Tag Archives: Racing

CX Race Recap: Evan @ Granogue

Photo by Anthony Skorochod / cyclingcaptured.com

Follow NYC Velo Cyclocross (CX) Team Rider Evan Murphy as he tackles a the 2011-12 CX season, his first as a RISD degree-holding adult:

Last weekend, I headed down to Wilmington, Delaware, for my first attempt at this legendary Granogue MAC (Mid-Atlantic Cyclocross) series event. In excited anticipation of the weekend, I set my sights on a solid finish.

Prior to the starting gun, I tried to do everything right, like pre riding multiple laps, re-riding tricky spots, asking every fast guy I knew what tire pressure to run, but it seemed as though my luck was still down. I spent the first three laps of the Elite race on Saturday caught behind multiple crashes, even getting taken off my bike coming around a flat turn, while working my way through the field. After a last row start I was pretty stoked to have picked off five or so guys, and was heading up the steep back section run-up when I decided to ride it (instead of running/hiking). This is when my chain broke and fell off my bike.

After the mishap, I was encouraged to run to the pits, a friend from Pittsburgh yelled, “gimme your chain, I’ll meet you there!” I know that choosing to stay in the race made no sense as lapped riders are pulled (politely reminded that they are no longer allowed to race with the rest on account of their lack of speed in competition), but I was deep in the (pain) cave and no thinking clearly. I ran ten minutes to the pit only to end up riding a SRAM-supplied neutral bike (complete with flat pedals and 60 psi clinchers) through to the end of the lap, where I was lapped and pulled from the race. I ended the day with one of my best Elite-class results, 39th of 55, mostly because so many others had failed to finish. The result doesn’t look so hot on paper, but I’ll take it!

Photo by Anthony Skorochod / cyclingcaptured.com

I decided to race the Category 2/3/4 event on Sunday mostly because I’ve been getting slaughtered in the Elite field and I needed a break (Is it really sandbagging if you’re predicted a last place in the Elite race and have a last row start in the 2/3/4 race??). I made my way up through 124 viciously competitive racers to find myself 10th behind a young, competent bike handler heading into the last lap. It turns out that my decision to follow his wheel was the wrong one as I took the rocky/rooted section far too fast and punctured my front tire. I rode around the course on a flat tire to the pit to grab another flat-pedal-equipped SRAM bike. I finished the last half of the race on a bike with the seat jacked up 4 cm beyond my comfort zone – OUCH – before flatting again! on the finishing straight and bleeding spots to finish 25th on the day.

Photo by Anthony Skorochod / cyclingcaptured.com

I suppose the lesson learned this weekend was to take bad luck with grace and finish hard even if you want to quit, because you never know how bad it really is. Thanks to the Dupont family for again lending their property to us bike racers for another excellent weekend. See you on the trails!

all photos by Anthony Skorochod cyclingcaptured.com

CX Race Recap: Evan @ Providence

Follow NYC Velo Cyclocross (CX) Team Rider Evan Murphy as he tackles a the 2011-12 CX season, his first as a RISD degree-holding adult:

I can already tell my 2011/12 season will be defined for by injuries. After healing my hand (from my last mid-race mishap) and hitting the trainer for the past two weeks, I made the mistake of heading to the Providence Cyclocross Festival at Roger Williams Park in Providence, RI with little to no off-road training. This proved to be a fatal mistake.

Day 1 (Saturday) was the ‘technical’ course and I found myself sitting around 40th by the second lap. This being my first UCI Elite race, I might have been a little too eager as I fumbled the tricky barrier remount and slashed my leg on my chainring. After losing a ten places or so trying to get my chain back on the ring, I spent the rest of the race pushing to make the 80% cutoff (or risk being pulled from the race early). Unfortunately, I was the last racer pulled before the leaders finished up. Wow, 60 minutes is a long time, people! Highlights of the course include the insane barriers and awesome descent back behind the monument.

Any chance of an overnight recovery would not be in the cards for me as Providence is old turf; my RISD and Brown U buddies invited me out for drinks and we grabbed gyros at East Side Pocket. Sometimes, the dream of a decent UCI Elite race result goes by the wayside in favor of good company and, well, good beer.

