DCMTB

The DCMTB crew came out to Rockburn cross with high spirits after having hosted City Bikes’ DCCX cyclocross race the weekend before. Notable performances included Marc Gwadz finishing strong in 15th in the Elite Masters race, as well as Chris Clarke with a solid 23rd. Two good efforts were made by guys bouncing back from sickness: Raul Rojas finished 17th in the Masters 3/4 while Matt Donahue finished 19th in the CAT 3/4 race. Other team members: Dave, JJ, Wiggy, Pooch, and Mike S, represented the team with fine performances. Darren and Michael experienced some mechanical issues.  Darren threw in the towel before the final lap due to his mech. issues while Michael earned the trooper award for continuing on after he got a new wheel he picked up gave him crappy shifting through the end of the race.

More pics here: http://picasaweb.google.com/lovedabikes/RockburnCX08#

Darren 2008, Cyclocross, News

39 Mark Drajem DCMTB/City Bikes         5:03:59.2

As I slogged up the big last climb of Hogshead hill, three-
quarters of the way through my third Iron Cross race, I did a quick
calculation and realized I was in good shape for a fast finish — at
least fast for me. “All I need to do is avoid a mechanical failure
or a physical breakdown,” I thought.
Cue the ominous music.
The race had gone well up to this point. I started closer to
the front, and was able to get into some faster groups on the road. I
handled the trail section better than I had before — even passing a
few tentative roadies.
Now, probably halfway up this 30-minute climb, there was a
short, fast descent on the gravel road. I must have nailed a sharp
rock because may back tire punctured. It wasn’t good, but thats’ just
par for the course on these rough roads and rocky trails. Then the
disaster: I pulled out a new tube from my bag to find the sickening
sight of a schrader valve. What a numbskill packing job on my part. I
had two spare tubes, but I might as well as carried rocks in my bag.
There were two guys stopped nearby but neither had a tube. I decided
to start hiking. After about five or ten minutes of walking a good
Samaritan offered help. He tossed me a tube and a few moments later I
was back on my way.
The last 12 miles of the race is through some fun single and
double track. It was fun riding, until the short climbs hit. My legs
were rebelling; they had no juice and were starting to cramp. It was
a slog up every uphill, but I redeemed myself by passing this DC Velo
roadie in the singletrack and holding him off when he took a slight
wrong turn on the final road section. In the end I finished in 5:04
to the cheers of my kids and parents.
Mark Wigfield was the other DCMTB rider out there, and he
finished just a few minutes later, looking strong and happy.
I’ve been singing the praises of Iron Cross these past few
year and love the mix of climbing, pack riding on the road and trail
sections. Those last few sections of hike-a-bike on the trail,
though, are incredibly miserable. I’m not sure I can bear it again
next year. Who knows, though. In another 350 days I may feel
differently.

49 Mark Wigfield DCMTB/City Bikes  5:18
The most fun part about this race for me is riding singletrack on the cross bike. You can find a good line most of the time, and it’s just a blast picking your way through it. Also gives mtnbikers an advantage because lots of people walk stuff or take it slowly. The first stretch of singletrack has a long downhill section threading through rocks, and the roadies were standing on the side of the trail watching.  I’m not sure why it’s so much fun — it’s probably the trail itself, the novelty of it, and it takes me back to when I was  a kid in pre-mtnbiking days and would sometimes take a sidetrip on a trail  w/ my schwinn 3-speed. Didn’t work that well but was fun!   Near the end, before you get to Drajem’s bane (a deceptively steep climb out in the sun on scrabbly, energy-sucking dirt trail cutting through what looks like some kind of reclamation site), the single track is fast and swoopy through the woods and I passed a lot of folks. Felt good.  That said, I would say only about 10% of the course is singletrack, so you have to be ready for lots of fire road, gravel road and blacktop ridng. I was running 35s at 50 psi, which worked well enough for me.

