Blue Marsh Recap

Ok so this is a picture of Staci tearing it up in Sonoma Valley and not one of the Blue Marsh Race. What of it?!?!

Sunday was about as perfect of a day to race as you could ask for. Sunny, slight breeze, and highs in the low 60's. The course was beautiful (with the exception of a spot here and there that was a complete mud hole).

James rode in the Sport race. I was there in time to see him finish his first lap. He was in a group of three about 4 minutes back of the leaders and only seconds behind the lead chase. I told him to get on it or he was off the team. He did. Coming around to the finish he had moved up. 5th overall and 3rd in his class. Not too shabby old man.

Next was my race. It was a small turn out but that doesn't really make it any easier. Especially when you have guys like Ryan DeWald (Battely Harley-Davidson) and the Alesio twins (Fuji Bikes) at the start line with you.

The start felt pretty slow and I jumped into 4th in the paceline. The Alesio's were 1 and 2. DeWald 3rd. No one behind me. "Huh?" I thought to myself. I was fully expecting the group to be on my wheel but they weren't. We hammered on. I hung with them until we hit the big climbs. They never slowed down. I'm not really sure what happened but I just couldn't get into a good climbing rhythm all day. Over the second big climb a rider from Gretna Bikes caught up to me. He was climbing really well but I was faster on the flats and descents. I took a spill. ***My excuse is that my contacts dried out and I didn't see the huge slop hole I ran into. I'm not that big of an idiot.*** Gretna guy gets around me. "Crap!" (This may or may not have been the actual word used.) We were still on the first lap.

Gretna guy gaps me pretty good. Finally I relied on experience. I put my head down, focused, and got into a nice threshold zone. The second lap was uneventful.

On the third time around I could see I was gaining on the Gretna guy but I was still climbing like crap. It was a yo-yo for most of the third lap until we got over the second big climb on the course. On the descent I stuck on his wheel. When we hit the short steep climb I punched it. I put a gap on him and took it to the line. 4th place in 1:48 which I felt could've been faster had I been able to climb.

DeWald smoked the course in 1:24. That's over 14mph.

Going to Blue Marsh with an achin' in my Heart

So James and I will be making the journey to the Blue Marsh Lake for some good old fashioned fall mountain biking. Pre-Reg for the race was a bit light probably because of Iron Cross (Americas longest 'cross race at 62 miles). A lot of heavy hitters will also be saving themselves for MAC #3, Granogue next weekend. Past and current National Champions will be in attendance...

Back to Blue Marsh...Last year some really good riders showed up the day of so there may be some tough competition that hasn't signed up yet but as it stands now I'm the only Expert/Pro signed up. James has a few more riders to worry about but I think that he will do just fine.

Pet a Luma

Well, Staci and I are back from California. Wow, what a great time...We were in San Francisco, Yosemite, and Sonoma/Napa Valley region. Back to the grind. Pics will pop up soon.

My Blue/Green Eyed Friend

For those of you that do not know, this is Grand Paw. He got his name for two reasons. The first being that when he was brought to the Humane League he was accidentally aged at something ridiculous like 20 years old. He had been starved and left to die (we still aren't sure if it was intentional or not). The second reason is his floppy feet. The were like a diver's flippers. They made some very interesting noises while walking.

Grand Paw also had some crazy eyes. One was blue, the other green. When he was happy he looked at you with his blue eye. Upset him and well, the green eye was what you got.

Like I said before, Grand Paw arrived at our house nearly starved to death. He weighed 3.5 lbs. This probably caused his irreversible kidney and liver problems. We decided that he could live here for the rest of his days (which by best estimates was a couple weeks) and officially adopted him. We were assured he wasn't in any pain and that eventually he would slip into a coma when his time had come.

Grand Paw went to sleep last night and never woke up. He survived over a year and was a great friend the whole time. We will never forget the tiny ball he could tuck himself into, his never ending quest to be warm (and we do not have A/C), his cackle of a meow, and his ability to climb ladders. We love you GP.

The Spaceman

Shawn is officially in Boston. The Northeast Extension of the Allied Milk Cycling Team if you will. To the best of my knowledge he will be back to visit family and if there happens to be a race that weekend we'll probably see him.

Shawn filled his role as a teammate (we were on two teams together) over the years perfectly. He was a great motivator when I was feeling lazy. Getting me to those training rides when I really didn't want to go. He also drove me to just about every race since this team started two seasons ago. That has easily added up to thousands of miles. He was a great training partner. We were both at the same level but we both had separate strengths that helped us push each other. The thing I will miss the most though is my friend. I know he is still just a phone call away but it's not the same.

