9:36, 14:34, 19:42, 24:48
7 Denelle 4:44, 9:50, 14:58, 20:12, 25:20
8 Bridge 4:55, 10:08, 15:38, 21:23, 27:00
9 Kyle R. 4:45, 10:06, 15:12, 21:59 DNF
10 Jim .. 6:09, 11:20, 16:33, 22:33, DNF
11 Will S. 5:36, 11:22, 17:43, 24:19 DNF
12 Elaine DNF
13 Jeff H DNF
Timed by Jason...so he gets a DNS. Thanks man!!

Paranormal 2007 Results

2007-10-26T11:13:00.000-07:00

Here are the results for the 2007 Paranormal. Thanks to everyone that came out, we had an awesome time putting on the race. There are plenty of pictures around but it may take a week or so before I have the energy to track them all down and/or post links to them.

Here's a link to the results...

-James

Super D for Dusty

2007-10-18T07:30:00.001-07:00

Two things for certain about the super D on Wednesday:

1) Walnut could use some rain
2) It really was more of a point-to-point race than a super d.

That being said, our king has been de-throned. The Results:

10/17/07 Walnut Super D for Dusty
1 - Jeremy - 11:27
2 - Matt H - 11:50
3 - Dave T. - 12:02
4 - Kev 29er - 12:36
5 - Super D - 12:50
6 - Johanna - 12:57
7 - Al - 13:34
8 - Jason H - 14:42
9 - Mark in the dark - 14:32
10 - Michele - 17:08

Urban Cross at IX

2007-10-15T06:47:00.000-07:00

40 foot long SAND PIT!?!?!?!? WTF?
For real tough, it was BAD ASS! not just the sand, the whole race. it had almost all the elements cross can have, besides mud and water. i do have to say that there were some awesome wipe outs in the sand, which earned them an appropriate piece of chocolate from what's his name, who plays Steve Miller Band, and Fleetwood Mac at the races(what?).

it was nice to see future Darden Towe star (and current prez.) Eric Flecher, holding it down as the official. it wouldn't happen without him. thanks eric!

the whole race was like the obstacle course in Elementary school Gym class. the competition was good and most of the fields had a decent number of riders. Bill was out there photographing the whole thing check it out: buffalo2step.com

this was one of the more fun cross races i've been to. it's so compacted into that small space that it makes the spectating that much better for the spectators and the riders (the sand pit helped too).

i love you, bike racing!

World Bicycle Relief

2007-10-12T07:18:00.000-07:00

As many of you may know, the Paranormal this year is supporting World Bicycle Relief, an organization founded by SRAM to provide bicycles to people in disaster relief and poverty assistance situations. I'm the communication manager for World Bicycle Relief, and James asked me to say a few words about our organization ...

First, a big thanks to James and the CRC for their support of World Bicycle Relief this year. From an initial e-mail way back in February, the CRC came on board with The Blue Ridge School to put together support for us via the Blue Ridge Triple Threat, and I had the honor of riding in the first event. Although I crashed out, it made me want more! The riding you have down there is incredible, and it matches your giving spirit!

World Bicycle Relief was founded in 2005 in response to the Indian Ocean Tsunami. One of the founding members of SRAM, F.K. Day, and his wife Leah Missbach Day, wanted to help with the rebuilding efforts, and conceived a plan to distribute bicycles in the hardest-hit areas. While their initial thoughts focused on children's bikes, it was soon clear that the need for mobility far surpassed what they could imagine! With more than 20 years of experience in the bicycle industry, F.K. was able to bring together a local manufacturer and a large relief organization, and with financial support from SRAM and Trek, built and distribute 24,300 bicycles within 14 months of the disaster. We have measured the effectiveness of this program, and are excited to report that more than 80% of those bikes are still helping their recipients to earn a livelihood!

Once the impact of a bicycle was clear, F.K. and Leah turned their attention to Africa. Partnering with a consortium of relief organizations in Zambia called RAPIDS -- Reaching AIDS-Affected People with Integrated Development and Support -- World Bicycle Relief committed to sourcing and distributing 23,000 bicycles to volunteer, community-based HIV/AIDS caregivers, disease prevention educators and vulnerable households this year. It's a $2.9 million project, that by its end will include bicycles for caregivers; training for more than 400 field mechanics; and improvements to the bicycles in a way that keeps them backward-compatible with the spare parts and knowledge already in place. It's a comprehensive, sustainable, scalable solution that we will measure and evaluate, with the intent to eventually provide thousands and even millions more bicycles in the future!

But we can't do it without support from folks like the CRC, and you. These bicycles are sourced new, and shipped unassembled into Zambia, where they are built by the mechanics we train. (They are not SRAM-equipped Trek bikes!) To support the program, each bicycle is purchased through contributions -- each one costs $109, and is fully tax-deductible. Even a portion of the $109 is helpful: when you consider that each caregiver looks after approximately 20 patients, even a $5 or $10 donation has a tremendous impact.

To learn more about World Bicycle Relief, and to see stunning images by Leah of the work we are doing, visit http://www.worldbicyclerelief.org/. You can also sign up for our e-mailing list to learn more in the future. Or, to contribute directly to our Project Zambia, and help us close the funding gap, visit http://www.worldbicyclerelief.org/donate/index.php, where there are instructions to donate securely via credit card, or by check or wire transfer.

Thanks again to James and the CRC team for supporting World Bicycle Relief. Through events like the Paranormal, we're able to spread the word and prove to everyone The Power of Bicycles.

-- Chris

Cross Crit, 10/10 Results

2007-10-11T07:40:00.001-07:00

I'd hesitate to call it a cross course or a mountain bike course - really a hybrid of the two. It consisted of a big field lap followed by some off camber turns, singletrack, and then finally the DFU finish. Suffice it to say it was punishing, especially with so many close finishes and packing the 5 top spots into a free-for-all, 30 second window. Good racing.

1) Jeremy 23:25
2) Steve 23:30
3) Mike 23:40
4) Dave Same Time
5) Kyle 23:50
6) Shawn 27:10
7) Ted 27:30
8) Jason 28:28
9) John Neil Same Time
10) Scott 28:42
11) Will 32:02
12) Blake 35:05
13) Kate DNF

Fingers crossed for a LITTLE rain before the paranormal - sure is dusty out there.

Paranormal Preview Rides

2007-09-23T12:18:00.000-07:00

The Paranormal course is shaping up nicely. A lot of folks have put in a lot of work to get the trails ready for prime time. There's still a little bit of work to do but I was out there for the crit this week and they are in really nice shape.

Unfortunately, the Tevendale farm is a private venue so you can't just roll out there on your own and get the lay of the land but we have decided to setup a few course preview days. The dates and directions are below. ALL RIDERS MUST SIGN A WAIVER WHEN THEY SHOW UP FOR THE PRE RIDE.

Pre Ride Dates:

Saturday Oct 6th 8am-noon
Sunday Oct 7th 3pm-9pm (for the night owls!)
Oct 14th 2pm-7pm

Detailed driving directions:

From Rt 29 and 250 in Charlottesville, Head North on 29. Make a Left onto Hydraulic Road. Follow this through three lights and make a Left onto Earlysville Road at the fourth light (Summers market, formerly The Rock Store). Take Earlysville Road through Earlysville and at the Earlysville General Store stay left onto Buck Mountain Road. Follow this for a few miles until a Right onto Markwood Road. Follow Markwood for about a mile and make a left onto Allen Road. The first drive way on the left is the race venue, follow signs to parking.

Paranormal Preview Crit

2007-09-19T17:18:00.001-07:00

What a great Brownie Crit that one turned out to be. The course is the same that will be used for the Paranormal race on October 20th with just one tiny reroute. We had a huge turn out, and everyone was psyched by how great the trails were. Times are listed below, this was roughly a 6.5 mile loop----I think. I flagged the single speeders that I knew of as well.

Place Name Time
1 Jeremy S. 29:52 (ss)
2 Mike W. 30:15
3 Shawn T. 31:29
4 Dave T. 31:46
5 Matt H. 33:33 (ss)
6 Jeff 35:33 (ss)
7 Al I. 36:08
8 Scott R. 37:08
9 Tim H 38:13
10 Paul 38:21
11 David P. 38:23
12 James G. 39:56
13 Matt H. 40:10
14 Dennis 41:20
15 Carl 43:23 (in shoes 3 sizes too small)
16 Caleb 47:09
17 Isaac 49:03
18 Mark 53:50
19 Anna 54:48
20 Dave W. 65:04

A big thanks to Denelle for timing us and cheering loudly as we finished.....hope she feels better soon.

-Shawn

Brownie Crit Results 9/13

2007-09-14T06:34:00.001-07:00

Last nights crit went great. Not a huge turn-out, but a group that was on the gas pretty strong. Here are a few pictures and the results from it. The pictures are sure not of "Buffalo-2-Step" Bill quality, but they are what I can do....at least with this camera. Speaking of that guy, Man are we gonna miss him in this area.
www.buffalo2step.com

Place Name Lap 1 Lap2 Total
1 Dave 12:39 12:42 25:21
2 Mike 13:00 12:54 25:54
3 Kyle 13:15 13:38 26:53
4 Scott 15:24 15:15 30:39
5 Denelle 17:29 17:39 35:08
6 Michele 18:05 17:48 35:53
DNF Jason 16:56 -----------

-Shawn

SM 100

2007-09-03T14:37:00.000-07:00

The SM 100 happened yesterday. The weather was amazing, the trails were dry and the suffering was great (although greater for some than others). Although Landis was present, Trek riders swept the day: both Jeff Schalk and Sue Haywood broke course records. Check out the cycling news coverage by Sue George and pics by Bill McCarrick (like the one of Floyd above).

