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may 2007 recap…

another month is drawing to a close and with it more races are in the books, but we’re just at the beginning of the season and there’s a lot more racing still out there calling.

the 24 hour expert team went down to georgia this month and took second overall with 30 laps in 24 hours.  this edition of the team included mike klasmeier from the temecula team, jonathan wheaton, kent baake, and steven viers, a new member of the city bikes team, but a long time racer in the DC area.

the team placed 2nd in both the overall and expert standings with another expert team taking the class and overall win with a jaw-dropping 33 laps.  rumor has it that they’ll be coming to big bear and moab to challenge for the series, so it looks like we’ve got a good fight on our hands.

the month kicked off with two local favorites, the 12 hours of lodi farm, in fredericksburg, va and the kick-off of the michaux series.  at lodi our men’s expert took the win on the last lap of the race and at michaux, matt donahue took 2nd in the 25-mile senior category.
the mid-atlantic super series got underway this month.  this series based in southern pennsylvania, northeastern maryland, delaware, and new jersey draws racers from a wide area, and several city bikes racers ventures north for the first rounds of the race: “on the rocks at french creek” and “the escape from granogue”.  anna and lorena represented at french creek, and joe, mike scardaville, joel, and anna all raced at granogue, posting good results.

whats on tap for june?  well the super series continues, the reborn virginia series concludes at the massenutten hoo-ha, granny heads home to west virginia for the 24 hours of big bear and at the end of the month, that dc midweek favorite - wednesdays at wakefield - kicks off.

next team meeting is monday the 4th of june, 7:30pm at temperance hall on georgia avenue in dc.   the new jerseys are in, so make sure you come by to pick yours up.

see you out at the races and on the trails…

Member Bio Jake Danoff

Age: 16 Years Racing:

2 Mountain Bike Category: Junior/Single Speed

Cyclocross Category: Men’s C

Bikes: Pimped Redline Monocog 29er, Redline Conquest, Specialized Langster

Favorite Race: Shenandoah Mtn. 100, DCCX

2008 Goals: Finish the SM100 on a singlespeed, race competitively in 24 hr events

2007 Highlights: Finishing the SM100, riding across the country

Member Bio: Ilana M. Knopf

Age: 35

Years Racing: 5, off and on
Website: none of your business
Mountain Bike Category: Sport maybe Expert?
Cyclocross Category: B mabye A?
Bikes: Moots - Vamoots, Cannondale - CAAD 8, Santa Cruz - Superlight, Rhygin - Juke, various others …
2008 Goals: to develop one, Maybe do some C0-ed Relay races
2007 Highlights: 3nd Open Duo 12 hours of Cranky Monkey, Joining the DCMTB\CityBikes team,