I wish him (Katie, Lilly, Sergio, and Filipe) the best while they are in Boston and wherever they go from there. I hope that someday our paths cross again.

YUM! With a capital YUM!

The new Gin and Trombones. Please allow the drooling to begin.

The Dog Days.

So here we are in August. Chris is a cat. 2. I am stalled halfway to my 3. Shawn is moving to Boston by the end of the month if not sooner. The economy has some of us choosing work over riding (can you blame them?). The mountain team is doing well despite the total lack of flow to the series. Two race postponements really disrupts things. We press on.



Shawn raced the Tour of Lancaster and had some bad luck in the form of a broken fork. I've finally gotten back on the bike after about 3 weeks of intestinal infects and overtime. There are two possible races tomorrow but I'm still undecided if I am really ready for the intensity. I've had a solid week but before that I was hurting.



The Dream Weaver did a downhill race and here's his side of the story...

Link to website of Series;
http://www.verticalearthpa.com/blue_mountain_cup

I
drove up to Blue Mountain friday night. I met up Todd and some others
friday evening. They had practiced friday. I worked. Sat
morning at the breakfast table they were filling my in on the Saturdays Super-D
course; same as last time, and also the totally different DH course for
Sunday. The DH course sounded gnarly,lots of chutes spilling into
rockgardens which would become "yard-sales"(bike parts strewn about from bicycle
dismemberment), drops, jumps, step-downs, rocky-rooty-offcamber, typical east
coast terrain we have all grown fond of, or, at least accustom too. I did
two practice runs on the Super-D course, good enough for me. This time I
left my hardtail at home and brought the full-suspension for the Super-D
race. The previous Super-D race, May 30, I rode my On-One 456 hard
tail. It is a 1X9 with a 34tooth Chainring, and a 160mm fork up
front. The course was very difficult to get up to speed. All the
rocks were pointy, and are aimed at the riders with intentions of
inflicting cruel and unusual punishment. There are only one climb, and it
was a doozy of a steep, loose fire road, but other than, that one could use
a DH bike for the course if they were willing to run their bike to the top
of that hill. Many actually did just that. Like I
said earlier, I brought the dually, I took a minute fifteen off of my
May run. The rain came in hard and heavy early sunday morning. We
awoke to pouring rain. Packed our gear to leave the motel and set off to
the mountain to do what we seem to have been doing all season in DH this
year; ride in the rain and muck. Hey, whatever, beggars can't be choosers,
I ride in the rain all the time anyways, just that this time, there is a
stopwatch running. The ride up the chairlift was a wet one, I forgot
my rain jacket, and I don't wear goggles. About 300feet from the top of
the lift, lightning started. The lift sped up to warp factor 9 to get us
off the lift. We did a practice run, surprisingly awesome conditions,
better than the day before. At the bottom we took note that the lift
was shut down due to the lightning. We went back to our EZ-UP to
wait. An hour past and lift was running again. We were able to
squeeze in one more practice run, it was my best run of the weekend! I was
pinning every corner, skipping ever so lightly across the rocks, and roots,
floating the off-camber-ness(it's not a word, I know) and drifting
magnificently(in my minds eye) through the loamy corners. Too bad it
wasn't my race run. At the top we were informed the that there
were a lot of "DNS"'s(Did Not Show). Competition was going to be tight,
Everyone there, were the serious, of serious regional racers. The official
began my count down, I sprinted out of the gate into the darkness of the
course. For some reason I was making stupid mistakes with my lines.
That's DH racing though, you only have a few minutes to make your best run
count, and each "little" mistake adds up to be a lot of seconds. I made it
to the finish line, stayed upright the whole time, and had a blast!

Ben will be racing a 5k downhill at the end of August in Wilmington, NY.

Grandview/D&Q Summer Sizzler

The Milkmen will be stretched thin this weekend with two races on Saturday. One is a crit in Lancaster and the other is a super fast mountain race in Dirty Jersey set up by some good friends of ours, the D&Q team.

James and Tom will probably be our only riders at the Summer Sizzler since Joel will be working, Shawn is still undecided, and I took the easy way out and stayed close to home. The Sizzler is a great course. I can only describe it as very fast with very little climbing. A big ringer all the way. My kind of race too but I have a busy weekend and just couldn't commit the time.