CRC was also present and charlottesville in general was well represented. I'll just give a brief shout out to Fenton, Luther, Nick Pence (Richard was cheering:), Shawn and Dave Tevendale, Jay, Eric Anderson, Matt Day, all the members of CAMBC and CRC (James, Becky, Shannon) who were volunteering and the list goes on. Personally, I had a better ride than I expected, although I should say that the aftermath of this effort is that today I am tired and stupid.

Fenton showing us how to pack a drop bag

There are a couple more pictures I might post, but this is about all I can conjure up right now. That and single speeders are sick. Really.

Peace out,
Johanna

James G. Wins Big

2007-08-31T05:32:00.001-07:00

What a ride that was. Two full speed "Super D" style runs, no body armor, cross country bikes, lycra clad warriors. Suprisingly we had no crashes or chaos occur. Time adjustments were handed out to some individuals for a creative re-route they decided on. That is reflected by the + next to there Run 1 times. The Time adjustment was 1:30 to bring their run time back in line with the rest of the group, but really we should have just DQ'd them.
James killed us all, and Jeremy took 2nd on a rigid single speed (sicko).
Down Hill Diva Dennelle took the women's Cat with a bomber of a run as well. Thanks for coming out everyone, Look for some other alternative style courses in the coming weeks as well. (Cross, Short Track, Relays, who knows.)

Place...Name...Run 1..Run 2..Cummulative
1 James 4:13 2:51 7:04
2 Jeremy 4:40+2:38 7:18
3 Shawn 4:28 2:57 7:25
4 Josh 4:43+2:43 7:26
5 Dave 4:33 2:58 7:31
6 Craig 4:48+2:46 7:34
7 Jason 4:47 2:56 7:43
8 Kyle 4:54+ 2:44 7:48
9 Nolan 5:11 3:31 8:42
10 Dennelle 6:07 4:04 10:11
DNF Alec 4:46"where did the course go" DNF

2007-08-24T15:53:00.000-07:00

The Charlottesville Racing Club Presents The 2007 Paranormal

Saturday
* October 20, 2007 *
4:00 PM - 10:00 PM

The Paranormal is back for its fifth year. The venue has changed but we are still looking forward to having a quality event that's fun for everyone. Candy, campfires and mountain bike racing...what else could you ask for?

Most of the details are on the bikereg site but there are a few specifics that I'll layout here. There's a new venue, we still have the kids race and we would like to see a few shops step up for the shop challenge.

The Venue & Course

Panorama has been closed for the past two seasons but another local venue has really stepped it up this year to provide us with some quality trails. There is a family farm a few minutes north of the old venue with some great flowing singletrack and a couple of natural obstacles to keep it just a little bit interesting.

The 6.5 mile course will be almost completely singletrack with a short field section near the transition area. The elevation change will be similar to previous Paranormal courses. We don't have a plan for a steaming mulch pile just yet...but there is still time.

Click here for a Google Map to the race venue.

Detailed directions from Charlottesville are on the registration page

Kids Race

The kids race starts at 3:00. We will stage them near the start/finish and have them done with plenty of time for the parents to get to the pre-race meeting at 3:30

Shop Challenge

Okay...pay attention here shop owners/employees. This is a great opportunity to represent your product, your bike building prowess and your riding skill. Here are the rules...

Four Riders
One Mountain Bike
You must bring the bike to the race sealed in the manufacturer's original box
MSRP of the bike cannot exceed $300.
You assemble the bike at the start line.
The first team to finish 4 laps (one per rider) wins
You cannot install anything on the bike that did not come in the box. (If the bike came with one pedal, you ride with one pedal)

by the way...if you think this is a ridiculous and crazy idea and could never happen...just ask the guys at C-ville Bike and Tri. They were the pioneers for the 2006 Shop Challenge and are looking to hold on to the title. If you don't believe it, check out the bike!

Brownie Crit Results 8/22

2007-08-23T04:04:00.000-07:00

This was a strange course with lots of sharp turns, bridge crossings, and some flat wideopen sections as well. Typical Tevendale Farm Territory. It was a two lap format with no official watch minder, so we had to wing it until some one got in to watch it.

Place Name Time
1 Jeremy 22:00?
2 Mike 22:28?
3 Shawn 22:38
4 Dave T 23:18
5 Johanna 23:52
6 Scott 25:05
7 Dave W 25:28
8 Kev 29er 25:56
9 Jason 27:20
10 Fenton 28:10
11 James 31:47
12 Denelle 34:02
DNF Christy and Gilday both did a single lap.

Crit Results from 8/15

2007-08-23T03:55:00.000-07:00

This was a very short course with minimal climbing, but some good twisty single track:

Place, Name, Lap1, Lap2, Lap 3/Finish
1 Dave T. 8:21 15:24 22:33
2 Shawn 8:07 15:30 22:34
3 Kevin 8:28 16:20 24:06
4 Johanna 8:47 16:46 24:36
5 James 9:20 17:49 26:38
6 Ben 9:21 18:21 27:13
7 Luther 10:30 19:18 28:12
-Jason 10:45 DNF
-Kyle 8:40 16:45 DNF

Great ride, and a big thanks to Shannon for running the stop watch.

-Shawn

Masters State Championships

2007-08-11T18:43:00.000-07:00

I'm just back from the masters state crit championship but I never got around to reporting on the masters state road race so maybe I'll start with that. Which happened on a slightly rolling 15 mile loop (of which we did 4 laps) southwest of Richmond on July 21. Not rolling as you might find around C-ville because I don't think I ever used more than a 53x21, but still enough to put a little sting in the legs on occasion.

At any rate, I was telling Bill Scanlon as we drove down there together that I was going to try and sit tight for at least the first 2 laps and then maybe give it a go. I was also talking about how I read that one of the guys who made it into a break in one of the recent Tour stages said he used the tactic of attacking when he felt bad. Do you see where this is going yet? Well when the race started we tooled along slowly for the first couple miles and then the attacks started coming. As often happens my plan to be patient went out the window and I was soon at the front. Mainly because some of the strong guys were having digs, though I tried to just follow wheels and not work too much. After a lap and a half it was still all together and I was still being attentive near the front when a bunch of attacks started flying on a long false flat section. Eventually it all came together and I felt like hell because we had been going pretty hard for a while but I looked around and everyone else seemed to be just as blown as I was so that's when I attacked. One guy came with me and then another guy bridged up soon after that and we were away. It seemed a little nuts with over 40 miles still to go but we kept driving it and holding the gap. We never really pulled away but we stayed out of sight.

Inside of the final 10 miles local strongman Keck Baker crossed the minute or so gap solo and then we were four. I was toast by that point as it became kind of a slugfest since the chasing bunch was never that far behind. With 500 meters to go Keck took off and I made the mistake of trying to go after him. I ended up in no man's land and the other two guys scooted around before the finish so I ended up 4th. Not the best place in a 4 man sprint but I was just glad the break stuck. And that I was 2nd in my age group and so picked up my first ever state championship medal. Once again I have to thank Bill, who got cussed at on more than one occasion for his attempts to slow down the chase from behind.

Masters State Crit, Chesapeake, 8/11

The road race was a nice surprise really, but I like crits so I was aiming for this one. Unfortunately there was also a Pro/1/2/3 race with a $2k prize list just after the masters races so that brought out some big guns, some of whom are over 30 and can thus also race with the masters. Like a certain former pro called Dave Fuentes. Whom I've dubbed the Energizer bunny because he just keeps going and going and going. About 2 laps into the masters 30+ crit this guy takes off and strings out the field. He goes nowhere at first but then he does it again. And again. And again. Finally the elastic snaps and I'm suffering but I'm happy with my good fortune because now there's Fuentes and 5 others with a good gap and I'm one of those six. Unfortunately, he and two more of his DC area cronies keep driving the pace and soon me and two other local guys are split off the back of the break and heading back to the pack.

I knew where I had to be and I was even there for a short while but it just got too damn fast and soon enough I was resigned with the rest of the bunch to racing for 4th place. Even in the rest of the bunch we were flying because our average speed at the end was an even 26 mph, but the three in front were gone. Anyway, after licking my early wounds I started paying attention to the front of the race again and around halfway through a small group started moving away. They never got a huge gap though and the chase behind was steady. I tried unsuccessfully to cross the gap once but I just needed to bide my time a little longer.

With around 7 laps to go I counted the gap at around 12 seconds to the four guys off the front (remember that the front three were long gone, probably a minute up the road). I was thinking again about how I could get across when a couple of guys from the same team started pulling the bunch along and making very slow progress on the break. I sat behind them for a while and they chewed just a few seconds off the gap. When I sensed that they were just about spent, I jumped as hard as I could in the crosswind section before the last corner. Then I hit the tailwind start/finish stretch and went like I was sprinting for the finish. That got me clear and most of the way across the gap and then I just gritted it out until I made the junction. Within another lap, 2 of the original 4 guys were dropped so then there were 3 of us with about 4 laps to go. We never really pulled away but we just held the gap till the finish where the best I could manage was to finish between my 2 break mates for 5th place on the day. Bummer that they were only paying 3 places, but good that 3 of the 4 guys ahead of me were younger and so I ended up with another silver medal. Not quite the color I was hoping for but I guess 2 state championship medals in a season is nothing to shake a stick at.

Brownie Crit Results

2007-08-08T19:04:00.001-07:00

Even with 100 degree heat today, we had a great turnout. Thanks to all who came, it made for a really fun time.

