GMSR 2009 Photos
September 9th, 2009
Photos from the Burlington Crit
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McCullough Takes 2nd in GMSR
September 9th, 2009
Andrew passed this along to me- republishing because, well, damn!
Green Mountain Stage Race 2009 Category 4 Race Report
I started racing this summer with the intention of focusing on the GMSR as the culmination of my season’s endeavors. Although my first season became far more active than I expected, I went into this years stage race never having lost sight of what I wanted to do from the beginning. The Cat4 stage race opened with a bang on Friday. Having intentionally avoided training on the ITT course, I was ready to go out from the start and hammer every inch of the course. Attacking the first portion of the climb, I came around the first bend and had a good view of the two riders who started before me spread out along the road ahead. With them as targets, I spun up the hill and had caught both by the first false flat. A third rider farther ahead on the last portion of the climb immediately became a third focal point that pulled me to the top. As I crested the hill the headwind briefly slowed my progression and I found myself after about 800m having eased just a little to much. At that point one of the riders who I had passed on the climb pulled alongside me, and we helped push each other all the way through to the final climb. I over-geared the last portion of the hill, and came across the finish line worried that I had not pushed the final stretch fast enough. I was very pleased though when I got back to the start to find I had posted the fastest time in my category by 1 second, completing the course in 16:01.
I was very fun to be able to start the Moretown circuit race on Saturday in yellow, and gave me an added boost of confidence. Going into the stage the top ten riders were all very close, easily within reach of the yellow with the 15 second time bonus offered at the finish sprint. Although I was worried about the possibility of losing the jersey, I remained focused on just staying relaxed as possible; this was a task that I quickly found to be difficult. Whenever an attack went off, I found that I would ultimately spend more time pulling in attempt to bridge the gap since other riders believed I had something to lose. The only scary part of the race was on the final climb up Duxbury when a crash occurred about half way up the hill right in front of me. Looking up the road as I attempted to jump back on my bike, I saw a group of about 15 riders about 200 meters up the road and accelerating for the KOM. Knowing that they had the potential to stay away I didn’t want them to crest the hill with that large of a gap and I attacked the remainder of the hill and just caught the very tail end of the group by the KOM. The remainder of the race was fast but uneventful. I led the final 3k out in an attempt to break the final sprint up a bit and rolled through the finish in the top twenty. Unfortunately, the rider who had placed second the day before in the ITT pulled through in the top 5 and gained a five second time bonus, enough to give him yellow.
Even though I went into Sunday’s road race in second overall, I knew I had the opportunity to make up more than enough time to secure the lead if I rode Ap Gap well. With that in mind, I rode very conservatively the entire race. A break of 9 riders formed in the first 15 miles, and by Brandon Gap had secured between 3-5 minutes ahead of the pack. It was a close call, but the right one to stay in the back and let others pull as we just caught the remaining two riders of the break at the base of Ap Gap. Three riders immediately accelerated up the first stretch of the climb, pulling through the first switchbacks very quickly. I carefully sat in third waiting for the long 8% stretch after the false flat to make an attack. When we were about half way up that four of us accelerated and quickly put a gap between the rest of the field behind us. As we came around onto the final false flat before the giant wall leading up to the finish line we were all neck in neck. Two riders were able to accelerated just enough to have about 10 meters on me going into the final climb. Yellow was right in front of me. About halfway up the climb the rider in yellow did a single switch back and lost his momentum, and I accelerated past him in one last try to catch 1st and 2nd only 2 second ahead. I wasn’t able to close the gap within a few second of the lead, but crossed the line in 3rd and successfully put 2-3 seconds into yellow jersey.
Only a couple of seconds back going into the crit, anything was possible. Third place was within grasp of my position and I was within grasp of first. I knew I had to attack every time bonus sprint in an attempt to gain the lead, but was also focused on defending my position from the 3rd place contender. It was pretty amazing to consider the fact that any mechanical issue could easily take me from the podium. The race pace was fast from the start. Without anyone to defend, I found that any attack that I made was easily bridged by the other four riders fighting for top five. Things quickly became frustrating as the man in yellow had nothing else to do but stay on my wheel. Although I grabbed some time bonuses, so did the leader. I was able to get enough bonuses after 15 laps to go to give myself 2nd in the G.C. At that point I found myself literally crossing my fingers and hoping that I wouldn’t have a flat or crash in the final 8 laps. The road conditions were not good and I found it extremely difficult to find a clean line coming into the home stretch, and I always seemed to lose about 5 meters going into the sprints. I came across the finish though in 6th and successfully held onto second place in the general classification. I am very pleased with the outcome, and looking back over the weekend have no regrets for how I performed and am glad that I avoided any mechanical problems and crashes that could have easily taken me out of the running. All in all a perfect weekend. I look forward to getting my upgrade to Cat3 this week and the opportunity to continuously improve.