The Grandview Crit is located in, you guessed it, Grandview. It a very hairy course. The start is straight and fast with turn one being a 120 degree lefthander. The backstretch is about a 2-3% "climb" that probably totals 1/2 mile of the one mile course. Throw in four 90 degree turns (left-right-right-left) for good measure. Then a tricky (only because of the way people take it) sweeping left to get you back on the front straight. Oh and watch out for the potholes.

The Batteries Were Dead

This was a busy weekend for a couple of us Milkmen. Saturday there were two road races, Mt. Nebo and Iron Hill Twilight Crit. Sunday was the Trailspinners Fair Hill race.

Shawn and I did Mt. Nebo. Chris did the Twilight. None of us did too well. Shawn took 23rd, me 29th on a course that had over 1000 ft of climbing per lap. Chris got bumped out of the peleton, lost the draft, and couldn't hang on to the blistering pace.

Fair Hill was a disaster for me. My legs felt ok but the engine just couldn't find the gear I guess. I DNF'd. Chris was in the Elite/Pro race. It was stacked with a lot of pros and I didn't see where he came in. The rider formally known as Fort James took 15th in his group.

There are no pictures because the batteries were dead upon arrival.

Millersville Recap

The Millersville road race course was awesome. It was full of twisty downhills, power climbs, longish climbs, and some really nice flats. I really did love the course. In time I think more people will race it. All those twists though lead to a lot of braking if you were stuck in the middle of the pack. It seemed that every time I started to make my way up, I would be squeezed out by someone cutting across the road to gain one or two spots. In the end I did make it to the front but by the time I did my legs felt like rubber so I put in a big pull for Joel and Shawn. Hoping they would be catapulted on the final climb. Turns out, they weren't feeling all that great either. Go figure. All the on and off tempo killed them as well. I don't think any of us even checked the results.


Maybe next weekend...

Cheyney, Camp, Phoenixville...etc.

So I finally managed to get some pictures (thank you Staci for the Skellington picture). Woohoo!

Let's start things off with a Cheyney Road Race wrap-up. The race itself was actually boring and frustrating. It had two fairly long climbs but they never seemed to split the pack due to a long recovery zone (and some super slow riding by those at the front of the peleton). Why didn't Shawn or I move up to the front you may ask? Well, all the roads were too narrow and no one was willing to give up even one inch. Can't say I blame them. I put this race in the "Probably never again" category not only for the reasons listed above but also because the final 400 meters were supposed to be closed on the last lap. Those sprinting found themselves dodging at least two cars at 35-40 mph. Fun.

Let's go to mountain bike camp. This is always fun. Even though we had a very wet week, the campers made the best of it. We watched videos on freeriding, downhilling, and trials. This week the weather has been better but most of the trails are still a mess. So far they don't seem to mind riding the same loops over and over (which is good since that is all we can ride). We are trying to teach them not only how to mountain bike but to be good trail stewards as well. Up top is a picture of Kate. She is great. Actually, she is one of the other instructors.

Last Saturday was the Phoenixville Crit. This race was almost identical to Race Ave. only the slopes were a little steeper. I did the 4 and Consorto did the 1/2/3. The 4's did 30 laps in the pouring rain. It was pretty uneventful until 13 to go when there was a crash in turn 3 right in front of me. I swerved left to miss it only to find the course marshal running to the crash. I swerved to miss him almost at a dead stop by this time. I looked up to see the peleton exiting turn 4 and I just knew that was my race. Now I'm not sure on the rule but I may have been able to take a free lap but since I wasn't technically in that crash I didn't take one. I still ended up 13th. Chris took 5th in the big boy race.

This Sunday is the Millersville Road Race. Drop me a line if you want directions and start times.

Race Ave Update. Next the Cheyney Road Race

Since I bailed on the Tour De Tykes I decided to double up the day before at the Race Ave. Crit. It's a simple 4 corner 1 km loop with a false flat for the final 250 meters (roughly).