2 mile loop, 2 laps
Results
Place Name Split Final
1st Jeremy (SS) 10:28 20:20
2nd Shawn 10:30 21:05
3rd Scott 12:30 24:35
4th Jeff (SS) 12:40 25:00
5th Jason 13:34 26:45
6th Paul 14:00 27:10
7th Scott 16:20 31:10
DNF's for a camel back mishap-
Caleb and Isaac Both rolled in the first lap at 24:45 after an extensive search for the nozzle from a camelback.

Thanks again everyone,

-Shawn

Wilderness 101

2007-08-06T10:49:00.000-07:00

The race started smoothly, 40 miles of rolling fire road, dirt gravel, and the occasional single track traverse or descent left everyone feeling strong, then reality hit. The last porton of this race gets real, real single track climbs, real viscous descents, and real mind numbing dirt gravel roads. All in all, I was riding well, despite the heat and having bonked and cramped a bit....then off came the rear deraileur in a big rock garden. The chain was nearly destroyed in the process, so no single speeding option. After 78 miles of riding, I was now hiking. I hiked into the 86 mile aid station and got a ride back in from there....race done.

Brownie Crit Results

2007-08-02T05:57:00.000-07:00

Awesome ride to everyone, Ted stomped us all on the single speed this go round. Times are below.
The course was a 4 mile loop with some good climbs and technical descents. It was conducted TT style.

1st- Ted 24:30 (ss)
2nd- Shawn 24.54
3rd- Dave 25:14
4th- Fred 27:21
5th- Kevin 27:35 (ss)
6th- Jason 32:24
7th- Paul 32:29
8th- Denelle 40:10 -First Crit and a great crash

Jeremey-killed another bike
Dave Wooten-Made his own course

Big thanks to Chris Hoy for sweeping the course for us and it was great to see him on a bike again.

-Shawn

Contrasting Crits

2007-07-01T18:31:00.000-07:00

Three weekends, three very different criteriums.

First up, the Bryan Park Circuit Race two weeks ago. Yeah it's called a circuit race but it's on a 1.4 mile loop so I'll still call it a crit. This was a small mellow race run on roads inside Bryan Park in Richmond. It's essentially a flat, open course with only 2 corners but still the average speed in the Cat. 3-4 race was right about at 24 mph. The field was about 35 riders and we spent a lot of time tooling along looking at each other. Except when someone would attack. Then everyone would chase. Then the attack would come back and it'd be back to tooling along looking at each other. I was in a couple of moves that looked good but in the end it was all together. The finish is a good 400 meters from the last corner so I was trying to be patient in about 4th wheel right before that but I got stuck a bit on the inside when a few guys came flying around the outside. I didn't think they'd hold it to the line but they did and I essentially didn't go anywhere in the sprint and finished 7th.

Next, the Reston Town Center Grand Prix last weekend. In contrast to the mellow Bryan Park race, this one has a huge field and is on a 3/4 mile course with 8 corners and a slight downhill backstretch then a long slightly uphill grind back to the finish. Even with that kind of course the average speed here was around 25.5. There were about 85 starters and only about 35 finishers. It was the hardest cat. 3 race I've done in a while. It was single file most of the time and though I stayed near the front almost the whole race it just got too fast at the finish. I was right at the front with about 4 laps to go but then the attacks started coming and suddenly I found myself near the back and at that point there was no moving back up. I finished at the back of what was left of the field but CRC's Bill Scanlon managed to hang on in the middle of the bunch for 14th place.

And finally yet another different sort of race, today's Go Fast, Turn Left race on a 1/3 mile slightly banked oval stock car track. This was a smaller field like Bryan Park and with Bill "TGV Train" Scanlon racing with me again I was confident that we could do well. It was a short race, only 30 laps, which ultimately took less than 25 minutes so it was pretty fast from the gun. Unfortunately for Bill, his chain jammed right off the start line. The officials wouldn't give him a free lap for that so he ended up chasing half a lap down right from the get go. Eventually he ended up sitting up and getting lapped which is a major bummer but when life gives you lemons... well you'll see. After a few attacks went and came back I went up the road for a bit with a Fat Frogs guy. Since he had about 6 teammates back in the bunch I thought it might work but the chase was relentless and we eventually got caught. Then another Fat Frogs guy immediately attacked and took one other guy with him. At that point the field seemed resigned to letting them go since they were getting a nice gap with only about 12 short laps to go.

Enter the TGV train. Bill was a lap down and had nothing to lose so he got to the front with me on his wheel and he proceeded to nail back the break bit by bit, pulling non-stop and timing it just like the sprinters' teams in the flat Tour stages and catching the break with a lap and a half to go. Starting the bell lap someone jumped around us and I immediately got on his wheel but that was almost a disaster as he dug a pedal or something in the curve. Next thing I know his foot's out of the pedal and he's crossed up and sideways in front of me. Fortunately he stayed upright and I swung wide around him then dived back down on the back stretch to catch on to 2nd wheel again. Coming out of the last curve I came around that wheel and for a brief moment I sensed glory but another guy came blasting around the outside and I settled for 2nd.

Till next time...

CSC Invitational Pro Women 1,2,3

2007-06-11T19:26:00.000-07:00

I did the women race which was 50K (1k, 5 turn lap). I was not confident that I would be able to hang on to the race, but I managed to finish it. About 60 women took to the start, and only 34 finished. I finished 29th. At the back, but I was just about as happy as the winner.
The race started off fast, and a breakaway formed after a few laps. I even got into a counter move, but that last only a few yards, then I just sat back because I did not want to risk blowing out. I was running the race with literally only 2 or so hours of sleep. I woke up at 1am and did not go back to sleep. The race was pretty much intense the entire time. Due to not sleeping my eye focus was not that great so I had a hard time judging the corners. Thus, I was cornering quite badly. When the women were lining up for the sprint (for 3rd) a girl 5 riders up poped so I accelerated around her,but I did not take a chance taking a girl on the inside so the field got a way from about 2 or 3 seconds. I sprinted hard to the line though. I made up a little ground on the field, but not enought to get past any of them. I was happy to just finish the race. It was my 3rd attempt at a NRC race and the first one I finished. Ben King also raced in the early morning men 1,2,3 race and got an awsome 5th place!

Thanks for reading,
Rachel

HOO-HA

2007-06-04T06:06:00.000-07:00

6 CRC racers, 4 medals, 3 state champs, and 1 black eye.
more later...

CSC Invitational

2007-06-03T10:19:00.000-07:00

Attrition was the name of the game here for all the races. Let's just say that there were around 100 starters in the men's 1/2/3 race and I wasn't among the 30 finishers. Nor was CRC's Mark King, though at least Mark can live vicariously through Ben who rode a great race and finished 5th.

Less than half the field finished the women's race as well and major props go to CRC's Rachel Warner who hung tough and finished with the main bunch. I doubt you'll find a stronger elite womens field anywhere in the country and Rachel hung on when many others were dropped. Almost as impressive was the beginning of the men's pro race when the Navigators' Viktor Rapinski came within 18 seconds of lapping the field solo. That's right. By. Himself. I was sure it was a suicide move at first but then he kept coming closer and closer to the tail end of the strung out bunch he had just left a few laps earlier. He finally succumbed though and in the end it was Rahsaan Bahati winning in a field sprint. I took a few pictures with my cheap camera but you're better off just going here if you want the full report, complete with photos, including many good shots by Bill McCarrick.

Rivanna Trail Circumnavigation for Kyle's Birthday

2007-06-02T12:36:00.001-07:00

Kyle's birthday was last Wednesday, so he put a call out to CRC & CAMBC for riders to come and ride the entire Rivanna Trail.

Coincidentally, Wednesday is my normal day off, and even more coincidentally, I had recently dropped road racing and rediscovered mountain biking after a 4 year hiatus. So the stars were aligned for a nice long mtb ride, on trails that didn't exist the last time I went mountain biking.

I figured that since it was a Wednesday morning, it would pretty much be me and Kyle. But I forgot this is Charlottesville, and naturally there were 8 people! In addition to Kyle, there was Luther, David T., Becca, my wife Jane, Butch, and Justin, raring to go at the appointed meeting spot.

We rolled out and within 100 yards, Jane & Luther were lost. There was a fork in the trail and they kept on rolling. We waited for a bit, but it turns out they were determined to go their way, and so Becca and I went (shouting) after at full speed.

A reminder that this is in the first 10 minutes of a 24 mile mountain bike ride.

My cell phone rang and it was Jane. We got them turned around and regrouped, and off we went. About 10 minutes later, we had to ride through a tunnel that had a creek go through it, with a little pool of water at the end and a hop up onto the trail. Luther, who seemed to be determinded to have the most happen to him on this ride, fell into the pool at the end. The water was 6 inches deep, but somehow Luther was wet up to his neck. And it was that funky smelling Rivanna water, not the nice kind. Luther has a positive outlook on life, so he shook it off and got back on his bike and air dried.

A reminder that this is in the first 20 minutes of a 24 mile mountain bike ride.

Then Butch's crank arm flew off.

A reminder that this is in the first 30 minutes of a 24 mile mountain bike ride.

The Justin's pedal screw came out.

A reminder that this is... aww you get the idea.

The Rivanna trail is a mixed bag of riding- mostly singletrack, some pavement trails, some road cut throughs, and some bushwhacking (more on that later). From C'ville High School, where we started, over behind the Bodo's on Preston, and then around to O'hill is excellent singletrack and well worth doing. Tight and technical, but doable throughout.

