WashAngeles Cycling

Red Bull Sports Series

2012-02-15T10:49:00.000-08:00

Maybe the coolest commercial I've ever seen.

Pretty excited that this is becoming a little more mainstream.

checkit.

2011 + 1

2012-01-18T21:31:00.000-08:00

Well folks...it's been a while...and to the 7 people who based their existence on waking up to a new post on this blog...sorry majority rules. 6,999,999,993 - 7

2011 ended on a high note, cyclocross season wasn't a total bust, I managed to put in some really good rides...I learned I'm much better in a large pack, soggy courses are not my friends, ruts and technical courses are. good to know

I've made a few changes for 2012. I've veered away from the team I started (DPS Penn Cycling) and have joined up with one of the more seasoned local teams, Freddie Fu Cycling. Most of the chaps are Cat 1 and 2, which is exactly what I need to be around. Oddly enough, the very first race I ever did, The Tour De Strongland(I did the MTB Road race), the Freddie Fu Cycling Team blew the Men's Elite race apart with 3 Fu riders coming across the line together to take the win. pretty epic. Pretty much from that point on I knew I was really going to fall in love with cycling and racing, with my major goals being: win races and be on the Freddie Fu cycling team. I've won a couple handfuls of races, and now I'm part of the Freddie Fu cycling team.

With my first two major goals accomplished, it's time to set some new ones...that being said here goes...
2012:
1. Be the guy who finishes P/1/2 crits. - You go and watch these elite races and there are all these dudes who are just a notch to two below your Paul Martins/Neiters/Babiks and are just sick fast, they are the guys who never really win, or ever get their name announced...but they never crack, work their asses off and I've learned anything is possible once you get to that point.
2. Score some upgrade points towards my Cat 1...once I cash in my points for my Cat 2 upgrade
3. Learn the art of the TT
4. Top 5 at Battenkill/Top 10 at Morgantown/Top 8 overall at the oval/ win an oval race
5. Cut on Mike Mihalik until he snaps/~~cries~~
6. And of course, Solo to a win in front of 500+ screaming fans(this needs to be in a hot summer race, because I want to do the Jersey zip up just before I gesture the crowd, I practice a lot, I've got it down pat.)

Those all seem simple enough...I've up'd my game for this year, and I'm going to try and take it a little more serious, but have more fun...if that makes any sense.

Check me out
@Washangeles

Well Hello Ladies, Has anyone ever told you "there are almost no UVB Rays in the winter?"

Yeah didn't think so, lets go back to my place, the roads are just your kind of dirty.

CX catch up...DCCX yo

2011-10-24T20:40:00.000-07:00

*Note Part 2 of the Real Andy Gorski will drop later this week, but for now....

I first have to mention a pretty big deal. I do ride my bicycles alot, I do travel to races a lot, and sometimes this sport is more of a selfish thing then anything else....but I would like to mention that my girl friend, Anna, and I just had our 5th year Anniversary! We celebrated by going cyclocross racing!....and well of course some other things like spending the day in Ohiopyle, romantic dinner...you know the works! She's been around my cycling since day one, I drag her all over the Mid-Atlantic so she can watch me ride my bicycle in circles....so A big thanks goes out to her for the Support over the last 5 years!

I haven't had a blog post since Providence CX Fest....I've done a few races since then...nothing to write home about, some bad luck, and one OK race at day 2 of the Morgantown Monster CX weekend. You know, I've had some time to realign my cx goals for the season....I've found that Ive been cracking to easy, or not going hard when I'm dismounted from the bike, or not working for an entire section...you know, shit like that...I watch things like Behind the Barriers, J-Pow and crew never look weak, sure there pace falls off, but they don't sit up, or walk a section, they look just as strong and gritted at the end of the race, as they do at the start. My goal for this past weekend try and just put an entire race together.

Bruceton Mills CX. I started in the front row, which was a nice change, the pace was slow off the start and I kept telling myself to attack, get a early group, sit in, and hopefully be carried much further then if I were solo. I'm not sure of my fitness right now, so I decided to let the race play out and just try to hang on. A set of riders got away early, I was working in a nice little group with C Schott and Brew Crew, we went around for a few laps, I made a few mistakes.
My legs didn't feel great, they felt normal I guess, they have just been feeling zapped of power the last month or so...but the mistakes took their toll, I looked to my legs for the answer and they let me down. 0% power, pissed me off to be honest. Schott and Brewer layed it to me...I settled for a dismal 6th place

DCCX was in store for Sunday. I arrived at 1:18 p.m. -My race started at 2:00 p.m. nice.

I rushed out of my car, changed into my kit, ate a waffle/gu, slammed some H20, put 35 psi in my tires and took off for rider reg. I signed up a few minutes before reg. closed and received Bib# 37...5th row start! I couldn't really see the course, didn't have pit wheels, and only about 10 minutes to stretch and get the best warm up I possibly could. The only info I could gather was: Fast course, there was a set of barriers near the start, and the turn by the bike pit was easy to over cook. I was just going to take it as it came...like a mtb race.

We took off, I rode very timid, I couldn't see to far in front of me, so I didn't want to press my luck with some risky riding. I got tangled up in a few early pile ups, nothing major, but I was running into everything....trees, tape, roots, riders, and even a few fans....It took 3 or 4 laps to figure out the best lines. Coming from a very solid MotoX background, I will admit I see the course/turns much differently then a lot of riders, and I try/test lots of lines, I just don't pick one and settle on it like many others do,...anyways...my lines came together late in the race and I was able to start making up some serious ground...oh and before I forget, every time I was dismounted from my bike, I just kept picturing guys like JPow, TJ, Mahalik, Cummings(guys who just don't quit), in my head-how they also keep the pressure up...and I stayed strong through all of the obstacles. Towards the end of the race, I kept opening up the gap on the riders behind me and closing the gap on the riders in front of me...By the time the last lap bell rang, I was on fire, I had never been so motivated in a race for a long, long time. I wish the race would have been a full hour, I felt awesome, maybe the best legs/feel I've ever had in a CX race. I came home with a awesome 18th place.

I maybe beating J Cotter here........I need smaller legs.

I ate like shit, didn't warm-up, had no preview of the course, and yet, had one of my best rides to date. I'm not sure why I keep having total opposite days on the weekends. I felt tired, disappointed and ready to hang up the shoes at Bruceton...only to feel unstoppable the next day in DC.

Here's feeling unstoppable for the rest of the Cross Season!

P.S. I've been doing some online race coverage for Cyclocross Magazine this season....
Check out my write up for DCCX right here.

3 days in Providence: A new Gorski

2011-10-14T09:58:00.000-07:00

I've never raced in New England before, all I have heard is how serious everyone is...almost to the point of it not being fun. I'm not one to judge, so I figured that I had to give it a whirl myself.

The trip was a few weeks in the making, for real cross'er Mike Mihalik and for real Vet cross'er Angry Andy Gorksi also decided to make the trip....and of course we took Mike's killer Sprinter Van...which also brings me to my first Andy Quote of the post

"You might as well just pull up and act like you fkn own the place with this van"
-Andy Gorksi

I met up with mike at this shop in the Quip very early Friday morning, loaded up my whip, wheels, note pad, and camera...we caught some light rush hour traffic on the way into the 'burgh and made our way to Double A's office. Reloaded the van, that thing was packed to the hilt...and thus, we set off on our 13ish hour pilgrimage to the hometown of Harry Dunne and Lloyd Christmas.

"F'ing F!" -Andy Gorksi

We hit I-80E and AA dropped the pedal and the f-bombs...before last weekend, I only knew Andy from racing, but not much else about him, needless to say he's a super good dude and can make any trip fun and entertaining. We passed some dude just outside of Jersey Shore making a run at cars on the curb of the highway, I was introduced to soybeans, became desensitised to the use of the F word, and sometime after nightfall we rolled into the Best Western just south of Providence, R.I., which by the way, does have 2 working Waffle Irons!

"Watch out! That dude's got a tat!" -Andy Gorski

Providence CX fest is, by far, the most legit cycling event I've been to. I can't picture anything being on a level higher for a CX race...everyone had multiple bling'd out bikes, Shimano fence, fence post were double tapped, multiple dismounts per lap, Velo Swap.....the works! Mike and I checked out the course, lots of climbing on day 1, kinda technical, but for me, the heat was the worst.
Gettin' Anrgy

"Malkkkkkkkkk theee Shallllkkkkk" -Andy Gorski, courtesy of Brett Rothmyer

+35 Elite was first to go...Gorski avoided a pile up and was buried near the back of pack after 1 lap, but he rallied, fueled by Hotel Waffles and soybeans, he worked up into the top 20...way solid ride

Dude rides the Trainer a lot...wtf!

I was up next, like 150 dudes and U19 future pro's. The pace is breakneck from the gun, but I kept passing huge chunks of dudes, worked my way up from my 9th row start...I was somewhere in the 40's at the start of the 4th lap(we did 6)...and I ran head first into the wall, I bonked major. finished 96th? pretty upset with myself...on top of the that, I had to get my act together and cover the Women's elite race, also the Men's elite race, for Cyclocross Magazine. I guess my sub par writing skills and mediocre photo skills finally led to something!

Bruno Roy wrapped in bad luck

Anyways Mihalik was up next, he started near the back of the UCI men's field...Like deep dish carbon wheel through mud, he cut through the pack...after a huge 2nd half charge, he moved into the last $ spot and came home with a 30th. His lap times dropped every lap, it was crazy to watch and glad I was able to take it in while snapping shots and taking notes the whole race.

Myerson ripping the holeshot

"Outstanding" -Andy Gorski

End of part One.

It was a really long weekend, so I'm gonna break the story up over a few blog posts...plus I'm off to Camp Muffy(I think) and Granouge this weekend for some racing and race coverage.

Kickoff CX Preview

2011-09-30T17:50:00.000-07:00

Tacchino Cyclocross, Mabra #1

2011-09-28T10:59:00.000-07:00

Bah bomp banha bomp banha bomp bomp........Taaaaaacccccccchhinnooooooo!

The first round of the MABRA Super 8 series dropped this past weekend, and hopefully is a sign of things to come for the rest of the season. The temps were rather warm, several wet days beforehand, high humidity, and a large turn out really churned up the course and rutted some sections very nicely by the time the "Killer B's" hit the course.

A large field of 100+? riders lined up for what was looking to be like a very fun 45+ minutes. I had the pleasure of wearing bib # 851, giving me a mid-pack starting spot. The start was kind of an awkward set up...dogging right off of the pavement and then into a nice long left hand sweeper, but I felt the section was a bit to narrow, and didn't allow for any movement through the pack at all. I wasn't able to start making moves until we went through the first couple tight turns followed by a short climb. I worked and worked, by the start of the 3rd lap, I was sitting in 11th, knocking on the Top 10 door.

Sprinting out of every turn for the first 2 laps was starting to catch up with me, right near the time I got myself into striking distance of the top 10, I started to enter a major blow-up...I set the sails, crashed, and dropped a handful of spots at least. I recouped, sweating my ass off in the humidity, and refocused on not giving up anymore spots. A Kelly Benefits rider got me just before the bell lap, and we traded positions until my bobbles helped him gain some good distance on me. My thought at that moment was just to hang on, not concede anymore spots and save up for a push in the last few minutes of the race....I bridged back up to the Kelly rider just before the log hill run up. Using my wicked right side dismount skills(I lack left side skills), I managed to get my bike caught up on a post and wrapped in tape, don't ask how, but it led to Chris, MoneyNStuff, getting by me before I could get untangled....I tried to get back around him, but I was pretty spent and conceded in the sprint. Not sure where I finished, with results still not posted, and the long lag times for result posting at the race, I would have to guess somewhere around 22nd? Hopefully a bit better

I really enjoyed the large field, and the tore up course...I really do prefer something that requires some technical skill to ride, rather then a "grass crit" cx race that is usually popular this early in the cross season....and Tacchino delivered it well

Charm City Day 1, Whisky Island CX

2011-09-19T11:56:00.000-07:00

Another wild doubleheader weekend

Everything got kicked off Friday night when my good friend Greg Tarr got married to his wonderful bride Lauren...They met at a local bike race when Greg got the luckiest flat tire in the history of cycling, and the rest is history! Congratulations to Greg and Lauren! Best wishes to them!

Saturday was day 1 of Charm City...several dudes from the burgh showed up in the B 2/3/4 race...a few at the front and 4 or 5 of us all together in the back half of the pack at the start. I was bib # 67.

The course was awesome, This is one of my favorite courses and this year we had the luck of a damp course and a few rutted out areas! YES!

The pack took off, and I was pretty much boxed in and unable to make any real moves until we exited the pavement section. Once into the grass I started to knife my way through the pack. The course has a lot of off camber sections, which suits me very well, but it lends itself to be very one lined and lots of pinch points...I worked my ass off to get myself into the top 35 after the 1st lap....I dropped chain, a couple riders eating it right in front of me, a mini blow-up, and a crash on my own cost me...I fell through the pack like a anvil...I regained my composure and started to pick off riders again....I finished somewhere around 50th....a last lap crash cost me 4 or 5 spots, but I was over riding the course trying to get around as many "bro's" as possible.

Here is a really good video of the Men's 2/3/4 race on saturday

2011 Charm City Cyclocross Men's B Race Saturday 3:30pm from Bryan Burns on Vimeo.
I got this video from this blog http://oncycling.blogspot.com/ - Thanks!

I was super happy with Charm City...I have never had anything but bad luck in bigger races, so it was nice to be able to get a good ride under my belt....I even turned my fastest lap of the race on the last lap of the race!

Family commitments brought myself and my gf, Anna, home for the rest of the weekend...But I was, again, able to sneak up to Northern Ohio for the Whisky Island CX race...The race was a blast, myself and another guy worked together and built up a nice lead over the field very early...with 2 laps to go, I flatted my front...got a quick change and pressed on...my teammate Brendan Jones caught up and we chased the leader down....The attacks started to go on the last lap, it came down to the last section...2 log barriers that you could hop, and then a long power straight...I thought I had the win in the bag, but I collided with a lapper over the barriers and lost my chance to sprint for the win...Hats off to the guy who won! he had some bad luck as well, but dug deep and held me off! I rolled in 2nd and BJones rounded out the podium for 3rd

Prize was a bottle of Jim Beam....nice.

Not to sure on next weekend's plans yet...either out to Indy for OVCX series weend or back to DC for the MABRA Super 8 Series opener

Also, our local series(which will give any MABRA race a run for its $) kicks off at kick-off cross next saturday...it's located in the park where the Morgantown Road Race is held!! Come check it out! It will be worth it www.abraracing.com

Par for the Course, Nittany #1 and NEOCX #2

2011-09-12T13:01:00.000-07:00

Cyclocross is my favorite aspect of cycling....I participated in my first CX race in 2007, the race, Mammoth Cyclocross, was round 1 of the Month of Mud Series that year...I raced beginner on a 30lb $300 Lime Green Iron Horse Mountain Bike...I duked it out with Aaron Shelmire for almost the entire race(also on a mtb) and placed 2nd behind Ben Stephens. It was my first time ever riding with clipless pedals, and I drug my semi-large body into and out-of amazing depths of muscle and lung pain....but I loved every minute of it...I've been hooked since...I love cyclocross, it's pure, it's you vs. everyone else, teams don't matter, the previous race doesn't matter....I just wish cyclocross loved me back...even just a little bit. Maybe, maybe one day it will.

This weekend was the Cross season kickoff....MAC rounds #1 and #2 A.K.A. Nittany Lion Cyclocross Double Header, as well as my first time ever riding CX tubulars(foreshadow).

I signed up for both days, but was only able to race day 1 due to some family commitments Sunday night. I signed up for the "Killer B's" and was awarded a fabulous 61st starting place(my avg. MAC starting place is 121). The start light turned green...we bolted..I managed to gain a few positions by the time we made it through the finish line...I got caught up in a few pile ups early, but managed to limit the damage....I made tons of moves in the mud sections...I kept looking to the front...I could see another rider from the burgh', Eric Lundgren(He earned a awesome 3rd place!)...he's wicked fast folks, and tried to keep him in my view with the goal of working up to him...I got to within a handful of riders behind him.

With impeccable timing disaster struck...I entered a turn hard, like motox style hard, sprinted out and felt my rear end start to wobble and get squishy....I looked down, saw the spoke holes of my rear wheel and then proceeded to tell myself that "this is not happening, keep riding and ignore this problem, this is not happening"...but within seconds there was no denying it, the wheel was locked up...I had rolled my rear tubular.