The 4/5 race started with a bang and by that I mean a crash on the start line. This is why I try to stay away from 4/5 races. Two laps into the 20 lap race there were two more crashes. I decided to leave the "safety" of the peleton and go on my own. It was really a false attack. I just wanted to pick up the pace and drop the squirrels. It worked for the most part (only one more crash the rest of the race). With 12 to go I was back in the pack and another rider took off. We let him go. The next lap another rider shot out of the group. We let him go too figuring the group would catch them. When the bell lap came it was pretty obvious we were not going to catch the lead riders. On the back stretch of the final lap a Spinners rider took off. Being only 500-600 meters from the finish I hopped on his wheel. Around turn 3 he peeled off leaving me in front. Not a great place to be about 400 meters from the finish. I told myself that if I gained a gap going into turn 4, I was going for it on the previously mentioned false flat. I stayed seated and put a few good pedal strokes down. I was trying to hide my attack as best I could. I felt a gap open up behind me and I went for it. Out of turn 4 I stood up and got a 10 meter or so lead. About 20 meters from the finish my legs were burning but I was so close I pushed through it. I took 3rd! Beating the peleton to the line. Average speed was 25mph.

Chris, Shawn, and I then did the 30 lap 3/4 race. I knew I was going to be hurting but tried to help out Chris as much as I could. It wasn't much as I just barely held onto the peleton. I finished in 31st. Shawn 24th. Chris was just out of the points in 12th (his worst finish this year). Average speed for this one was about 27.5mph.

Sunday Shawn and I will be at the Cheyney road race. We are taking it a little easier this weekend and only doing the 4 instead of the 3/4. It's roughly 15 miles shorter.

Iron Hill Report/Race Ave Crit

Iron Hill was very polarized in how the Milkmen finished/DNF'd. Joel, Seth and Shawn both took DNFs due to feeling sick and throwing up. Yum. Now for the good news. James took 4th in the Sport Vet I field. Tom, me, and Steve took 11th, 5th, and 4th in the Expert Senior I field. This brings us to Chris. The day before he rode the Fulton Road race and won in a bunch sprint in the 3/4. The race was something like 60 miles so we didn't expect too much from him. From the gun he was on my wheel. I had a good start but I could feel my legs were not where I needed them to be to actually win this race with power alone. It always helps to have a bobble or two just to ensure that you are working harder than you need to as well. Anyway, my second bobble and Chris, Gunnar (Cyclesport), and Jamie (Cycle Works) were gone. Hal (D&Q) and another rider came up on me on the second lap and I had nothing to hold them off with. At some point I bent my big ring and was forced to run in my 34 for the rest of the race. This killed my closing speed but kept me fresher on the 4th lap. I picked off two riders as Steve went flying past me on his way to 4th.


All in all it was a great weekend for the Milkmen. Two podiums (thank you Chris) and our teams first road win ever (again thank you Chris).


Saturday is the Race Ave. Crit in Lancaster. I signed up for double duty in the 4/5 and the 3/4. Chris and Shawn should also be there. It's an awesome spectator course and I think it takes 2:30 to 3 minutes to go around. Lots of action.

Iron Hill

This Sunday is the race at Iron Hill in Delaware. This race features the "Mega-Dip". As Fatmarc puts it "...it's like nature's half pipe." Check out his blog for a video of the thing.

Last year I was taken out by an edurance rider. To her defense she was trying to get out of my way. But busted spokes are busted spokes regardless of intentions. This year I will attempt to finish.

Can't wait until the SRAM XX group is available.

Massanutten DH Yee-Ha 5-8/9

Thursday evening after work I set out for Mcgaheysville, VA. The
forecast for this weekend was supposed to be rain all weekend. It was nice
that it had rained everyday that week too. Might as well keep the riders
on the toes while skipping accross horrendous root infested off-camber corners,
and slippery rocks at the tops of all chutes. The Honda Element was loaded
with gear, tools, replacement parts, a backup bike, and my "support/fan club",
my wife Rachael. At Massanutten Resort we met up with Todd Nicolas of
Gretna Bikes, his girl friend, Krisha, and Chris Scotten. Saturday we
awoke to a beautiful morning. After breakfast we geared up and made our
way to the "worlds slowest" chairlift! I made the comment that they should
install cycle trainers on the lifts so we could spin for the long commute to the
top. Other racers agreed. I have never been to a DH event in which I
witnessed so many flats! There are always flats at a DH event, but this
course is head and shoulders more technical overall than most. Last
practice run of friday I went out of control in a chute, that resulted in me and
bike somersaulting, flipping, tallywhacking through the air. I believe I
cracked a rib. Later that evening, Todd, Chris, and I walked the
course and discussed line possibilities. Saturday, race day!
Hardtail riders went first, there were 2, so all podiumed! They looked
thoroughly spent when crossing the finishing line. Finally, 1:37pm and I
am off! That chute I careened out of control on the day before had a
suprise for me. I made the tight left corner with great speed and
confidence to nail this section, and then,...there was a turtle on the
trail! Exactley where I needed to be. Well, he was there first, so I
bunny-hopped him and I planned to "dance" through chunder. Turns out the
guy after me hit him, found out later after the race. I finished in
4:41secs, placed 8th in Sport Class, Masters category. The overall best
time down the course was 3:23secs! Great weekend and a wicked fun
trail!

