Kinzua & Wine Harvest

Hey guys, we are heading into a 5-6 week stretch of relatively close road races wanted to see what everyone had their sights on. I did not race at Zoar this past weekend. Did anyone make the trek to Ohio for this race?

I am planning on racing this Sunday at Kinzua. Anyone else planning on making it?

Also planning on the Wine Harvest Stage Race near Erie the following weekend. Again, anyone have their eye set on that race as well?

'Toona results and this week's Wed. night B race debrief

'Toona results are posted. Eddie and Jason both attended. It was a somewhat small field (18?) and the pace was less than blistering, but we got 8th and 6th respectively. I had never raced the course before, but I can imagine it would be a lot of fun with a field of 100 guys.

https://www.usacycling.org/results/index.php?permit=2008-1419
http://www.tourdetoona.com/results/day/2008-07-27.htm

The Wed. nite B race this week: First off, let me say a big THANKS to all of the RC-13 racers who were there. EVERYONE contributed to our success (1st and 5th places). Spencer made a critical pull-back of a late move; Ed jumped into a move in the last third; Eddie was his usually active self, working hard despite a hard week of training, and providing representation in many moves; Kevan powered his way to 5th, worked early and often, and had great position in the final two laps; Randy was the linchpin, selflessly going to the front on the last lap and riding an increasing pace through turn four.

For those not there, nothing stayed away for very long. The race was disorganized with two to go. I got on Kevan's wheel at the front, then Randy came over the top with one to go and powered Kevan and me to turn four, whereupon I made a hard jump from the inside and never looked back for the win.

The great thing I noticed was folks making decisions on their own as to when it was necessary (for the good of the team) to come up and put in an effort to chase, attack, or organize at the front. That shows good situational awareness, racing intelligence, and the fitness to carry through.

One thing we might be able to improve upon is not to immediately chase down everything, especially in the beginning third of the race. It is not so bad to let a move develop a bit before making the decision to hunt it down, especially if we have at least one guy up there. With good communication and the numbers we have in the race, we should be able to pull most moves back. Also, it is often better to try to bridge up to a break, rather than tow the field. If you are outnumbered/outgunned in a break, sit on and wait for the cavalry or a teammate to bridge.

OK, that's my two cents. What yours?

P.S. Only four more Wed. nites.
P.P.S. If anyone is looking to get a Garmin Edge 305HR bike computer, Walmart.com has an awesome price ($195).

Tour de 'Toona anyone?

Is anyone considering going to the Tour de 'Toona crit? It is only a crit this year. Good prize list, deep placings. Separate races for ALL categories!!! Probably need a hotel room the night before.

Work function this evening chaps.....good luck and give'm hell.

Pirates-

Glad to see and hear that the racing action is, well, action. Keep it up. Feel free to post and pics, or send them to me and I'll get them put on the site as well. keep the rubber side down--

db

"when in doubt, just go." -Jens Voigt

An apology to the team

Guys -

After having some time to think it over last night, I feel that I owe an apology and explanation to the team. A few laps into the break I looked back at the pack and saw all of you at the front, presumably chasing us down. As I passed Pat on the next lap, he motioned to me to shut it down. I admit to questioning the logic at the time, but I understood afterwards why the break was unfavorable: Iron City (2nd overall) had two guys there, and with four people in the break the best Jason could do was 5th. Despite questioning the reasoning, I did try to subtly disrupt things for a few laps by taking slower pulls and making the other guys take additional pulls. I should have been more overt in my efforts to shut down the break. When it got to be four laps to go and we still had a gap, my ego took over and I started racing for myself and the break, not the team. And while ultimately no damage was done to our team points standing, my defiance of the people making the decisions undermined their authority and damaged the team's cohesion. My actions were counterproductive to a team that's trying to pull itself together, and for that I apologize. It's an honor to pull on the team kit and race with you guys, and I need to learn to check the ego and trust the decisions made in the field.

- Kevan

Gents, for those of you planning on racing this Sunday.  I rode the Ft. Cherry route on Sunday morning with the Mt. Lebo Caffeine ride and a couple UPMC riders.  The race will start at the school, short fast descent, they were not sure if this would be neutral or not.  Rollers for a little less than a mile and then a right (inside line is good and safe) to start the only real hill on the course.  Starts out at a low angle for a few hundred meters and then kicks up steep, short for approximately 100-200m.  Fast descent, sketchy left hand turn at the bottom.  The next 5-6 miles will be fast.  Relatively flat, some rollers, good pavement.  Three more right hand turns (all are safe) and then back at the start just at the base of the hill from the school.  Last lap the last turn will be a left, up the hill.  The hill is a stinger, with a right 90 back into the school which is also slightly uphill.  Counted 3 potholes, for Pittsburgh, that's not bad at all.  Each lap is 8 miles.

See you Wednesday.