There, in the middle of the course, I stood in disbelief, I looked at how far I had to go to the pits...I looked at the leaders getting further and further away...I looked at all the riders passing me and all the ones who still had yet to pass me...I thought about how this is typical Keith in CX season....and lastly, I thought about how much this is going to f' up my crossresults.com ranking.

I hate jogging/running, with a passion...but its what I had to do. I put my head down and started to jog my ass around the course...it felt like forever, but I made it into the pits, changed both wheels and peeled out. As I crossed the finish line, I got an update from a friend who told me I was almost A MINUTE down from next to last place...killer. I dropped the hammer...I had a clean track and some great lines....I passed a few riders that lap, a few more the next, and even more the lap after that...I really didn't have anything to push me other then trying to keep from giving in...I did a beer up or 2 and had solid lines. The race was kinda short, I felt we were shorted a lap (Leaders finished in 37:30). I was pleased with my ride, despite the fact that I had to run for a long ass time.

Sunday I was able to sneak into Ohio and race Round 2 of the NEOCX series....I lined up with 20 other dudes in the Men's 3/4 race...I jumped in with the leaders from the gun...3 of us rode away from the gun...the course is more like a grass crit with a mud pit, some barriers, and a couple steep sledding hills that we got to go up and down on. At the start of the second lap, my breakaway companion ran his bike into the barriers and jammed his chain...I realized he was not going to be a quick fix, so I labored on. I was in the lead! Yes! All by myself! Not good!...I have no idea how to pace myself...I need another rider...I'll just keep backing it off and backing it off...which is what I did...I was caught with 1 1/2 laps to go...I kept the leader honest, but every time I would push, he would answer right back and re-open the gap to 5+ seconds...and that's how we finished...He took the win, and I rolled in for a nice 2nd place! Fellow DPS rider Brendan Jones also was in the field, but feel victim to another rider's crash, but rallied for a nice 6th place race in his 2011 CX debut

CHECK IT
DPS Penn/Cannondale Cycling now has a facebook page!...."Like" our page for weekly features and updates all through this year's cyclocross season!
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/DPS-Penn-Cannondale-Cycling-Team/264155036939761

Next Week is Charm City as well as Wendy Park on the Shores of Lake Erie....pumped!

24 hours of 7 Springs

2011-09-08T08:23:00.001-07:00

It's been a while, but the season is starting to ramp back up, so, the blogging shall follow as well. Tonight I'll put up a mid-season recap...but for now, this post is all about the 24 hours of 7 Springs

I've always wanted to do this race, I've known about it since I started cycling. Only within the last 2 years, I have had a real possibility of doing a race like this. Those possibilities were over shadowed by other, greater life events. This year, the calender was shaping up, and Labor day weekend looked to be "event free". My EX-teammate and best friend, Jason (thug-life), decided that we need to hit the event head on in the most spectacular way possible....Dancing the Tango and racing the Duo.

Jason lives in Texas, so it was mostly up to me to get all of the ducks in a row and things planned...Jason showed up a few days before the race, paid for half of the food we would eventually not eat, and then showed up in "Jason" style Friday night after everything was set up.
We had some really good pit mates...West Lib' Rob and Greta, The Bennett's, Flood, Doug Fresh, JR, Mrs. JR, Dusty, Stacie from the Oval, and the Shrogran's and crew...it kind of reminded me of the old Motocross pro national weekends....sans the Coffield's, Jerry and Arlene, and a $350,000 fully loaded Motorhome...oh and cases upon cases of Natty.

Having worked at 7 Springs for 3 Winters in a row during the "college years", Springs is a little more of a personal place to me then others, and I was super excited the night before!

The race kicked off with a Lemann's style start, I elected Jason for the first, and since he was the only candidate running, he won by a landslide. Frankie Ross Crushed the field on the run, but Jason put in a good effort and came out in the top 20...by the end of 1 lap we were sitting 16-17th overall and 2nd in duo...I rode a relaxed first lap and was marred by chain problems, but still managed to get us within striking distance of the top 10 overall. Our strategy was to run double laps from that point on.

Jason hit his first wall, not eating enough before the race, he died on only his 3rd lap and was rumored to have said "Tell Keith I'm dead on the inside" to Jeff Grimm, while laying in a pond. Jason was able to limp in and finish the lap, we traded bands, I yelled a bunch of orders at him and took off...I had another ok lap, and on my 2nd lap of the double I stopped in the pits, changed, fueled back up, and hit the course for the first night lap of the race...about 45 seconds after turning on my lights, I found a bottle I had dropped earlier and realized I had a awesome flat back tire...it took forever to change...and I only blinded my self with the headlight glare off of my frame 63 times. The Night laps were the toughest for me, I only see glare and shadows at night, and having 1400 lumen's on your lid makes it much worse, Jason on the other hand, had his fastest lap of the race at night...wtf.

We gaped 3rd place pretty big by nightfall, but we kept playing yo-yo with first place...I would ride, the gap would come down to under 10 min....Jason would ride, the gap would go back over 30 min...hmmmm(this could have something to do how Jason "rode" longer then I did)...until the lead team made a mistake and one of their riders took a digger and was forced to leave the race...it really sucks that we took over the lead in that fashion, but that's racing, and we didn't win because of a "mechanical". Hopefully the rider ended up alright, they were really good dudes, and pretty fast to boot!

Jason and I just maintained from that point on. We eventually lapped the 2nd place team and called it a truce with those guys at the finish line around 9:30 AM...I was pretty blown, so was Jason, so was the other team! I slept maybe, maybe 40 minutes during the race, threw up everything I put in my mouth, and changed into 6 different kits.

I was pretty happy that I was able to hang on and finish, riding/being awake for 24 hours in a tough mental game, and we were able to come out on greener grass side in the end.

I'm not sure if I'll ever try the Duo race again, but if I did, I think I take another approach to the race. I would have the riders take shifts in 10-12-2 hour shifts...It would be alot like riding a 100 mile mtb race, with the first rider having 12 hours to recover and re-fuel...that way, the semi-rested rider could race the last 2 hours at a XC race pace, and hopefully play to our advantage against a team that as been swapping laps for 22 hours in a tight race
Overall, Springs was awesome, my hate for rocks grew, I learned that I will nevery try a 24hr solo race, and the odds of me doing a NUE race got slimmer....looking foward to next year.

My new race van!

Drop riders, not F* Bombs

2011-06-15T06:28:00.000-07:00

Well the Air Force Classic was this past weekend...sucked.

The events, themselves, were great. The atmosphere was top notch, the pro racing was even better, and if you like demolition derbies on high-end bicycles...then you have died an gone to Heaven.

Went swimming in one of my favorite spots Friday

Saturday started out early, 9:55 A.M. for the 1/2/3 race at the Clarendon Cup. There was a nice size field and some really serious talent in the mix. The pace started out fast, but the course was very manageable, and I could really use my entry/exit corner speed to my advantage on the course. My only goal was to just finish the race...with no scrapes...or a broken bike. My dream was dashed, when 10ish laps into the race, some guy ate it right in front of me...and in, what seemed like slow motion, I skidded over his bike and instead of going down myself, I just casually stepped over the front of my bicycle...I turned around, picked up my bike, and rode over to the finish to check in. FREE Lap denied! I was told that I didn't crash, and therefore no free lap. So I dropped a few F Bombs and packed it in.

Sunday...more of the same...got into a 2nd lap crash, which caused a 15 minute red flag...witnessed several other crashes in the ensuing laps...dodged a tire to the face around the midway point...and continued to tail gun until the 2 lap card came out...I started my move up, and by the midway point of the final lap, I was sitting inside the top 15...my plan was to be around 7-10 as we exited building breezeway...shocker...some donkey crashed in the 180 and a couple of us where forced to lock er' up and dodge off to the side...I lost a ton of spots in a split second...I rolled in for a lonely 28th.

The only Proof I was in a race this weekend

Look, wrecks happen, it's part of racing...I get it...but that was over the top.

TOWC Kick-Off Crit friday...maybe the TOWC as well...or a WVMBA race sunday.

Ride Sally Ride/Quippa Crit 2011

2011-06-06T07:04:00.000-07:00

The last few weeks haven't gone as planned...not even close. It started out as me getting the flu, and then Strep Throat, and then moisture in the lungs, and then I managed to get myself fully covered in poison oak! After some serious antibiotics, lots of Prednisone, and some time off the bike, I was able to make a return to riding/racing with only some minor lung problems. I caught the First "P Course" race of the year at the oval....rode very conservative and ended up with a 2nd....you can check out the "rump view" GoPro video here...

Locked up a solid 3rd in the 1st Bud Harris Oval Points race, while trying to be a lead out guy...which I did a piss poor job!...But Cory Hartman was still able to power his way to a big win! Don Splitstone was also able to grab the last points paying position as well...solid start for DPS Penn in the Series.

Anyways...Ride Sally Ride...not a major race, good sized field, small payouts, small entry fee!, short distance, and in the Office Park of which I use to work in a few years ago! It was pretty cool to be racing around the building that I use to spend a lot of time in!

We rolled out of Washangeles at 7ish, took the senic route through Harrper's Ferry, and pulled into the race pits around 11:30

So the course was .6 of a mile...mostly flat, with 3 sweeping corners. The race itself was somewhat uneventful...I needed to be like twice as long...at one point, I found myself in a nice break that had at least 1 rider from every team, as well as, a few solo guys like myself...it seemed like a good move, everyone was seemingly willing to work, but for whatever reason...everyone's teammates felt the need to chase us down and squash the effort.

I decided, at that point, to just sit in and hang out near the rear. Nothing was going to stick, and there was no risk of droppage, so I just tail gunned. The pace lifted with 5 to go, I started my move up and was in good position when the 2 card came out.

You could sense it was bound to happen, everyone started to press the corners, and maneuvering like they where in a 2 man break, unfortunately it was a 50 man pack. Going through turn 2, I took a rear wheel to the arm and leg as a small group of riders started to pile up...I was able to dodge a mayhem and skid through some riders...sprinted back up to the tail of the field just in time for the bell lap...I moved up from 30th? on the backside and grabbed a wheel inside the top 10 with half a lap to go....I knew at this point a top 3 might be the best I could steal....going into the last turn someone else crossed wheels in the top 5....resulting in a much worse crash...and like a Moth attracted to a Flame, I rode right into the mess, but somehow I wieseled my way out of it and coasted in for a 7th place. Hope the guys who went down are alright!
We packed up and headed back to the Burgh'

Sunday brought on the famous Quippa Crit...known for always having wind, and a pancake flat 1/2 mile back stretch. It was obvious that it would come down to a field sprint...and Sitting 2nd in the series overall(6 points behind leader Joe Lydic) I really needed to be on my P's and Q's for the sprint. The race was really uneventful, could have been longer, and was a bit easy. Sounds like it should have been in the bag right? Wrong! Cory killed himself to stretch out the field on the last lap, and when it came for me to put in the attack, I went into my shell and didn't...managed to get myself boxed in...I looked everywhere for a lane, even up till 50 meters to go, I knew If I could just get a crack I could win the race, but I really didn't want to wreck anyone or be careless so I just took it on the chin and finished a 6th place...Hats off to Jake Yundt, He needed to win to get himself back into the points chase...and he did! Meanwhile, I let Cory's effort go down in vain...sucks!

"just need a lane"

Back to DC this weekend for the Air Force Classic...I'll let you know how it goes

Turkey Hill Country Classic

2011-05-16T06:34:00.000-07:00

A little late with this one...

The Turkey Hill race really wasn't on my radar for this season, I have known about the race for as long as I've been cycling, but never really thought the course profile suited my type of riding. I've heard it's a must do event, but my idea of a must do event doesn't include a trip across the state only to me dropped in a RR.

This year is a little different though...I'm trying to live it up as a 3 as much as possible, and after my top 10 in the Morgantown RR, I felt I should head East and really test myself against the bigger and faster fields of the Mid-Atlantic...but at the same time, I also wanted to score some Cat 3 cup points...So it was a toss up, either I could test myself at Turkey Hill or go for the Fort Ritiche Crit, where I knew I would be a very serious threat for the win...I went for Turkey Hill.

I arrived on Friday night, just before dark, and was able to drive the course and check it out before the rains came...it was a nice loop, several rollers, one serious pitch(Gamber Wall), one serious decent, and a long curvy drag strip into the finish.
I showed up early, I really enjoy this part of the state, so I went out for a 90 min warm up and enjoyed some of the roads and farms. Hopefully I'll be able to get some more races/rides in later this year, it's worth the trip alone. The 3/4 Field was again a sell out crowd, 100 racers. The race ended up being 65 miles...the pace started out slow, Ed Krall and I chatted it up for a bit, and most of the race We both just chilled at the rear. Gamber Wall proved to not really be a major factor, the pace was kept slow on every ascent, and if it was stressed at all, you could recover on the 50mph decent a 1/4 mile later. The herd thinned every lap, I made sure to keep myself up far enough in the pack so I wouldn't be forced to come around riders who were falling off...the only major mistake I made was not taking more then 2 bottles...the sun and temps where taking a toll. Several riders had helpers in the feed zone, I did not.

I ran out of water with 2+laps to go. When we came around for the Bell on the last lap, I had full on cotton mouth, but with only 15ish minutes of racing left, there was no way I was going to let that get in my way...coming into the "wall" for the 9th and final time, I sat 12-13 riders deep in the pack...I punched it right at the base, had a open land on the outside, and could see that my attack was really going to jump the field...but of course, the last guy I needed to get by was waving all over the road and pushed me out into the grass killing my momentum...and causing me to re attack just to get back into the middle of the pack. 3 or 4 other dudes where able to gap off the front during this time, and 3 of them managed to dangle off the front for the rest of the lap and earn the top 3 spots.

Being by myself, I just had to settle for a pack sprint at this point, I'm not going to waste myself and chase for the gain of everyone else...and I'm pretty sure every other rider in the group had the same mindset, even the ones with teammates. The sprint was a botch, I took up behind some "lead out guy" and his "sprinter" who kept talking about how was was taking the "sprinter" to the front...well we never went anywhere...no one went anywhere, it was a very odd sprint...the small 3 man group was just in front of us, but for some reason no teams wanted to set pace...everyone just keep dodging the responsibility, which caused the pack to wave back and forth all over the road...I couldn't find a lane and had to settle just for sitting in and collecting a 17th place.
Hindsight I should have been more aggressive...I'm pretty happy with the race though...it was semi-fast with a 23-24 mph pace and 5500 feet? of climbing...it was a good test, I was never really challenged and I was there at the end of the race with chance at a really good result

Turkey Hill is a "must do"

The Month of April

2011-05-04T07:42:00.000-07:00

There hasn't been a blog for some time...this tends to happen when I loose any motivation to ride...which, is what April is all about...

April Started off good...I started off in good form, healthy, and strong. I was able to get a 9th place in the Morgantown RR, win my first ever oval race, turn 25 years old, get tangled up in the first crash of the year, and win my first WVMBA race...all within the span of 7 days!

It soon went to shit...The oval hasn't been going to bad 1st, 3rd, 2nd, and last week, while riding finishing out a century, I was able to get some good efforts and a 7th place in the A race with my cold dead legs.

I had some knee problems throughout the entire month, and my only riding was some knee pain filled racing...hence, the non-blogging...but hopefully I'm back to updating the blog for a while.

My knee has been on the up and up, so I decided to hit up the Race at the Lake #2...first off...the course is awesome! It has some nice turns, a little power climb, but for the most part is a course where you don't really fear getting dropped...kinda ovalesk in racing nature.

The race started out slow, but there where some big teams in the bunch..GPOA, Panther, 28 Cleveland Clinic guys, Carbon, a few other Ohioans and some 'Burgher's mixed in. Steve Bedilion attacked for a $ Prime around the halfway point of the race...it drew out 4 other guys, 4 of them managed to stay away for the rest of the race claiming all the best results. My goal going into the race was to hope for a bunch sprint...I put in a couple efforts, but my goal was to just try to ride my race and chill out...the pace was up and down at time, but rather controlled to an overall chill pace by the teams with riders in the break. I moved up through the pack the last 2 laps and found myself 7thish wheel going in the to the 200m mark.

The biggest lesson I learned in this race was sprinting with some strong 1/2 guys...in 3/4 races, I am one of the stronger sprinters, so I can wait, watch, and then overcome most sprints or attacks....not the case at RATL...I kept sitting in and watching the top 5 riders waiting for them to open it up...as soon as they did I did...only instead of a few hard kicks and over coming them, I kicked hard most of the way to the line, and pretty much lost ground, only gaining a couple spots for a 5the place bunch sprint and 9th overall. Lesson learned.