--Mr. Ben "Dream" Weaver

Click here for the pictures.

Conestoga Report

Three of us, Shawn, Chris, and I, made the journey to Conestoga for what I believe to be the hardest road race I have ever raced. Of the 40 starts only 15 finished. I knew going into it that it would be hard but I really wasn't ready for the hard pace on the first lap of the 50 mile race. I was dropped on the second climb (second climb that hit grades of 20% that is). I found some guys and we clawed our way back to the peleton. I tried to get a hold of my heart rate and settle into a groove. On the second lap, the same thing happened. Only this time I had just one other person to work with the try and climb back on. We failed.


I am happy to report that all Milkmen finished. Shawn, 14th in his first 3/4 race. Me, 12th. Chris, out sprinted a Squarda Coppi rider for 5th.


I raced today with my PowerTap and after downloading my numbers I can see why I was dropped. In the first 1 hour and 10 minutes of the race I had spent 76% of the time at or above my HR threshold. Yikes! Once I was dropped and fending for myself I settled into a rhythm (all-be-it a slower one but hey, whatever) and kept my numbers under control. 25 miles with the peleton, 1:10. 25 miles of solo, 1:20. Like I said, it was a tough course. I think climbing Mt. Penn 9 times is easier.


Next weekend, I get married. 5-31 is Iron Hill. I hope to be recovered by then. Haha!

Smoketown and Conestoga

Sheesh. What a slacker I have been. It's been too long in between entries. In that time French Creek was postponed, Shawn took 6th in his final road race as a 5 (congrats on the upgrade my man), Chris and I tried to make some things happen with the Rock Star Jeff Bahnson in the 3/4 race, working too much (ok so it's only 40 hours but still the French have a 32 hour work week), and trying to tie up loose ends for the wedding. Oh and don't forget about training.

Last weekend was a bit of cluster. French Creek was cancelled so Shawn and I decided to race the Unionville Road Race. When we got there we saw that Chris and Steve McQueen...errr...McCann also decided to race. The course was at the lower end of being tough. Most of the climbs were right after a nice fast section and none of them were terribly steep. Long story short...Grouppo Compacto for most of the race. About 40 miles (10 miles to go) in a group of 4 got away. I sat back to see who would react. 43 miles in, still no reaction. I decided it was time to move up and pull them in. I contacted Chris and we were off. I was hoping we could connect with the breakaway and give them a little more firepower. When we caught up to them, they quit. This left me in a bad spot. I was redlined and when Chris hammered up the last big climb I couldn't hang with him. Chris and Jeff went for the glory but came up about 400 meters short.


Shawn and Steve faired much better in the 4/5 race. Shawn took 6th in the sprint finish. Then later in the week his steerer tube spit in half while doing a track stand.


This weekend the Milkmen will be aiming for some podiums at the Smoketown Crit on Saturday and the Conestoga Road Race on Sunday. Smoketown is on part of a runway from what I understand so I think it is safe to assume that this will be a flat one. Conestoga is a different animal. Other than the first 3 miles of the 12.5 mile lap I don't think there is one flat section of road at all. A lot of climbing, some (two) hitting grades of 20%. The finish will be fast (if there is even a group finish) with a super fast downhill screaming to a pancake flat finish line. Speeds will probably be hitting 40+mph.

Granogue Sunday

Here we are, once again, at one of my most feared races, Granogue. If you have been reading this blog since last year then you may remember me describing this as grueling and that's because it is. Fair Hill is super fast. French Creek is rocks on top of rocks. I can't put my finger on why Granogue is so hard. Maybe it's the grass fields that kill your momentum. Maybe it's the climb to the finish line. I don't know. What I do know is that every time I race this race I question why I race. Why I don't retire?

Fair Hill XC

Ok, so I've been slacking on the update from the Fair Hill race on Sunday. In my defense I have been working 12 hours a day for the last 10 or so days (did not work Sunday for obvious reasons).