Anyway, Day 2 was much better for me, however, it turns out that I’m actually that guy, the one who caught his foot on the barriers in the Elite race. Yep, on the first lap at that. I was sitting pretty in mid-pack when I came in waaay too hot, clipped my foot on the barrier, and slammed face-first into the grass. I got up and, woo! Last place! As it turned out though, I was able to focus on the race and put my strength to good use, finishing on the lead lap at 50th place. Out of almost 70 starters, I’m pretty stoked with my result. Also, I had a bit of extra fun after my dramatic crash by pulling some sweet airs at the beer tent each lap, which counts for a few extra points, right? In the end, Sunday’s course was fast, long and hot, almost 80 degrees!

I head to Granogue this coming weekend, racing UCI Elite event on Saturday, and the 2/3/4 category on Sunday. I’m basically hoping to not crash. Which is also last weekend’s Elite CX lesson: do not crash. Thanks for reading!

BOTW: Parlee Z5

The Z5, a 5th generation frameset for Parlee is one of the lightest framesets ever built, yet still possesses the famous quick-acceleration-tendencies, lively road feel, and comfort that are the hallmarks of Parlee frames. The Z5 combines the best qualities of the custom Z1 and stock Z4 by using the latest mold techniques and carbon layup processes. Without sacrificing performance, comfort or durability, Parlee is able to mold the whole main frame section in a single contiguous piece. This bike was ordered for a (current Landshark owner) customer who wants to move from steel to a carbon bike that according to him “has some life in it.” His opinion is that most production carbon bikes are dull in character and he’s looking for a carbon bike with real spirit. Well sir, no dull carbon ride here and plenty of spirit!

STAY TUNED for info on our upcoming shop ride and Q&A night with Mr. Bob Parlee himself !! That’s right !!

Now serving: Parlee

Hailing from Beverly Massachusetts (USA), PARLEE is a bike company doing it right and for the right reasons, and is the latest domestic brand to become a part of the NYC Velo family.

PARLEE bikes were born over a decade ago with one goal in mind, to build the best performing race bikes in the world. At that time, carbon fiber was overlooked in the road bike market despite all the success in motorsports and aerospace. In the late 1990′s, most race bikes were aluminum or titanium. However, based on what Bob PARLEE learned about materials while building racing boats for 20 years, says Bob, ” I knew that with the right sized tubes, and the right fiber lay-up, and proper molding techniques, carbon fiber would be the best choice for creating fast, light and comfortable racing bikes. Ten years on, it is plain to see, my instincts were right. Carbon is now the material of choice for professional and recreational riders. No major bike manufacturer is without carbon fiber in their road lineup. The question now, for the rider, is not what material to choose, but which carbon fiber bike to choose and why?”

Bob says, “PARLEE designs and builds fast, light, durable and comfortable bikes — qualities that were once considered mutually exclusive in bike building. Because of this, you will not see unnecessary shapes in the designs. The guiding principle for PARLEE is efficiency. The key to pushing performance is to use carbon fiber strategically to maximize its characteristics. Carbon fiber is perfect for building bikes because it has
such a high strength to weight ratio. This is why the styling makes no sense. All it does is add weight and take away from ride quality. It is akin to putting fins on a car — they may look cool, but they are not going to make it perform better”

In the last ten years, PARLEE has pioneered many industry firsts; from the first customizable carbon fiber racing frames to FLEX-FIT semi-custom geometry to the industry’s first sub-800 gram carbon fiber frames. But unlike other manufacturers, the development of PARLEE’s line of bikes has been organic. “I’ve always loved scribbling out an idea and then moving to the Bridgeport to create complicated molds,” says Bob. “By constantly thinking how can we make our bikes better, it has allowed our bikes to evolve, with each model building on the success of its predecessor.”

In addition to producing some of the best custom carbon frames available, all PARLEE models are offered in stock sizes. PARLEE stock bikes are built using the same process as their custom bikes. Each is built with uncompromising care and attention to detail. The PARLEE ownership process begins at NYC VELO, where we take precise measurements and gather the pertinent information about what (you) the customer wants in his or her bike’s performance. All of this information is passed on to the bike designers at PARLEE who use their internally developed CAD system to ensure that the frame matches the rider’s preferences perfectly.