Steve Brewer of the Brewcrew snapped this great shot

Some shout outs!
Thanks to everyone who had anything to do with the Steel City Showdown...That race was awesome! My race didn't go so well(rolled a tubular, killed myself to not go a lap down before my wheel change/non sprint sprint for 9th place)...but either way, I really hope it sticks around!

WVMBA...still some of the best races around, I don't get to do many MTB race, but I love these race, reminds me why I ride a bike!

and of course...Jason, beating some 12 year olds in Texas...then rubbing the 1st place price in their face! But he did get his Cat 1 MTB...so Hats off to Jason!

Unsolved Mysteries: Case of the missing gloves

2011-04-04T11:17:00.000-07:00

"For every mystery, there is someone, somewhere, who knows the truth. Perhaps that someone is watching. Perhaps... it's you".

Please play this video while reading this blog post-thanks.

Authorities need your help to track down these missing gloves Pearl Izumi P.R.O. Softshell Lite Glove

Last seen: Near the crest of the 2nd major Climb in the Morgantown Road Race, placed together underneath the guardrail on the left hand side of the road. There are foot prints in the gravel along the guard rail upto the point of where the gloves were placed, they then vanish from that point on, but where going in a general South West direction from the scene. They where placed there by a DPS rider, and upon a return to the scene a few hours after the race, the gloves had vanished with no explantion at all.

If you, or anyone you know, have any information on this case, Write to us at Washangeles Unsolved Mysteries...you need not leave your name.

When we return, the case of burning balm....

Incase you need Robert Stack for the full effect.

2011 Morgantown Road Race

2011-04-03T17:32:00.000-07:00

2010 recap....117 degrees, 96 climbs, 4 blow ups, 896/1000 deaths.

2011 recap.... JR decided to go back to the 2009 course, where I was able to cut my teeth and get my first ever bike race win...so needless to say, I'm a fan of the "new" old route. BikeReg.com was showing 60+ riders signed up in the 3/4 race and several serious riders. I know this course leads to selections of the strongest riders, so I saw this race as the first real test of my fitness for the year because, at some point, I would have to stretch the elastic to stay in the race for the first time this year.

The weather was something out of the twilight zone...wind, snow, rain, sleet, sun, heat...anything you could think of...Steveo summed it up the best...crazy blizzard snow: Keith "man this is shit, JR should have moved the damn race..ahh Hey Steveo whats up?" Steveo replies in the most wicked tone "aaaaahahahahaHAHA" -perfect. The race start was delayed 30 minutes and the weather cleared within 20...I don't think everyone who bikereg'd the race showed up, but the ones who were on my radar were on the line...we had some light team tactics...get in the break if there is one, watch the marked riders, and try to get to the finish line.

The first 20 miles of the race were slow and mostly uneventful...some bottle droppage, a few guys flatted, and the pack seemed to be in agreement to let the race unfold on the climbs....the only real action was a solo man break by Mike Appel, who opened up a nice margin on the first half of the course. Once we got within sight of the first real climb, Don Splitstone and myself made sure we were placed within the top 1/3 of the pack...I expected the pack to be tore to shreds...I made sure to keep to the front so I could cover any attacks...the attacks never happened.

Once we crested the first hill, the pack started to string out at the front...a few attacks went, I hopped in, and put in a few efforts to help open a gap that 7 or 8 riders, including myself, had started to open up. My goal was to have myself at the front of the group as we started the first descent...I know the roads and consider myself one of the best descenders in the burgh, so I wanted to open a good gap and give myself some breathing room on the second climb and hopefully climb at a pace better for me(slow) and fall back to the leaders by the time we crested the top...but that isn't what happened...a few attacks went...I ended up at the rear of the 8 man line and stuck behind a few guys who may have went through an entire set of brake pads on the short trip down the slope...I lost contact half way up the 2nd climb, but Don was still in a prime spot and pushed on.

I chased back down the 2nd descent, worked with a small 8 man group that included Splitty and Lydic, we were able to get within 10 seconds of the lead group... so Don and I jumped across the gap to the leaders just in time for the start of the penultimate climb....then Don and I both fell off 2/3 of the way up, my legs where like lead from pushing way to big of a gear for to long. So both of us, as well as, Ben Hay and a couple DC riders formed up.

At that point we were the 2nd group on the road...we chased chased chased, keeping the leaders within sight...Ben, Don and I were taking the hard pulls while the other guys blocked the wind...Splitstone caught a stroke of bad luck and flatted(fellow dpspenn rider Cory Hartman also suffered a front flat!), leaving me as the highest placed DPS rider in the race and without a teammate for later on. A this point I was starting to get a little fed up with being stuck in the group I was in, this has to be how Hincapie feels in the cobble classics year after year...I think Ben was also starting to feel this way too..by the time we arrived at the base of the final climb,we had dropped to a minute down and any type of hunger for the chase had left our group it seemed...I decided to press the pace on the final descent and opened a gap trying to hopefully spark a fire and pick the pace up...but nothing happened, and I didn't want to take the risk of burning my matches solo to no avail, plus I was pretty sure I could take the 4 up sprint...so I sat back in, took my "turn" in the wind and rode at a touring like pace for the last 10 miles. The pace got really slow at points, we even managed to conced another 4:30 to the leaders in the last 5ish miles on the way back to Mason-Dixon Park...but I wasn't worried about anyone behind us in the least, so I just kept in check.

Thinking we were outside the top 10, I was cool with just rolling across the line, but with 300m to go, I could hear a rider wind up and take a run in my slipstream....I let him go by, caught a gear, and went out wide at 200m...I put in a few hard pedal strokes and shot out of the group....I was able to coast the last 100m with 10 lengths at the line for a surprising 9th place.....Goal was top 10...so I was pretty happy to find out I had come in 9th in a stacked road race! The race may have been 50 miles, but I really only "raced" for a few minutes...it started on the top of the first climb and ended when I lost contact on the 3rd climb...I'm an awful climber, but I wish I could have reached deeper and just stayed within contact...if I can get to that point this season, I have a good chance in any Cat 3 race hills or no hills, and that's well within my grasp.

The race had a great vibe to it, and has again proved to be my favorite road race....the Bud Harris Oval starts this week...and then a few weeks of crits until the next RR in Greene County. Solid Vibes, solid vibes

Morgantown Road Race Preview

2011-03-29T19:31:00.000-07:00

Morgantown RR solo by hower131 at Garmin Connect - Details

Here is the file from my Garmin from tonight's preview ride...the roads are in good shape(after the first 7 miles), clean, cinders in a few turns, and is looking ready for Saturday's throw down. I ended up having some work to do in Greene County this afternoon, so I tossed the CAAD10 up on my roof rack during lunch, finished out the day of work, and then headed to Mason-Dixon park and got ready.

I really haven't gotten a ride in the last 2 weeks besides racing and a mtb ride...but my knee is on the mend and feeling good...so hopefully it keeps getting better....the first 10 or so miles hurt...and I felt like my legs were really dead...and that I should just quit cycling...but it got better as the miles ticked by.

The first 7 miles have some serious pot holes and some rough patches of road...I used that stretch as my warm up, plus I needed to keep my head on a swivel because of the insanely fast traffic on WV Rt. 7.

Once I hit Blacksville I took the turn onto Rt. 218, the roads opened up and the surface is smooth for the next 13 miles....made the turn out of WBG and within 3 miles the climbs start....4 solid climbs, check out the Garmin profile, with rollers in between...I think the last climb might be the hardest....but hopefully I'll be able to grit it out and pull my large body up and over it....that rolls into 10-11 miles of rollers and flats with a couple punches at the end. I think it's a pretty fair course....and lends itself to better racing then last year's course for sure.

Hopefully the race will be worth the wait.

See you Saturday.

Ohio is....ohio

2011-03-27T19:14:00.000-07:00

Quick update....Amity # 2 didn't go as well as Amity #1....flatted on the 2nd lap...lost a lap before I could even make it back to the car...jumped in the main pack the next time around to go 2 laps down...I was fresh...Gerry P. attacked(gary B. said I couldn't contest the sprint)...so I was willing to give anyone a free tote to the line to get some good practice for trying to pour it all out in the last 3 miles(and to beat the sprint). I thought bedilion would get the free ride, but I punched it to hard on the climb and gaped him..kept going, bridged up to Gerry, had 10 seconds on the field...we laid pipe 53X11 style to the finish and manged to open up 45+ seconds...in terms of results, the race was a wash, but in terms of situation practice...Gold medal.

This week, in terms of riding, sucked...I got in one awesome day on the mtb at bavington...I rode until I couldn't see anymore...that awesome. Tuesday I was crushed flat out in an adult league hockey game...I guess someone didn't make the cut for the Flyer's and decided to play adult league...I went to keep the puck in the zone...just as I centered the puck I got decked...like instant headache and knee buckle hit...well guess what...the puck I centered was chipped in for a goal...I win, you lose. Needless to say, my week of riding wasn't. Everything was canned...Jefferson Cup moved to may 8th...Yellow Springs had permit issues Mid-Ohio Anna, Darin, and myself loaded up "Joe Jetta" and made the longer then thought trek to the Mid-Ohio Race car course...the 3/4 race went off at 3:45....we pulled in at 3:34...changed in record time(Darin got ready on the road, trucker bomb and all). The race before us ran over luckily...we got to the line with a few minutes to spare...It was balls cold, super windy, and the course was AWESOME, I found myself in the break on the 2nd lap...we opened up a minute + on the field...4 laps to go...Paul Carson threw down a very strong pull...right after my mega pull...he and another rider gaped the break...and the other 4 dudes(including me) just stared at each other wondering who was going to drag us back up to Paul +1...shocker, we fell to the pack The last lap Darin said he would lead me out...with a mile or so to go he shot through a hole, I tired to follow and was forced off the road into some mud...jumped back up to the field and decided to wait it out...Darin held off the field for 3rd...and I manged to put myself in a bad position again and had to settle for 6th because I seem to like to to myself in bad spots for the sprint...nice...paul held on for 2nd...solid ride Anna braved the wind and the cold while cheering us on for 30 miles...maybe the best performance of the day. Morgantown is this weekend...I love this course...I'm not a climber...but it's a big race for sure. super super pumped.

Ok 2011

2011-03-21T12:21:00.000-07:00

It's mid-March already...last year I didn't turn a pedal in anger until the last weekend of March in the Union Grove RR...it's only been 51 weeks since that race, and I've taken a crack at 3 races already.(Amity might be listed as a training race, but it's full on go)

The temps have remained warm enough to keep to the outside riding, and with every day that passes, we get closer and closer to not having to worry about layers or thermals.

Wanting to get a couple races in the warmer weather, I bikereg'd for the Black Hills Circuit Race in Boyds, Maryland. The main goal of this race was just to get some fast pack riding in...maybe an attack/break...and to see how my early season form stands when compared to the riders with a head start on warm temps. I signed up for the good ole' Cat 3/4 race...a full 75 rider field.
The weather was great, warm...some breeze and the SUN.

Now to be honest, and no disrespect to the MABRA riders, but every 3/4 race I've done seems to be a crash fest...and I've been caught up in a couple of the bad ones(Hagerstown and Crystal City)...so I was a little worried all week about what could or might happen when 75 riders are let off the chain for the first time this season. The course was awesome, some sketchy car traffic, yellowline, but overall a fast circuit with a nice rising hill finish which would really decide the race.

I busted out my brand new easton ec90 tubies...I've been itching to use them, and with the clean roads, I couldn't resist...though, I managed to forget my 11-25 cassette...bummer because all I had was an 11-21...so I rolled with it.

Sitting at on the starting line I was super nervous, my HR didn't go below 120 the entire time just standing there....the race started off mellow...I dropped my chain and proceeded to fall back a ton...dropped my chain once more on the 2nd lap, and again dropped several spots...pretty much until I was at the end of a long line. The 11-21 cost me...I had to drop the front down to the 39t for the last 35 yards of the climb, and then up shift and mash the gear to get up to speed...which caused the drops on the first two laps...long story short...the vibe was a little hectic so I decided to hang near the rear of the field so I could suck wheel and react to anything that was going to happen ahead of me. I chilled out and with 5 laps or so to go I decided it was time to start moving up...when the 2 lap card came out I was inside of the top 10...then some guy on the sidelines yelled "they have 20 seconds"....I had no clue there was even a break...there was no chase/push/windup by any of the well represented teams....I was a little pissed. I wasn't about to burn my matches dragging field up to the break...so I just sat in....last lap I moved into the top 5...looked like some guys where building up a lead out...but then turned it off with 1000m to go...we where swarmed, I was boxed it and forced to coast up the hill to the finish and a dismal 18th place.

While the result might not have been what I was looking for, it was a good test and I feel I exceeded my expectations...at no point was I hurting or struggling to keep a wheel....so I'll take it.

Also...I used my gopro to film the race, and shocker, it turned off with 1.5 laps to go for an unknown reason...so here I'll have 13.5 laps up in no time...I'm awful at getting anything to work...and can't edit anything to save my life right now...In time I'll get better...but here is all I've got to work so far...part 4 of 5 from the 3/4 race...I'll have all 5 parts asap...but every time I try to load something to YouTube, it either loads upside down or in black/white, freezes, plays backwards, or is just snow scramble....nice....more to come

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSeEihoChxc - click this link for the wide screen view

I'll do a mini write up about Amity #2 tomorrow
Big Thanks to Bike Doctor and everyone else who had a hand in the Black Hills race!

Greg Tarr Rides Again!

2011-03-15T16:08:00.000-07:00

Well the temps are on the rise, the days are longer, and my good friend and teammate Greg Tarr invited me out for a ride this past Monday! Greg(proclaimed cross specialist/climber), Co-creator of Washangeles, is one of the unsung hero's of the DPS Cycling team...He is the mastermind behind the kit's, team design, and brand image for the team...plus he takes wicked retarded(good) pictures, like better then anything you or anyone you know can come up with...you'll see them pop up from time to time on here this season.

I was a little tired from the Amity training race and my pre and post race rides but, I'm never one to turn down a ride and I also had a self-fulfilling earning to try out my new Easton tublars

...btw big thanks to the guys we West Liberty Cycles for gluing these things up perfect for me and getting the wheels ready for me to destroy

We departed Mont Von Glenn and headed North West out towards the old Fort Cherry RR course looking to get in a nice relaxing 20 miles

G$ Tarr has had one hell of a year and a half...crazy highs and lows, and, with out a doubt, the best flat tire in the history of cycling. We had a great ride with a ton of climbing(too much)...I was able to test out my new Easton EC90 Aero's a little bit.......Holy shite are these things fast, they spun up super fast and you could stick the wheel right into a corner with no doubts...it was like going from a slick to a Dunlop 756 on a MX bike. I could slice the wheel in and out of the turn with the front brake, lay my weight into the inside to cheat a turn, and even flip the bike over Moto GP style in a S-turn like never before...I can't do any thing of the sort on a mid-level clincher.

These wheels are stupid fast-almost not even fair.

I can't even wait to try them out in a race

Amityville Horror #1

2011-03-13T16:45:00.000-07:00

Today kicked off the 2011 season...JR's Amity Training Series matter of fact...and just like all of JR's other races..it was borderline stupid hard...at least for me. The course lies in the heart of some of the best cycling roads around...Amwell Township has to be one of the best places to ride a bicycle on a regular basis in the trisate area

So the Course was on decent roads, mostly swept, and well guarded by several course marshalls.

It contained a longish set of rollers then led right into several step walls and then a short 1/4 mile pitch to the top. Once you tamed the climb, there was a 3 1/2 mile descent back to the bottom of the valley, where the finished line resided, to a sharp right hander and back into the rollers.

Trying to chase back on...to no avail

Living just down the road from the course, I figured I would just ride to the race and get a good warm up...I got in 20ish miles and felt pretty good for the most part...I arrived, pinned up, and jumped on to the start line of the 1/2/3 field...35 or 40 dudes where on the line when we started...by the time we crested the climb the first time, there were like 8 riders in the pack with a 2 man break 15 seconds up the road...and this is just 2 miles into the race...I looked back and couldn't see anyone...My fatass realized that this race was going to be a endless suffer fest for the next hour 45. The lead pack shed a couple of riders every lap.

