Whats been happening.

So things have been pretty quiet around these oarts as of late. Last weekend, as planned, I stayed at home, with no bike racing in sight. I worked at the shop on saturday, which was nice for a change. Things are starting to really pick up down there, and the tourists are starting to pour into town, which is good for business, but bad for parking...EVERYWHERE. Oh well. I did some socializing as well, and a bit of bike riding. For the most part it was a pretty relaxing weekend.
The training this week however has been anything but. I've been really killing it lately in preperation for some of the bigger upcoming races. Hopefully my plan to be fast this year in june and july rather than april and may last year is working. We'll see. Today I'm going to ride to the Mystic Velo Crit at Ninnigret, race the crit, and ride home. Should be close to 6 hours by the time im done. Sweet. I'm also planning on making the Wells ave trip tomorrow. Hopefully I'll see some folks there, be able to get my fix of weekend bike race schmoozing, and a good workout all at the same time.
Signing off for now, it's too nice. I'm going to sit in the yard and drink 16 more cups of coffee before I hit the road.

Had is in the Big Speed Ring

So the NJ trip has come and gone, and was full of event. The trip started out on friday afternoon with a sweet drive, which I was totally not pumped to do, but went better than I could have hoped for. I left the shop a few minutes after 6pm, and was determined to make the drive non-stop, and by 9:30 I was there. I could not believe it. No way did I just do this drive in 3.5 hours, on the friday before Memorial Day. Sweet.
The digs were plush, although quite crowded with 6 Kenda Raleighs and six Raleighs piles into one hotel suite. We managed to find everyone something soft to sleep on, and settled in for the night with the Hills of Somerset Road Race in the morning.
The Hills of Somerset is a great race, with full road to race on the entire time, full rolling enclosure, and one big 80 mile loop. The team was smart, and I personally felt great. I was saving my matches for the last half of the race when the climbing started to throw down some attacks. However, it was not to be. At mile 42, just over half way, and just before the days first big climb, i pinch flatted. Normally a swift wheel change would have had me back in the race, but the support car was busy as a result of the rough roads, and the change was about 4 minutes too late. Oh well. I took a short (long) cut back to town. There I ran into Colin, who had made minced meat out of both his bike and his thigh, and Sean who had flatted. We hung out, and watched the guys finish up. They allhad great rides, and I'm bunned I couldn't have been there in the final.
After a sweet BBQ dinner and a great nights sleep we had a relaxing day and headed over for the bound brook criterium. The racing was fast, and we got Sean in what we thought was the winning move. The move came back much to everyones surprise, and we came away with nothing more than a hard workout.
Monday was the Big Show. The Tour of Somerville. The Kentucky Derby of Bike Racing. Tremble stomped the cat 2 race in grand style with a late race solo attack. Beerman Smooshed his collar bone. I crashed twice. Sean and I finished the race. 5 year old kids handed us beers on the cool down lap. It was a scene. I have never seen a race with spectators who are so fired up to watch bike racing. And, to cap off an eventful weekend. I made the drive home in even better time than the drive down. I'm taking this weekend off from racing. Time to recharge with some good training, and nights in my own bed, and maybe even some fun, you know, fun, it's what normal people do on the weekends.

Hey....I'm in New Jersey Over Here.

So it's been quite a while for sure. Things have been alright though. Racing has been going well, with the team throwing it down on a weekly basis and getting ready for the real racing season to begin. This weekend will be a huge test for the team as we're making the trip down to NJ for the Hills of Somerset Road Race, Bound Brook Criterium, and the Kentucky Derby of Bike Racing...The Tour of Somerville. The racing is going to be tough, and a great opportunity for some national level racing not too far from home.
In other news, I've been sick. In fact, the whole team got sick at Bear Mountain. Some sort of respritory thing or another had us down and out the following weekend, but Toby managed to not get sick, and kept it real for the team.
Look for us at the races soon in our new casual wear.

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More and More Racing

So sturbridge and palmer have come and gone. Both races are new england institutions, and both days provided the Kenda/Raleigh Team with good riding, and some reasonable resuts. Saturday was sturbridge and we were treated to a new course, which was far more selective than it has been in the past. For the first lap we were all at the front, throwing down attack after attack with the hopes of having numbers in the break that was sure to snap the elastic at some point. When the dust had cleared from the initial volley we had placed Jason Beerman in the move, surprise surprise, and were content to martial the front of the field with some help from TargeTraining. The gap grew and grew, and halfway through the race, Toby Walch slipped into a chase group that would get across to the front of the race. On the last lap, I put in a small effort on the climb and got a gap. Not to my surprise, I drew out a group that was eager to get up the road, and with the help of Robbie King, and Brendan Cornett, we charged across a near 2 minute gap in about 10 miles. Once we reached the break it was on. I threw down an attack near the base of the finishing climb. Robbie countered, and up the climb we went. It was hot up the hill, and the pace was high. At the finish I hung on for a reasonably satisfying 9th after a hard effort to get across and a solid attack in the closing miles.

At Palmer we raced hard again, with countless attacks we tried to break the field. We were once again represented in every move of the day, and at the final had Colin and Beerman in the move. After Josh Dillon from FiordiFrutta Made the winning effort, our guys were solid with a couple more top ten finishes for the team. We're racing well, and are always there and thereabouts, can't be long now until we grab some wins.

Bad Luck and Breakaways

This last saturday was one I wouldn't mind forgetting. The team made the long trek up to Salem, NY for the Battenkill Roubaix. Now this is somewhat of a new race, and it seems to get better every year. This year was no exception. We raced 90 miles or so in a Pro/1 only with more than 100 guys. It was well done on the part of the race promoter. I'll certainly go back. It had the feel of an NRC race with the relaxed atmosphere of a local crit. The racing was going well for us, as we decided to not be too active early and wait to the end to show our colors at the frint. After one of the more decisive dirt sections, the team was in good shape, with four of us in the lead group, which was getting pretty small at this point. That's when things went to seed. In the span of little more than ten minutes we all had bike problems, flat tires, or simply came unglued. Oh well. Thats part of racing I suppose.
Sunday was Myles Standish. Our plan was simple. Be aggressive and get in all the moves. Which we did. Jason was in the main break of the day again, and wound up third. I got in a long chase group and took 8th at the finish. Not bad, two guys in the money. Can't wait for this weekend, I think we'll win one of these.

Euro Trash to the Extreme