There are also some screamingly fast road downhills on this course that are a blast, but watch that deep gravel on the back roads. I didn’t see too much blood this year from wipe outs on gravel, but one woman last year lost a lot of skin.   The climbing is tough, no doubt. I was able to ride all the road/fire road climbs w/ a low gear of 28/39, but was off the bike a couple of times on the off-road sections.

I think my time was about 5:18 — though not sure. If it was, I was about 3 min slower than last year, but considering i didn’t train for or ride the SM100 this year, didn’t feel bad about the time at all.  The everyman goal for this race is a sub 6-hour time. If you want to place, you gotta bust your butt.

Darren 2008, Cyclocross

By Marc, Joel Gwadz and Darren

All the rain just put a different spin on Ed Sanders compared to the
dry, dusty 2007 campaign and didn’t cause any problems with the
general ride-ability of the course. my specialize tri-cross frame
was chosen in large part to avoid mud/grass buildup at races like ed
sanders (big clearance front and rear), and it worked great.

I got a front row call up as defending 35+ series winner and got a
good start, latching on to Mark Kutney’s wheel. Anthonhy von Lierop
worked his way up from somewhere back in the pack to take 2nd wheel,
and I made a decision not to try to match Kutney’s pace, which would
certainly be more than I could manage. About lap 2 as I sat somewhere
between the lead pair and a chase group, I slid out off my bike on the
2nd little drop in. I didn’t waste a lot of time, but a few seconds
and restart was enough to cost me several spots

although it is confusing to my near competitors who apparently know
how to ride a bike, I managed to mess this section up just about every
time, though I did my mess-ups differently each time to keep it
interesting. sliding out, falling, going left in weeds, right in
weeds- no bad method was left untried.

fortunately, I was feeling very strong on the flat sections that make
up most of the course, and was able to my way back past mike birner, a
cracked von lierop and finally dropped Chris Nystrum for good on the
last lap. Kutney was somewhere up the road out of sight, but I dangled
behind my crossreults.com arch nemeses randy root and bernie schiao. I
might have been only 10″ or so back, but was unable to close despite
my attempts on the last couple laps.

all in all a strong effort and a good start for the MABRA series. I
was 4th in the field, but 1st in 35+ – the other guys were 45+. so ,
maximum point in the 35+ subgroup, quirky though that might be.

Chris Clarke had a very strong showing – 8th overall in elite masters,
4th in 45+.

Mark Drajem, Raul, and myself were all lined up with the Masters B
we all raced pretty close together which made for an interesting race within the race
I worked hard to trail both Mark and Raul
eventually Drajem and I swapped spots
but I could not bridge the gap between Raul and myself
worked hard… but where I worked hard Raul must have been working hard too
because instead of me closing the gap Raul widened the margin

The B race was fast and furious and was a pretty packed field. Matty D represented DCMTB well had a strong first half and settled into his placing for the day. Darren had a bobble in the first lap, and then had a steady effort that didn’t make him DFL might as well have been in his book.  He felt the effects of racing his second B race after racing the C’s last year.

In all turned out to be a good day to watch the races, and people were talking about DCCX even when they were at another cross race!

Darren 2008, Cyclocross

Tom Vaughn and Lynne Oliver represented DCMTB at EX2’s inaugural Day of Endurance. Not only did they win the coed duo class in the 6 hour MTB race, they beat all the duo teams for 3^rd overall. Lynne is especial happy to have beaten all the boys, while Tom was just happy to have raced having bruised the heck out of his ribs while preriding the day before.

The course at Rocky Gap State Park was like two courses in one; one section climbed up into Gambril-like rock gardens with a screaming descent back to the mostly smooth and fast lakeside section. There was also some very Lodi-like twisty-turny sections as well, making it a varied and fun course. Jim Harman of EX2 said everybody loved the course and will be doing it again next year.

Thanks to Jim and everybody at EX2 for an expertly run race and thanks to our sponsors: City Bikes, Merkle, Whole Foods P Street, Continuum Energy Solutions, Serfas, SRAM, The Looking Glass Lounge and WTB.