Trying to catch back on...but to no avail

I was finally shed at the start of the climb on lap 4/7....I was crushed and my HR. it was through the roof. I dropped like an anvil and nursed myself around the course for a couple of laps...the last 2 laps, I was able to pick it back up and take back a few spots that I had lost in my downward spiral...I finished the race crushed for the first time in a long time...then I was able to squeeze an easy 15 recover miles in on the way home. Bedilion's long solo break

The Course was way tough, and kicked the ass of almost everyone...can't wait until next week

Steve3PO takes the win (GW throwback)

All things Rick...New Threads....Crap weather

2011-03-09T17:38:00.000-08:00

Reason # 553 why you shouldn't use worn out tires in the winter

Well the winter weather woes continue....it either rains or snows...that's it. Sure we have that one sunny, windy day every 8 or 9 days. This weather is nothing new, in fact, it happens every year...it just sucks because I have to pretty much tear my bike apart after every ride and detail/clean/grease every part so that I don't have to buy a new bike come summer time....blahhh. Everyone here in the 'burgh has these same problems, unless they train exclusively inside.

On the plus side of things, the temps have been on the rise, and will continue to rise as the days spin by...Darin and myself even made it out for 40 miles in the pouring rain...with smiles on too

Serious...Darin and I hit up 2 LSD rides this past weekend...Saturday it was nonstop wind and rain...over rough dirty roads...it felt like a two man break in a Spring Classic. It was for sure an epic weekend of riding, and yes I was able to attack and slowly build my gap...10 seconds, 20 seconds, 45 seconds, and then finally, the Jersey zip-up and the trade mark double arm pump...the ride regrouped, and Darin and I rode our soaked cold asses home in the windy down pour...Sunday was more of the same, but replace windy rain with windy snow and more "zone 2"...

Some other good news I traded my beloved Rick Ridgeline in for a 2010 VW Jetta...going back to my VW cycling roots(as well as double the gas mileage)
I figured since I won't have to visit any drill sites, or undeveloped areas, I have lost the use for my truck and the insane fuel bill that comes with it and the many miles driven for bicycle races

New Jetta! Rick is pretty Rick, sad to see him go though

..hold on, about to go link crazy...

You can now follow Washangeles Cycling on Twitter!...we'll be tweeting all things cycling and just about anything else, Charlie Sheen related or not

And last but not least, the 2011 DPS Penn Cycling Kits are are their way as well as the DPS Penn Greene County Road Race...Run by J.R. Petsko and is the 2nd round of the ABRA Road Series

Hot 'n Cold

2011-03-02T17:01:00.000-08:00

That's how the weather has been in these here parts for the last few weeks...not even a month ago I was outside riding in the snow flakes and the sub 20 degree temps. BBut then the weather spiked and we get a few 60+ degree days...riding with no thermals or warmers, a glimpse of spring, and some relief for the those of us with the seasonal sickness(or that don't feel the need to drop a ton $ on a team training camp in some warm coastal town). Needless to say, I rode way to many miles and even started my tan lines...boyeah!

The 2nd hottest Girl I've seen on a bike

After taking Monday off, I went out for my rides last night and tonight...with temps in the upper 30's-lower40's...and I about froze my *alls off...sure I slugged through my rides...but I am really looking forward to the warmer temps coming and staying in our pressence as winter dwindles away

The Spring Classics's season is also upon us...just like all the Euro Pro's and their Belgian Classics's...Us here in SWPA are all gearing up for our own classic...we may not have the cobbles of Northern France, but we do have huge pot holes, cinders, super rough tar/chip roads, Flandersesk Climbs, and all the drill traffic you can handle.

This weekend kicks off the racing season with the Amity Training series. These races maybe small time..but they are on roads that are on my everyday routes, and even border my Father's farm....so this should be fun as hell!...sure it's early season...my weight is still high(i got dropped), but either way, it's always fun to race on roads that you grew up on...

After the first couple races, the cycling season kicks into high gear...Black Hills Circuit Race, Amity X2, The Jefferson Cup, MORGANTOWN, maybe Battenkill, Steel City Showdown...and so on...either way...the races are getting bigger and bigger...just like my goals for the season...and all of us here at DPS/Cannondale are really looking forward to this season

I also took the plunge and bought a Powertap...needless to say, I think my numbers are so-so, better then I thought they were going to be...but then I watched a video where a run down was given for Fabian Cancellara's SRM Power data for the Tour of Flanders...We have similar builds, are weights are even with in a couple pounds of each other,his numbers where almost exact to my numbers...but oh wait...his ride was 3 hours longer...and just happen to be one of the toughest 1 day races in the world...dagger

The Russian Mobster gives the rundown

Pumped for the 2011 Season!

Warm Spell

2011-02-13T18:30:00.000-08:00

The 'burgh graced us cyclists this weekend with a dose of great warm sunny weather...and just if you didn't take advantage of it, well it'll show.

Anywaysss...I also got my 1st real good taste of riding in the city....See I live in rural lower Washington County...there are lots of cows, gravel roads, and not very much traffic...we tend to ride in the middle of the road with out head's on a swivel...them there redneck folk don't like dem "bi-cycle ridding fags" that much(even know nascar and cycling share quite a few qualities...), but anyways...I still love riding the roads I do...the miles are endless, and so is the scenery, so it's worth dodging the countless unneeded diesel trucks and jagoff's.

So where am I going with this??...riding in the city is great...sure the roads are kinda shitty, but the drivers give you a ton of room, they wave, they give you the courtesy honk, and not 1 American Ice can was thrown my way! Awesome!

Other news...Races are popping up all over bikereg...the Cat 3 Cup seems to be a go again for this year...and Battenkill gets closer and closer every day-shit.

This warm weather has make me Spring Sick, I'm ready for it...but I'm sure the cold is going to make it's way back before the winter is over

New Year, New Limits

2011-02-11T12:00:00.000-08:00

Well after deciding 8 months was a long enough time to let the blog ingredients stew, I decided to take some time out of regular everyday American schedule, and pass a new blog entry...we'll ease back into this and pick up the blogging as 2011 unfolds...

The 2nd half of 2010 was just as exciting as the 1st! The oval season went well, Cross season went awesome for the team(despite my best efforts)...and we inked a few new sponsorship deals in the post season

For 2011 their will be some changes to the team though...We'll be losing a couple of solid riders, but picking up a few in the transition...Local crazy/sandbagger Jason is moving onto the next chapter in his life...he has taken a great job in Houston, Texas...but I still would put $ on Jason doing a few races around the Burgh throughout the season, in 201o he went from zero to the Silver Medal in the PA State CX Champs, so yeah we're gonne miss him...plus I hear that their has been several random life-size cardboard cut-outs of Jason floating around Bloomfield...so who knows

Joining the ranks for 2011 is Timm "Bovice" Bauer...He's doing double duty...he is going to continue repping Team Cystic Fibrosis and DPS Penn this year!...He's a beast...and he proved it last year in the Local CX scene....Welcome aboard Bovice! Here's to a great 2011!

Also new in 2011 will be supporting sponsors:
Cannondale, who has hooked us up with some Sweet Caad10's for this year
Honey Stinger, be sure to hunt me down and try a Stinger Waffle
Cycleops, for the best warm-ups of course
As well as FRS, Snow's Clam Juice, and Harnegy Designs

Returning Sponsors will be Greg Tarr Photography, Washington County Tourism, Tri-State Voice and Data, and of course wonderful Washangeles

DPS Penn, is really helping us push the team as well as local cycling this year...along with West Liberty Cycles...Rob and the gang at WLC are some of the best in the Burgh....so needless to say, we're super happy to be back in action with those guys for 2011

I've become a major fan of the website gamjams.net....they offer up a great rundown of whats going on cycling wise in the Mid-Atlantic...they also put on a series called the Cat 3 Cup, which my possibly be a goal of mine this year, so when ever there is a low in the burgh racing scene, or you have an itch for a big crit race, check it out

few last things....
The wonderful Pittsburgh Winter that has graced us this year sucks...but at the same time...rocks...it really makes you a tough guy, to go out and ride everyday in the freezing temps, or putting endless hours in on your home trainer...it helps shape us into a mean and aggressive cycling region...Hopefully winter's grasp in going to break soon, every time i see the forecast call for temps above 30 degrees, I treat it like a Hawaiian vacation and try to get in a uberlong ride...and that's kinda sick...I know the rest of the Burgh is right there with me on this one tho!

Here's to 2011!

Bachelor Voyage 2010

2010-06-22T05:18:00.001-07:00

For this edition we are going to bravely venture away from relaying criterium racing stories and instead focus on the sort of riding that got me into cycling in the first place, and on the things that I find myself longing for everytime I find myself driving 3 hours each way to do a 45 minute race.This past weekend, in honor of my plans to get married later this summer, Greg and I ventured down to the Monongahela National Forest, Cranberry Glades, for a little camping/cycling "voyage". Luckily my friend Mike Loranty, who I went to college with and don't get to see much these days because he is in Massachusetts, rode his bike and BOB trailer up from Lewisburg for the weekend. Keith couldn't make it, nor could GW, who currently lives in Maine.Here are some pics/videos:

Marlinton, WV

Mike climbing up to the Cranberry Glades visitor center

This is Grego in Cass, before climbing up to SnowshoeThis is Grego after climbing up to Snowshoe. Notice the change in affect, and that there are no photos on the summit where he is smiling...

Luckily the accomodations provided bathing au natural

Over 2 days we did 2 rides, 50 miles and 75, including the whole of the scenic highway, the climb from 219 up to the Cranberry Glades Visitor Center, the descent on 219 into Marlinton, and Cass-Snowshoe-219.

Here is some of the climb up from 219 on the Scenic Highway:

Here is some of the 4 mile descent down into Tea Creek:

That and 2 black bears, a jar of homemade moonshine, some saddle sores, some Appalachian bluegrass in Hillsboro, and an impromptu tour of a 140 year old haunted house rounded out a pretty sweet weekend.

Crits, Crits, Crits...oval, oval, oval...crit...crash

2010-06-15T19:45:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since the ol' DPS Penn blog has seen an update....since we last parted...I've gone on a crazy trip to ride the endless climbs of WV, been pulled out of races, traveled the land afar, and have even thought about losing weight to help improve my performance

We'll get to the nitty gritty...over the last few months...the newer racers on the team have been exploding! Eric Vowcheck has notched 3 straight up wins and has had pretty much a solid finish in every race he has entered!...Jasuan has also been out there killing it in the 4/5 ranks and is willing to go out and try...look for these two riders to be all over every race as the season rolls on

Crit racing has been the bulk of my schedule this year...it's my favorite type of racing...its almost like motocross...you need to learn fast lines, where your weak, where your slow, and best of all...you can set people up!
I've been trying to get myself out there and race some of the bigger level events in the region...I took a stab at the Wilmington Grad Prix last month in Wilmington, DE...the race was somewhat fast...sprinting in these races is nothing like the local races, you really need to be on your game....it seems that as long as you are near the top half of the field at the start of the last lap, you have a solid chance at a win...the field surges like there is no tomorrow and will slow up just as fast causing a pack swarm and a flip-flop of the field...so I had a ok race...flatted...got a free lap and finished up in a pack finish around 25th place out of 125 starters

Since then, Darin Shriver has grabbed a win at the oval...the "P" course owned my soul again...I have no idea what it is...I always ride like a asshole when it comes time for the P course and blow up...well...mark my words...I'm going to own that thing one day...

I tried some parking lot racing in Ohio...it was kinda weak...but still fun, I was able to get a ok 8th place and some gas $ for the trip

But what this blog is really about....starting with this past weekend...and rolling until late July..there is a string of bigger crit races that I feel I can really have a strong showing in

Well my campaign kicked off this past weekend starting with the Downtown Erie Criterium.
I really like this race and this course...the roads are somewhat rough and the course has both right and left turns along with a great setting...last year, as you long-time readers may remember, my freshly new shop built front wheel went kaput in the final turn causing me to eat pavement and straw while I watched the other 3 riders ride off for the win...
Well this year...I finished...but the race was boring and I didn't really try to mix it up...not sure why, but I just wasn't in the mood to race....but that all changed over the course of the next 24 hours.

The 2nd stop on my campaign trail was on Sunday in Washington D.C.
The U.S. Air Force Crystal Cup. While checking out the PRO race, I took notice of every other racer who going to contest the 3/4 race later in the day...I picked up on the fact that everyone looks like team serious and there were several NOVA teams with 6+ riders in the race,, just what I was looking for, a gut wrenching race with some serious dudes. After watching some local IRMC guys go toe to toe with some full time pro riders...I was inspired to show DC what Pittsburgh has to offer the lesser ranks

I lined up after a solid trainer warm up and off we went...I was like one of 5 guys with out a set up Zipp 404's in the feild. I felt...myself, along with several other riders, never really got the feeling we were in a race...the "race" felt more like an expensive group ride...but yet a ton of riders still fell off the field...after some big $ laps, the race was on...I rode smart and moved myself up into the top 10 with 2 laps to go...and going into the last lap I sat some where between 5th and 7th place...perfect!
The field was semi-strung out and I was on top of my game ready to mark any pack surging or swarming...then...then I f#&ked up....not quite sure how it happened....I felt some pressure from my left side and crossed wheels with a racer in front of me.
I remember looking at the wheels hit and thinking "that was a long drive just to have this happen...ass" As I started to go down, I then realized how bad this is going to hurt...like Darin reacting to his own passing of gas, I didn't...I didn't even try to prepare for what lay ahead. As I lawn darted head first into the pavement...a second thought cossed my mind (Chris Tucker voice and all) "Don't get knocked the f#%k out"....well I didn't...and as I skidded down the road (30% longer then I should have...I was drafting the guy skidding down the pavement in front of me) another insightful thought crossed my mind...."I thought I was at he front of the pack...what the hell happened to everyone behind me?"

The moment that series of words stopped scrolling across my mind...the answer hit me then ran me over...I only had to ask myself that question one time, but it was answered several times and then some...when it was all said and done...my race was over along with 15+ other guys...sorry..but it happens, that's crit racing...deal with it

I checked on my garmin later when I got home..my speed went from the 30's down to zero in about 2 seconds and my HR jumped from 181 up to 201 within 2 seconds...ehhh

Pretty much everything I had on but my sunglasses, which went flying into safety, was broken...mad props to my Bell Volt helmet...the thing cracked in half and I didn't feel a thing!...even my shoes broke...and the bike was trashed...like everything...but all of that can be rebuilt...I was lucky to get out of the crash with only some road rash, chest x-rays, and a tire violation

Gonna try the "P" course again tomorrow...we'll see how it goes

New post this week

2010-06-08T20:08:00.000-07:00

Sorry all,
Its been a while...there is lots to talk about and highlight

just been way to busy to even check up on other's blogs

just a few days away from a great new post

thanks for reading

Its been a while, a long while

2010-05-03T19:08:00.000-07:00

that would be Darin killing it in the Dirty Dozen DVD

Well It's been many moons since the last DPS Penn update....sorry folks...I've just been beyond busy, even to the point to where I've lost hours upon hours of riding time...which sucks and is starting to show in my weekly performance...but that's neither here nor there...on to the Month of Showers....and Wind?

April started off with once of the biggest races in the area....the Morgantown Road Race...it drew riders from all over the land, it was crazy hot, and everyone was crushed at the end of the day...what a race!...glad it's behind us

Then the Race series that almost wasn't...was...the Mingo Creek Spring Series made a return ,thank god, for the 2010 season. The course remained the same for this year, but the start was moved to a much safer area for the sprint...the sprint is now much safer...but the chances of a solo move working are pretty much slim to none now...which is ok...but makes for a boring race...the 1st race I was able to grab a solid 2nd place in the 4/5 class and Darin was able to grab a 6th place in the 1/2/3 race...after my 2nd place, I felt it was time to upgrade to the Cat 3 class just in time for the Wednesday night oval races...the B race went well, Darin Grabbed a 2nd place and I was able to eek out a 4th place...after that We both jumped into the A race(my first 123 race) And I jumped the Field and bridged up a Cat velo rider a few laps into the race....soon after a Freddie Fu rider, IRMC, Iron City, Pitt, and another Cat Velo guy all bridged up to the break and the race was on...all the big players were there and I thought to myself that "I'm about to see some serious shit"...I tired my best to hang on to the pace, but I was only able to muster about 10 laps after killing myself in the B race....I took the road more traveled and fell back to the safety of the main field...it was a great learning experience...