NYC Velo Podiums at Orchard CX

This past weekend our Ex-shopmate but still teammate Josh Friedman was busy tearing it up at Orchard Cross.  After podiuming in the cat 3 race he runs off to do the P/1/2/3.   What a hardman.  Congrats on the Podium Josh!   Read ahead for his recap.  (Thanks to Caitlin Hume for photos)

Dateline: Orchard Cross Cat 3 race in Hampton Falls, New Hampshire.

I was pretty excited about getting a front row start, but then they
called up the promoting team. Only four were there and they planted
themselves right in front of me. The holeshot was clearly going to the
right of me. I had to fight from about twentieth place to get towards
the front of the race. At that point first and second were gone.

I had someone sitting on my wheel for a while. I thought he was
playing me, saying things like, “You’re killing me” and “I hope you
get paid for this.” I am neither a murderer nor professional bicycle
racer, sir. I don’t remember when, but somewhere in the middle of the
race I looked back and my companion was gone. He wasn’t joking.

The announcer thought I had New York style to me; he called me
Serpico. After the race I let him know that I’m just a stay-at-home
dad not shaving or cutting my hair for the winter, not a legendary New
York crime fighter. A compliment nonetheless.

The rest of the race was pretty uneventful. I rode alone keeping my
distance from everyone – both the guys behind me (intentional) and the
guys up the road (unintentional – I was supposed to catch them). I
rolled in for third place, slapped on a clean skinsuit for the podium
(and the elite race) and tried to wrap my head around racing again.

Later on the announcer seemed pretty excited about having me in the
elite race too. I guess most people don’t race cyclocross twice in a
day. Who knew? I tried not to come in dead last or blow up. I
succeeded and got twelfth.

And now I have a shiny new upgrade so I can dangle off the back of UCI
races without second guessing my decision of not racing the 3′s.

Press release: Red Hook Crit Milanese

We’re suckers for awesome cycling events, and the one we are presenting to you today is no exception.  Our friend David Trimble, mastermind behind the acclaimed Redhook Criterium, has decided to take his show on the road.  Where, you ask?  Straight to the country that embodies the style and passion of cycling: Italy. The Red Hook Crit will take place on October 15th in Milano. If you have the financial freedom to visit Italy on a whim, or if you already live there, then check it out.   The official press release follows:

Trimble Racing and the Bicycle Film Festival are proud to announce the Red Hook Criterium Milano to be held on October 15, 2010.  This unsanctioned bicycle race will be held on a short technical circuit in the Bovisa district of Milano, Italy.  The racers will consist of urban cyclists, bike messengers, and elite athletes from around the world.  Fixed gear bicycles are mandatory requiring an equal combination of speed, fitness, and street skills to win this 18-lap race.  Held at night, this race will be visually spectacular for spectators, photographers, and filmmakers.

This event will bring to the streets of Milano the format and spirit of the original Red Hook Criterium held annually in New York City.  The Red Hook Criterium has developed a reputation as both a fun grassroots race and an intense high-level competition.  The race has been featured on Velonews, The New York Times, and the Bicycle Film Festival.

The Red Hook Criterium Milano is an official event of the Bicycle Film Festival which runs in Milan from October 15th-17th.

Many thanks to our sponsors; Cinelli, San Marco, Dodici, Pistard, Kryptonite, Oakley and Ciclistica for making this race possible.

5ive Points: Christian Grasmann

This edition of 5ive points is dedicated to the hardcore trackies. You know,  the ones who follow those epic six-day races that still go on in Europe and head to t-town every weekend.  If you’re one of those guys,  you’ve probably heard of Christian Grasmann.  The German track pro specialized in both six day races and madison formats.   The folks of NYC got their first taste of him this year when the promoters of the Harlem-Skyscraper Cycling Classic flew him and his buddies over to headline the pro race.  As it turns out,  Christian and his six-day racing partner Leif Lampater were able to stay away for most of the race, with Christian winning handily.  To top it off,  a few weeks later Christian went on to win the German national six-day title.  We’re sure this isn’t the last time that we’ll be seeing him in our fair city.  As we all love to hear from legit Euro pros,  we just had to ask him to jump in on this week’s 5ive points:

NYCV: What bike do you ride these days?