Tom Vaughn 2008, Mountain Bike

by Darren Biggs

It’s a great feeling to plan something and execute that plan and to see it work.
I only did three road races last year(poolesville, RFK, Giro di Coppi) and this year it will be just the Giro di Coppi. As part of the DCMTB team we are a Mountain bike team that races cross and road races as well. For our Priority Calendar we only had two races RFK crit(citybikes sponsors it) and the Giro di Coppi. The Giro di Coppi is the only hilly race in the MABRA series that I know of. I did it last year and so you see how that turned out.
This year I thought about it, and I knew what I wanted to do. The issue was I had to make sure we had some DCMTB racers there to execute a plan. I raced the CAT 5 race again since I don’t race enough to really move up. I knew Matt was going to be there, and there was some openings cause of some team members who couldn’t do the race with the date change(was to be in July). I got Rudi who leads the Tuesday Dupont ride, to be a guest “DCMTB” member. I hope I can rope him into racing with our team, since I do allot of training with him already.
The race starts out and we are doing a pretty mellow pace and Matty went to the front for a bit, doing nothing crazy just letting legs get going. Rudi was on the front a little bit, I was trying to get him not to be at the front and to save his energy. Some how Rudi and I were at the front for the Old Baltimore Rd. Climb and we rode that pretty strong, I dug a little more then I wanted to. So we kept on riding and I made sure after that not to go to the front, and Matty and Rudi stayed in the top 1/3 of the field as well. The original Idea I had was that our whole team would attack in unison on the climb. The Idea being if it is one person they will let him die out there, but if it is 3 people from the same team you know the move is serious and that they are going ot work together. I had attacked last year and no one came with me so this year I wanted for our team to make the race, and not just sit around reacting to moves. This summer I had gotten a good tip from Chris on my team, he said that you have to attack on the hill(the finishing hill) before the climb. I then started to see how this would work out Rudi would go first and launch us on the finishing hill, cause these are his bread and butter climbs that I knew he would do well. I was then then to take over on the down hill. So we get to lap 2 of 3, and I saw that Matty was staying near my wheel, and I told Rudi to get to the outside and to launch after the 2000meter to go sign. So Rudi did a good job he was at the head of the group which wasn’t ideal but it was 2-3 across so that was helpful. Rudi Jumped and I was right on him, I thought Matty was with me but I didn’t have time to look behind. As we were about 2/3 ways up that, rudi started to get separation from me, so I said,”Let me come to you”, giving him encouragement in saying keep it steady. So we get to the top and I take over and take the turn hard and start gunning it down the downhill. Previously when we did this people did not do the downhill at full speed. So I was flying down that around 50mph, and Matty came out of my wheel we were both just flying. I then was in front on the climb and then it got steeper so we were spread across the road. I looked to see if Rudi was able to hang on which he was. So we kept going and I think Matty saw two guys coming, so once the two other riders showed up there were 5 of use doing really fast pulls. We all encouraged one another. We took the turn on Comus and when I looked back I could see people trying to chase. Once we got through the next turn we got a time gap from the Motor official that we had 35 seconds. That lead went down to 20 seconds then back up again. I was starting to loose it, and not being able to pull through and take my pulls(no acting here). Rudi has really good reserves but he needed to get his heart rate down so he was in a spot of bother at the beginning but got better once were pace lining while I started to loose contact on Old Baltimore Rd. ,but was only a couple of bike lengths behind. On the next road before the final turn I was losing ground , but still had the lead group in site. Once on the finally road I was more concerned about the peleton coming behind me and going right pass me. I went into mountain bike survival mode, where I put in effort where I could. I also had a severe calf cramp that I was trying to not think about. I looked behind me a couple of times, and I still didn’t see anyone coming. So I kept motoring to the finish and got myself a respectable 5th place I think like 35 seconds infront of the group. What I didn’t know was that the lead group that was up the road from me had built a lead of a minute on the peleton. Rudi finished in 4th but could of maybe done better if his cassette cog didn’t crack and fall off leaving him only his 4 top cogs so he had to spin allot those last couple of miles. Matty got 3rd and said that with him training for the SM100 he had no top end speed at the end so when the last hill came the All American guy just kicked up an knotch and got some distance. With the guy from Maryland? getting second. So not a bad day to have a everyone finish in the top 5