Weekend Race Report from Nashua to East Hartland
August 11th, 2009
Report back from Andrew M….
Gate City Cyclone Crit had a good turn out. Jean and I raced in the category 4/5, Jean then came back to join Matt S. in the masters 35+ race, and Mary Ann rounded off the day racing in the women’s 1/2/3.
The Men’s 4/5 race was, needless to say, sketchy. Take 66 riders of mixed ability and experience, and throw them into a fast paced loop with a couple of technical turns and you very quickly find yourself just crossing your fingers that you cross the finish line on two wheels. For most of the race, Jean and I stayed up at the front, as far away as possible from the mayhem behind, and always in good position to compete for primes and final sprint. Jean grabbed a one place prime about half way into the race and won himself a nice set of Specialized tires. I took a three place prime that was pretty much handed to me when the guy in front of me decided to coast through the final 20 meters of the home stretch. The last half of the race we sat in and put ourselves in position for the final sprint. It was clear that no attacks were going to work at that point. In the final laps things began to get really hairy. With two near crashes that would have destroyed the entire field Jean and I moved to 3rd and 4th wheel, with two riders from “Going Green” pulling the final two laps. This position was oddly similar to the conditions of Concord the week before. These two riders had attempted to pull to the front with one lap to go and pushed the home stretch corner too hard, resulting in a hard crash. That thought didn’t help me feel at ease in any way, but Jean and I were in good position going into the final corner and home stretch. The field accelerated on a slight downhill. At that point people began to break up. It was difficult to sprint on the uneven and bumpy road that took a few hops that, if you hit at the right moment while sprinting, would send your back wheel jumping sideways towards other sprinters. In the end Jean placed 6th and I took 8th.
For the men’s masters race, Jean and Matt looked good the entire race. The field was strong, and a few breaks went off with 6 riders who were pushing a good pace. It seemed like the break was going to stick, but eventually got reeled in. Matt and Jean both looked very smooth and gradually moved up throughout the race and were in good position in the final two laps. A crash in the final lap splintered the group in two, unfortunately leaving Matt and Jean on the wrong side of the divide. Both finished up there, with Matt I believe in the top 20. The results are not official beyond the top 10 because the power went out at the finish line and they did not reconstruct the race beyond the top ten.
And finishing up the caravan, Mary Ann placed 7th in her 1/2/3 race which I don’t have enough information to comment on and will let her elaborate on if she wants.
Sunday’s Tokeneke Road Race went really well. I raced in the 4 race which had a full group of 100 riders. The course followed a 22 mile circuit with two climbs, the second of which end the lap at the KOM/QOM, and finish line. The race started off fast with everyone hanging on really well. After a frustrating end at Bow with the entire field blowing by our break of three in the final 50 meters (and 90% of those riders free wheeling it across the finish line), I really wanted to break apart the group and make the finish run a smaller group. I spent a lot of time at the front of the climbs trying to keep the tempo up and we successfully broke the group going into the first climb on the second lap. The final climb saw a very fast pace. The average grade was probably around 4% which meant with our final group of 15 people or so (still much larger than I was hoping for) our pace up that final climb stayed very high as drafting was still possible at that point. With 1k to go the road had a sweeping turn that came around to a final 2-3% grade all the way into the finish. Four of us went hard at the right time and big ringed it all the way into the finish. I pull through in 4th, very pleased with the finish considering I was ready to check out mentally before that final climb. My legs are definitely beginning to feel the effects of heavy mileage all summer and I during the race I was definitely feeling the aches and pains associated with over training. I am trying to ease off this week so that I may still be in good form to race this weekend in Albany at the Capital City Regional RR. All in all though a great weekend as I move closer to my upgrade requirements for 3! Still hoping to get there by GMSR!
Teamwork works at Saranac Lake Downtown Crit
June 15th, 2009
We had a good day and not so good day crit racing today. It was a great downtown course and great weather. Andrew was racing well at the front when his tire went flat going into a corner. He crashed and I ran him over and took a header off my bike. Andrew is ok, but got some road rash. I was able to get a free lap and got back into the race with 20 or so to go. Jean and I raced well. I took a $20.00 prime and then got ready for the finish. Two guys were well off the front and Jean and I wanted three and four. Jean moved to the front with me and we communicated through the last two laps. I was his co-pilot leading up to the finish. We came around the last corner in fifth and sixth and took the field sprint easily. Jean ended up #3 and I got #4. Its always nice to walk away with some cash. It was also great to work the last laps with Jean knowing what each of us could do and communicating.
