Kent Park Race Report

I'm not going to get all worked up about race reports this year. Last year I tried to include every little detail and it just made me not write my races up. So, in short, there was a great women's turnout, 23 total I believe. My legs felt kinda rough on the warmup laps, but I was hoping it was just nerves. As we made our way around the first lap, I got antsy and decided to attack on the second to last hill. I spent the rest of the race time trialing off the front. With a lap and a half to go, the men's 1,2 caught me and I hung with them for a half lap just to get a break from the wind.

It was a wonderful race. Michael did an excellent job promoting the race and Atlas did a great job with the prizes.

I was so impressed with the ICCC ladies. For many of them, it was their first race ever and they rode their hearts out. Great job ladies! I can't wait to do it again!

1st Ride at Sugar for the year

Kyle and I headed out after work yesterday to turn out a loop at Sugarbottom. The trails are in amazing condition. We were able to ride the entire south side minus Hell Trail and Troll Bridge (since they are both closed). We also rode the last green on the north that takes you to Cyclocross. Funny enough, as we crested the hill headed back to the south end, we ran into Burvee and Jody. We ended up riding with them around the south loop again.

Fun was had by all. I can only hope that time allows me to enjoy the trails again soon!

Kent park race report to come...

cycling Photos on CyclingDirt

T. Wells riding a Syntace Vector carbon bar at Fontana 12 degrees of goodness there! Syntace stuff is simply the best. It's always a great testament to a brand when Pros are running gear they actually choose themselves, rather than what they are simply given.

Kent Park Pics!

Kent Park was this past weekend. Robin raced and did very well! I'm sure she will post up a race report with some more details soon. But, she put in an attack about 3/4 through the first lap and ended up riding the rest of the race off the front of the women's field to take the win.

Here are some pics from the day:


Robin coming up the hill:







Oh yea.... Duethman was an animal! Don't mess with him.... he will eat your children.

Kent Park is this Sunday!

So, like many of you, this is my favorite early season race. When I first started racing in 2006, it was my second race ever. I was very disappointed that it was canceled last year. Aside from being excited because it is Kent Park, I have a new sense of pride this year for this race. There are more than 20 women signed up AND 8 of us are racing for ICCC. This will be the start of a great racing season!

Ride 3.14.10

Robin and I went on a road ride this morning with Kevin and Brit. We had thought about heading out on some gravel with the Hopson crew, but with my knee is limbo and Robin having raced yesterday.... we thought a road ride would be the smart choice!

Anyhow, we rolled out a bit after 10am, under cloudy skies, into a NASTY NNE headwind. Battled that all the way into Cedar Bluff. But after turning around it was SO worth it! On the way back home the sun even came out.... simply beautiful. It's amazing to be out on dry roads, with the sun shining.

I got Kevin at a stop ahead sign, by boxing him in behind the girls (hey! whatever it takes!), and jumping real early. he got me on the next one though.

Great ride and good times. Hopefully in another week my knee will be back to 100%.


Here are a couple videos of the wonderful conditions.

1st Race of the Season

Today was the 2nd installment of Bart's Spring Classic Series. Kyle and I had both intended to race it, but a nagging knee injury kept Kyle sidelined. Instead he served as corner marshal and coached me as I raced. Conditions were great for an early season race. Rain, low 40s and a stiff wind. There ended up being 5 women that did the race, 3 cat 1,2,3 and 2 cat 4. Bart sent us off with the cat 4,5 men. We were to do 4 laps. Lisa for PRC and I rode the 1st lap together, right behind the men. As the 2nd lap started, I missed grabbing the tail end of an attack and found myself in the chase group with 4 guys. Lisa managed to hang on with the lead 3 guys. That was pretty much how it stayed for the rest of the race. Kyle would give us a time break as we came around the back side of the course and it pretty much stayed at 30 seconds. So, I was kinda bummed that I missed out the move that separated us, but it was a good race all the same. I don't mind taking 2nd place.

All in all it was a great race. I appreciate Bart taking the time to have this series so that some of us who haven't been on the bike in awhile (like not since Jingle Cross last year :) can ease back into racing again.

3/6/10 Ride

We went out for a ride today.... planned on just a little gravel. Started out quite nice. Sun was out, temps were up, roads were dry.

Then we decided to see how far we could get on Swan lake, since the the water was down. Well, the road was a little damp at first, but not terrible. It lured us in. Quickly it turned to a mix of snow, ice, and mud... We pushed onward.

Soon it was a slog, but it was more fun to just keep going and see how far we could get. Then we started seeing snowmobiles! Then a few token rednecks in their trucks. The trucks turned back, we pushed on. As the sun went behind the clouds and the wind picked up, we though it best to turn back at the second significant water crossing. It was fairly frozen over, so we could have gone on. But, with the weather closing in and the fact we were soaked, we made the right choice.

The ride back back was actually better. Although it was soft and soggy, we were so wet that we weren't trying to pick drier lines. Got back into N. Liberty and stopped at Casey's. Thank God for that place! The looks we got from the other customers were priceless, as we ate some type of friend potato goodness and drank a cup of coffee.

All in all, great ride. 5 hours on the bike. Who knows how far. Sweet.

Tried ou the video thing today. Need to get a little better at it. Note the gentleman in the second clip, on the side of the road just shooting a handgun at nothing in particular. At least he wasn't shooting it at us!