5th Darren Biggs

4th Rudi Riet(guest team rider)

3rd Matt Donahue

Darren 2008, Road

The weather was warm and conditions dry and dusty at Quantico for the last of the three race Cranky Monkey series. Matt Donahue, Tris Newbury, Lynne Oliver, Mike Scardaville, Tom Vaughn, Eric Welp and Jon Wheaton were present to represent the black and red.

Lynne put the finishing touch on her domination of the Expert Female class taking 1st place again for a perfect score of 150 in the series! Way to go, Lynne! Jonathan placed 4th at Quantico and 4th in the series in the Single-Speed class. On a rigid fork, no less! Tom took 4th place for the series in the tough Expert 35+ class, despite a 7th place finish at Quantico. Also, congrats to our friend Steve Viers for a second place finish in Single-Speed, taking first place in the series!

Thanks to Jim Harman and all at EX2 Adventures for such a well run race series. Thanks to our sponsors: City Bikes, Merkle, Whole Foods P Street, Continuum Energy Solutions, Serfas, SRAM, The Looking Glass Lounge and WTB.

Darren 2008, Mountain Bike, News

By: Jonathan Wheaton

I decided after the first lap of Cranky Monkey #2 at Fountainhead Park in Virginia that the trail there isn’t such a great singlespeed race course. Especially riding fully rigid and having your teeth rattle about in your head. The whole thing is just roots, direction changes and short, steep hills, with very little chance to stay in the saddle and pedal, and taken all together it worked to minimize the advantages of riding a singlespeed. Having said that, it was still a lot of fun to race today.

8 AM this morning found me wolfing down a bowl of hot cereal, then racing down to the car to put a pair of cleats on a brand spanking new pair of biking shoes, to go with a new style of pedals (Crank Brothers) that I had ridden for the first time the day before. I was hoping everything held together, as I’d also installed a new bottom bracket to go with the pedals. At 8:08 AM I was on the road, and after an hour and a half drive I arrived with not much more than 20 minutes to put shoes on, hit the porta-john, get my race packet (thanks for getting that for me Mike!), get everything together, and make it to the line for the 10 am start. No warm up and cold legs is not how I would normally want to start a race, but what the hell, I could warm up during the 2 mile road start. I was on the front line for the start, and a few guys went off quick, spinning like mad. I have a pretty fast spin, but without warming up I just wasn’t feeling too spinny. After the first mile (is it really 2 miles?) I was near the rear of the class of 15 or 16 riders, but was able to make it to mid-pack in the second mile, and was positioned about where I wanted to be going into the woods. Although, after going fast on the road, a few of the guys in front of me were slowing me up on the trail. Whatever, I had determined not to blow myself up in the first few miles, choosing instead to keep a good steady pace and let the engine warm up for a bit.

My legs were feeling good for most of the race, and as the first lap wore on I passed 4 or 5 singlespeeders, until by the end of it I was somehow in 4th place. I didn’t know it at the time though — I thought I was somewhere in the top third but didn’t realize how far up I’d gone. I managed to pass Jonathan Seibold somewhere near the end of the first lap as well, before passing one more guy. During the second lap Seibold recovered from going out too hard and about a third of the way into it I looked back to see where people were and there he was, chasing me down. “Damn. Okay, I can’t let up. I have to keep on pushing hard, see if I can hold onto this position until the end.” For most of the rest of the lap I was looking back periodically. Sometimes I wouldn’t see anyone, and then there he’d be, and I’d think, “Damn, he’s closing on me.” That lap seemed like a long one, with me and my sore back trying to hold onto our gains. As I came to each hill I’d think, “This race is going to be decided on the hills. I have to gas it and give it all I’ve got.” Surprisingly, my legs always felt strong, and even on the steepest hills that were near impossible on a singlespeed I was able to jump off and run up the rest of the way. I can’t remember ever having that kind of fitness. Up the last of the hills I pushed hard and kept pressure on the pedals, and was finally able to make some distance on Seibold, but he pushed me to give it my all that whole lap. I didn’t know it, but I must have been closing in on third place, as I finished only 24 seconds behind.