Fair Hill was great. I think the picture says it all but if you need the details...
It was about 8:30 when Shawn and I took off to that lovely place called Fair Hill. Our goal was to get down there with time to set up and watch most of the Sport race. Check. We saw James flying past out of the start. A few minutes later, in the Single Speed category, Seth went whizzing past. It was looking like a good day for the Milkmen. Now the details for their race is still a little fuzzy but mainly James said he "went out too fast" but "was picking off people in the singletrack" and for Seth, it sounded like a lack of fitness is what got to him. His excuse would be that he is working and going to school full-time. I think we can let him off the hook. James ended up 15th our of over 40 racers and Seth well, like I said he has an excuse...32nd of 32 finishers. Believe it or not but that is something to be proud of.


The Expert/Elites were set to go off at 12:30. The skies were blue. The air warm with a slight breeze in the open fields. Joel was in the Elite field running with the big boys. Tom, Steve, and I were the sandbaggers (not really) in the Expert Senior I field. Shawn was pretty sick but decided to give it a shot in the Single Speed category.


The race from my point of view...


The Elites take off...the Trek and Scott boys were in full force...flying as usual. Two minutes later our horn sounds. The start was super fast on a utility trail (lots of gravel but fairly smooth and wide enough for a truck). I was sitting 4th wheel on the right side and noticed two riders moving up the left so I hopped in behind them. As I did this, they went to the right leaving me with a wide open road. Now I've been working on my 5, 10, and 20 minute intervals so I put the hammer down figuring this was my chance at glory. I few past everyone (even Steve who was in the lead at the time) put my head down and pedalled. When I looked back I was about 100 yards off the front just about the hit the singletrack. I never saw them again.


Results...Joel ended up in the money with a very respectable 19th in the Elite race. Shawn DNF'd due to his illness. Tom 8th, Steve 5th, and me, if you didn't notice the picture, 1st. My first win on a geared MTB in about 5 years. Woo! Woo! Not too shabby for the Fast Forward team either as they took 2nd and 3rd. Great job guys.

Rouch!

Do not try this at home. Chris is a trained professional. He is actually trying to see if a train is coming. Is one coming Chris? Just kidding.

So it's Friday and the Allied Milk Cycling Team will be officially starting the mountain bike season in Fair Hill MD on Sunday. We will have 7 riders in various categories. I sense some team points coming our way. If you want to come and do the spectating thing go here for more info. Our guys will be setting off at 10:30 and 12:30.

On a less selfish note...the folks at Isaac's have teamed up with the Central PA Food Bank in an attempt to Bag Hunger. Basically, for every dollar they receive it turns into $15 of food for hungry families. Isaac's is also donating $1 for every cup, $2 for every quart, and $4 for every gallon of soup they sell. Really you don't even need to donate money to help out. Just eat the soup!

Fun in the Crud

Yesterday was not the US Open Relay in Marysville (Mr. Kuhn does not want to be sued) and it was a blast. Going in I felt like I had a bad week of training, a general lack of power and fitness but, it turns out I'm not too far off of where I want to be.

Let's start at the beginning.

It was a downright windy day with temps in the 40's in the morning. A wee bit chilly. The course was just as I predicted. Singletrack, great. Grass fields, a wreck. Some of these fields were underwater, like 2 or 3 inches of water, and by the end of the day (4 hours and about 70 teams of 4 later) were just a soupy, sludgy mess. If you've ever seen swamp buggy competitions (like mud bogs only in swamps) that's the best I can describe it. Yum! Throw in a few brand new sections and you have yourself a nice little relay course.

Our team was made up of two Bike Line riders (Erick and Todd) and two Milkmen (Steve and I). To start the day I was either still sleeping or maybe Steve and Todd really do look alike but I was calling Todd Steve (seeing as Todd's kid called Steve "dad" at one point last year. Can you say vindication?)

Anyway...Erick was first in our order and lucky him got to do the ever-so-fun running start. He did well and was 7th or so to get to the bike. He's also a pretty fast rider so I knew we would be in good position when his lap was over. Erick set a good pace for our team with a 15 minute lap. Steve was the next to go. Another 15 minute lap. Long story short everyone on the team was pulling 15 minute laps. Each of us riding 4 laps on the course. None of us stuck around to see the final results since the pro's were turning 13.5 to 14.5 minute laps and one team had 8.5 lap handicap. We figured our chances of taking home the coveted Cup were very low.

A blast.

