Philly Phyler Photo Update

Hey!

I got a ton of photos and picked a few of my favorites and wanted to share them:

I had a great weekend, I loved Saturday. The crowd, the racers, the music, the atmosphere were all great. Totally helped me get over my DNF from a popped tube. Saturday was more of the same.

Good work to all the newbie racers!

-Richard

a Rutgers race report

From Steve:

Time trial:

It was a rough morning getting started for our time trial. Men's D category was up first and we were late to getting there, so by the time we arrived they were already launching and I was rushed to get in line. Neither Jeremy or myself got any warm up time in, which of course is not a good thing for a such a short TT. The course itself was very nice, started off with a gradual uphill, which went down into a 180 degree turn and back on itself. I was picking up time on the person in front of me pretty well, although the turn made me lose a bit of time. I ended up passing the guy in front of me  towards the end but got passed by the rider behind me  who passed the person I passed and myself (he actually won the TT for men's D so that made me feel a bit better). Here's a picture from when he overtook me: http://velocityresults.com/images/2471.jpg He did draft me a little bit but I guess what the officials don't see doesn't matter.

Road race:

Was a wet start for this race. Felt pretty good going into the start and the "long" uphill in the beginning. Was towards the front middle of the pack which is right where I wanted to be. On the descent I heard people in front of me screaming "braking slowing" so I tapped my back brakes...bad move. Next thing I know my back tire slid out and I'm doing a side roll with my bike. The guy beside me fell the same way a tiny bit before I did so we clogged up the road. There were about 5 or 7 people who ended up dropping out from that crash. Luckily my bike was okay for the most part. The main trouble there was a change of road surface from an old paved road to a newly paved asphalt road that didn't even have lines yet. Mixed with the rain this was just a nasty combination for the D field.

Criterium:

Sean and myself chose to do the intro crit due to us both being beat up from falls in the road race. We both felt okay enough to ride the intro field, which made us both quite happy. The intro crit started out with a helpful lesson about braking (could have used that a day prior) and turning. We then did 3 laps with the coaches followed by a regroup and 4 laps for our actual ride. The crit course was really pristine. There was a decent uphill that went on for about 1/3 of the 1.2mile course followed by a lengthy downhill into a flat section where the line was. There was only one turn in the crit although it was not very sharp. The downhill section looped around for a turn but was so smooth that one could just take it without worrying. Sean and I ended up sprinting it out at the end against one another finishing 8th and 7th respectively in our field of 28. Not too shabby for being all beat up.

RUTGERS!!!!

There is not enough space in this post to describe the emotions pumping through my system Saturday morning as I eagerly awaited my first road race of the season. All of these emotions seemed to be multiplied by 10 after Paul (brother in-law to Dr. Goates and best host ever!) assured me that the kid walking around in a Garmin- Chipotle kit was indeed an authentic pro, and that he would be joining our field. I managed to get everything together and find my way down to the starting line. The race started out fast of course. The first and biggest climb on the course came at about the 1 mile mark. By the top of the field the field was split in two groups. Next 6 miles was fast and furious as the trailing group laid the hammer down in order to catch the leaders. After the regroup, the next two laps were routine with a few minor attacks but mostly steady pedaling. In those two laps I identified the pro in the field and "latched" my front wheel to his. About half way through the third lap he attacked and I was right there to go with him. Another guy also went with us. We realized that we had a gap so we perused to maintain it. The 3 of us held off the rest of the field for another half a lap before being caught by a group of 7. The group of 10 was once again quickly separated to 3 and 7 on the climb. I was in the group of 7. I stayed with the group of 7 for the remainder of the race and finished the race with a very poor, but improving, sprint for 8th place.

The "crit" was not really a crit in my books. The course was a longer loop that was either uphill or down the entire time. I sat in for most of the race but when they rang the bell for the fifth prime of the day I decided I had the legs and good position to go for it. So, on the hill I put in a worthy attack and rode to a prime lap victory. Sadly nobody else went with me on the attack. If they would have I might have tried harder to stay away from the pack, but considering I had no help I just slowly drifted back into the wind blocking field. On the last lap the field split while I was in bad position. I ended up finishing in 24th place.

Overall the weekend was great! Lots of great racing, lots of fun, and lots of Pain!! -Alan

The Tree & Farm -- RESULTS!

The Tree & Farm Race, 2012!

Ship Cycling's annual collegiate road season shakedown ride went down Saturday with characteristic violent winds, cool temps, but relatively blue skies...and a record turnout! Seventeen riders started, including seven Ship Cycling students (Alan, Jay, Jeremy, Michael, Pete, Rich, Steve), three visiting students (Courtney, Luke, Micha), two Ship profs (Christopher, Goatesause), one Gettysburg College prof (Eric), two Ship alumni (Eric, Jon), one regular suspect (Brian), and one non-event newbie (whose name I can't remember, sorry!).