So, I got to stand on the podium and collected a 4th place finish pint glass. Sweet! There was a bit of a mix up with the scoring, as originally I didn’t even show up in the singlespeed class at all. Several of the guys let me know this, and I was able to straighten it out with the scorer. Apparently they had recorded my number as 386, but the number they gave me was 286.

There weren’t a whole lot of DCMTB/City Bikes jerseys there today, I think a total of 7 altogether, but we had 5 people on the podium. Tris Newbury took 4th in women’s sport, Joel Gwadz dominated the clydesdales to take 1st, Tom Vaughn battled the expert vets to get 5th (and that’s a hard class to race in to be sure!), Lynne Oliver stepped on the gas for her third lap in the women’s expert class to soundly beat the woman she trailed for two laps, and I held a steady pace to wind up 4th in the singlespeed class. Great job everyone!

Darren 2008, Mountain Bike, News

I

An hour gets longer
every year. Where is the thunder?
That was Joe Fo — bye.

II

What strange beast took down
Mathias? Six miles is past.
It’s time to smile.

III

Let it flow, faster.
Get past the bunny girl now
before the downhill.
IV

Who added the hills
to this lap? When will that twitch
cramp? Not now, I — ouch.

mdrajem 2008, Mountain Bike, News

Four DCMTB/City Bikes teams toed the line to race at the 2nd annual 12 Hours of Cranky Monkey this Saturday and all four walked away with top-3 finishes. The race, promoted by EX2Adventures at Quantico Marine Corps Base, took place under brutally hot conditions, from 8am to 8pm on a fun 11 miles of trail at the base.

Mike Klasmeier, Ilana Knopf and Raul Rojas took First in the 3-person Co-Ed category with the team of Michael Mathias, Lynne Oliver, and Mark Drajem close behind in 3rd place.

Taking 2nd place in 3-Man Masters (35+) was the team of Marc Gwadz, Tom Vaughn, and Chris Clarke in a fight that went right down to the last lap. In 3-Man Expert JJ Foley, Alistair MacDonald, and Joe Foley took 2nd place behind a fast team from the Bike Lane. The expert and masters teams both finished in the top ten overall with 11 laps each.

Thanks, once again, go to all of our 2008 sponsors: City Bikes, Merkle, Whole Foods P Street, Continuum Solar Energy, SRAM, Serfas, Deuter, WTB, and Looking Glass Lounge.

Joe Foley 2008, News

DCMTB/City Bikes took home three victories this past week at the kickoff of the annual Wednesdays at Wakefield race series at Wakefield Park in Annandale, Virginia. The series, promoted by the Potomac Velo Club, is a summertime tradition in DC and looked forward to by many local racers.

Mike Pearce started the evening off on a high note by taking 1st place in the Singlespeed race. Last year Pearce won the singlespeed race 3 out of 4 weeks to win the series by 42 points. Also competing in the singlespeed race were Dave Vannier, who took home 15th place, and Jake Danoff, who had an unfortunate DNF.

The successes continued into the 2nd wave of racing with 2 more victories. Lynne Oliver stormed to victory in the Women’s Expert race, winning by a margin of over 4-minutes to her closest competitor, and DCMTB/City Bikes newcomer Alistair MacDonald took 1st place in Clydesdale. DCMTB/City Bikes clydesdale mainstay Joel Gwadz wasn’t able to make the race this time around, but we’re looking forward to a showdown for DCMTB supremacy between the two in upcoming rounds.

In the sport classes, Jennifer Wills took 3rd in Women’s Sport, and JJ Foley took 11th in Men’s Sport. In the Men’s Expert Class Tom Vaughn took 10th place, and Joe Foley took 19th place.

Joe Foley 2008, News