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.

Dreams of Summer

At Marysville this summer some friends of ours showed up to film the race. They are starting a production company and just wanted to add to their experiece filming live events. This was just a (very) short clip (since it takes forever to upload) that they shot. Take note that I am not busting out of my skinsuit mid summer. Cold weather is crappy.

Did anyone notice who took the CX Elite National Title? Mr. Ryan Trebon, no surprise there. Tim Johnson ended up 5th behind his teammate James Driscoll, Jonathan Page (Planet Bike), and Never Trust a Man with Two First Names Jesse Anthony (Jamis). Powers ended up 19th about 5 minutes off the pace. Wes Schempf had a very respectable 22nd (of 74 finishers). Molly Cameron 28th about 7 minutes back.

Bad Andy was a DNF along with about 20-25 others. I will have to talk to him about that.

On the women's side...Katie Compton took her 5th National Title in a row. She's been kicking some butt over in Europe so that was no surprise either. Georgia Gould gave her a run for her money but in the end fell 45 seconds short. Laura Van Gilder (C3) took 4th.

'Cross Nationals

I was checking the updates at cyclingnews.com and saw that our Temporary Milkman Jake took 38th and Zach (C3/Slippery Rock) finished 28th in the under-23 category. Not too shabby considering the field these guys were up against. Wes Schempf of C3 took 3rd in the Masters 30-34 group and another C3 rider Kris Auer grabbed 8th in the 35-39 field. All of these races had over 50 racers at the start line. Rob Lea won his age group which I think was 60-69 but I'm unable to find the results right now. Awesome ride guys.

The best result so far for any Mid-Atlantic rider would have to be Jeff Bahnson (Van Dessel/Henry's). He took his second consecutive National title in the 15-16 age group. The kid is simply amazing. His margin of victory was 40+ seconds. That is an eternity in a 'cross race.

The Elite Men and Women are set to go tomorrow. I'm pulling for Bad Andy, Wes, Molly Cameron, and Jeremy Powers. Of those guys Jeremy has the best shot but I think it will come down to Powers' teammate Tim Johnson and Kona rider Ryan Trebon.

Johnson won last year after Trebon was taken out by a head on collision with another rider. Ouch!

In team news...

I'm pretty excited about the 2009 season because we have some new sponsors that will be revealed very shortly, uniforms are being slightly altered, and a flood of new riders. The road team has been given a big boost with the pick up of 3 new riders (two of which will race 'cross also).

The mountain team still has one opening left. If you are interested just leave a comment with your email address or phone number(I won't publish it) and I'll get back to you.