On The Rocks at French Creek

Anna Kelso and I represented DCmtb/City Bikes at the first cross country race of the MA Super Series. It was a blast. Anna, as a native rider of PA’s technical trails, had this course sized up as pretty much just another day in the park. A few logs, a few rocks, no big deal. But too me, it took all the confidence I could gather to go all out on some of those downhill, rocky technical sections. Luckily, there was usually an expert guy in front of me, and I would just make it my goal to stick with him and follow his line. That got me through really well (except the two times when another rider caused me to crash - more on that later). My Garmin computer broke the previous week at Poolesville; it fell off my bike on the rough dirt section and looks as if every racer there decided to bulldoze right over it. So, I rode this race without so much as even a watch. It really changed the dynamics of it for me. Instead of looking at the numbers on my computer, I was totally focused on working the course and just having a good time. And I had a blast! It definitely helped that I felt good that day, and that the race was shorter than the last few I’ve done. When I got to the finish line, I seriously couldn’t believe it was over. Maybe I should never race with a computer.
There were only a few things that put a bit of a damper on all the fun I had. First, there was not a women’s elite category, but only an “Elite Open” category. The men and women were supposed to be racing for the same prize purse. Okay, what’s the point of that?! Even the fastest female time of the day, Caroline Papovich from Trek/VW, wasn’t faster than a single one of the pro men. And of course I was no different. So I thought that was kind of lame. But at the registration desk, they told me there was no prize purse for the women’s expert category, and I could go ahead and register for the Open Elite race if that was my category. I figured this was what all the other women in my category were doing. Wrong. When I showed up to the start, I was the only female in the Elite Open. My competition was all registered for the women’s expert race. So I didn’t get to go head to head with the girls I wanted to compete against. It wasn’t such a big deal to me at the start since I was just there to have fun anyway, but then my start place meant there were some men starting behind me who were faster. Not usually a problem, but there were a few guys who let their machoism, and whatever preconceived notions they have about female riders, turn them into complete jerks on the course. During the second lap, twice I was caused a crash because some guy would decide that he had to pass me at that very moment and run me off of my line. The second one was the worst, happening on a rocky downhill section. This guy pushed me to the left, right into a slanted overhanging tree that I had to duck and lean right to avoid, at the same time as my front wheel faced a much-too-large rock. I crashed right into it. This was one of the most technical sections of the course and there was a great place to pass just moments ahead.
Let’s compare this to my experience at Greenbriar. I was just reading Marc Gwatz’s blog (great posts!) and saw a picture of Jeremiah Bishop passing me in the race. Again, this was on a downhill rock garden where I couldn’t exactly pull off to the right for him. Well, it entirely did not matter. He took a different line with worse rocks, did some magical Houdini thing to lift his bike right over the rocks and turn in midair, and passed me like a phantom. It was really something! I was in awe. That moment was actually one of my highlights of racing this year. Imagine that. Getting passed by another rider was one of my highlights. But, it was one of the most athletic things I’ve witnessed up close and personal. Compare that to a few of these guys, who were willing to cut me off path into the rocks, because it might make the difference of getting 18th place, or whatever that they got. Do men do this to each other too? Part of me feels like some of these guys go crazy when they see a girl in front of them - like we’re all just moving roadblocks or something, even if we’re going the same pace. For the record, I’m not some man-hating feminist. I know most the guys out here are really considerate, and I love riding with them. I’m just blowing steam. After the race, I found that my time was third fastest among the women. After the race, the promoters realized how unfair it was to not have a separate prize purse for the elite/expert women. Which was fabulous. Kudos to that! But, since I was not registered with the women, no prize money for me. Bummer. What I really got was last place in my field! Haha. Some people thought I was trying to be like Susan Haywood - like I think I’m so tough I need to race against the men. NOPE! Others thought that I was blowing away the women’s field - they didn’t know I started with the men and had basically a 20 minute head start on the rest of the women. So some of the spectators were going wild for me, cheering that I was waaaaay ahead of the field. Good stuff! I certainly didn’t stop to explain. Just smiled. City Bikes looked great.

And - cheers to Anna for bouncing back so fast after her accident only the week before!

Race Report: The Greenbrier Challenge 2007

dillard race images

Race Report: The Greenbrier Challenge 2007
by Joel Gwadz

RACE REPORT: Greenbrier Challenge 2007

RACE REPORT: The Greenbrier Challenge 2007

with racing there is usually some anxiety…
pre-race anxiety builds and builds
on race day the anxiety settles with the distractions of the day
until the racers take the line
then the anxiety takes another form
everything is fine when the whistle blows and the race starts

the greenbrier challenge was no different
there was plenty of pre-race anxitey
being the first race of season there was additional anxiety
on race day anxiety appeared in its usual forms
at the line I fought the anxiety by making small talk with the other men in the Clydesdale Class
the only familiar face was Donald of Avalon Cycles
I had no idea what to expect of anyone
my eyes scanned for chris redlack but he was not there
 the game plan was to ride my race
not to get caught up in the speed or intensity of anyone else
yet I still tried to size up the competition

the officials gave us a two minute warning
the sounds around me blending into white noise
my heart started to beat faster
the combination of anxiety and caffeine were taking control
my foot tapped nervously on the ground
while the other foot remained locked in the clip with the pedal in the ten o’clock position
waiting to thrust down
that two minutes can be a strange limbo
noticing that my heart rate was high I thought that some yoga breathing exercises may help
then there was the alert of 15 seconds
instead of counting down with those seconds
I waited for the release
(more…)

Monthly Team Meeting at Temperance Hall

When: May 7th at 7:30 pm

Where: Temperance Hall

12 hours of Lodi

by Tom Vaughn

It rained steadily right up to the start time of 12 midnight. Mike K, Jonathon and I all declined to pre-ride, since a dry pair of shorts was deemed more valuable than any knowledge we could acquire of the undoubtedly slimy course.