Becca, David T., and Jane had to peel off before O'hill due to schedule conflicts, so that left the 5 remaining to finish the loop. Things went pretty smoothly for awhile, we stopped at the JPA Fastmart because I am still thinking like a roadie and came on a 3 hour ride with one water bottle. I got a handup in the Fastmart feed zone, if you need a roadie translation.

We got out in the 5th street area, and then we pretty much couldn't find the trail. We could find trails, but they weren't our trail. We just followed the river (though which river it was, we didn't know). We found some dicey bridge-like structure made out of rotten pallets. Hmmm, that doesn't seem right. So we just kept on going til the trail got smaller and smaller.

Well, dang.

Like true outdoorsmen, we scouted the river to find a crossing, got a little wet, a little muddy, but were able to pick up the trail and continue. We still are not sure where we went wrong. Maybe we didn't go wrong.

Anyway, fresh hell awaited us ahead, in the form of a boulder strewn mile of trail along 64. Cascades of basketball sized sharp granite boulders had made the trail unridable, and so you had to push your bike from one sharp boulder to the next. In between the boulders were spring - fresh beds of poison ivy, thick and inviting. I am certain that no part of my legs was not covered with urushiol. Johanna's socks are looking like a brilliant idea about now.

I was fine for the first 16 miles or so, but the hike-a-bike from hell really took it out of me. From that point on, I was playing defense. Fortunately, the next section was at Riverview Park, which is paved trails for a couple of miles. Heck I drafted!

After that it was some road (to get around the crazy lady who put razor wire out on the trail), and then a final stretch of 2 or 3 miles of singletrack. We got back to C'ville High School after 3 hours of ride time, about 4 hours total, and it was a most excellent adventure.

I have to do it again, though, because I forgot my gps.....

-Craig

Chimney Chase Results Are Up

2007-05-24T17:55:00.000-07:00

The first Blue Ridge Triple Threat has come to a close. I am still wrapping up a few loose ends but it looks like we had a successful series. We had some great unique race venues that each provided their own little twist on tough MTB racing.

You can find the Chimney Chase results in the CRC results portal along with results from the first two races. Keep your eyes open for a press release from the World Bicycle Relief.

I would like to thank the following people/organizations for making this happen:

C'ville Bike & Tri
World Bicycle Relief (thanks for coming out Chris!)
Blue Ridge School (including all of the leaders and kids in the Outdoors Program)
Buffalo2step (awesome pics courtesy of Bill)
Beljum Budder (for prizes at the Chimney Chase)
The Scottsville Rescue Squad (for support during the Chimney Chase)

I guess the next CRC dirt event will be the Paranormal...we'll keep you posted as details start to come in. In the mean time all of the locals should check out the Brownie Crits. They are fun, laid back, intense MTB rides that should be experienced at least once.

Thanks to those who came out and suffered.
-James

Chimney Chase Course

2007-05-16T11:40:00.000-07:00

The course for the Walnut Creek Chimney Chase has been decided and mapped out. All of the locals can inspect the maps and decide where to make their moves. Unfortunately I won't be able to race this one with you guys but rest assured, Johanna, Fenton and I will be working with a crew of volunteers behind the scenes to keep everything running smoothly.

Maps

First the overall map. I just used the familiar Albemarle county map and laid some arrows over to highlight the layout for Sunday's course.

Single Lap Layout

Elevation Profile with Landmarks*

Chimney Chase course on Topo Map*

*The GPS coordinates came from a neat little unit by Garmin, graciously loaned by the good folks at www.WiredBike.com.

Course Description

The maps above are for a single lap of the course. Each ~10.5 mile lap has about 1400' of climbing. Not the most climbing that you'll do in Virginia but significant. The beginners will do one lap, the experts two and the sports will do 1.5. The sport half lap will be at the beginning of the race so once they are on course they come through the Start/Finish twice.

For all of those who really like maps...here's one more. It's the course layout with elevation without the Topo layover.

More Race Info:

To register go to BikeReg and sign up. It will save you some cash and it will save us a little bit of time on race day. Note, due to the updated course measurements the distances on the BikeReg page are slightly high.

Click here for more information on the event and the series. If you have any questions about the race or the course feel free to contact me through BikeReg or leave a comment here.

City Center Criterium, 5/13

2007-05-14T18:09:00.000-07:00

On paper this looked like a good course for me but it turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. It was less than a mile with 6 corners and a brick section around a big fountain. I generally like technical crit courses but this one had wide roads and a long start/finish stretch. Still a fun course but it ended up being all together in the end and I pretty much got dusted in the sprint. Bill Scanlon and I were again riding together for CRC in the cat. 3s against other teams with 4-5 riders each. Still between the two of us we managed to be in just about every move that looked promising (and probably a few that didn't). I was stoked when I got in what seemed like the move of the day half way through the race - 6 guys with most of the big teams represented and what looked like a lot of horsepower. We opened up a big gap almost immediately and it looked good for a couple laps but then for some reason everyone started looking at each other and it fizzled out just as quickly as it started. Once we hit 10 laps to go everyone seemed resigned to having a field sprint and the pace slowed dramatically. Guys that were floundering on the back the whole race were suddenly coming to the front thinking they'd win the sprint. Once we hit one to go though it was full on again and that's where my trouble began. On the back stretch on the last lap if you were anywhere farther back than about third wheel it was total pandemonium. I got stuck just a little too far back without the legs to do anything about it and came through the last corner barely in the top 10. And then a bunch of guys came around me, including Bill, who showed excellent sprinting form and made it up to 6th or 7th spot. I didn't stick around to see the results but I'm lucky if I made it into the top 15. Well, some days you get the bear and some days the bear gets you.

The only other races I saw there were the Masters 40+ and 50+. Perennial national champ Dave LeDuc rode both of those races and pretty much rode everyone into the ground. In the 40+, Mark King (perennially in the top 5) was in a break of 3 chasing a break of 2 and ended up 5th, and Eric Fletcher rode well to place in the top 10 or maybe just outside that. Mike Libby looked good in the 50+ race and also looked to be in the top 10 at the finish.

Tour of Ephrata, Wintergreen TT, Norfolk Cycling Classic

2007-05-08T12:44:00.000-07:00

The Tour of Ephrata
The Tour of Ephrata was a 3 stage 2 day points stage race event in PA. The temperatures were in the 60s-70s with partly cloudy skies during racing. Here is the recap:

Stage 1: 50K road race on a 6.1 mi. route. There was a centerline rule except for the last kilometer and the terrain was rolling but not selective. The race was dangerous as everyone was battling for position. There were many near misses during the race. I get boxed in during the last lunge for the line so I only got 14th, but was able to keep the rubber side down.

Stage 2: 8 mi. TT, the last 2.5 mi. are up a mountain with a few steep pitches. I did not bring any TT equipment because of the mountain, but a set of clip on aero bars would have been good. I managed to get 2nd. @10sec. off the winner, and moved up to 3rd on the G.C.

Stage 3: 20 lap 7/10th mile crit course course. There was a long down hill, the finish line was half way down. Then 2 small but repetitive climbs, and the corners were basically 90 degrees. I make a couple “dummy” moves in the beginning but the excitement happened with 4.5 laps to go. I launch an attack to go after a prime ($60 Nike sports watch), and after taking the prime I see that I have a gap. I continue to drive the pace despite two full teams working in unison to pull me back. I give it everything but am swallowed with about 500M to go. I ened up 19th on the stage and slipped to 7th overall.It was a good race, and I am starting to get some good form into my legs.

Wintergreen Ascent TT
The temperatures were cooler this year, about 5-10 degrees lower than I would like, but it was not unpleasant. I got in a good warm-up (which is very important), then I went as hard as I could, and ended up with a 40:17. I thought that I would only do the race in 42-43 min. so I was surprised. Although, 9 sec. Off the women's record makes me ask if I could go any harder? It is good that the record stays in our team.

Norfolk Cycling Classic
ClassicThe temperatures were in the mid 50s and was very windy/ gusty. The race starts off as usual. My legs are a little tired from the TT so I was not knowing what to expect. The course is 1.5 mi. with a 180 degree bend, and a cobble section on the other, and a couple 90 degree bends. After a few laps I get into a 3 woman breakaway, but it gets pulled back. Then a two women break gets away, and I was stuck behind someone on the cobble section so I could not jump on it. No one was willing to work so I took my lumps and pretty much pulled the race around for 6-7 laps to bring the break back. I finally do and then there were plenty attacks, I marked most of them. This all made my legs pretty tired so when we fanned out to sprint I only managed 4th, but I did take a $25 prime.

Thanks for reading,
Rachel

Wintergreen and Mid. MT. Mama

2007-05-07T07:19:00.000-07:00

2 epic races back to back. i rode Wintergreen but treated it as just another ride, so i wasn't burnt out for M.M.M. i rode my cross bike and finished in 50 min. ended up 25th.

the next day at M.M.M. was interesting. they started all of the feilds on a gravel road and only 1 min apart form each other. this proved to make for a messy start because once you hit the trail head, it was a wet rocky climb where all the feilds caught each other and everybody was fighing tooth and nail to pass. after it thined out i found a guy, and James to ride with for a while. there was tons of little ring climbing and a killer 20 min off camber decent. i held it down in 3rd place for most of the race, got passed on the last climb. i was gaining ground on 3rd on the final decent until my chain snaped and i had to roll accross the finish scooter style. 4t aint so bad when they give you a pair of socks.
i think every race should end with a BBQ. nice touch Fenton and James!

there was a great showing of CRC folk:
James G 10thish place
Johanna K 1st place
Shawn T 3rd place
Becca B 1st place
Kyle R 4th place
Greg W 3rd place
Luther 1st place
Fenton 8thish place
Nolan L 3rd place (Blue Ridge School)
i think everyone came in under 3hrs. good job everyone. let's kick it at Walnut and Hilbert round 2.