To Infinity and Beyond.

Tomorrow is the visitPA.com International Intergalactic Global Open Mountain Bike Team Relay Championship of the Universe Including the Anti-Matter One. (There, That Should About Cover It.) race. Due to some scheduling conflicts there will not be a complete Allied Milk team racing. Instead we will be racing with two riders from the Bike Line team making us Milk Line. Allied Line didn't sound right.

Anyway, tomorrow should be a mudfest since it seems like we got about 6 inches of rain today. I'm sure the singletrack will be in good shape but those grass fields are going to hurt a bit.

The course is a very short 3 or 4 miles which should be covered in about 15 minutes (if I remember correctly from last year). 4 person teams will rotate for 4 hours. Most points wins. Sport and beginner riders will receive a handicap to even up the field.

All week my power seemed lacking but hopefully I will be able to pull something out for my 4 or 5 laps.

Shawn will be racing Fawn Grove on Sunday. This is a road race that apparently has short punchy climbs with 7 sections of dirt/gravel road mixed in. Something like 13.5 mile laps. I hope they have a sweeper for the riders with flats. Good luck.

Props Where Props are Due

This entry as been a long time coming. It's one that I always want to write but always seem to put off. Well not this time. After all the team would not exist if it weren't for our sponsors. Please support them, as they support grassroots cycling.

First up, we'll talk about the bike people. Our team has, in my opinion, the best of the best. We have rockin' Van Dessel frames. Anything from the super light Rivet to the ever so versatile Ramble Tamble (this can be run as a single speed, full X.O grouppo, or with a Ruhloff). Not to mention the awesomeness in between.

Honey Stinger is also back again. These guys are just super easy to work with and their products are like honey. Yum! They do have a new item out this year, the organic energy chews. They are delish. I highly recommend them to anyone looking for a little boost on a long ride. Easier on the stomach than gel (I think so anyway). Also, HS does not outsource the production of their peanut butter from the company that was involved in the Salmonella outbreak. ++.

Crank Bros will once again be under our feet. These pedals have always been a personal favorite for a few reasons...First they are super easy to use. No spring tension to set. Second, they shed mud on nasty days. Clip in and forget about it. Third, they are super easy to rebuild. Let's face it, if you ride as much as we do bearings wear out. CB got your back with complete rebuild kits and easy to follow instructions.

AMC will also be on Stan's No Tubes wheels again. These are cutting edge when it comes to light weight, tubeless wheels. Good people. What else could you ask for?

New to this year will be Tifosi, Schwalbe, Nuun, SRAM, and Magura.

Tifosi has been really cool to deal with. They hooked our team up with some of the nicest glasses I've ever had on my face. Lightwieght, three sets of lenses (with great optics), and a nice rubber nose piece. The model is the Tyrant. Check them out.

Schwalbe Tires gave us a deal we couldn't turn down. We feel that their tires are about as good as you can get on the road, mountain, or 'cross. Maybe the only ones better would be the ones still handmade...maybe. With Schwalbe we have a huge selection to choose from and I was like a kid in a candy store. I will say this though, I showed some restraint when I opted to not get the 295 gram Furious Fred. I did however get the 425 gram tubeless version. Ha! Look out suckers.

Nuun is a hydration company that has really just recently popped their head this way. Unless of course I just wasn't paying attention. They offer us an electrolyte tablet for our water bottles that should keep the Milk(wo)men from cramping up this summer. Again, look out suckers.

SRAM hooked us up with road grouppos on the cheap. SRAM is always at the cutting edge of technology and is the parent company of Avid and Rock Shox but...

We have Magura for brakes and forks which are awesome. They are the parent company of Syntace and Mawri. Can I get a what what?

Next we can cover the money people. Arro, Isaac's Deli, and of course Allied Milk Producers' Cooperative. Without their continued support there would not be a team at all. This milk's for you...

Farmersville

My goal at Farmersville was to keep the pace high and drop the weaker riders at the start line so at the gun I jumped into the pace line. The early races are always good for a stupid crash. I'd say 4 or 5 of us were working together pretty well. Each taking short pulls and rotating back. There were a few that just wanted to hang out in the front and we let them burn up. Then back to short pulls. I did this for the first 3 or 4 laps and then drifted back to see what was left of the group. I estimated we were down to about 40 of the 60+ starters. Not bad.

I worked my way back to the front for some more work. I was feeling strong. My power was there. My heart rate was managed. The course was easy. A little too easy but it is a long season so I will take an easy one every now and then.

