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Monster Mash

The DCMTB \ CityBikes team came and had a good showing at the Monster Mash.

Monster Mash 2007

Hagarstown Breast Cancer Awareness CX.

By Marc and Darren
Stop 3 in the dusty, sweltering MABRA cross series took us to Hagerstown
for the breast cancer awareness CX.
http://www.midatlanticcross.info/Results/2007/BCA.htm
The fields sizes were a bit more manageable but still healthy in the 3rd
of 7 MABRA races. The course had a number of 180 deg turns, a lot of
off-camber, and a rideable sandy section.

Marc and Chris stepped up and raced the elite 1,2 race

With Darren doing his second ever cross race, the CAT 4 race

Marc did very really well, and actually paced himself on target to pass some really fast guys that he doesn’t usually beat. Marc was thriving in the heat better then others. All the racers looked haggard, Marc seemed not to get slower as the race progressed, but kept a consistent pace. Marc ended up finishing in 10th place, that being 1st for the masters’ A class. Chris was hanging strong and gave a couple of smiles so he was at least enjoying himself out there. Chris was able to pass a couple of folks as to get 7th in 35+ , 11th in 35/45.
From Marc’s Prospective during the race:

“as Randy approached I thought: “the inevitable”- randy is super strong, but also
famous for a weak start, so I am used to him passing me once the race
settles down. I made some effort to keep up with randy, but conscious of
the 60 minute duration don’t want to overdo it. We changed the lead a
few times and found ourselves moving up on Gunnar, who seemed to pick it
up when we caught him. I made a commitment to try to stay with those
guys. at first i wasn’t sure if I’d be able to hang, but I got the sense
I was stronger at a couple power sections- in particular the steep
ride up, where they were slow to re-accelerate after the hill; and the
uphill barrier run. With about 3 laps to go I was able to work past my
riding mates. First on the road, randy dropped of Gunnar’s wheel, and
rather than risk getting gapped, I went around and hung with Gunnar.
Then when Gunnar and I hit the running section together I was able to
accelerate past him, and Gunnar cheered me on with “way to go, Joel’s
Brother!”.

Darren did his second cross race and proved that he still had some late season form from all the biking he has done this year. He had the City bikes name get called over the speaker system multiple times, and even had rival team members cheering for him. Darren started fast, and was able to hang on for a fourth place finish.

From Darren’s Prospective during the race:

I think after one lap I was in 3rd place. I got on to Matt’s wheel who rides for capital hill bikes I have ridden with him before so I know his ability. I am riding with him and I find out we are 1,2 so I was pretty stoked. We get on this fast downhill section, and his tire came flying off his wheel. So then I was in 1st place, this was short lived, I then started loosing ground to the other guys and was passed by several people. I then rode in no man’s land for the rest of the race, and was able to pull off a 4th place. I was happy with the result considering it was my second cross race, and my pre-race predictions was to finish in the top 1/3 and my goal was a top 10 finish.

Charm City Cyclocross Race 2007

Charm City with the kidsCharm City with the kids

It seems like forever since I lined up and race with the Masters Bs at Charm City in September… but it was not forever… it was not even a month ago.
No time to look back because it is time to forward.

Registration is Open for DCCX - October 28, 2007

DCCX 2007
A Day of Cyclocross Racing in Our Nation’s Capital
Presented by DCMTB/City Bikes
October 28, 2007

U.S. Armed Forces Retirement Home
Rock Creek Church Rd, NW & Upshur St, NW
Washington, DC 20011

Register Online

Member Bio Raul Rojas

 

Age: 37   Born in Costa Rica but I am about to become a “gringo”.

Years Racing: since September 2007

Mountain Bike Category: Sport

Cyclocross Category: I have never done any cyclocross but this year I hope to start with the DCCX

Favorite Race: The Shenandoah Mountain 100 and Ruta de Los Conquistadores, the only two that I have done so far.