We were the only expert team, but agreed we’d keep motivated by racing for overall against the single-speeders, of which there were many strong teams.  Less than an hour before the start, however, we found another expert team had signed up!

As it turned out, the course was not that bad.  Treacherous in some places, but the climbs and fast tempo sections were all in generally good shape.  We each did two night laps in a row, which worked well for this event.  On my 2-4AM shift, I saw the rain clouds scatter and moon and stars come out.  I knew we would be in for better conditions and a good race.  A strong wind came with the sun and soon the course was mostly dry and tacky.

We all put in solid lap times, but the other expert team was ahead of us from the start, at one point by 37 minutes!  We kept trying, however, and after Mike finished a fast lap minutes before 12 noon, I went out for the last lap.  I didn’t know it at the time, but I passed the other expert rider 5 minutes into my lap.  He actually stopped to let me pass, so he was either spent or did not realize we were going to get in another lap just under the wire.  Either way, his mistake, and I arrived at the start/finish to find DCMTB/City Bikes in 1st place.   A fantastic upset, this victory was especially sweet for me as this was my first expert class race as well.

Thanks to Mike K and Jonathon for being great teammates! Thanks to all our sponsors, especially Whole Foods P Street for the food!

Poolesville Road Race

By Darren Biggs

We had 5 DCMTBers out at the Race with Lorena Candrian putting on the HPC\List kit.

Womens Cat 123

Lorena Candrian 2nd

Masters 40+

Steven Veirs 26th

Mens 4/5

Matthew Donahue 19th
Darren Biggs 28th
Eric Welp (got caught up in a crash but will live to race again)

Lorena was able to finish 2nd in the Womens 123 race, after going out on a breakaway on lap 3 I believe, with eventual winner Marian Huizig so kudos for holding the field for that long.

Steven was able to show the 40+and FAST group the DCMTB colors, but there was a 12 man break up the road so the whole peleton didn’t get to see the show. He was able to hang in there and finish with the main group.

For the Mens 4/5 Race we had three guys, Eric, wrecked but seemed OK after the race, his front wheel was not OK it was a nice expensive taco. Matt put out a flier on the first lap to see how the field would respond, and in the finish was able to come in at 19th after riding off my wheel, and being swarmed by the field. I(Darren) did my first road race in 12 years and it was interesting, I would have given the cameras a good show if there was cameras, I felt pretty good the last lap, so I gunned it in the gravel section, and was off the front for about 3/4 mile. At the end I knew I couldn’t out sprint these riders so I jumped before the last turn, and had a gap and gave it my all (with Matt in tow) I would have won if the finish line was 500meters sooner ;-), but once people started coming by I let up and coasted in with a 28 place. A good race, but I like Mountain bike racing allot better :-) To have the full inside scoop on my ride stop by http://thebikeandmore.blogspot.com/

12 Hours of Lodi Farm

When: Midnight to Noon, May 6th

Where: Lodi Farm, Fredericksburg, VA

Website: http://www.teambikeworks.org/

Greenbrier Challenge

Lorena at Greenbrier

Photo by Kevin Dillard - http://www.velophotos.net

The DCMTB/City Bikes team made a great showing at the Greenbrier Challenge. It was a perfect day for racing and although warm and sunny, the team was soon splattered in mud from the previous days rain. The Greenbrier Challenge course features several rock gardens, steep grinding climbs and fast technical descents. The last descent was covered in sloppy mud which made for some “interesting” lines.

Highlights include podiums by Anna and Joel. Great job! Congrats to our new members Lorena, Steve, Jake, Max and Dan for their solid performances as well.

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