CG: I ride my Fuji SST, my Fuji Carbon Track bike for sure, as well as my citybike: A 20 kg green NSU Steel bike from the 1940s – I love it!
NYCV: What’s your favorite ride?

CG: My best ride is to go alone 20km up from my place in the alps passing Monialm at Tegernsee and going up to Silvenstein. A fast Downhill leads to Fischbachau and then I ride up up to the Sudelfeld and Walleralm (1700 Meters).  Afterwards I head down to Rosenheim to Koffee Dinzler and then ride another 2 hours to get home.
NYCV: What’s your favorite post-ride food?

CG: For training, just a little Müesli or Bread and Coffee to start and then a stop after 2 or 3 h for a piece of cake. For racing I like some easy pasta, olive oil and tomatoes.
NYCV: What’s one thing you always carry on a ride?

CG: I always carry my Helmet, iI feel bad without… Also I like to bring some money for a stop to a bakery.
NYCV: What’s next for you?

CG: Next up is a few days off in Ötztal, Austria with my girlfriend.

Thanks Christian!

Race Report: Ian Harris @Tour of the Catskills

Photo by Harry Zernike

NYC Velo is all about supporting racers. We love to watch, and many of us race our bikes in some form or another. In addition to sponsoring a bunch of amateur teams, we also have a few riders who kit up in our bold home team uniforms and proceed to turn themselves inside out at various races in our region. Last week two our our U23 riders, Ian Harris and Evan Murphy took part in one of the hardest stage races in the area: The Tour of the Catskills. Below is Ian’s race recap. Nice work guys!

Evan and I both happened to conveniently call in sick last Friday, so we threw our bikes in my pick-up and chowed down on the breakfast of (NYC) champions — bagels w/ lox — on our way up to Tannersville, NY. After a few coffees, and thus a couple requisite porta-john inspections, we checked out the steepest section of the day’s TT course with Rapha Conti’s Dan Action (a former Providence, RI man like ourselves), vacillating between the choices of big or little ring. An easy decision as my legs screamed “little” for most of the 2+ mile ride. After some steak, corn, and a few IPAs at Uncle Peter’s house in Chatham, Evan and I conked out at 9pm, totally cooked from 8 little minutes of riding…

Saturday’s 50+mile RR was.. “mehh..” Evan has been cleaning up in the 4′s at Prospect all summer long and this was his first cat.3 race since upgrading. We both did a solid job staying towards the front of the 70-dude pack, though in hindsight probably wasted a bit too much energy doing so.

After hitting 55 mph on the descent, we sped through some rollers, then made a left-hand turn to see the day’s first KOM climb. The “holy shit’(s)” from the peloton were drowned out by chains frantically shifting to the little ring. I dropped out the back like a bag of bricks, recovered a bit thanks to some unaware civilian motorpacers, and found myself in a 7-8 man group that caught and picked up riders along our way, including poor Evan who had been hangin’ out in no man’s land. On the run-in into town, Evan and I were sitting pretty at the back of our 12-man group when I had the cramp of a lifetime. My quad was doing its best impression of “the worm” and i had to pull over, unaware of how close to the finish we were (SIGNS NEXT YEAR PLEASE) and lost 4 minutes in about 2K. Pretty impressive! Turns out we were 4 minutes behind the leaders, sprinting for 25th, so E. Murph moved up a bit on GC.

Sunday’s race was pretty uneventful. We both felt fine sitting in the first 40+ miles. I yelled at a guy for almost coming to a complete stop in the feedzone — obviously, someone missed out on little league — though to be fair, a 30+ mph feedzone isn’t the best idea. The yellow jersey of our field crashed right before the canonized Devil’s Kitchen climb and our field had a Schleck/Contador moment. Chalk one up for hypocrisy. Ayn Rand would have approved.