Weekend rides
June 12th, 2009
Emore to Marshfield
We’ve got a couple of longer rides lined up for this weekend:
Saturday, leaving ORS at 6:30am, Ap Gap -> Lincoln Gap -> Montp
Multi-sporters can turn back at Ap Gap to make the ORS foot race
Sunday, leaving ORS at 6am. Elmore -> Hardwick -> Marshfield
http://tinyurl.com/orrride (map to the left)
Why We Ride
June 12th, 2009
Steve Marmo captured by Todd Heisler
The New York Times has a really great piece that captures ways in which biking impacts life. Watch the whole audio essay (complete with absolutely fantastic photographs) here.
Bikes In Montp- Come to City Council Meeting Wednesday!
June 9th, 2009
This just in (see full PDF: citycouncilbikes6-10-09)
BIKE LANES, BIKE PARKING, and BIKE NETWORK
All on the City Council agenda, Wednesday June 10, 7 pm. We are the first agenda item at 7:10 pm.
If you’ve ever pedaled down the street and wished that bicyclists had more of a visible presence on the City streets, I am now writing to ask you to spend 1/2 hour of your time, this coming Wednesday night, by coming to the City Council meeting to show support for better bicycling. Yes, we have a lot of meetings in this city. This is one where your bodily presence could have a lasting effect. If you have never been to a City Council meeting, that is OK. You don’t need to speak, unless you really want to. Read on for details, or just come to the meeting.
THIS Wednesday, June 10, 7 pm
Montpelier City Council (Go in the rear door of city hall; the council room is up 1/2 flight on the main floor.)
Here’s the scoop:
All YOU have to do is show up.* What WE are doing is below. Bring your bike helmet in with you, and/or come a bit early to get a bicycle sticker for your lapel (provided).
* Note this is one time when showing up is the right thing to do. Yes, even if it is a gorgeous June evening, or if it is pouring down rain. Please come on over to City Hall for 1/2 hr with your bicycling friends and go for a bike ride or have a drink before or after. But if you really can’t show up in person, please do contact your city councilor in advance of the meeting – list of councilors: http://montpelier-vt.org/council/index.cfm#members
Background: (optional reading)
The Montpelier City Council will consider two important points relating to bicycling this Wednesday – June 10 @ 7:10 pm.
1. The addition of bike lanes to the Route 2 / 302 paving project -
1.6 miles of bike lanes could be added to this project, under construction this summer, with small tweaks to lines, and the addition of signs & bike lane stencils. Bike lanes are on-road bicycle facilities (not a bike path). Through the Montpelier Bikes project, consulting firm Going Green has been working with the City DPW and VTrans, and the idea is doable from a technical perspective – it may need political will. Bike lanes on the road would not replace the off- road path to Barre (the one in the works for the past 10+ years!) but would serve those traveling on Route 2/ 302. Even better, it is going to be built THIS SUMMER.
2. The City’s preliminary support for a bicycle network on the city streets The Montpelier Bikes project would like to work with the DPW to submit a Transportation Enhancements grant this fall (and to pursue other grant opportunities, such as any future “stimulus” funds and/or federal earmarks) for the development of an on-road bicycle network, including signs and stencils. Through this project, existing roadways would be indicated for bike use, bike lanes constructed where space permits, and perhaps a few streets could be turned into “bicycle boulevards” or “shared streets” where motorists and bicyclists are on more equal terms. Bicycle shelters and lockers would be included at locations such as the middle school, high school, transit stops, library, and pool (the Co-op & Shaw’s would not be eligible as they are private property). There are also a few “spots” to improve for bicycling. For example, the connection between National Life Drive and the Winooski Bike Path (near the DET lot) is very poor.
Similarly, the connection between Terrace St. and Court St. (through the state area) could be improved to make it work effectively for bicycling, including kids biking to school. And wouldn’t it be nice if the end of the bike path near Sarducci’s ended a little better – an easier turn across the RR tracks to Barre St., or a better connection directly to Main St. Aside from the initial construction, support will be needed for the City to be willing to take on the ongoing maintenance of these facilities.
We will be seeking preliminary support – the first step in the conversation – for this project. Strong citizen support (that’s you) can turn into strong Council support.
Balloon Festival- Phil nails second, Onions in force
June 8th, 2009
Congratulations to Phil for scoring 2nd in the 3′s. Powering through the field sprint, Phil once again holds his own in the 3/4. Alumni Matt Buckley was hot on his heels crossing the line 7th, Andrew McCullough blazed in in the same pack at 31st. Mark White finished not far behind, creating a solid group of Onions . In the 30/40+ masters, Art Robert rocketed in at 7th with Paul Wonsavage just 4 seconds back. All together a great day for ORR.
Another Reason to Live in VT
May 22nd, 2009
Doubtless photoshop was involved, but hey, yet another reason why we are traffic
4/23 Ride
May 22nd, 2009
Leaving Onion River Sports, over Duxbury Gap to Bolton Valley and back
Slow ride on Saturday morning, leaving ORS at 7am, goal is work at low hart. For the adventurous, do repeats on the Bolton access road, or spin around to the west side of AP gap or Lincoln gap for lots of extra miles.