-kyle rodland

Tales from the Crits

2007-05-04T18:38:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again when if you're a road racer it's mostly one criterium after another. Here's an overdue report on a couple of those crits.

Casey Crit, Newport News - April 22

I showed up in time to see CRC's Mark King and CRC alum Ben King driving a break in the 1-2-3 race. This after Mark had already finished 5th in the masters race earlier in the day. With 15 or so laps to go the chase was still on in the bunch but then suddenly the impetus was gone and the break lapped the field with several laps still to go. In the end it was Ben in 2nd and Mark in 4th.

The cat. 3 race was still coming up where I'd be racing with teammate Bill "TGV Train" Scanlon. On such a flat open course I figured I'd hang out and wait for the inevitable field sprint but the I pulled up to the start line and saw that the three big local teams had 6, 5 and 4 riders and that represented over half the field. If a break rolled away with one each of those guys that could be dangerous so Bill and I both covered several such moves. Unfortunately the one we didn't make it into was the one that stuck - 5 guys, including one each from the big three rolled away and suddenly they had a swarm of teammates at the front tooling along like it was a leisurely training ride. So we decided to cut our losses and sit in until the finish. With a lap and a half to go I was getting nervous about how the finish would go down when Bill came by and said "Get on my wheel". He then proceeded to put the hammer down for the whole bell lap and took me all the way around the last bend to within 100 meters of the finish. I went for it, expecting to get swarmed any second but I managed to hang on and finish 6th, while Bill still got into the BAR points in 14th.

I didn't catch any of the other races but other CRC results were Mike Libby, 9th in the masters 50+, Rachel Warner, 2nd in the women's 1,2,3, and Jake King, 1st in the juniors 10-12.

Ed Elliot Crit, Harrisonburg - April 28

Another flat crit, but on quite a different course. This one in downtown Harrisonburg on a 1.3 mile wide open course with 3 corners, including a tight 160 degree last turn. Unfortunately for me that last corner was a good 500 meters from the finish and I don't typically fare too well in really long drag-race sprints. Bill and I were racing together again in the 3/4 race and again we both were in various moves but this time nothing at all stuck. We were both near the front coming out of the last corner before the finish and I could hear Bill tell me he was on my wheel but I didn't have the juice to do anything about it. Plus I got stiff-armed (yeah, just like we were playing football) in the middle of the sprint by some guy who obviously hasn't read a rule book lately. You know, that minor rule about keeping both hands on your bars and not riding dangerously. Even without that though I didn't have the stamina for that long of a sprint and I ended up 8th in the 3's while Bill found his way around me to finish 6th.

I did the 1,2,3 race as well but that was more of a training ride since I was mostly pack-fill and again got my doors blown in the sprint. Again I didn't catch many other races and the results still aren't posted on vacycling but I think I did see Mark get another top 5 in the masters.

Greenbrier UCI finish

2007-05-02T12:26:00.000-07:00

Bishop finishing (suffering) with a flat.

Todd Wells finishing (not suffering) with a flat.

Casey and Ed Elliott Crits

2007-05-02T07:09:00.000-07:00

Casey Auto Group Criterium - April 23

Jake King has been having a good season. He won the Casey Crit in his age group and did a Cat 5 race in Harrisonburg. (Way to go, Jake! How old are you now?). Ben and Mark King raced Cat 2 and got in a break with 2 riders to lap the field. Ben came in 2nd by inches on Junior gears, and Mark scored 4th. Mark also raced the Masters field and worked with Eric Fletcher for a 5th place finish.

Ed Elliott Memorial Criterium - April 30

Mark King got in a break in the Cat 2 race, that got caught with 3k to go and finished 10th. He also came in 5th in a hard fought Masters race.

-Posted for the 3 Kings...

Greenbrier, greenbrier.

2007-05-02T06:41:00.000-07:00

i think that Johanna's post sums it up real well. all i can add is that i thought the trails were awesome! on the big rocky climb, i ran it, cyclocross style to save some gas so i could get to the downhills faster and haul. the whole race i was always in eyeshot of the 3 guys out front until i flatted near the end of my 2nd lap. i got passed by 3 riders when i was alomst done fixing the flat. i cought one right away, another one flatted, and i passed the last passer in the first 1/4 of the last lap. i finished 6 min. back from the leader.
can't wait to hit that carpool again!
-kyle

Greenbrier Challenge

2007-05-01T10:39:00.000-07:00

CRC had a strong showing at the Greenbrier Challenge Mountain Bike race this past sunday. The AMBC event included a UCI sanctioned pro-race that brought some well known faces to the park. The course, which had been drizzled on the day before, started a little slick but was in great shape by the afternoon. Many rock gardens, a long steep climb, open fireroads and a bomber (muddy, rooty, rocky) descent characterized the course. There were many flats to be had by all (see below), but we made it through (except for Shawn who doubled flatted in front of a UCI official). Everone qualified to go to USCF Mountain Bike Nationals at Mt. Snow, VT in July. Nice Job!!

Hopefully we'll have some pics and individual race reports soon.

Results in order of race day event:
Shawn Tevendale - Marathon, was in 4th, DNF: 2 flats
Becca Blatt - Women's Sport, 1st place
Kyle Rodland - Men's Senior Sport , 4th place: 1 flat
James Wittwer - Men's Junior Sport, 3rd place
Johanna Kraus - Elite Women, 8th place: 1 flat
Fred Wittwer - Men's Masters Expert, 5th place
Greg Wittwer - Men's Expert, 10th place: 1 flat

Blue Ridge School

2007-04-23T16:56:00.000-07:00

Man, that was a bunch of unexpected climbing! But, it was awesome! The feilds were small, the trails were technical. I was really impressed with the trails that the teacher/student crew had built. I had a good race, hangin' onto 1st place, even caught some of the experts that started ahead of me (should have done that 3rd lap!). there were tons of student built bridges and log overs that were totally cool. another year or so of riding on those trails and they'd be perfict. There was a lot of bike carnage at the race. Bridge: broken rear hanger, Chris (from World Bike Relief): broken shifter, A Student: crank arm fell off, Hollis: ?? (someting happend)?, and lots of flat tires.
This was a good race! Hats off to James, Nolan, Fenton, and Crew!
I can't wait for the Blue Ridge School organized rides.

Photos up soon on Bill's site Buffalo2step.com

-kyle

Cohutta 100

2007-04-23T08:42:00.000-07:00

Not wanting to steal the spotlight away from the local series, but I've got a race report myself.

Shawn and I went down to the NC, TN, GA state line and raced the Cohutta 100 on Sat, the first race in the NUEmtb series. Oooooh, I suffered in a bad way. I was on pace to crack the 10 hour mark, but then around mile 70, I just came unglued. Couldn’t eat. Couldn’t drink. Hip flexors locked up. Just barely limped across the line in 10:48 or something. Which ain’t that good, but hey – it’s April. I’ll get there.

I gotta brag on my brother though...Shawn is a sick individual these days. He did it in 8:13, even after having a cold all week. The course had a lot of steep fire road climbing. 12,000 feet of up, total, and 90% of that was in the first 50 miles. Which fits Shawn well. He's a great climber, and twitchy when it comes to hanging with big groups. So he went off the front with the pros early and he actually was in the hunt for a while, wound up finishing not too far behind Tinker Juarez and Chris Eatough. Sick. I’m not sure where he ended up overall, maybe top 20 or so. I can hardly walk today, but I think he's out training right now. He’s on a whole different level.

I talked some trash to Tinker at the registration table on Friday. Told him the line started behind me. Which was nice, because I never saw him after that. Here's a picture of him standing on the podium beside Eatough. Chris E. cranked this thing out in 6:40 or some such craziness.

Blue Ridge Triple Threat - Race 1 Results

2007-04-23T06:33:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone for coming out and making this first race a success. The Blue Ridge School is an awesome venue with some great technical trails that fit very well into this series. Pics and a full race report will be coming soon but I just wanted to post what everyone will be looking for first...

Results

Enjoy!

Sea Otter Classic - Race Day

2007-04-16T21:42:00.000-07:00

The cross country race course at Sea Otter is kind of like riding in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia if you took out all the rocks, cut most of the trees down, and then filed down the mountains so they weren't as tall. Oh, and then packed sand down on most of the trails. In other words, the course was very fast with some up and down (supposedly 3400 ft per lap), some awesome windy single track, and some bomber fire roads. The lack of many technical features was not my forte, but very fun.

But even if the 38-mile course (2 19-mile loops) hadn't been so much fun to race, the whole experience was worth it for the call up at the beginning of the women's pro race. I waited with the other 50 or so riders to be called to the start line, as the likes of Willow Koerber, Georgia Gould, Alison Sydor, Katie Compton, Sue Haywood, Heather Irmiger squeezed through the pack as their names were called. It was awesome. Actually, I should say now, that when I checked the name of preregistered riders for the race, I noticed that my number (222) was just 1 higher than a famous competitor that Dee Dee faced off with in cyclo-cross nationals and worlds. I was pretty excited about that.

The race itself started really fast on the Laguna Seca race track, and surged as we got to the dirt. I had stared at the back of the line up, but got somewhere to the middle by the hole shot. I found a couple of groups to ride with (esp. through the windy open sections), but it was a little challenging to find a good rhythm. Then at the beginning of the second lap, I realized I hadn't been eating as much as I thought I had been. This was the hardest part of the race, as I felt I was going backward. And with so many talented competitors it was easy to feel that my effort wasn't "worth it". I realized though that I was not going to remember the pain, but I would remember if I gave up. So, I drank the rest of my water, shifted into a bigger gear and rode as hard as I could through the insane wind to try and drop the woman I heard approaching on the last hill. I finished near the back of the pack (41 out of 54) but I was still happy to be out there with the big girls.