...Later on that week at the 2nd round of the Mingo Spring Series...DPS Penn/WLC had a great turn out again in the 4/5 field..and Darin and I in the 1/2/3 field...With 2 riders in the 123's, Darin and I were able to cover every attack and Darin was able to jump at the right moment and get away with the winning move....were he would go on to place 2nd with his new found sprinting skills...I was able to chill out in the main field and stretch my legs a little...in the 4/5 race we came across a little bad luck...but everyone was able to put in a good ride and enjoy the race
The last round of the Mingo series had to have the plug pulled on it because there are just some people in this world who love to crush the joy of others just because they can....and those people live near Mingo Creek park...go figure
Since then racing has fallen off a bit...a lot of MTB riding to get ready for the Mohican 100 and a few races at the oval...I was able to grab a 2nd place last week on the newly paved oval....!...and the last few weeks many of the DPS Penn/WLC riders have been able to make it to other events and even started racing at the Oval on Tuesday nights

So over the next few weeks our kits will be in, we'll be hitting up more races and spreading the word
So here's to some more great Gang rides around Washington County, good racing, and May Flowers

Achilles heel pain!

2010-04-16T05:59:00.000-07:00

This past Wednesday I was talking to Ben Stephens about pain in Achilles tendon. We both have experienced and I'm sure there are more out there too. I told him it was funny he mentioned it because for 2 days after the Morgantown Road Race my right Achilles was really fired up and I was reminded how hard and long the race was for 2 days after every time I went up or down steps.

As it just so happens, I've come across yet more info on and present it here for everyone. Taken from Coach Fred's Solutions to 150 Road Cycling Challenges

When an Achilles tendon is complaining, go through this checklist:

Is your saddle high enough? Sometimes the body compensates for an excessively low saddle by bending too much at the ankle at the top of the stroke, which in turn puts strain on the Achilles.

Are you pulling through excessively at the bottom of the stroke? It's good to work on this skill occasionally but in normal riding it shouldn't be a conscious act. Overemphasis could cause Achilles stress.

Are you climbing a lot? Riding short-and-steep hills can bring on a case of Achilles tendinitis if you stay seated and push hard. Stand more or gear down so you can pedal against a lighter resistance.

Are you recovering sufficiently? If you're sure that your position is right, try easing off the climbing. If that doesn't work, take some time off the bike.

That's all pretty basic and you probably have those points covered, but here is something that was not immediately evident to me: cleat position. According to Dr. Gabe Mirkin and Shimano's Wayne Stetina, the farther forward the cleat, the more stress on the calf and Achilles. Armed with this insight, you might try moving your cleat back slightly.

The following is taken from today's RoadBikeRider.com newsletter newsletter:

RBR's Coach Fred Matheny agrees. He notes how moving cleats toward the heel can be beneficial:

"There's some excellent research out of Germany showing that not only does a rearward cleat position help avoid injury, it increases power output for a given heart rate as well.

"A rearward position may improve steady-state efforts like time trialing or climbing because the calf isn't activated as much, which lessens strain on the cardiovascular system. But some riders find sprinting more difficult because sprinting is done 'on the toes.'

"For someone suffering from an Achilles or calf strain, putting cleats fully rearward in the slots is certainly worth a try."

By the way, although some schools of thought might differ by a millimeter or so, the default cleat position ideally places the head of the third metatarsal directly over the pedal spindle, about inline with the bony bump on the inside of your foot marking the base of your big toe.

If you have Achilles tendonitis presently, ice and some rest is probably the best temporary help.

-Dr. D

Peeps, seriously...

2010-04-12T06:01:00.000-07:00

Read this article a while back and thought I'd put it up here, seeing how we have some confusion amongst the ranks about "catting up".

The picture has nothing to do with anything in this post, just a throwback to White Park Morgantown CX circa 2000 of me hucking some serious air while trying to keep the icy chill from penetrating my helmet with some WV Chrome.

"Climbing the Category Ladder" by Mike Ebert

One of the most important functions of any athletic
governing body is to create a framework for the
different levels of athletes they serve. In the United
States the framework for cyclists is broken down to
include “Citizens”or “5’s” and the category numbers
4, 3, 2 and 1 (often referred to as “Cat”). Although
the process to upgrade categories is fairly clear, what
isn’t as clear is what type of rider each category is
intended for.

All riders begin as Citizens or 5’s and as they gain
experience and results they advance to the next lowest
number category. A rider upgrades from category
to category by submitting their results to the regional
offi cials. Upgrading from either a Citizen or a Cat 5
to a Cat 4 requires the experience of participating
in certain number of races. Upgrading from a Cat 4
to a Cat 3 involves a combination of race experience
and results that prove you are capable of keeping
the pace and racing safely in the group. Upgrading
to a Cat 2 or Cat 1 is based primarily on results and
abilities. Cat 1 is the highest a rider advances without
signing a professional contract. But what type of rider
should you expect to fi nd in each category?
The three most important things to consider when
gauging whether you should race Citizens or Category
4, 3, 2 or 1’s are experience, ability and ultimately-
time commitment.

If you are brand new to the sport of competitive
cycling, have just started training, and haven’t done
a lot of group rides, then you should defi nitely begin
with the Citizen categories. No annual license purchase
is required and most promoters lower the fees
for citizens interested in trying the sport. The distances
are often shorter for Citizens too so that even
those riders without a lot of training get a taste of
the competitiveness.

Once a rider has trained consistently for period of
time, done a few citizen races, and can keep up with
and feel safe on a moderately-paced group rides,
they should have the confi dence to jump to the Category
4’s. It’s a good challenge for yourself and keeps
the Citizens category open for the doe-eyed (and
possibly terrifi ed) newbies like the rider you might
have been not so long ago. The category 4 races will
be faster and longer than the citizen race, but this is
the fertile (and sometimes dangerous) testing ground
for race tactics and strategy- whether it be for an
individual or a team.

Success in bike racing comes from using your
strengths at the right time and training your weaknesses.
Riders in a Category 4 race should be testing
themselves to discover their strengths and weaknesses
and also determine where their energy expenditure
is most effective. Do you need to build
your endurance for longer races or your jump to stick
with attacks? Can you attack from way out and hold
off your competitors or do your best results come
from waiting to explode in the fi nal 400 meters of the
race? Or are you most effective at identifying how to
set up teammates for attacks and sprints?

It’s time to move to the Category 3’s once you
meet three criteria:
1) You’ve identified how to use your strengths and
sufficiently trained your weaknesses
2) Are comfortably safely racing your bike in a
group
3) You’ve learned some basic race tactics and
strategy.

The amount of time required to meet these criteria
can vary greatly from athlete to athlete depending on
the amount of time he/she has to commit to training.
However, many riders linger too long in the Category
4’s because they don’t think they are ready physically
to move up. These riders don’t understand that
the jump from a Category 4 to a Category 3 is much
more mental than it is physical. Yes, a commitment
to training is required, but most Category 4’s already
train every day. They key is that once you identify
your strengths and weaknesses- train smarter, not
harder. Research some of the basics of training or
hire a coach. Not only can a coach or a great cycling
book help you improve physically, but they can help
you learn the best ways to apply your strengths to
race tactics. The thing I hear from most new Category
3 riders is “Wow, this is easier than I thought...
and fun!” New Category 3’s quickly discover that
they’re no longer worried about staying upright in
a field of riders with a wide-range of bike handling
abilities, but instead are competing with riders that
use tactics and strategy to figuratively break some
legs.

Now the jump from Category 3’s to the 1/2’s is the
“danger zone”, although it’s easy to understand why
riders are eager to make the jump to push themselves
farther and see how they measure up against
better riders. However, a fact to carefully consider is
that 98% of the time a Category 2 rider will compete
against the Category 1 and Pro riders. This level of
racing is where a rider’s time commitment to cycling
is one of the most important factors as it directly
affects his or her ability. Category 1 and Pro riders
usually train 12 to 24 hours a week and are acutely
aware of how to use their strengths to infl ict pain on
the competition. A moderately-successful Category 3
rider should carefully consider the jump to the 1/2’s
if he/she doesn’t have the time to commit to training
due to other priorities that might provide much more
comfort and satisfaction in life than doing a 4-hour
tempo ride in the rain! It might make more sense to
stay a Category 3, maintain that balance between
“real-life” and cycling, and enjoy the occasional
success of your outlet. Racing can certainly lose its
“fun factor” if you upgrade to a level that turns your
weekends into suffer-fests of trying to keep your
tongue out of your spokes as lactic acid seeps out of
your eyeballs.

Ultimately, the fun factor is the reason all of us get
into this sport and become addicted to it. The high
speed combination of physical and mental requirements
of pack-style racing aren’t found in many any
other sports. Placing yourself in the right category
can help you push the limits while having a great
time.

AYSHSMB (All You Sandbagging Haters Suck My Balls - and Cat the F up.)

Darin

Racing Still Hurts (so good?)

2010-04-08T05:40:00.000-07:00

For those of you that made it to the oval last night, you caught a decent night of racing. I was wondering whether it would be a bit more relaxed last night, seeing how it's the first night and all, and points don't start for some time. I was totally wrong. Apparently "everyone" was out to redeem themselves after falling apart at Morgantown and the B race was on from the second lap. As is usual in the B race, there was attack after attack and chase after chase, until a little group managed to distance themselves with some stragglers dangling between them and the main group. A few laps of keeping the pressure on and they were clear. I drifted back to the main group to compose myself, and asked Flink what the F was going on, which is quite different than the way I ended ended last year. Keith did some serious work but to no avail, even though we had our own cheering section (Jason B, who will be throwing down next Tuesday). All three of us did some serious work at Chipotle on the way home.

Well, my goal, like most other people I presume, was to do some work, feel the burn and see some people that I haven't seen in a while. Mission accomplished. As much as I try to set out somewhat of a plan in the off season to get myself ready for racing the next year, life happens and I always end up falling back on the "base miles then race into shape" model, that is, without ever really getting enough of a base (whatever amount that is) and questioning my commitment to racing the first few spring races since it's such a shock to the system. I guess it's the agony and the ecstasy, often occurring in the same moment, that keeps me coming back for more, and only a person in love with cycling would understand that. That and the fact that there is Chipotle on the way home.

I hope there is some sun this weekend at Mingo, because I'm seriously behind on my tan lines.

-Darin

"I attacked solo once or twice racing in an Amish Paradise"

2010-03-28T17:59:00.000-07:00

Well the start to the 2010 DPS Penn Cycling season has come...and gone.
The Pensey Spring Classics series is on my to-do list for 2010 and I've been looking forward to getting the chance to pack up and head out east for some road bike action for quite some time now

Rob Riddell and myself both made the 255 mile trek back in time to Lancaster for what I was hoping to be a great early season throw down, Amish style
I've been riding quite and bit and even eating somewhat of a ok diet....so needless to say I was pumped when I arrived to the hotel room on Friday afternoon and prepped all my gear for the Saturday's race...I even scouted the course byway of the hondo, then ate my pasta, and set the alarm for 5:55 AM...
Well 5:55 rolled around...I woke up fresh while Rob woke up sick as a dog..and then I looked out the window to see the wind blowing pretty hard and temps in the mid 20's...but the sky's were clear
We got to the race, signed up(cat4), layered up, and did some warm up riding....I sized up the competition...everyone looked fast...zip 404's everywhere, like at least 15 SRMs, super pro looking kits, and alot of nice new shiny bikes just like mine....I thought to myself that this race is going to be a full on Rumspringa.
33 miles, or 7 laps were on tap for the Cat 4 field...we rolled out....the course was very fast...it had a few rollers, a short but steep climb, and one long gradual ascent back to the finish.

The pace was very very slow...our race avg. speed was just over 21 mph...I was expecting at least 24mph+....no one wanted to work together at all...there were several teams in the pack and the only team I noticed on the front was team B.B.C. out of baltimore....I tried several times to get a break going....and a few guys would go with me, but when it became time to take turns on the front, no one would even think about pulling through!
I sat up and drifted into the middle of the pack for last few laps to sit and wait....the bell rang for the last lap...I soon got to the front and kept myself in the top 5....with about a mile to go...I gave myself a quick check over...low HR...legs are kind of cold and tight...slow pace...so I thought I might as well just go now...I also hate when it comes down to a field sprint and some guy who chilled out at the back of the pack the whole race gets the win...So at the start of the long "climb" to the finish I attacked...no one responded...my gap kept growing...I could hear guys yelling behind me that I was "getting away" and to "chase him down"....I looked back over my shoulder and I could see the pack starting to splinter...I up'd my pace, made the final right hand turn onto the home stretch...and started the of the end of my race....while going through the turn, I clipped my inside pedal and unclipped...I was able to clip back in very quickly, but lost a chance to sprint through the turn and gain a second or two more of a gap...I looked down to check my HR...166 (burned into my head right now)...I went to the whip and tried to make up for my missed chance.

I turned around again...gap was still good enough...I climbed past the the 300 meters to go sign...time to sprint up the last little wall to the finish...but as soon as I stood up to sprint, I could feel it...my legs felt like dead fish packed in ice in the back of a Giant Eagle...I knew it was over...I tried like hell until the 200 meter sign where the chase caught me and I gave up...If I would have even tried, I could have still gotten a top 10...but my immaturity got the best of me, I don't think I even turned a pedal over for the last 150 meters, I was too pissed off and didn't care what place I would finish, almost as if I Ricky Bobby himself "if you ain't first, your last". At least I went down swinging and broke the pack up...I mean some guy every race has to go for it...why not me?
In hind sight...I should have went earlier and used the back straight with a tail wind to help me build a bigger gap and let my legs warm up...ahhh next time

Rob was able to get a good pack finish and ride a strong race despite being pretty sick and tired. The race wasn't the most fun one i've even done...the course was great though...and the Farms that it passed through were awesome and the race was run very well...plus I was able to grab a glass of Birch Beer and a peice of Shoefly Pie on my way out of town.

Next weekend is the Morgantown RR....I'm ready for some hills...I've even went as far to get some Frank Schelck sun glasses to help with my climbing skills....hopefully its a fun race and lives up to last year's race

DPS training camp/post preseason

2010-03-09T18:23:00.000-08:00

Well the 2010 cycling season has kicked off all around Pittsburgh...with the weather breaking, every cyclist around was able to abandon the trainer and hit up their local group or team ride.

For instance, Saturday, there was a Steel City team ride out of North Park...I went up and did some group rides last year and was dropped a few times during both rides! So I knew these rides are really good for getting a test of how the early season legs feel, as well as get some strong pace line riding under the belt...so with those plans in mind and it being Ej's 21st birthd..err or was it 35th? or 61st?..I can't quite remember....but whatever age, I hit the Saturday SCE ride up and it was well worth it...all told, I was able to wrangle up 60 miles, test the legs at speed, and in the words of Ben "Scout" the competition

Here at DPS Penn, the plan was no different...A few of the team riders...along with Greg, Darin and Myself have been already putting in some serious outdoor miles, but the team as a whole had yet to get together for the same ride.

So on Sunday 80% of the team, Steve Bedilion, a few of the West Liberty strong guys, and some of the older Washangeles-toinans all met up in the heart of Washangeles itself (across from the wal-mart) and hit the road..we threw down for over 50 miles and 5000+ feet of climbing with our "dirty dozen practice hills" saved for last...6 riders were left at the end of the ride....and as Director Sportif of the team, I felt the team did great and is getting very close to being race ready...just as soon as our kits arrive

yes that's Steve telling me I'm number 1

Other then that, interviews are still in the works....pretty much a rip off of a "Ride with Hincapie"...but hey, that was a awesome film, we are still working on an event to promote and right now it's looking like a cyclocross or maybe a climbing circuit race...we'll see

Winter seems to have broken it's mindless spell on SWPA and hopefully it stays that way until December 2010....so get out and ride...just remember to clean the bike

DPS Penn in 2010! I'm over this weather

2010-03-01T19:17:00.000-08:00

"If you want to be a great athlete....drink beer" -Dan Hill

That has not been my words to live by this winter...but it sounds like it should work

This has been the winter of suck for Pittsburgh cyclist...it's almost like a Spanish Soap Opra-fully out of control and never ending....but down here in Washangeles we've made due....whether the slopes, ice hockey, and trying to ride our bikes via trainer or the road on a somewhat regular basis. I, like everyone else, has had their struggles with the trainer...but I'm still logging my hours on that fluid beast...the past 2 weeks Darin, Greg, Jason, Steve "RR" Bedilion of Cat Velo, and myself have manged to get some great training rides in...at this time last year I had already rode 1,000 outdoor miles...this year....just over 400...wtf snow!...I've broken like 7 snow shovels and I've had to spread so much salt, that it's caused me to adopt an lifetime ban on popcorn, soft pretzels, and the ocean.