Rolling out.

What was up for grabs:

That's a horse (1st), a tiger (2nd), and a dino (3rd).

And, yes, that's gold spray paint.  Awesome.

The coveted limp chicken award.  For the last-placed 

finisher...but you have to finish!

The race really began to heat up at the third dirt road section.  Micah put in a monster acceleration up the hill on Brethren Church, showing he's ready to tackle the dirt at Battenkill, obliterating the 10-rider strong group behind him.  Causalities through the rocks included a dropped chain (Gettysburg Eric) and flat tire (Christopher).  

After the rocks, the front four (Micah, Alan, Jon, Goat) regrouped and caught Jeremy, who'd been up the road for several miles.  The five rolled along together to the Maclay's Mill Murder Molehill, where Alan put in a monster dig, separating the front group and dropping Jeremy for good.

Several miles later Pete fought back to rejoin the lead group, losing contact through the final rail-trail section, but again clawing his way back before the final lead-up to the decisive Stromsberg stretch.

Goat put in a dig midway up the Stromsberg dislodging Pete once more and setting Jon (who by this time had lost the use of his rear derailleur) and Micah for a sprinters shoot out.  Micah led through from 50 yards with Jon on his wheel, but unable to make it around.  Alan, sitting up comfortable in third (to comfortable!) reacted too slowly to a charging Goat who sneaked by at the line to steal back one of gold-painted trophies.

Micah, displaying his hardware.

Results

Micah

Jon

Goat

Alan

Pete

Jeremy

Brian

Christopher & Eric (I'm not sure who finished first)

Jay

Steve

By the time I left the parking lot there was still a red Jeep with a bike rack and no sign of the Surley rider (whose name I can't remember) that I had just met that day.  So, it's still unclear to whom goes the Limp Chicken Award.  If the Surley rider finished, it's his.  Otherwise the prize goes Steve.  Stay tuned...

it's the videography that makes it great

From the CRBC:

New PA Bicycle Safety Law Signed Written by Paul Rito

Monday, 06 February 2012 15:12

"Pennsylvania enacted a new bicycle safety law on Thursday, February 2, 2012. The new law now requires motorists to allow at least four feet of space between their vehicle and a bicycle when passing a bicyclist. The law also makes it legal for a driver to cross a double yellow line into an opposing lane of traffic, when necessary to allow for the four feet clearance when passing a bicyclist on the right. If there is oncoming cars in the other direction, the motorist would have to wait until it is safe to pass the bicyclist and provide the mandated four feet clearance. The law further allows a bicyclist to ride slower on the road than the posted maximum speed, and makes it illegal for a vehicle to cut off a bicyclist when the motorist is turning right. The law become effective in sixty (60) days and is deisgned to reduce injuries which frequently do occur when a bicyclist and driver are involved in a car wreck or car accident. Harrisburg and Central Pennsylvania tend to have more of these types of injury causing accidents due to the rural nature of the area."

announcing... The Tree & Farm Race, 2012!

The Tree and Farm Race is scheduled for Saturday, February 25, 2012.  The Ship Cycling website has been updated to reflect the new route.

THIS IS SUPER GOOD STUFF!

I hope you’ll make a point of joining the boys and girls of Ship Cycling for this one.  It’s our traditional way of warming up for the collegiate season.

As far as what it is…well, it’s race, but only sort of.  There will be several race-and-regroup moments—meaning things will get fast, but we’ll wait at the next stop sign or whatever to make sure we have everyone together.  The last 5-10 miles will be more earnestly race-like, and of course there will be the super awesome (homemade!) trophies for 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd places, as well as a special prize for the last placed finisher (the limp chicken award)…but ya gotta finish the whole thing to qualify.

The route is sort of complicated (see the map on the website), so I’ll have cue sheets to pass out when we start, but cue sheets are only helpful if you stay on the course—they’re not going to get you back if you need to bail early.  So plan accordingly. 

THIS IS JUST IN TWO WEEKS!  RACING BEGINS IN JUST THREE WEEKS!    

I hope you’re excited.  I am!

(FYI, course pre-ride for Saturday BTOGS next week.)

tour of qatar

Hopefully a few of you have been following the Tour of Qatar?  Why? Because it's bike racing, that's why.

The Tour of Qatar is unique among stage races for its super, super flat terrain--and its complete lack of spectators (why the thing even exists is a mystery to me). It seems to be run entirely on super wide flat desert roads. Totally unremarkable...if it weren't for the crazy winds.

But because of the crazy winds the Tour of Qatar is a case study in echelon bike racing.