So, that would be the end of the story except very close to the finish a spectator yelled to me that I should catch the women racing up the trail from me. He told me that it was Katie Compton. I actually thought she might have won the race, so I said "Yeah Right!". Then I looked again and realized it was her, I figured she was taking a warm down lap. Well, I caught her on the tarmack on the descent to the finish. I asked her how she placed as I pedaled by. She said she hadn't finished yet. Now obviously something had happened to her and she was just riding in to finish, but by then I didn't care. I finished the race strong, and as James came out to greet me he said "Who did you say had number 221 again? She just rolled in behind you." I just smiled.

Riding though the start/finish after the first lap. Everyone wanted a pair of these socks, Craig.

Sue coming over for a few pointers before the race.

DBack - Junior Expert Women: Hollis Owen's Post

2007-04-16T05:01:00.000-07:00

Hi,
Today Dad and I raced Dragon's back which turned out to be an epic race. On the way there it was raining quite hard, and the natiional weather service issued a flood warning. To get to the start you have to drive six miles up a mountain. We were in Dad's crown victoria, and we made it about 3 mi. When we decided to ride the rest of the way (it was still raining quite hard). When we got to the start it looked like it might clear and it did(for at least part of the race). Well, we started and it wasn't raining but as we climbed the mountain it rained a little bit, but it wasn't bad although it was very foggy. I was about 2 hr. into the race when I started to climb the mountain again by now it was actually quite nice. Well, I get to the top of the mountain thinking I was almost done (I had no idea that the ridge was so long and hard). I zipped up my vest preparing for the descent. Well I started along the ridge and I notice the sky has suddenly turned black and I hear thunder. About 10 min. into it it starts to rain then it poured then it started to hail! And it's extremely rocky and slippery. Well, the descent I thought was only a few minutes away from the top of the climb turned out to be about an hour away! I finally start the descent in the pouring rain and descend for about 30 min. After the descent I end up on the fire road which took me to the finish. When I get to the finish I found out somehow I was 1st. Well now i'm num all over and I remember we still have to ride back 30 min. to the car. It was cold and long(4hr and 20 min.), but I love to race in crazy conditions and I had a lot of fun! I also want to congratulate all my teammates on all their great performances!
Hollis

posted by Shawn for Hollis

This post brought to you by the letter D...

2007-04-15T19:08:00.000-07:00

D is for downpour. D is for dirty. D is for downright scary downhill. D is for Dragon. Unfortuneately, D is also for DNF.

The forecast was bleak. I didn't really feel like climbing a mountain in pouring rain and 40 degree temps. However, I'd already paid my money to race and I had scheduled the time in advance. The last thing I ever want to do is regret not going on a road trip based on a weather forecast. Even when that forecast is, shall we say, sub optimal.

So, after fueling body and truck I headed south into the storm. I had studied the radar all morning and was pretty convinced that North Mountain, the actual Dragon's back was shielding the small valley from the squalls and forcing the clouds around instead of over. As I got farther from home and the rain fell harder I was less and less convinced I had made the right bet. I almosted bagged it even before I got to Rt. 311 but I decided I had come this far I should at least go to the trail head and see if my prediction would hold true.

Once I got to the forest road leading to the staging area I knew I had made the right decision not to bag it. The road is prefaced with one of my favorite signs:

"Road not suitable for passanger vehicles."

This was going to be fun. I kept my trusty Rodeo in 2WD since the going wasn't all that bad. Seven miles later after slipsliding through puddles, potholes and good 'ole Virginia clay I found a spot to park, pulled on my boots and hiked to the registration table. I had registered for Vet Sport but since this was only my third ever MTB race I was a little concerned with the distance. I agonized over which class to race in for weeks. Two years ago I entered my first MTB race at the Wednesdays at Wakefield series in Annandale, VA. I was really stoked to do a series since I love the idea of accumulating points and having something to work for in each race. Plus if you have a bad day there are more races to stage a comeback. I entered in the beginner category since I hadn't been on my mountain bike in years. I had been spending all my time on the road and was clawing my way through my first year of road racing. Some of my old teammates were talking the W @ W series so I thought I would give it a try. I placed 14th in the first race and actually made the podium in the second with a third place finish. I was thrilled. Then my rear shock broke before the third race and my hopes of glory were sent to California with my Fox shock.

This morning I didn't have to worry about my shock. I was riding a new bike that is slowling being dialed in. However, I suffered a mental mechanical before the race even started. I think pride overshadowed common sense today. After being passed by everyone in my class, all but two of the younger sports and finally being caught by one of the two beginners that showed up I realized that this wasn't so much fun anymore.

The beginner asked, "what class are you in?"

"The wrong one", I replied.

"Why did you enter sport?" he enquired.

"Pride, I guess", I mused.

I can't remember much else since we were still climbing there just wasn't enough blood to go around. The race began with about a mile of forest road. It was up and down, mostly up though. When we entered the single track climb the smooth clay surface of the forest road was a distant memory. The climb is chock full of rocks and steep. I grabbed for my granny gear and began the slog. The stock Spesh Fast Track tires held pretty well all things considered. I think I was running around 40 psi.

The climb was just never let up and even though I cleaned one or two of the switch backs you had to dismount for all the rest. I walked a lot. Too much. But, there just wasn't much traction to be had and I wasn't able to get my legs around even the smallest gear to give it enough gas to spin through the turns. Once we actually gained the ridge we were rewarded with yet more climbing. There were just more leaves on the ridge. The weather was holding though and it was actually quite pleasent riding weather. Not too hot and not too cold. I guess I dressed accordingly today.

Once the downhill began I was able to pick up a couple of riders. The top part of the descent was hairy. Just really steep. Once it leveled off a little it was a super fun ride down to the bottom. Then came the river. I honestly think we were riding up a small creek bed. The water was 8-10" deep sometimes. It was laughable really. The water ride only lasted about a mile or so and then it was back to the forest road. There was a good bit of descending on the return and it was a blast. There were some small grunts but all in all it was a fun run back. Maybe because I knew that my race was over I was able to enjoy the scenery a little more. I was pretty much spent anyway due to my lack of training so far this year and I knew that it just wouldn't be smart to try and grind up the mountain again. The climb didn't scare me as much as the descent. I just didn't want to tank it over the cliff. So with a little time on my hands to do some thinking I pondered my descision to enter the sport cat.

When you don't have anything to race for it's hard to keep yourself motivated. I had read a lot about sandbaggers and I think that's what prompted me to enter the sport class vs. beginner. I didn't want to show up in my team kit and crush the beginners by five minutes. Yeah, right. That wasn't going to happen but I though I would look like a jerk if it did. I have come to realize that just because you join a team and have a fancy jersey doesn't mean shizzle if you don't put in any training time and have the legs to back it up. I got my rear derailleur handed to me today and I sucked up the DNF. I think I felt that DNF'ing in sport would be better then taking first in the beginner class. Well, I don't know if I would have taken first today. Maybe if I had started in beginner class I would have faught harder knowing I had a chance at victory. Is that what racing is all about though? Victory?

Yes and no. I love the feeling of just being out there and being part of the show. I love pre race ritual and the jitters and the feeling of relief and satisfaction after you cross the finishline. I love that beer at the end of the day while replaying the race in my head. Yet, if there is no competition then there is no race. If there is no race then there is no chance of success or testing yourself against your peers. If you know, from the outset that you have no chance in Haties of winning or even being competative what's the point?

Right now I can't be competative in sport class. I just don't have the legs or the skills yet. I think I was too worried about what other people were going to think about me based on what class I chose to race in and that was a mistake. I'm pretty sure I knew I should have been in the beginner class but I didn't want to admit it. Why? Who knows. Maybe it's because we always want to think that we are better then we really are. I'm a very accomplished skier and the word novice and beginner has a bad connotation for me. But that's silly. Everyone has to start somewhere. I've just been skiing so long I can't remember what it feels like to be on the other end of the spectrum.

I have made a promise to myself to spend as few races in the beginner class as possible though. But, for right now, that's were I am. The bottom line is that it's fun and there is more then enough challenge for me but there is also the possibility of glory. Yeah, I know that it's amature racing at the lowest level but we all like to taste success once in a while. If I know that there is a chance I can win I will push it that much harder on the climb. I won't give in to pain in my legs so easily. I'll dig deeper into that proverbial suitcase of courage. I have come to terms with racing as a beginner this spring. I will use this season to hone my skills and build my endurance. I hate reading the course descriptions and then having to settle for the shortened beginners course but so be it. It will give me incentive to train harder and next year I'll be back to have another crack at the Dragon. Come next year, I'll be bringing a bigger sword.

Thanks for reading (I know it was a novel, I'll try and keep it shorter next time.)

Cheers,

Sean G.

Dragons Back

2007-04-15T18:26:00.000-07:00

Over 48 hours of rain didn't stop the brutal race that is Dragons Back. it was poring ass rain when my friend Bridge and I pulled up to the staging area. so, we sucked it up like the rest of the crowd and suited up to ride!
Just in time for the staging, the rain made way for the sun to shine. Everything was still SOAKED! After the conversational roll out there was TONS of climbing, switchbacks, and hiking over bolders on the ridge trail. The first decent was total AWSOME! Once we reached "The Ring of Fire" loop, there was no fire, it was literally a river (no joke). the water was over ancle high, and we were in it for about 1/2 a mile, but it was a blast. The rest of the race was more of the same that never seemed to end.

if it wasn't the fog impairing my vision, the dirt in my eyes made up for it.

