Not a terribly impressive turnout for the King's Gap TT. An unpopular event? I know it's a pretty long haul for those east and south of the mountain, but I would have expected a more substantial turnout from the Carlisle-to-Mechanicsburg crowd.
Anyway, a terribly hot, humid evening was made a little more bearable by a brief cloudburst just as we were getting underway, putting enough water on the road for a rider to make a nice little rooster tail, and, for this rider, getting in that road spray was downright refreshing. Plus, sun showers on the ride back to Ship. Bonus!
Round Here Racing jumped from third to first in the overall standings with a sweep of the podium, but also (and more importantly) because they were the only team to field a full contingent of riders.
AVC managed to erase the four point deficit SMVC had on them last month and tied things up. After two rounds there were eight points separating the top three. After three rounds the top three are within seven. It's still anyone's game!
Remember, it's numbers that matter. Show up with a full contingent of riders and you don't even have to do very well to shoot up in the standings.
See you next month!
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SMSS #3, King's Gap TT
June 26, 2013
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Individual Results
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1 Micah Engle Round Here Racing 12:01
2 Nathan Goates Round Here Racing 12:51
3 Alan Royek Round Here Racing 12:57
4 Eric Diamond AVC 13:29
5 Christopher Woltemade AVC 13:33
6 Joe Kahler SMVC 14:22
7 Jim Hartnett SMVC 15:32
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Club Results
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1 Round Here Racing 6 pts
2 AVC 17*
3 SMVC 21*
4 All Others 24*
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2013 Overall Club Standings (after three rounds)
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1 Round Here Racing 54 pts
2 AVC 61
2 SMVC 61
4 Gettysburg Bicycle 74
5 Shippensburg University 100
6 All Others 114
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Thursday, June 27, 2013
Monday, June 17, 2013
A Sad Reminder...
It's a shame that this is my first post on the blog for Ship Cycling, but I felt that it'd be appropriate to convey how I've been feeling today on here.
About 2 weeks ago Alan, Chris T. and I went to the FCC ride that left from Britton Park. It was awesome! We had so much fun climbing 641 that Eric Diamond and Alan wanted to kick the ride up a few more miles and do a few more climbs. I joined the two of them, and joining us were two of Eric's co-workers/friends John Benton and Karim Ziyad. Of course Eric and Alan blazed up the hills with ease while I was stuck suffering about 1/4 mile behind them. During those suffering moments I began talking with Karim and John about how much the climbing sucked even though they didn't even seem like they were struggling. The two seemed like cool guys that enjoyed riding so I chatted with them a bit more during the ride. We ended up putting in a good 47 miles and 4,000 ft of climbing. After the ride, like always, we exchanged farewells and said that it was a pleasure riding with each other.
Please be safe out there, everyone. It doesn't matter if you've been racing for years, or have been riding strictly on the trails. The risk is there and it could be in the form of a car, deer, tree, or rock.
About 2 weeks ago Alan, Chris T. and I went to the FCC ride that left from Britton Park. It was awesome! We had so much fun climbing 641 that Eric Diamond and Alan wanted to kick the ride up a few more miles and do a few more climbs. I joined the two of them, and joining us were two of Eric's co-workers/friends John Benton and Karim Ziyad. Of course Eric and Alan blazed up the hills with ease while I was stuck suffering about 1/4 mile behind them. During those suffering moments I began talking with Karim and John about how much the climbing sucked even though they didn't even seem like they were struggling. The two seemed like cool guys that enjoyed riding so I chatted with them a bit more during the ride. We ended up putting in a good 47 miles and 4,000 ft of climbing. After the ride, like always, we exchanged farewells and said that it was a pleasure riding with each other.
I saw on John's Strava account today that his friend Karim was killed while riding on the East side of Mont Alto, just off of Cold Spring Road.
This struck me hard. Although I didn't know Karim outside of that one 47 mile ride, I still felt the urge to write about him. He seemed like a cool guy, and it really doesn't seem fair. He shared the same passion that we all love; riding bikes. Things like this happen every day, and it just comes as a reminder that we really do need to cherish our lives. I feel that we, as cyclists, need to be reminded about this while we are out doing what we do. We need to realize that if we take a turn too fast on a descent for that KOM, not look twice while crossing the road, or try and make a pass while crossing into oncoming traffic, we could possibly be risking our life. At any given moment, we can slip-up and that would be it.