The weather is on the turn tho...the weatherman/woman is saying a high in the mid-40's with sun this weekend....I'll believe it when I see it...but at least there is a sign that spring is on it's way...I'm ready for the season in a few weeks...I'm going to give every type of racing a chance this year...even some MTB racing...there hasn't been to much going on in washangeles that's out of the blue, just the normal rides and trying to fend off the hick bicycle haters of SWPA so I'll end it with some team news

Washangeles Cycling will be the online home of DPS Penn Racing for the time being...its a good website with somewhat of a base....so that's a solid start...I'm working on having the blog updated so it has at least a "certified used" new look to it...there will be updates on the team, racing, and of course the riders and the great stories that come from being around bicycle riding

The team as mentioned on Pghracing.org, is a "growth" team for what is hopefully a bigger picture...DPS has the right people in place to make this happen too...we've got a USA Cycling official, a USA Cycling Coach, some riders with a lot of seat time and knowledge, a couple body health specialist and a team full of riders with a common goal...the plan is to scoop up strong 4/5 riders and turn them into a strong 3 rider. The margins for another team in the area are slim so the few riders on DPS Penn joined up with a few riders from the West Liberty Cycles team for the team's first year...things are looking good and with any luck we'll have DPS kits before CX starts!

Also coming up are video interviews of the riders on the team and whoever else wants a video of themselves posted on a cycling blog...maybe even a facebook page for the team? ehh I'll need some reader feedback on that idea

With Cycling picking back up the blog will return to regular updating and good times...so stay tuned!

Informative Reading

2010-03-01T13:44:00.000-08:00

Greetings!
This time of year, especially when we've been pounded with the weather like we have in the past 6 weeks, I like to make the most of my off the bike time by reading up on training tips, ideas, etc. As a chiropractor who works with the health, or the lack thereof, I especially appreciate information that ties in what I love (cycling and riding) not just with getting faster or stronger, but with being genuinely healthy, laying a solid foundation for health so that as I get into my 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s and beyond, I can continue to do what I love and lead a productive fulfilling life.

So here are a few things that I've come across again recently, and wanted to share. They emphasize getting the most out of the cycling/training/wellness lifestyle.

Human Growth Hormone - thought to be the closest thing to the fountain of youth available today. Your body makes it naturally, although less as you age. It is a critical hormone that directs your body to recover, heal muscles, rebuild red blood cells, and grow, etc. No wonder older men take it and look decades younger. But we are relatively young already, and don't want to fail a doping test with our stellar results this summer, so here are a couple of ways to maximize your body's natural release of growth hormone so that you wake up feeling fresher, not just on the bike but in every other area of your life.

Don't eat 2 hours before bed, and your sleep should be at least 8 hours if you have any intention of performing at your best. If you are getting by on less sleep, you simply are not performing at your best. Accept it and go to bed earlier. Eating less than 2 hours before bed raises blood sugar, and insulin, which BLOCKS the release of growth hormone. So that bitchen' ride you did the day before kicks your ass for several more days because you didn't get your 8 or 9 hours of sleep. This is a big lifestyle issue here that has taken me years to accept, but it's true. So, if you want to perform you'll incorporate this new knowledge. If you want to seriously limit yourself, you'll continue to do so by shorting your sleep time and eating before bed.
Also, not eating 2 hours before bed is also a GREAT way to start to lose weight. Resist the urge to eat at night, and eat a big breakfast instead. You won't be sorry. A little discipline goes a long way.

http://www.drmirkin.com/public/ezine022810.html
(American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, July 2008).
This study from the University of Michigan adds to the abundant evidence that exercise helps to prevent diabetes and its horrible side effects. Diabetes will affect one out of every three Americans. When your blood sugar rises too high, sugar sticks to cells. Once there, it can never get off. Eventually it is converted to sorbitol which destroys the cell to cause heart attacks, strokes, blindness, deafness, amputations, brain damage, impotence and so forth. (insert WDVE Wilfred Blimley 'di-beetiss' jokes)

CycloClub
At first I didn't catch what he had to offer, but the more I get into his free podcasts and articles, the more excited I am to incorporate some off the bike training to complement riding. It's not that he's saying anything new really, he's just making it very accessible available. So get with it. You don't have join right away, I haven't and don't plan to, but he has a ton of podcasts and articles that you will want to jump on, especially if you are in your first couple years of cycling. Pay no attention to that fact that he looks eerily like Keith...
http://www.cyclo-club.com/

Here is another great cheap resource for info:
roadbikerider.com
You can subscribe to their newsletter. Keith and I already have a few eBooks, and the ProSectrets section is a welcomed change of pace from structured training plans.I learn something every time I browse them.

Hopefully the weather will clear enough for some country roads to take us home this weekend in the Mountain State. See you then.
Dr. Darin

New Year, New Post--2009, it's been real

2010-01-21T20:02:00.001-08:00

It's been quite a while since my last post....since before the Dirty Dozen...I for sure didn't forget about cycling or the Washangeles blog for that matter, I've just been out of my mind busy.

Since the last post...I traveled to D.C. and raced a snow covered regional cyclocross...and the Dirty Dozen...That by far was one of the hardest yet easiest ride I've ever done. I think with the format of the race, going chill in between hills and then just attacking the shit out of hills every 35 minutes, the race slowly tears you down...I tried my hand at a few hills...I got close to scoring points on 2 hills, But being way out of race/climbing shape, I just couldn't handle staying with the top dogs on the last 1/4 of the hill...and by the end of the day I had to think about every pedal stroke as I climbed the last 2 or 3 hills. Darin got off the couch and won 3 hills...and getting 4th overall, backing up his 4th place from last year

other then that...I haven't been riding the bike to much...maybe a handful of times since the last decade....buuutttt 2010 is shaping up to be a awesome year

First, the cycling team that almost wasn't....now is...for 2010 a slew of companies are putting down the green to be in the cycling scene with the title sponsor being Dale Property Services Penn, LP..which is a oil/gas rights leasing company and is paying out bookoo $ in SW PA to lease mineral rights (oil/gas rights) from land owners...over $100,000,000 in contract bonuses alone in the 7 counties that make up the Pittsburgh Region...I'm not kidding...there will be information on Mineral rights, leasing, the Marcellus Shale, and general drilling information at all of the races DPS attends, and the team riders will be able help inform anyone about DPS too!

Soo...I was able to tap into some of there many sponsorship funds and put together a 8 man cycling team for the 2010 road/mtb/cx season...The team will go official...along with some team interviews in the coming weeks!

On that note...the 2010 season has pretty much caught fire...I started back to a full on committed training plan last week...It's mostly the same basic plan I rode last year...But I'm starting 2 weeks earlier, I'm starting off stronger then last year, and it's been refined a little bit for the better..so hopefully all of my preseason work will launch me into a strong 2010 season

Lastly a Big BIG props and a Congratulations is due to a good friend Darin Shriver! He popped the question to Jessie, his girlfriend of 3+ years, and she said yes...! (Whew)

And to that I say here's to Darin and Jessie, My attempt at having a race team, and 2010!

2009-11-30T21:56:00.000-08:00

it's been like a month

new update is coming later this week!

Way to Go Dr. Darin!

steveo's video's are freakin great

The Bicycling Blues

2009-11-03T18:44:00.000-08:00

this could be a long one...

October came in with a snap and a pop only to crackle and fizz out all within 7 days.

After a new Mt. Bike, some really strong cyclocross races, the 3 year mark, and even a mtb race win, the tenth month of the year was starting to win me over as one of my favorite months to date....but...take it from me, don't count your chickens.

After the Brady's mtb race and some good luck on my side, I sat only 6 points out of the overall series lead for the month of mud sport class!

If I could some how beat B. Jones by six point spots in the series finale I would be able to wrap up the overall and help set myself in stone as a solid rider.

During the off week of the MOM series Darin, G$, and I all made the trek back up to Cleveland for the Willoughby Cyclocross....the lay out was awesome and the spiral of death was maybe the worst thing I've ever done...If I ever promote a cyclocross, you can damn bet that the SOD will be a feature obsticle of the course layout....Greg had some real bad luck breaking his entire bike on the 1st lap of the C race, meanwhile Darin earned a hard fought 3rd place in the B class (which also capped a Pittsburgh sweep of the B class podium) and I was able to bring it around for a 19th place out of the 44ish riders...so I was quite happy with that.

The day before the Moraine mtb race, the guys at Freddie Fu put on the Murrysville Cyclocross...the course was just plain awesome...add in the rain and a large rider/fan turnout...and you've got one hell of a cross race. I lined up in the B race and was able to get a ok start...I started to work my way up through the field by following Don Power's wheel and attacking on the pavement sections. I was able to successfully use this set of tactics for almost 70% of the race....until I caught a course marker with my handle bars and hit the eject button...this was followed sliding down an embankment and then finding that the cable had some how been forced out of the cable stops...I tried to ride the bike for another half lap, but all of the slack in the cable kept wrapping around the crank arms as I spun my legs...so I settled for the DNF.

After the race, I even said to Darin.."at least I got my dnf for the weekend out of the way."

Ohhhh only if I would have paid more attention to the idea of fore shadowing in 10th grade English class, I might have been able to my predict my own Willy Loman-esk demise.

The entire week leading up to the MOM Moraine race, I honed my MTB skills, being that I'm horrid on a mtb when the trails are perfect, I knew the rocks and leaves of Moraine would kill me if I didn't bring my A game....with some strong rides, Darin's forgotten shoes, and even sneaking in the awesome Race Across the Sky flick, I felt I reached my height of Zen and was ready to throw down at Moraine.

here's a little background story...

every time I have raced Moraine I have broken a serious part of the bicycle and have been forced into hiking the bike to the finish or pulling out of the race.

The race went alot like this:

I got a call up(!) and as soon as Gary gave the go I sprinted out like there was no tomorrow and attacked up the climb bringing a few other strong riders with me...knowing that B. Jones had followed my wheel I knew I had to win the race and put the ball in his court to win the overall...with about 15 yards of climbing left, I punched the accelerator again and broke away from the group and then pushed the pace as hard as I could on the following decent and fire roads section...I was able to gain 35-50ish? yard lead and take the heat off of my shoulders by the time I entered the single track. My heart rate was perfect and I felt really strong, but I started to worry to much about my pace and started to make mistake after mistake, I let a few of the masters riders catch me and even clocked my head off of a tree breaking my helmet in the process...I calmed my nerves and then began to get into the groove I needed.....and then, in a moment of deja vu....

--I've lived this life once before, racing motocross ,and have been in this exact position a handful of times, I would be on the verge of a big race win, a championship, or some major qualifier, and my luck would run out..either with a flat tire,broken throttle cable, magneto failing, spark plug cable some how coming off(still have no idea how that happens), broken forks, broken chain, parts that should never fail....failing.

....my chain broke! And right away, as each rider passed me asking if I was "ok?" "what happened?" or "weren't you that guy leading", I stood there...in disbelief that I was reliving the same moment...again.

I started the long walk of shame back to the start of the race course cheering on every rider that had I passed and was even offered bikes to ride by some of my cycling friends(thanks guys!)...but one good thing that did happen was that I was able to lend my rear wheel to John Fiimara of MVC so he could finish the race and wrap up 2nd overall in the Master's series...so at least my dark cloud became a ray of light for someone else.

I fell to 4th overall in the series and was able to keep my undefeated DNF record at moraine going.

great.

Darin Shriver Crossed the line in a solid top 10 position and earned 3rd place overall in the series in the expert class...which is no joke when you look at the guys racing this series...Congratulations is owed to Darin next time you see him!

So with a few new lessons learned, like always have a extra Sram quick link, the Month of Mud has denied me yet again all the while being fun as hell...it also did manage to throw gas on, what is starting to become a very hot and large, fire...which I plan to use for 2010

update after Marillia cross!

2009-10-30T07:06:00.000-07:00

New update will be after Marillia this weekend
with cross updates..how I am forever owned by the MOM series....and the end of the road season
Keith

It IS all about the bike

2009-10-12T13:21:00.000-07:00

After two semi-solid cyclocross races in this year's Month of Mud Series, I found myself sitting in a very good but not safe position in the series standings...2nd Place...with 1st place seemingly out of touch and a host of riders within easy striking distance of my 2nd place standing..I knew I was going to have to suck it up and take a shot at running the rest of the series.

As many know, I am known for my MTB skills...or lack there of to be exact...In 2007 I did win the Month of Mud Series overall in the beginner class after only a few short months of cycling...Even though I didn't win a race that year...one would think that I Would ,at the least, have an idea of how to ride in the woods...but time and time again in 2008 and 2009 I proved that I shouldn't even be allowed on Rail Trails. Long Story short I come from a very solid motocross background...so I know the handling skill set is there...I've just never been able to bring it to trail riding.

With all of that in mind, I felt it was time to up my game...my last mt. bike was a $375 iron horse 26" hard tail with a $70 Fork on it..pretty much bottom of the barrel..but shit, It's lime green and looks legit..well I broke the hell out of that bike racing the tour de strongland.

So I walked my happy ass into the bike shop this past Monday and came out with a new Gary Fisher X-Cal 29er!

I rode almost every day this past week in the woods and may have crashed over 60 times for real...but the bike felt so much better, acts like its on rails in the turns, and pretty much will soak up any thing I jam the bike into...oh and climbs like a dream

So after getting use to the bike to an extent it was off to the races...Brady's Run Park

Darin(who did not pay with a check), Greg, Jason and Myself all showed up to rep the WA

I lined up in the Sport race and even got a front row call up for being 2nd in the series overall...I looked around sizing up the competition...I felt if I could at least get a 10ish place, that would be a huge win for me. Gary Bywaters said the magic word and off we rode. We did a prologue lap where I sat 2nd wheel behind Brendan Jones (1st overall) until we started the paved road climb..I knew this was my chance...the pack pace slowed a ton and I just attacked up the hill...and by the time we hit the jeep road I had gotten a clean break from the pack and was starting to ride out of sight...I looked over my shoulder several times the whole way down the jeep road in disbelief that no one tried to bridge up to me...I worked my way up the climb, wrecked about a dozen times riding through the log section, but yet I still had a out of sight lead...I was to calm myself down and start to just ride...and before I knew it I had about 1/4 of a lap left in the race and realized I had the win in my hands....I sat up and just cruised to the finish line for my 1st ever MT Bike race win and month of mud race win.

On top of that, the cycling gods helped me out and now I only sit 6 points out of 1st place with one race to go.

Darin was able to put the vice grips on 3rd place in the expert series(riding a single speed hard tail none the less) and is still close enough to capture 2nd place if the cards fall right at moraine.

The new bike is leaps and bounds better over my old bike...and with only a handful of rides on a mtb since the month of mud last year...its safe to say I made a good choice

Lets just hope this wasn't new bike luck...and if it was...please last 2 more weeks!

haGGerstown, M.O.M., and wet leaves

2009-10-07T05:44:00.000-07:00

Ok its official...washangeles cycling loves cyclocross...but I also forgot the type of weather that usually follows the start of the CX season...Living in the Burgh you just have to accept that the weather is going to be ass 65%+ of the time....but it seems that the fall has come a bit early..the last two weeks the weather has just been cold and just over the top stupidly wet.

With only getting in a few short rides this past week which all went well into the night time darkness, Darin and myself ditched out of Washington pre-sunrise Saturday morning, headed down route 40, over the blue ridges, and into Hagerstown for the Breast Cancer Awareness Cyclocross race. Being a newbie of sorts to cyclocross I wanted to sign up for the cat4 race so I could sandbag, finish good, and get some upgrade points...but in a sick and twisted plot by Darin to fulfill his season long goal of lapping me in a race(Note* I "Lapped" Darrin in Cleveland) he was able to talk me into racing the 3/4 race. The course was, I would say Kind of easy and seemed very short for the amount of laps we raced....So the race started with call ups--I'm pretty sure just about everyone from the MD DC area was called up leaving Darin, Eric, Pro Bikes Soupie, myself, and some guy in a bright green skin suit to fill in the last row.

We took off and I put my MX pack skills to work...I chopped riders in every turn for the first half lap working my way into the top 15 and on darin's wheel(!) The pack remained the same for about 2 1/2 laps until I let a rider get between myself and Darin. I have this problem of riding what ever pace the people around me do no matter how fast or slow they go...and well the guy that got in between us pretty much started to blow up and drag my wheel following ass down with him...about a lap later my legs turned into cement anyways. For the 2nd half of the race I bounced around (for some reason I had 51psi in my tires) Darrin rode solid to finish 14th and myself a eh 34th place..but still on the lead lap ehhh ehhmm

Grove City went much better...the wet weather caused a number of riders to hit the deck on the pavement section.

I lined up in the Sport class..got out in 2nd place and for the most part, excluding the start of the last lap and some of the 2nd lap, I rode a solo race...and with some help of the barriers on the last lap I was able to ride to a mostly uncontested 2nd place.