Photo by Harry Zernike

Evan and I were both in the front group on the climb (yeaah, what up 34-27 gearing!?!?), until some CRCA guy decided that the 22% section was a GREAT time to shift to the little ring. He even had the nerve to act surprised when he dropped his chain and ran me into the grass. I almost saved it but slipped a pedal and even in my pansy-gearing I had to “skateboard” for a ways to even clip back in, it was that steep. P.O.’d, i sprinted through the field back up to mid-pack and at that point could only go as fast as the rest and rolled it in from there. Evan just missed the 2nd group, as there was some confusion when we caught the 40+ field, but rode to a solid top 25 GC nonetheless.

Happy with our respective races, although not so much with our results, we will be hoping for better luck next weekend. But as we like to say at NYC Velo, a day gone by without being attacked by farm animals is a good day.

Tierra del Fuego

Much like Fletch, our knowledge of the Spanish language is rather limited. But that won’t stop us from rooting for 2 members of our very own service team: “Pollo” Marte and “Che” Bunde.

They are currently in the Dominican Republic, racing in the Vuelta Independencia Nacional. (Pollo left his goggles at home).

Best of luck, guys!

Hillier Than Thou

On a recommendation from Tom’s uncle and a near obsessive interest from Andrew, we found ourselves participating in this year’s Hillier Than Thou Century in Northwest New Jersey.  We met at the shop at 5:30 am and packed the five of us (Andrew, Edie, Jared, Tom and Brett) into the NYC Velo-mobile.   The destination was Camp Bernie, which greeted us with a slew of other racers ready for the epic day that lay ahead.

Participants could choose between 3 routes, the longest of which was 100 miles.  The 100 mile course could also be ridden as the “Hillier Hustle”, which turned it into an Open Road Race / Time Trial.  With all of us as active bike racers, we clearly had no other choice than to race.  We unpacked our bikes, visisted the facilities, registered for the race, donned our kits, applied our chamois cream and filled our pockets with gels and bars.  Once we started riding, it quickly became clear where the race got its name… OUCH!  - the 100 miles boasted over 11,000 feet of climbing!

Almost immediately, Jared, Andrew, Tom and Brett began to assert themselves.  Jared hit the first major climb with fervor and found himself setting the pace. This would be the first split of the day, which was foiled by a wrong turn and a loop back.  The wrong turn brought the group back to 50 or more heading into the first rest area.  One should note that all ‘racers’ had a number that was to be signed at each rest stop (4 stops in total).

Following the first rest stop was another major climb.  Jared was lucky enough to get his number signed before a bottleneck formed, putting him back on the road first with a handful of others.  Tom, Andrew and Brett, however, chased this lead group, catching them after cresting the climb.  A greatly reduced group reformed after this climb, but the numbers up front were certainly dwindling.  Basically, if you weren’t up front at this point, you weren’t going to be for the rest of the day.

We proceeded to hit climb after climb, each time we would lose a few folks that would either chase back on during a descent or arrive at a rest stop just as we were leaving.  The rest stops were quick – just enough time to fill one’s bottles and grab some nutrition.  Things were looking good and a group of 10 of us were rolling along (many reluctant to rotate, without strong coercion from us).  Just about the same time that we got settled into a nice groove, Tom flatted.  We were over 60 miles in at this point.  Andrew volunteered to help/wait for Tom, while Jared and I went ahead with the 5 riders that remained to ensure it stayed together.

Once we hit a serious climb, a solo move came.  David (one of the stronger riders in the group, who had been in every selection with us thus far) decided to put in a dig.  Jared responded and covered his wheel.  Brett waited until they had a gap and then decided to go across.  He was joined by another rider from the group, but no others.  The 4 of us reformed a few miles later and made it through the hardest climb of the day, Iron Bridge, together.  The top of the climb was also home of the final rest stop.  We confirmed that we were the first riders on the road, filled our bottles and as we were just about to roll away we heard a familiar voice.  Tom had managed to ride through everyone and up to us.

With 20 miles remaining, Jared, Tom and Brett were ready to finish strong.  Now it was 4 riders going into the final miles, 3 of whom were riding for the same goal. While on the final climb, Brett covered David closely as Tom sat waiting for his opportunity.  It played out well, David jumped first and Tom responded taking it straight to the line, with David in 2nd and Brett 3rd.  Jared lost a bit of time on the last climb and ended up 4th.  Andrew landed 7th with a super solid ride.

Many thanks to the promoters and volunteers at this years Hillier Than Thou!