As I began to think more into this I realized that this won't keep me from doing what I love to do. We all know the risks, we all have taken these risks, it's what we do. Thanks to everyone at Ship Cycling, I've learned some safety tips while on top of racing and I'm grateful to now have that knowledge. While I'm out on my next ride I"ll be enjoying the scenery, taking in the warm Summer air, loving the solidarity of being out in the countryside of Pennsylvania, and having deep conversations with myself about my life.
It's going to be a great ride, but I know that I'll be thinking about Karim. He'll be the reminder I need.
This struck me hard. Although I didn't know Karim outside of that one 47 mile ride, I still felt the urge to write about him. He seemed like a cool guy, and it really doesn't seem fair. He shared the same passion that we all love; riding bikes. Things like this happen every day, and it just comes as a reminder that we really do need to cherish our lives. I feel that we, as cyclists, need to be reminded about this while we are out doing what we do. We need to realize that if we take a turn too fast on a descent for that KOM, not look twice while crossing the road, or try and make a pass while crossing into oncoming traffic, we could possibly be risking our life. At any given moment, we can slip-up and that would be it.
As I began to think more into this I realized that this won't keep me from doing what I love to do. We all know the risks, we all have taken these risks, it's what we do. Thanks to everyone at Ship Cycling, I've learned some safety tips while on top of racing and I'm grateful to now have that knowledge. While I'm out on my next ride I"ll be enjoying the scenery, taking in the warm Summer air, loving the solidarity of being out in the countryside of Pennsylvania, and having deep conversations with myself about my life.
It's going to be a great ride, but I know that I'll be thinking about Karim. He'll be the reminder I need.
Please be safe out there, everyone. It doesn't matter if you've been racing for years, or have been riding strictly on the trails. The risk is there and it could be in the form of a car, deer, tree, or rock.
Credit: reviewcentre.com
Rest easy, Karim.
- Kyle
Thursday, June 6, 2013
the podium celebration
I feel I need to make a brief, general note on podium celebration and demeanor in the age of Facebook. Why does FB change things? Because before Facebook no one saw your podium celebration and no one cared. But if you're going to post your podium shot on FB, well, we probably still don't care, but you should at least put a little effort into getting it right.
In short, you only get to lift both hands in the air if you won. The end. Or if the stage begins to collapse and if you failed to lift your hands you (and other innocents) would be crushed otherwise. This is the first and most critical rule of podium celebration.
In lifting your arms, there should only be the slightest bend at the elbow, if any at all. If your biceps are parallel to the surface you're standing on then you're doing it wrong.
The winner may also only lift one arm if he or she chooses to.
If you finished second or third, you should lift one arm, but it must be the arm furthest away from the winner. Don't try to steal the winner's thunder. It's his day, not yours. You lost.
When you lift your hands, they should have something in them. Like a trophy or a bouquet of flowers. If you don't have anything to lift, your gesture should be as if you are celebrating, animated, the fingers unclenched and extended, as if waving (without actually waving) to an intimate friend from across a crowded room.
Also, if you finished second or third, it's sort of badass to look grumpy that you didn't win, but it shows better sportsmanship to look pleasant.
The winner should always smile and otherwise demonstrate the utmost in grace and charm (which includes being gracious, both to the promoter and to fellow competitors). Act like you're not unfamiliar with the top place on the podium, but that there's no place you'd rather be.
Podium celebration done right.
In short, you only get to lift both hands in the air if you won. The end. Or if the stage begins to collapse and if you failed to lift your hands you (and other innocents) would be crushed otherwise. This is the first and most critical rule of podium celebration.
In lifting your arms, there should only be the slightest bend at the elbow, if any at all. If your biceps are parallel to the surface you're standing on then you're doing it wrong.
The winner may also only lift one arm if he or she chooses to.
If you finished second or third, you should lift one arm, but it must be the arm furthest away from the winner. Don't try to steal the winner's thunder. It's his day, not yours. You lost.
When you lift your hands, they should have something in them. Like a trophy or a bouquet of flowers. If you don't have anything to lift, your gesture should be as if you are celebrating, animated, the fingers unclenched and extended, as if waving (without actually waving) to an intimate friend from across a crowded room.
Also, if you finished second or third, it's sort of badass to look grumpy that you didn't win, but it shows better sportsmanship to look pleasant.
The winner should always smile and otherwise demonstrate the utmost in grace and charm (which includes being gracious, both to the promoter and to fellow competitors). Act like you're not unfamiliar with the top place on the podium, but that there's no place you'd rather be.
Podium celebration done right.
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