Because of the strong cross winds, apparently coming from the riders' left hand side above, you see the pack all strung out across the road, everyone trying to shield himself from the wind.  So with a strong crosswind sitting directly behind someone isn't best, you want to be beside them a bit.

When the wind is coming directly from the front, or there is no wind, the pack can be strung out behind the lead rider(s) indefinitely.

But when battling a cross wind there's only so much real estate.  Here you see those unlucky riders who weren't able to keep with the lead echelon.  Once you're off, it's pretty stinking hard to get back on.  Nearly impossible.  (It's how I was dropped, twice, in my one go at collegiate nationals years ago.)

And so while it would seem from an elevation profile that the Tour of Qatar is a snoozer--only a sprinter's playground--the wind provides enough of an obstacle that the GC time gaps become fairly significant.  Today, after five stages, Tom Boonen leads the GC by 31 seconds over Tyler Farrar.  Sixth place is one minute back.  

Wind matters.  

Don't miss the break.

tnr, 1/31

A tremendous day. Fabulous. Stupendous. There aren't enough superlatives.

As Christopher put it, "It's a perfect day. Not a perfect January day, nor a perfect spring day. Just a perfect day."

What made it perfect? Contrasts, I suppose. It's been such crappy weather, but today was 65. There was wind, but it was somehow ok. The skies were blue. Visibility was amazing. And we had 14 riders come to play (8 SU students, 1 other college student, 2 HS students, 1 Ship Cycling alum, and 2 SU profs).

So for a perfect 10 of a day, I give you 10 finish line photos from today's fun...

the early arrivals

most of the crew

Chris T., Jeremy, and Christopher (I think)

Jay, laying it all out there

Kyle

Courtney

Christopher

Michael

Rich

Dan

Race Calendar

ECCC Race calendar preview. For 2012 road season.

I compiled a week by week guide for the race season.

Week 1:March 3-4

The season kicks off with the “Frozen toed season opener” with an individual time trial and road race at Rutgers on Saturday and Sunday a criterium at Princeton.

Ship to Mercer NJ 3 hours. Mercer to Princeton 20 minutes.

Being the season opener and after all this training I can say this is a must go.

Week 2: March 10-11

Spring break starts on Friday the 9^th so if you’re not going to someplace warm why not go race the Grant’s Tomb crit presented by Columbia University on Saturday and the Duck County circuit on Sunday.

Ship to New York, NY 4 hours. NY to Mountain Side NJ 45 minutes. It’s a bit of a travel for the second race but its closer to Ship than NY so it cuts out some of the travel time on the way home.

Week 3: March 17-18

Spring break ends on Monday the 19^th but I can say I’m definitely going to Philly Phyler. Besides being one of the closer races for us it’s also one of the biggest collegiate races on the east coast.

Travel time depends on where you live.

Week 4: March 24-25

It’s the exact same race as week one so this one is a maybe.

Week 5: March 30-April 1

Another sure go is the Penn State Nittany Classic. Besides being close, we get to see our recent grad Aaron living up in State College. With the crit being on frat row I may have a mid morning beer after my race.

Ship to Penn State, 2 hours

Week 6: April 7^th-8^th

It’s another race in the New England area which means a long drive but it might be worth it for Yale’s “Lux et Velocitas” which according to Google translator means “the velocity of light”. Anyone speak Latin? Wouldn’t mind doing a little road trip for this weekend.

Ship to New Haven CT 4 hours 30 minutes

Week 7: April 14^th-15^th

Race this week is in West Point New York at the military academy. Maybe they will let us stay in the barracks.

There is also an ACCC option to go to West Virginia University this weekend. We won’t score points since it’s out of conference but we can still race in it. It’s about an hour closer and would be cool to meet some riders from the accc.

Ship to West Point NY 3 hours 45 minutes. Ship to WVU 2 hours 30 minutes.

Week 8: April 21^st-22^nd

This is hosted by Dartmouth so it’s gonna be a haul to get up there and not sure if it’s really worth going unless we get into some sort of point standings contention. Hopefully all the ECCC riders will figure out that it’s still cold in NH in April and let Ship have this race next year instead where it’s warmer.

Ship to Dartmouth, 7 Hours.

Week 9: April 28^th-29th

This is the conference championships but it’s in New Hampshire again. This time University of New Hampshire is hosting. If you’re going to make the trek(no pun intended if you ride a trek) you might as well do it this weekend rather than the Dartmouth race. It’s our last race weekend unless you go to nationals.

Ship to UNH 7 Hours 20 minutes or 1000 miles round trip. (Maybe we can fly there out of Harrisburg? Sort of a joke but not a bad idea if we can get some more student senate money)

Looks like we will have a good race team this year that is going to get us some much needed recognition. See everyone when we get back from break. For now me and my sister will be training on the roads in Lancaster.