Greg Tarr Lined up in the C race and hauled ass like never before locking down a 4th place and some cash as well in his 3rd ever cyclocross race

Darin rode to a strong points paying position in the expert class and now has a tight hold on what will become 3rd place overall in the points series...I also got bumped up into 2nd place overall in the sport class....with 1st place out of reach for everyone...2nd is the new top spot...and everyone eligible in the series is well within striking distance. With that in mind I'm going to be working my ass off in the woods for the next 3 weeks and see if I can at least salvage a 3rd overall in the series...plus with the death of the bright green iron horse...I'm now mounted on Gary fisher 29er and that thing is a freaking rocket....this may lead to me liking the woods again.

Jason showing his tru feelings for cross

oh BTW...I'm putting together a new cycling team

2009-09-29T21:09:00.000-07:00

Open Call to all riders...if any body even reads this thing

Dale Property Services/Chesapeake Energy/+ some others/myself are putting together a Well($) sponsored Cat 3-4 men's cycling team...This will be a road/cyclocross team for the most part...but there maybe a spot or two for some MTB riders...It will be based out of SW PA and require the team riders to partake in the local road/cross races for the 2010 season

I am looking for riders to build with
If you feel that you fit this profile please send a resume/portfolio to me (Keith Hower) and we'll go from there

contact me at
keithh@dpspenn.com

www.dpspenn.com
www.chk.com

Cross + Pain = Pain + Cross

2009-09-29T20:13:00.000-07:00

As mentioned by many other riders in the burgh, cyclocross season is in full swing and I've more then got my feet wet this season already.

Many a cycling things have been brewing in washangeles over the last week or so...we've fit in some more washington park cyclocross rides, WA rider, Greg Tarr, broke into the cyclocross world last sunday on his brand new Gary "feel the steel" fisher cross bike, and even the cold ass weather/layer up training rides started.

This past Sunday Darin, Greg, Anna(Washangeles's official cheer leader/pit girl/cook/cow beller/ my gf), myself and even the seldom seen Jason all made the trip to Raccoon Twp Park for the 1st month of mud cyclocross race...and that's what it was...I've raced 7 or 8 cyclocross races...but never a cyclocross race if you get what I'm typing. The skies opened up and unleashed rain all day Saturday and all through the night into Sunday morning, when we got to the race course, standing water was everywhere, soaked turns, and a few exposed mud areas littered the course...it was perfect! The course lay out was great...a few fast sweeping turns, some S turns, and a slew of 180's and 180 switchbacks along with a few steep walls and drops.

The expert race looked like just plain misery for almost every rider out there, but deep inside of every one of those riders, you knew they loved it...it looked like some shit you would see on velo news..or of some of the great cross racing over seas. Darin, with his front row call up, put in a solid ride for the entire hour and was able to stay on the lead lap putting a solid ride in even though not feeling great...as for myself...I lined up in the sport race...I was able to sprint for a soild 3rd place start and have a front row seat for the UPMC/Beaver Valley duo and their ride away from me.....so it was on, The race was on for 3rd Place. A stark velo rider and I started working together and we were really able to put a big gap on the field and just work on controlling that gap, but not ride to the point of killing ourselves...about 2/3 of the way through the race several riders from the A race who were cheering me on started yelling for me to attack and get away solo, this is where I made my first mistake

I would attack the stark velo rider and then proceed to tell myself that I could pull away from this guy on command and should just take it easy until the last lap of the race...So I would sit up and let him hitch back on ( note to self...when Aaron, Darin, Ben, Jason, Anna tell you to attack...just do it and stick to the plan...they are expert riders and you keith, you are not)...so of course I wait until the last lap to hit the road...and well I hit something...a A STEEL CITY WOMEN'S TEAM RIDER*mistake # 2(related to mistake #1? you be the judge)... and I just cleaned her out(sorry) causing us both to go down sliding in the mud....well I was able to remount, keep my composure, and hold off Justin Justi for a solid 4th place...Jason B put in a solid 1st time cyclocross race on his 26er mtb and Greg rode solid to a unknown place in the C race(I still think he won)...it was a great race though, it felt great to get out there in the mud and let it rip.....looking forward to hard training week and onto next week---the Grove City Jungle Cross (MOM #3)

Charm City! G20ness ...and the rain gang ride

2009-09-23T18:27:00.000-07:00

Well after getting my teeth wet...err or grinded at the Wendy Park Cyclocross, I felt it would be a wonderful idea to go full on into Baltimore's Charm City Cyclocross

The story starts with the G20 prologue and Crit race on 9/19....I signed up for the 4/5 crit and the 2.33 mile time trial

I felt with no real idea of how to time trial, a compact crank, and a 12-25 cassette I would be able lay some pipe....well not quite...stupidly not pre riding the course, having some one push me of for the first time, and then playing and replaying video's in my head of the tour de France time trials,well, those things all added together don't equal anything...not even bad.

Criag Cozza (thank you for the race btw) caught me right at the line on his crazy 6k$ time trial bike and was able to put 30 seconds on me!...long story short they paid the top 3 riders and shocker, you guessed right, I placed 4th But still, it's a new aspect of riding..I had no idea in hell what to do but it was fun and fast and look forward to kickin ass in it soon....The crit was ok..I had to sit in and not hinder myself for the next day's racing...going into the last lap I sat on John Cotter's wheel(Who may be one of the best sprinters around)and waited for him to move...he went, as did I...oh and so did a few others, but in the wrong direction causing a bottle neck and the end of the race for everyone...well unless your name is John Cotter

Charm city was huge...600+ riders i believe was the final turn out tally

I raced the cat 4/C race and lined up 121 out of 125 riders....by the time we got half way through the first lap, I could look ahead and see the leaders 45+ seconds out in front already.

Pretty much I put my head down and just started picking off riders every where I could using every inch of the course...half way through the race I had to pull over due to a rock stuck in my cleat...take my shoe off and force it out...cost me about a dozen positions But I was able to gain them back before the lap was over....I worked my way up and attacked out of the 5+ rider group I was in on the last lap to finish, what I thought was somewhere between 25-35(ended up being 31st and with in a minute of the race winners)....so I passed 90ish riders but the extra dozen or so I had to pass twice! Not bad! well they scored me in 97th place at a lap down...you bastards...but that kinda of shit happens and I understand that

The B race was crazy fast...so fast in fact I felt somewhat relieved when I sprained my ankle and had to pull out of the race. It was a huge race and the course was awesome and I will be back again

and finally tonight...in protest of the G20 and not being able to make it to the frick cross practices, Darin, Greg, and myself held a "Saints of Washangeles" cross practice at washington park, working dismounts and turns, until the sun went down and the rains arrived....we rode home in the Zoar RR like conditions with out lights or any real use of brakes.

It was epic and a surreal gang ride home for the Washington faithful

Month of Mud cross races the next couple weekends and I love it

Wendy park - Strongland - Meadeville - Washangeles Gang rides

2009-09-14T06:31:00.000-07:00

It's been a bit of time since I last updated the blog...but with a little more time to ride the past few weeks, its time for a update
Over the last few weeks, the washangeles faithful have been hitting the roads and cross trails of Washington county..Darin, Greg, and myself have been tearing up the roads trying to get into shape for this years cross season/dirty 12/and better living.
We've hit up the oval a few times...with Darin winning the last be race of the year!...the oval has been great...I wish I could have made it to a lot more races....but that's why there is always a next year.
On the racing front for myself...made it up to the tour de tamarack in meadville...a 30 road race on a rolling 10 mile circuit..long story short...I attacked on the fastest part of the race....split the field up...only to misjudge where the finish was(wtf) and get passed by 4 guys who did 0 work during the entire race..but hats off to them, that's racing and they played the cards right...so I settled for a 5th place

Tour De strongland...MTB race
I was able to get out the door early and up apollo in time for the 11 mile race...I did this race 2 years ago..my first ever race in fact..in cargo shorts, a white t-shirt, and platform pedals...So this course is quite special to me...well my 350$ pile turned racer wasn't able to handle the abuse and I ended up walking about 3 miles back on the rail trail..but still a super fun event. Plus my best friend Jason got a top 10 in his first ever race!

Wendy Park Cyclocross

Darin, Greg, and I took the 3 hour trip to the shores of lake Erie and home of the Winfred Louder department store....I sign up for both the B and C race...Darin Hit up the B's and Greg Tackled the C's....C race...I was able to go wire to wire for a pretty easy win in my first race on a cross bike so that was pretty sweet...I cruised the last lap of the race in effort to recover for the B race only to be owned in the B race...Darin broke a Wheel and Greg rode strong on his 29er in his first ever cross race as well! Pittsburgh Owned Cleveland again!

Cross is awesome
Thank god there is a whole season still to go

Return to the Oval

2009-08-28T06:27:00.001-07:00

Well the new bike has come in...and its' great, trying to ride as much as possible.

Last week, thinking I have for sure enough miles in...aka..26....I headed off for the oval to try and mix things up in the C race.
I pretty much worked the front the entire race, put myself in a great position for the sprint only to get pushed down into the grass by someone grabbing to much front brake..killer..but none the less I was taxed and could tell my extra 15 lbs and lack of riding has really paid off in becoming pretty much a kid who just owns a bike.
I hit the oval up again this past tuesday...did a lot of chasing, won a bag of cookies, and even sprinted all the way through the feild....only to run out of space to pull off a win...but It was a good feeling to know that my sprint is back and I closed in and caught the leaders at the line...followed by some very hard braking

So on Wed. Dr. Darin gives me a call and tells me all about how they are using the "P" course at the oval...and how the B race is fun stuff....
In washangeles style...we roll up at 6:10..sign up, pin up, and start racing at 6:22....I had a one lap warm up on the P...needless to say I was dropped about 8 laps into the 35 lap race
BUT I will say I was not the first one dropped so that felt great...even Darin looked human after a while...the Overall pace was high
The P course requires much different gearing choices...and I took me about 25 laps to figure out the perfect set up so I wouldn't burn up my lungs, but...
The P course is a ton of fun...I carry so much more speed through the turns, more then most of the B pack...I really look foward to it next year
Even though the Oval races aren't long...I've learned alot from the short races...and have met some good cycling buddies down there
For the next few weeks I'm going to ride my ass off builid up my base again....getting ready for cross racing !

broken bike

2009-08-05T05:55:00.000-07:00

Well I broke my road frame....right where the chain stays connect to the bottom bracket...son of a bitch...it's covered under warrenty and thats all well and good...but couldn't have come at a worse time...well my new cross bike will be here in 2 weeks so i'll just kill it then

thank god I was dropped

2009-08-03T20:12:00.000-07:00

Well havn't been really posting to much in the last few months so here is a quick runup...pretty much I got a new job...natural gas drilling!...pretty much I work for a leasing company and I make sure everything is done legal and legit, what more could I ask for..and oh yeah it funds my cycling hobby. Other then that I've just been taking night classes and pretty much didn't ride all of July.

The last week or so I was able to get a few rides in and after next friday I"ll be able to return to riding and laying down the miles that I was able to do in the spring so i'm pretty pumped for that

Now the Zoar Road race

Last year's 3/4 race was won by non other then washangeles's own Darin Shriver so I felt that it would only be right to drive the 2 hours, to my old Motox racing stomping grounds, and well just win it....with no miles in the last 45ish days, horrible tires, a kit full of holes, and Darin's extra front wheel that he lets my cheap ass baby sit.
There is a little bit of rain on the drive out but nothing bad...get there sign up, warm up, check out the sweet ass little historic town, and chill with pittsburgh cycling mafia that also made the long trek. The course was fast and smooth, The 1st lap was extremly slow and I had a itchy trigger finger. On the decent of the 2nd climb I used my out of shape fat ass to coast by all of the leaders and gap the feild by 50 ish yards, I tested my legs, lungs, and how the pack felt about a fat ass going off the front...I stayed off until the start of the 1st climb and then just fell back in line....then...then the rain started. Epic downpour, no glasses and 43+ mph on the down hills. It was sketchy to say the least

About half way through the third lap a stark velo rider went off the front rode off to race winning glory, 1,000,000 dollars, booze, women, and then the epic sprial down drugs and all...but the pack waited and near the start of the 4th lap I attacked off the front...only to be caught and dropped on the last uphill about 1.5 miles from the finish. I worked my ass off to try and catch back on..I got with in a few seconds of the lead pack and I lucked out because there was a huge sprint pile up that took out a number of pittsburgh riders...Hope all those guys are doing better.

Lesson learned for sure...no racing next time I take 2 months off...and I'm ready to just get a few cat 4 win's under my belt and then upgrade to Cat3 for next season
Cross is coming!

2009-07-16T18:19:00.001-07:00

Update is coming...promise...18 credits plus a full time job and a part time job are killing me

Oakmont!

2009-06-09T19:56:00.000-07:00

Well still dealing with pain from my crash 3 weeks ago...and only one single ride of 40 miles with darin since then...I for some reason felt I could just show up at a race beat, sore, tired, still feelin the effects of the Chesney concert (more so the parking lot), fat, and overall just not even in the mood to race..and race! So early on sunday afternoon I decided to get up off of my couch, loaded down the Jetta, grabed my friend rob and headed off to the races. The course was great and the town was a great back drop for the race...a pretty good live band was playing durring the whole event and it was just a well run show with a nice turn out...so I was glad that at least I could be there to support such a great local event. Anyhow the 4/5 race gets the go and for the next 22 laps I just coasted around....thats it! I was not in the mood to race and I could tell...with 3 laps to go I had yet to even think about breathing heavy and I had a great chance to just turn my legs on and reel in the solo break, which I feel is one of my stronger points, but I didn't...I just sat there and said F it...the next to last turn I stupidly set myself for the outside of the turn and..well was pushed well wide and that ended just about any chance at anything...My legs are back for sure though...I just need to find a couple fucking moments a day so I can get a ride in...but for at least the next two weeks It looks like I'm workin at least 12 hr days..and oh yeah 18 credits of school after that...ohh what happened to summer break?

Downtown Erie Criterum

2009-05-25T14:19:00.001-07:00

Full write up tomorrow

3/4 race 34 laps 20 miles

short story: rode soild for 33.9 laps, chased back two breaks, in 5th or 6th going into the last turn...had a great move--and it was starting to work...I gave myself the perfect chance to win or at least get top 2...3rd if I wanted to wheelie my bike across the finish and...then in full on keith hower style...2 broke spokes followed by grinding metal and a face/back/chest/head/ass full of pavement-then side walk-then hay bales
DNF with some awesome road rash
nice.

4 crits, finals, mtb riding, and 23423423 broken parts

2009-05-07T20:36:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since there has been a Washangeles update...well my friend, today is update day. Since the mingo races I've tried racing a few Criterium races...and well I really like this type of racing...I have no flipping idea what I'm doing or what the tactics should be...but I Like it. The pace is much higher for the most part and you can really plan your moves due to the fact that you can study the other riders as they go through each section lap after lap and learn their lines and when they break, coast, or ease up. The only downfall to crit racing seems to be the lack of anyone really wanting to let a break go...in 3 of the 4 races I've tried and tried to get something going up the road..but yet every time the pack just sits there...almost in a lazy manner...I want the pace to be high so the pack breaks apart...but I'm just not sure how to do it yet..so I"m still learning for sure. Crit racing can be sketchy as hell though..esp when it's raining at the oval. Other then that Darin and myself had a killer long ride last week all through out washangeles...and My buddy Jason and I had a good ride at Bavington On the old 2-6er...Not to much else though...This week I really plan on getting my riding back to where it was...if i don't ride at least 150 miles a week (not counting the races) my weight will flux 10 lbs up or down every 3-4 days and that just can't be healthy...so its back to miles and miles miles of riding I hope!

check out Fred Jordan

killer pictures Fred!

2009-05-05T19:55:00.001-07:00

update coming tomorrow...lots of racing to review and all kinds of crap!