3 hours of MUD and climbing, does wonders!
(Bridge took 5th place!) yeah, Bridge!

Extreme weather changes, and vest wearin' left me no choice but to shove all of my excess clothing up my shorts, on the fly.

after riding the whole race in the front tow other guys, we decided to sit up a bit on the 2.5 mile fire (more like mud) road and not kill each other.
when it was all said and done, 3rd place was calling my name.

props to the Hollis O. for her 1st place
big up to Sean G. for comming out, repin' CRC and giving it all he had.

What a race!

Sea Otter Day One

2007-04-15T07:25:00.000-07:00

Johanna and I flew into San Jose and got settled in on Thursday. Sea Otter was already underway but we had to check in to our hotel in Carmel (huge thanks to Fenton for the recommendation) and find some dinner. The next morning we drove to Laguna Seca in our minivan and opened up our bike boxes right in the parking lot. After about an hour and a half of parking lot assembly we were ready to roll.

The first goals were to get Johanna checked in and look around to see what was going on. The race courses are all around and inside of the race track. The top of the downhill course was on the other side of the overflow parking, the short track, MTB TT and double cross courses were in the center of the road course and the 19 mile XC course extends North of Laguna Seca. We just wanted to get in a little spin to move the legs and make sure the bikes were working. After all of the time I spent putting my FSR together I decided to visit the guys in the Specialized demo area to take out one of the newer FSR's to see if I was missing anything. Having a brand new drivetrain is always nice but the big difference was the brain on the rear shock. Now I need a new bike;)

Not a bad place to ride a bike!

After the spin we went through the vendor area. Lots of schwag from just about everyone and I would say about half of the vendors were also selling product from their booth. I hear the Kenda tire guys have some really good prices so I may check them out today.

A little sneaky shot with Johanna and Sammy the Sea Otter

We also got a chance to see a Freeride/Trials type setup and a little bit of dirt jumping inside of the vendor area.

It was pretty cool to see the roadies and knobbies all having a good time checking out the stunts and jumps. Check out this guys quad, we think he had it surgically implanted.

A little schwag toss from MTBR at the end of the day.
I managed to snag some brake cables and a beach ball.
The ball is long gone and I run hydraulic disks...is that irony or just bad luck?

Tevendale Farm Trails

2007-04-10T18:30:00.000-07:00

Brownie Crit Opener

2007-04-10T17:42:00.000-07:00

The first Brownie Crit went off great. It was a 4.3 mile loop that we will use several times over the season to gauge training progress.
The results are below: (sorry if I botched spelling of names....and I did not know all last names)

1-Gregg Wittwer 21:08
2-Shawn Tevendale 21:41
3-Dave Tevendale 22:34
4-Kyle Rodland 24:05
5-Bridge Cox 25:32
6-Jason Hiser 27:02
7-Sean Gallagher 30:10
8-Ben Sandberg 31:47
9-Becca Blatt 31:59
10-Tim Z. 32:23

Awesome time everyone. If there is anyone who is planning on doing the crits and wants to get a time on this course, let me know in the next few days, it is still setup for now.

next Crit is thursday the 19th. Site still not decided.

-Shawn

Dirty Dawg, Dirty Pictures

2007-04-03T18:08:00.000-07:00

Yeah, it was like that. We actually parked about 100 feet from the start area when we first got there, wondering where it was. Got out of the cars, heard the music, but couldn't actually SEE the start line.

Figured I might as well take the holeshot because why not.

And if you're going to get worked on a rough course, might as well do it with your brother.

Canal TT

2007-04-03T16:45:00.000-07:00

In the rather elite fields which showed up for the Townbank crit at the last minute, CRC Riders where protagonists in every race they were in, racing aggressively and always at the front. Must be all those Tuesday-Thursday rides!

Several riders got the personal "What Would Jen Vought Do? Jens Voight Would Attack!" gold star for aggressive attacking rides.

In the Cat 3 field Chris Bruce announced his presence with multiple breaks and attacks, alas it came down to a field sprint which he scored 10th place. Nice job!

In the Mens Masters 50+ wily veteran racer Mike Libby joined the winning move which lapped the field and scored an impressive 3rd place.

In the Mens Masters 40+ CRC was on the attack again, with a solo attack on lap zero, and CRC representation between me and Mark in every major break. In an attacking race of attrition CRC riders, though outnumbered, were in the action driving the breaks. Once the last break was caught with two laps to go, Mark sprinted for 4th and I for 9th. It was a great race and punishingly fast.

Jake King scored 2nd place in the Juniors 10-12, continuing the CRC tradition of strong King riders.

Well done everyone!

-Eric

Results: Michael Libby 9th in the Masters 50+Eric Fletcher 5th in the Masters 40+Frank Christopherson 12th in the Masters 40+Miles Lankford 16th in the Masters 40+Jeff Hazlett 17th in the Masters 40+Robert McWhorter 18th in the Masters 40+Props to all the Masters 40+ who did the TT on a regular road bike.__

Dirty Dawg-living up to its name

2007-04-02T07:52:00.000-07:00

The Series 5 Mountain Bike Racing series kicked off yesterday. The first event was held at the Mountain Lake Resort in Southwest Virginia. Having never been to this resort all I could relate to it was the pictures from Dirty Dancing, which is still the biggest claim to fame they seem to hold, this despite being a gorgeous place, at least from what we could see of it. Driving up the mountain to the resort we ascended into a cloud. The fog on top of the mountain was so thick for much of the race that visibility was limited to 10-15 feet in many sections. The rain had been falling intermittently (or was it really just condensing) for a day and a half and started a bit heavier just prior to go time. The course seemed to suffer from a fear of being level, it was always going up or down, and usually fairly steeply so. Trails were mostly double track, gravel, or roadway, with a few sections of single track thrown in. Everything was wet and covered in leaves, moss, and grass. Traction was tough throughout.
The Pro/Expert wave went off first and we dumped it hard and pretty early. No one looked to be lining up for the hole shot, so my brother, Dave, decided he was gonna take it. Off he went, 20 mph, up hill onto a "carriage road" Every Collegiate jersey chased right off, many of them blowing up in the first mile or three. The rest of us followed, wondering what was gonna happen to "that" crowd. On the first downhill section I had sucked back up to Dave's wheel and used his vision to navigate the first section, as in, I followed his wheel to a tee. He has always had a knack for picking the perfect line, and proved a safe person to follow again on this one. After this, it was off I went. The first big climb was up some pavement and onto gravel and then double track section. I applied the gas with gusto and found myself with the remnants of the early "collegiate" break group. Now this is where things get a bit weird. Designed in the course here was a turn for the pro/Expert/Sport groups. It was very clearly marked and most of us found it, but some just blasted on through, hypoxic and punch drunk. I found myself with two other riders now, and we rolled along passively for a short time more on a gravel road prior to making a hard right and starting up an ever steepening wagon trail to the top of the mountain. I launched off and dropped both of them and was riding on my own. I managed to spread the gap further and somehow survive the next descent without incident. Another climb up a logging trail and it was a left onto the single track section of the course. I made this transition smooth and was doing pretty well through it considering the amount of leaf litter hiding every stone, log and gnome hut in the way. Coming through a particularly rocky section at speed I heard that familiar hissssss. Tire sealant was spraying everywhere where I had slashed my front side-wall on something.....damn gnomes. I was almost through changing it when the other leaders caught up to me and headed off. Soon after my brother came through as well, and he flatted there too, and then a third guy from WVU flatted in the same place. We seemed to be starting a theme for the day. I was done tubing out my front wheel now and turned the bike over to go again, only to discover I had slashed the back tire as well. Out of tubes and unable to ride a total flat on those rocks. I was running.....and I hate foot travel, especially in a bike race. Luckily Scott Ramsey from Arsenal came by and had an extra tube. Fixed and off again. I went through three tubes total that day.....and any time you go through that many, you may as well DNF and save face. I didn't though, somehow I managed to chase back in and finished somewhere middle to back of the pack.....I think. At the point we left down there, they were still trying to figure out what to do with the group that had taken the "beginner route", a loop that cut out a full three miles of trail. Dave managed to finish middle of the pack for the day.

Becca B. of UVA cycling fame rocked around the pro/expert course and took the women's race with a ton of time. Way to go Becca.

Tyson's Corner Circuit Race

2007-04-01T16:03:00.000-07:00

Hello again,

I went north (again) for the Curcuit Race. The race started at 3 pm, and was 60 min. The course had three turns and a sweeping downhill, then had a longish uphill drag that kicks up slighly for the last 50 meters, but not steep enough for a pure climber. There were plenty of attacks, but most of us were a little tired from the Walkersville RR. I made a few moves mostly on the uphills, but nothing succeeded. I got boxed in slightly for the sprint, but I still managed 5th. for the cat. 3s. I think I have done enough races for getting a cat. 2 license.

thanks for reading,
Rachel

Tour of Walkersville RR

2007-03-31T14:06:00.000-07:00

Hello all,

The Walkersville race was at 10:15am, and was 48 miles, womens 1,2,3. The pavement was smooth and the undulations on the course resembled the Jeff Cup. So we did six laps. The first 3 laps were pretty easy, as no one was letting any breaks go away. Towards the end of the 4th lap I make a move, but it only sticks for a little over a mile. However, just after my move I join a break of ten, but no one was working smoothly so after a lap we were caught. Heading for the sprint finish as grupo compacto, I started at 200M to go in 15th or so position and start sprinting like crazy. I ended up second for the cat. 3s. Maybe 2 or 3 cat 1,2 riders were ahread of me in the sprint, but they got scored seperately. The girl who won the race is just 17, and she also won the Jeff Cup! I will post tomm. about the Tyson's Corner Crit.
thanks for reading,

Rachel

Jeff Cup - Masters, the view from the back.