I'd say on lap 6 (of 8) my heart rate started screaming. I'm not really sure why but I slowly drifted back in the pack trying to get it to calm down. I slipped behind Shawn. I let him know that I thought I was about to pop. I got all the way back to the back and it finally calmed down. I'm not really sure what happened but I recovered in time to move back up to the front half of the group.

The finish was a bit interesting. There was a 10-12% hill (very short) and a hard 90 degree turn into the finishing straight (probably a 2-3% uphill). Coming into the final turn I was in a fairly good position so I thought I might go for the sprint but as we were rounding the final turn the guys in front of me slammed the brakes. I was forced to scrub all my speed. I knew that my chances were over so I just rode the slipstreams to the finish line. Shawn and I both finished (guessing) top 20. I do know that we crossed the line at 31 or 32 mph and we weren't even sprinting. It was a fast race at over 24 mph.

I was pleased with the race since my goal was to not get caught in a stupid crash and to make the others hurt a little.

Here's to small steps.

Here We Go Again

Saturday March 14th (tomorrow) is the start of the road season in Brownstown. I know that most of the team will not be racing but Shawn and I will be there. He talked me into it. Honestly I was having fun with my training this year and hope to hit the mountain season prepared. Last year I had to race myself into shape and that was rough. My sinus infection didn't help either.

All I can say about the race tomorrow is that at least it's not going to be windy. These early season races can go either way for me. I prefer May.

Number 100

Yes, it's hard to believe but this is post number 100. If you've been reading since the beginning you should probably find something to do. Seriously.

So the team meeting has come and gone. The fine folks at Isaac's always come through for us. They opened an hour early and let us hog up about 5 tables and a booth. They really are a class act.

If you live in the Central PA/Delaware region you may see some snazzy new Allied Milk uniforms zipping around. Do not be alarmed. We really are going that slow.

Pre-season orders and Uniforms

Temps are rising, pre-season orders are coming in, and with the arrival of the team uniforms today it really feels like racing season. It is, for us cyclists, a time of great anticipation. We've frozen our fingers, toes, and faces for months now. We crossed semi-frozen streams hoping to not get our feet or legs wet. Hiked down icy trails so we wouldn't die. We've found articles of clothing on the trail, were so cold we wore it hoping Karma would stay on our good side. We've battled frozen water bottles/three hour rides in 5 degrees with at best a slushy to quench our thirst. We've dealt with 2 or 3 inches of standing water (on the roads!) when the snow started to melt. This caused us to eat our fair share of horse poo. Now is our time (well, soon anyway).

Coming soon...Spring 2009.

Rockin' the Snotcycle

A new race took place today in Leesburg VA. It was the Snotcycle. The rider formerly known as Fort James was there competing in the under 39 Sport group. James is a new addition to the Allied Milk Cycling team this year and he didn't disappoint.

Now, I'm still waiting for the full race report (and hopefully some pictures) but from what he said it was sloppy. He compared it to a messy 'cross race. Sliding into and out of turns. Virginia never had the deep freeze that we had here so the trails were a mess. Yum.

All said and done James took 3rd in his category of about 60 or so riders. Nice. A month into 2009 and a podium already. I knew I had a good feeling about the team this year.

Just around the Corner

'09 schedules are starting to take shape and BikeReg.com has some road and mountain races posted already. Our uniforms are in production. Pre-season orders are being filled. Of course the January weather is not cooperating to get some good base miles in so it looks like it's officially cross-training and trainer season.

Shawn is finally back on the bike after a detached ligament in his thumb. Yum. He was on the Sunday ride with us and was hanging pretty well (even pulled me back to the group when I started to fall out). Not bad seeing as he hasn't been able to ride for 4-5 weeks.

The MASS team leader/race promoter meeting is this Sunday and that means the season is almost here.

2009

2009 will see a few changes for the Allied Milk Cycling team. We have new sponsors; Schwalbe tires, SRAM, nuun, Tifosi, and Magura. These companies gave us some really good deals and we are super excited to have them on board. Many new riders have joined the team as well. I can't name them just yet because a few have not talked to their former teams. This is something they want their former teams to hear from them rather than through the grapevine. Totally respectable.

Other new things: Facebook. We officially launched a facebook page and our website is under construction. These two things are all thanks to a new rider named Joe. He has devoted a metric ton of time to this team already. I can't wait for the start of the season.