Bikes: Rocky Mountain ETSX (2006) and Fuji Team (2006)

2008 Goals: do more races and improve my poor times in both SM-100 and La Ruta.

2007 Highlights: I started to bike and decided to do and finish a couple of races.

The 2007 Shenandoah Mountain 100

The team is slowly recovering from a very hard day out at the Shenandoah Mountain 100. We had some great performances at the race ranging from new member Darren Biggs’ amazing 9:35 in his first SM100 to 16 year old Jake Danoff who finished his first 100 in 13:07. Eric Welp broke the 10 hour barrier at 9:43, Matt Donahue set a new personal record at 10:17, and Mike Scardaville finally shook off his odd-year curse and finished in 12:17.

Here’s How the Team Did:

What’s in the cards for the rest of the year? Well, the 24 Hour team is heading out to Landahl next weekend for a final showdown with Athens Wrecking Crew for the Granny Gear National Points Series Title and cyclocross season is just around the corner with Charm City kicking off the MABRA series in Baltimore. Stay tuned for more news on Landahl, Cyclocross, and DCCX.

Shenandoah Mountain 100

The one and only Shenandoah Mountain 100 is September 2.  Starting at 6:30 in the morning hundreds of mountain bikers will face a hundred miles of beautiful GWNF trails, roads, and fireroads.

Cranky Monkey

The EX2 Adventures Cranky Monkey series featured fierce competition and exciting weather. The 12PM race #1 was cancelled after one lap due to rain and lightning and race #4 experienced hot and incredibly humid conditions. Many thanks to EX2 for a great race series and to our own Kent Bakke of Continuum Energy Solutions for sponsoring the race.

DCMTB/City Bikes was well represented by: Darren Biggs, Jake Danoff, Joel Gwadz, Mark Gwadz, Ilana Knopf, Loren McWethy, Tris Newbury, Mike Pearce, Mike Scardaville, Tom Vaughn, Steve Viers and Jonathan Wheaton.

Congrats to our podium finishers:
Race #1 - Wakefield
Ilana Knopf - 4th Sport Female
Darren Biggs - 5th Expert 34-
Jonathan Wheaton - 5th Single Speed Open

Race #2 - Wakefield Dirt Crit
Mike Pearce - 1st Single Speed Open
Ilana Knopf - 3rd Sport Female
Tom Vaughn - 3rd Expert 35+
Jake Danoff - 5th Junior 14-18 Open

Race #3 - Fountainhead
Jake Danoff - 3rd Junior 14-18 Open
Tom Vaughn - 4th Expert 35+

Race #4 - Quantico
Tom Vaughn - 2nd Expert 35+
Jake Danoff - 3rd Junior 14-18 Open

Series
Tom Vaughn - 2nd Expert 35+
Ilana Knopf - 3rd Sport Female
Jake Danoff - 5th Junior 14-18 Open

Wednesdays at Wakefield

This years W@W, presented by Potomac Velo Club, saw some good weather (only one race postponed!), great trail conditions and many new participants. DCMTB/City Bikes was well represented by: Kent Bakke, Darren Biggs, Chris Clarke, Jake Danoff, Matt Donahue, Joe Foley, Joel Gwadz, Mark Gwadz, Ilana Knopf, Loren McWethy, Mike Pearce and Tom Vaughn.

Congrats to our podium finishers:
Race #1
Mike Pearce - 1st place Single Speed Open
Jake Danoff - 1st place Juniors 15-16
Joel Gwadz - 2nd place Clydesdale

Race #2
Mike Pearce - 1st place Single Speed Open
Chris Clarke - 3rd place Masters 35+

Race #3
Mike Pearce - 1st place Single Speed Open
Kent Bakke - 3rd place Masters 35+
Joel Gwadz - 3rd place Clydesdale

Race #4
Joel Gwadz - 1st place Clydesdale
Mike Pearce - 2nd place Single Speed Open
Kent Bakke - 3rd place Masters 35+

Series
Mike Pearce - 1st place Single Speed Open
Joel Gwadz - 2nd place Clydesdale
Tom Vaughn - 3rd place Masters 35+ (proving once again that “Eighty percent of success is showing up”!)

Cranky Monkey - Quantico

The 2007 Cranky Monkey Mountain Bike Race Series concludes on August 26th at the Quantico Marine Base.  See the EX2Adventures website for details - http://www.ex2adventures.com

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