Mingo Creek #3

2009-04-20T10:45:00.000-07:00

The third and final round of the Mingo creek Spring series graced us this past weekend and the weather was super great...65 degrees, no wind, and the rain held off until long after the race was over. My girlfriend, Anna, and myself hit the road after scarfing down some great oatmeal in hopes of a cat 4/5 victory..I mean I had fans in the stands, I'd better win, plus I felt like fresh spring flowers. So the race starts off and I proceeded to feel like shit in 30 seconds, groovy, but I knew that I pretty much didn't warm up so if I could just muscle it for a few miles, I'd be the bee's knees...sure enough after one lap I was...during the down hill on the 2nd lap I noticed that there was a Morningside Velo Rider off the the front...and that the field was going pretty damn slow...so I shot off, well more like rolled off, bridged up to him..asked if he felt strong and put him in my slipstream...well I tried, I think he was spent from being off the front solo for a lap+. He fell off to safety of the pack and I thought there is noway I can solo for another 4+ laps so I sat up...well until a Beaver Valley Velo rider flew past me and yelled lets go! We took off and started to gap the field! BUT our efforts only lasted maybe 1/2 of a lap due to the ever shrinking field chasing us...again and again I tried my luck by attacking the field or trying to get a break going up the road with various riders, and although nothing lasted, they helped to even further slim the lead pack out. Going into the 6th and final lap, a pack of 20 riders had manged to stick it out...the pace started to rise and everyone knew where the attack was going to be...we started up the climb for the last time and I watched some of the "strong men" position themselves and sure enough guys started going up the road...2 Pro bikes riders, Ben Stephens of CMU, and a Morningside Velo rider all took off. I sat there and thought well this is it, this is the move and they are trucking away! I said F it and took off...bridged across the last part of the false flat and caught on right as we crested the top of the hill...hell yeah and we had a nice gap...the race was ours! I had my moved planned and I knew for sure it would work just as long as I wasn't heading the break at the bottom of the hill!......but wait the break started to slow...several of us yelled get your asses moving and sure enough no one wanted to rotate...Myself, probikes guy, and CMU Ben tried to get going...but the pack had chased and caught us on a freaking down hill...are you fucking kidding me! from there my victory move was dashed! the games started, I some how stumbled upon the lead spot tried like hell to cover anything...but attack after attack went, I covered, covered, covered and then covered again. Then like a blaze of glory, proceeded to go belly up with 50 yards to go, and coasted to a 6th place while the 1 or 2 sitters took the glory!

Although my main goal of getting at least 1 top 5 result didn't pan out, The series was great...it did the exact thing it's meant to do...I picked up some great pack riding/racing skills and served as a great warmup to the seasonn!

Country Roads take me home....

2009-04-13T21:10:00.000-07:00

Washangeles Cycling grabs it's first win of the year!

The tour of Morgantown was this past weekend (sat.) and Washangeles cycling was alive and well....John Denver may sing the theme song for W.B.G.V. but most of the race took place in Greene County, Pa...eh maybe the Canada of W.V.?...but none the less the roads were, with out a doubt, country roads. With the biggest Spring Classic being raced on Easter Sunday in France....I would have to say the tour of Motown could be a classic-esk race.
Darin and I rolled out from the hower homestead around 9am and hit the highway jaming to the dead the whole way down!....The course : a very hilly 47-49? mile pain filled, pot holed, high speed traffic, hick, infested route.
Due to being a larger rider at 180ish lbs, I chose to race the Cat 5 class over the 4/5 class because..well i'm a horrible climber...so the 4/5s and 5s all start the race together and the entire peloton rolled around greene co like angry mob for like 20 miles...all the way into Waynesburg...and then boom...the big hills start, the pace picked way up, and people started jetting off left and right on the 1st big climb.
I tried to go with the leaders but I just could not keep thier pace going up a hill like that with 25 miles and 3 other big ass hills left in the race....so I did what I could and stayed in the top third of the pack....over the meat of the course I would gain all of my time back on the down hills and flats...only to be destroyed by the KOM Climb...I'm serious that hill made me want to never ride my bike up a hill again...but shit, I did anyway and I even made up time on the following climbs...

So I worked my way through a few pace lines...caught, passed, and droped a large ass number of riders and was able to set my self up for the last 9 miles of easy rolling hills where I hammered away and reeled in 8 or 9 more riders before the finish, came in 20th or 21st overall in the pack, and took the win in the cat 5 class. It felt great, I wish the race would have been another 5 or 6 miles so I could really see my limits..I'm learning that I can recover from alot more abuse then I thought poissble...and the race really didn't faze me..sure I was slept great that night but my legs felt 100% the next day which was great.
The race turned out great...a huge turnout of riders, the first higher mileage race of the year, and the course really sorted out the riders unlike the mingo races....plus I won !
Hopefully the 1st of many!

The Truth of my Youth

2009-04-09T19:06:00.002-07:00

5 years ago today!

Well I've gone and done it...I turned 23 years old today and well...I'm not a fan of getting old...not at all..I don't really think anyone is though to be honest. With the end of school coming up really soon...and the fact that my ass is going to have to get a real job and work 40 hours a week... its not sounding all that great...i guess it's because those are not my goals, none of them are...money, a secure job, all of the things that pretty much everyone my entire life has pointed out to me to as I grew up....I'm not really sure what my goals are...maybe pay off student loans asap and then just take off and see the world for a few years?...who knows...but none the less I'm now 23 years old and I can start to choose the roads I want to venture down....but you can't get to point C, when you start at point A, without going through point B I guess...so in that case hell yes to what lies ahead for me!

In tribute to my 23 years of life and pretty much the end of my youth.. here are a few shots of me like 5-7 years ago at the start of it.

Back then it was all about motocross, knee injurys, girls, and trying to get a $ here and there
today its pretty much the same: cycling, hoping I'm past my knee injury prone years, my girlfriend, and...eh school...eh $ to pay off school

Mingo # 2

2009-04-06T14:20:00.000-07:00

Fred Jordan Photos

Well the 2nd round of the Mingo Creek 3 race series was this past sunday and it was kind of so so. The Sun was out and the temps were on the rise through out the moring...and this brought out many a racer. 51 in the 4/5 feild at the starting line...and after 2ish laps, the main feild was down to the 25 man range. The race for the most part...I thought was kind of borring...yeah like a handfull of times a couple of attacks would go up the road...but the pack gave it some time and it came back in....I myself even tried 2 attacks...with one that I thought, might have worked...3 of us got a good gap and we started to rotate in the draft...durring my second or third pull I kept the same steady pace, did my time, and then went to peel off to the back of the 3 man line....but suprise! the other 2 riders had already fallen back to the main feild...so wtf..I waited and then just sat on....the pack riding was super hairy, and I won't lie, there were a few things that I did that was sketchy as fuck....but it happens and it's a learning curve...its just good that I didn't cause anything seriously bad to anyone else...so at some point on the 5th lap I must have been staring out into the woods or something because a few guys took off going up the climb and I didn't do shit about it...they then worked together well and rode off with the race...the rest of the feild 6-25? rolled in/semi-sprinted to the finish...the last half of the last lap was very annoying/exciting...lots of rubbing and people just going all over the place...but that's part of racing sometimes so it was good to be able to get some of that type of riding in....overall the race, I felt was slow...but still kind of fun at the same time because it was edge of your seat riding.

So the Morgantown RR is this Sat...it sounds like its going to be a hilly 47 mile race...and seeing as love/hate hills...I can't wait

Thunder Thighs in action

Weekend Riding

2009-04-01T09:42:00.000-07:00

Now about next weekend: I wanted to start throwing ideas out for this weekend's ride plans. Keith, Dr. Crooks and myself will most likely be heading to Mingo on Sunday for the 2nd race there. I encourage you all to come and check it out, if not participate.

For a change of pace, the next weekend there is a road race in Morgantown and it shouldn't be too difficult to find details on the web. But we still have this Saturday, and I'm planning on doing a nice long steady ride in the afternoon, maybe around 50-60 miles. That won't leave me feeling on top of the world for Sunday but I'm not worried about it... Let me know if anyone is interested in crusing Saturday afternoon or doing some hill work early Thursday morning from Washington.

"a successful failure"

2009-03-29T17:09:00.000-07:00

Mingo creek #1

The last road race I entered was the tour de strongland back in Sept. That race started out great and I even was in the break for the 1st time ever...well until the half way point and pop...there goes a spoke and that race...well fast foward 6 months..a horrible month of mud, mad sickness all winter, and even getting knocked out snowboarding ( and i'm a instructor!)...and I was able to pick up right where i left off..well sorta...So Dr. Darin has whipped me into some kind of shape and has shown me the wise ways of bicycle racing and all I had to do was go through the motions and I would be set....so Mingo starts out a very wet and somewhat windy corse...The 4/5 group is off and the pace seems to be a little slow to start due to the crazy wet conditions....some where, I'm guessing late 2nd lap...maybe even the third lap, the feild starts to break up and 10-12 ridres are off the front

So there we are...no one really wants to work to get a small break going and just about any attack is reeled back in very quickly...so bam lap 5.....A couple Iron City riders start going up the road...along with another rider, and there I am thinking "well the climb is coming...its time to freaking go" I'm watching Mr. Morrison and he takes off to bridge the gap so i go...we hit the wall on the climb and i go to down shift to the little ring and all i hear is "click click pop" front derailer bent to hell and being stuck in the big ring really isn't that bad... but losing my 23t and 21t is...I watch everyone ride away from me to to early season glory, while I have to pretty much jam the pedal down to even get the fucker to turn over...after that it was sit up time...The race was great overall...it let me getting some kind of baring on my training...but sucked at the same time because I did everything I had to do to have a shot at the win...and it was there.

but It's a long season and I'm still pretty damn green

Happy Birthday

2009-03-18T20:18:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday goes out to the Washangeles Cycling's...Darin Shriver who is.....
Turning 27 years old and is now one year closer to the master's class!

weekend double header

2009-03-16T09:30:00.000-07:00

For the last weekend of the crappy winter WA Cycling decided to make the best of the good weather. On sat Darin and myself decided to head off to North Park for a race pace training ride with Darin's team mates and a few others. The weather was great, no wind and the sun was out. The ride started off much better then last weeks seeing as I didn't have a flat tire in the first 3 miles(thanks to darin's mavic rim and tYres)...The pace was fast and it was pretty much nonstop rolling hills with a few big climbs including a 2.5 mile up from some town to some other town which really didn't hurt as much as I thought it would...even though I was dropped by all of the cat 3 riders...it felt good to keep them much closer then I though possible. All in all the ride was great...a solid 48 miles and being the only cat 5 rider in the group to my know how....I was able to keep pace most of the time and get some really fast group riding experience. Darrin and his friend ( i want to say Jeff) showed they were the climbers of the group for sure and did most of the pace setting on the ride which seemed to be relentless!

Just about what my view looked like on sunday!

......Then on Sunday...Darin, Greg Tarr, and myself joined up for a hometown "Darin" ride which was geared to be a super easy 25-30 mile recover ride...aka....40 miles with some attacks and a couple hot laps at mingo park...the ride started of at Darin's front door and we biker gang style cruzed the streets of washington while Darin sang "into the night" by Benny Mardones and I fought off the effects of a night full of wild turkey...ughughgugh...Well the ride turned out to be great fun..greg seemed to like the mingo course and after passing a van, that I'm pretty sure had "free candy" painted on the side of it, twice...we took off for home...the ride once again turned out great and for the 2nd ride in a row I didn't have a flat! my new tires are here today...so that should hopefully take care of that problem for now...and boost some life my rides planned for the upcoming week

MINGO SPRING SERIES FLYER

2009-03-13T09:51:00.000-07:00

http://trekofpgh.com/page.cfm?PageID=198

2009 Mingo Creek Spring Road Race Series
Nottingham Twp., Washington County, PA
Sundays – March 29, April 5, April 19.
Held Under USCF Permit – pending
Entry - $20.00 includes insurance
Registration begins @8:45am
Race
Start
Laps/miles
Field limit
Cat. 1, 2, 3 +Masters 40-49
10:00am
7/33
75
Cat. 4/5+ Masters 50+
10:05am
6/28.3
50
Women – open
10:05am
6/28.3
50

(Fields may be combined at the promoter’s discretion)
* Cash and or prizes to top 3 each race and each Masters group.
* Course description: 4.7 mile circuit, rolling
* USCF license is required.
* All riders must complete and sign 2008 Standard athletes release
* For additional information contact Don Mosites @ (724) 575-4000, dono@trekofpgh.com
* For more info visit the ACA website at www.acaracing.com
Directions:
The race will be held near Mingo Park, which is near 84 PA, which is inWashington County PA, which is south of Pittsburgh. From interstate 79 takethe Houston exit east on route 519 east towards 84 PA. Follow 519 until youget to Brownlee road, and turn onto it. There is a Mingo Park sign right infront of you on Brownlee. Continue on Brownlee about 1/2 mile, then make aleft on Patterson. Follow Patterson all the way to the Mingo Park entrance.Then follow the signs to the parking lot.
Course Description:
The race will start out on Valley View Rd. (about 200m from Sugar Run Rd.) heading south and make a right on Sugar Run Rd. A right on Sundust Rd. then proceed to Green Valley Rd. At the stop sign make a right and then another right onto Gilkenson Rd. Follow Gilkenson to Patterson Rd. and make another right. Then back down to Valley View where the finish line will be.

"Not a chill to the winter but a nip to the air"

2009-03-12T19:01:00.000-07:00

"The wheel is turning and you can't slow down,You can't let go and you can't hold on,You can't go back and you can't stand still,If the thunder don't get you then the lightning will.Small wheel turn by the fire and rod,Big wheel turn by the grace of God,Every time that wheel turn 'round,Bound to cover just a little more ground"---in my head the whole ride today....must be grateful dead day!

Well today was a one man ride for the WA cycling gang. Today started off not to bad I guess...after class and a quick jaunt up to 7 Springs to turn in my instructor jacket, get my snowboard and clean out my locker...for what will hopefully be the last time...i VW race car'd my ass home to grab a quick bite and load up my bike. Off to mingo park I was....my local riding hole...to get some practice laps in on the mingo "course" for the hopefully upcoming mingo spring series.

I really enjoy the mingo spring series...last year's races were my first ever...and being that I had just gotten my road bike 3 weeks before the 1st race...i was eatin alive by everyone...even the billy goats got a peice that litter the farms through out the course...well it was a good experience no doubt...i just can't go all out from the gun like cyclist tend to do...I always had the same problems in motocross...i would fade through the pack for the first few laps and the last 5 laps or so I would be able to pour it on and catch back up to the front riders...but never the less...I've been working on warming up better and hot starts...which is what i tried to day and then followed that up with 5 horrible laps and followed that up with some high blood pressure anger...I'm going to try again tomorrow afternoon and then its green beer weekend!

Washangeles ride # 2

2009-03-08T14:59:00.001-07:00

Well this past sat WA cycling was at it again...Darin Shriver and myself headed off to north park bright and early this past sat. to go on a group/team ride with darrin's sponsor (Steel City Endurance). We show up right on time, get our gear, bikes, water, gu, yadayadayada and we're off....welll lalalala for the 2nd week in a row, yours truly was to cheap to put new scuffs on his wheels and well I get another flat...the group keeps going....between Darin, a co2 pump and me standing there...we were able get a record tube change in and then took off for a very race like chase....After chasing at break neck speeds we get with in about 20-30 seonds of the group and then loose sight of the pack as they crest a hill...we destroy the hill and then continue to chase for ehh 5 more min...until a older couple who were out on a joy ride were like "hey yeah that big group made a right hand turn a while back"....nice. So There we are...with out a group, map, and breath. So a "lets go back to washpa and chill on the same old roads" ride is talked about on the ride back to the car until we run into 2 solid looking riders named Ben and Bill ( NP Locals) We hook up with them and went on a killer 40ish mile ride and almost a full race speed for me at least (22-23mph/avg.)....so all in all the ride ended up working out...we made some new friends, make it back to the parking lot before the group and even manged to get in 8 more miles then they did...plus chipotle was killer oh and I got new tires...yeah yeah.

1st LSD ride of the season (thank you Darin)

2009-03-02T21:09:00.000-08:00

Captin of the WA cycling orgy is a man known as Darin Shriver....who will hopefully be posting on this thing in due time....led the 1st ever washangeles ride this past weekend....he had planed for a nice cold 40 mile catch up on the bs type ride and it turned into 60 mile "we ran out of food and our water froze at mile 17" ride...but it was great....it was the perfect start.
It had a few nice climbs, I didn't die, the sun came out, I only got 2 flats, and all in all it was enjoyed by all....well darrin, myself, and Mr. Greg Tarr of the O-R
looking foward to more rides like this all season long
until then.

1st ever post for washangeles cycling!

2009-03-02T21:04:00.000-08:00

hey there fellow readers,
This is the 1st post about living the cycling life in the little town of washington pa (washpa, WA, WashAngeles, dub town, so on and so on...) As of right now there is only a few cyclist within our ranks...but we are looking to grow...and hopefully in time we'll have it to the point where everyone who wants to be a part of this blog can just make a post about WA cycling when ever they would like....but until then its just myself, keith hower, who is going to be posting until we get the gears rolling

ENJOY