2007-03-26T18:51:00.001-07:00

My first race in a couple of years, and first race as a Cat 4. Masters 40+ is where the 2s and 3s go when they want to cool their heels *a little*, and with familiar names like Mark, Roger, and Tony in the field, I had no great expectations. So my plan is to stay out of the wind, try and learn a little, and see if I can hang with the field. Mission accomplished on all counts. Assorted observations: lots more accordian effect with the bigger field. Second lap somebody went down on the twisty little stinger on the third leg. Whack! Carbon hard on asphalt. He was on the line I usually take, glad I didn't get it that time. Some guy's racing with a twig in his spokes. His jersey says "spokes, etc." Appropriate. Almost every lap someone passing in the dirt on the run-up to Blenheim Hill. Has anyone ever made an attack on Blenheim stick? I'm thinkin' maybe in the 5s. Neutralized for 7 minutes on the last lap to let the P123's pass. Those guys are rockin'. I think the delay took the wind from everyone's sails, and we tempo'ed around for the sprint finish. All in all, a beautiful day for a (mostly) quick 50 mile ride.

-Bob Newman

Jeff Cup Cat 4

2007-03-26T05:07:00.000-07:00

after standing around in the sun for an extra hour, we finally rolled out to the start where we were told not to stop but, to start racing once we hit RT. 20. one of our laps got cut because of a time crunch (which nobody seemed to mind). for the most part, the entire pack stayed together with an occasional break towards the front, which was soon to be counter attacked by everybody. i stayed in the front on the flats, turns, and rollers, so i could have some space of my own. to save some energy, i sat up a bit on the climbs because the inevitable slowing at the top. on the last lap, i stayed in the front hoping to catch onto a good break, no such luck. towards the end, things got heated and all of us in the front sprinted so soon and kinda gave the riders behind us the chance to pull up and out sprint the front line. after sprinting simultaneously with 80+ riders, and an average speed of 23mph, i ended up in 31st. i'm happy with it, and the experience of the race.

-kyle rodland

Tour of the Bahamas ProAm and more!

2007-03-25T18:04:00.000-07:00

1st race of the year was Tour of Bahamas ProAm : it was great fun a toast warm for Feb . Ben got an invite w the National Team so Christine and I tagged along and I jumped in the race (3 stages). The TT was lackluster but okay. The circuit race was 40 or so miles and I got 25th . The last stage was 105 mile RRace and w Slipsteram , Chipotle , Areospace America , Kelly Pro team I feared I wouldn't make it with the group for more than 60 or so miles since I hadn't ridden that far since Ben was in diapers. 20 miles left and I'm still in the front group of about 20 or some (something way wrong w that picture ). Wound up 10th in the sprint and 18th overall .

Richmond Crit : wreck w two to go bummer .

Camp Hilbert Mtn Bike disaster : doing good w a mile to go- head on into an oak tree .....ko'd . Ugh ! Got to get back to fighting cars and asphalt.

-Mark King

Jeff Cup - Men's 1,2,3 and Masters

2007-03-25T17:43:00.000-07:00

Below is the two Kings's take on the pro 1,2,3 and masters races today.

Pro 1,2,3 - Men
The Jefferson Cup course summarizes riding around Charlottesville, and plenty of the city's cycling enthusiasts showed their support this Sunday. The Pro 1,2,3 race played out like a hard training ride with some tactics involved. Early aggression was checked by the larger teams in the field, but after five laps a small group slipped off the front and barely succeeded in holding off the field for the finish. I tried to ride at the front, and get some good intensity, but was still hoping for a solid finish. I couldn't butt my way into the Team Rite Aid lead out train, and was forced to ride the whole finishing stretch out in the wind settling for somewhere around tenth place. The race was run smoothly and it was an awesome chance to throw down on our home field.
-Ben King

Masters
Negative masters race from the get go . Any chance to break up the field was negated. There were too many strong riders and after numerous efforts realized a field sprint would be the tune of the day . Felt pretty yucky and got with my little bro(Dan) at the end and a good friend (John Kelly) and we ended up one two and three (I was the 2nd loser-3rd place). Pretty fun day all in all .
-Mark King

Jeff Cup Road Race - Women's open

2007-03-25T15:43:00.000-07:00

The women open was an interesting race, as we did not even stop for the official start. When we made the left off of Rt. 20 we started to race. In the first part of the race the pace was not that high, but there were attacks and by the end the race pace was higher. Johanna was very good at getting to the frount of the group in the neutral roll out so I just followed her wheel on up. Throughout the race she was always up there looking very cool. My plan was to lay do some good attacks and I did....many times. By the end the pace was really high for the last 2K, and I had a hard time moving up, and find a wheel. Johanna and I were together near the finish. There will have to be an update on her placing; I managed 5th. Good job to all CRC members in this great race!
thanks for reading,
Rachel

I agree with Rachel's take on the women's open. I kept waiting for a break to stick, but none did. A pretty large group sprinted to the finish, and I just rolled in behind. My legs were pretty shot by then (kind of crampy - maybe not enough water), and I was worried about a crash finish. Rachel looked great out there. She had a number of really nice efforts and I think that if a couple more good climbers had worked with her I think she could have gotten away early on.
-Johanna

Camp Hilbert Enduro

2007-03-22T15:15:00.000-07:00

At Virginia Mountain Bike endurance races there are a few things you can count on.
Arsenal will be there
Arsenal will make you suffer
Arsenal will put in great performances.
Hilbert was no exception. From the get-go Mike Walling and Bob Anderson where on the go. Throttles open, burning glycogen and making others suffer. Their early high pace and team work kept a group of four together and running hard off the front of the "pack". Every uphill I cold feel a bit of hesitation from them and every down hill they would pull away a bit. My recipe was selected. Attack on the backside of the course on the only sustained yet gradual uphill for the day and hope they did not follow. The Course had no major climbs and no big descents, so the only hope was to gap on what you could and push hard to hold it. Somehow it worked. As my first race under the Trek/VW logo, I was more than a bit nervous, especially when Trek/VW regional pro Todd Helmick showed and won the pro/expert race. But it all payed off. I suffered and labored through but somehow pulled off the win. Total damage for the race:
7 bottles of Cytomax
4 gel flasks
4 gel packets
3 co2 cylinders.
2 tires with ripped sidewalls -you should not ride them flat.

Kudos to all that raced that day, awesome performances around the board. A special thanks to everyone that helped me pit that day. Keeping on the bike and rolling seemed to dullen the pain and keep the blood flowing smoothly.
Shawn T.

Camp Hilbert Race #1 PHOTOS

2007-03-18T18:24:00.000-07:00

Camp Hilbert Race #1

2007-03-17T12:20:00.000-07:00

Summary
Mountain bikers of Charlottesville Racing Club made a strong showing at the first Camp Hilbert race in Goochland VA. We were eight strong including several brave (and very strong) cross overs from road and cyclo-cross. The racing began in the morning with the sport and enduro races, and ended in the afternoon with the expert, expert/sport masters and single speed classes. This last class gives you a sense of what the course was like. Each super fun lap included not much in the way of large elevation gain. However, the twisty, rooty course was not unlike what we have seen out at Panorama or Poor Farm. The best parts (in my opinion) were the well laid out whoop-dee-doos, which were almost like half pipes at times. The turns, although many, were well built, and could be taken quite smoothly if you weren't bonking. Laps were about 6 miles and about 30-40 minutes long. Overall, this is a super fun, fast course (not many breaks), that I can't wait to race again.

Finishes:

Shawn Tevendale - Enduro 1st place
Ben King - Pro/Expert Men 5th place
Johanna Kraus - Pro/Expert Women 1st Place
Luther Barden - Sport/Expert Master 5th place
Kyle Rodland - Sport Men 7th place
Jim Seguin - Sport/Expert Master 7th place
Mark King (was in 3rd but decided to take it out on a tree)
Greg Wittwer (mechanical - bummer.)

For more details on the race results and the Camp Hilbert series go to:
http://www.runriderace.com/

Report on Pro/Expert Women's Race
The women's expert race started with a hard sprint for the single track, but the lead women (Lorena Cadrian, DC mtb) veered off course (no tape in the right place). I was in second at the time and started to follow, but was stopped before no more than 3 other racers had passed. I pulled into the woods and started fast, assuming (rightly) that the lead out would have turned around and be fast on my wheel. I made a couple of passes, concentrated on smooth turns and tried not to look back. Part of the men's expert vets caught up before the half way of the first lap and flew by. Some of those fellows must have been going a little too fast, because we caught back up. I was fine riding behind, since I was feeling like my heart rate should not get any higher if I wanted to avoid hitting a tree in one of the turns. I still felt pretty good though and after a couple of more men passed I followed. So, first lap - I felt great. Second lap - I thought I was going to throw up the whole time. At the start/finish, James passed me some Gatorade. This turned out to be water. I called it placebo water though because I started to feel better after drinking it. Half way through the third lap, I latched on to the lead sport vet who had just passed me. He towed me to the finish and then thanked me for the push. What a nice guy! The second and third place women (Cadrian and Melanie Swartz, Velo Bella- Kona) came in around 1.5 and 5 minutes behind, so he showed up just in time.