Mystic Velo Crit - Ninigret, RI

Mystic Velo Criterium, June 20th, 2009 Ninigret, RI

The third “real race” of the season at Ninigret, not counting Wednesday weekly training races, was held under surprisingly good weather. It was even sunny for the first few moments of the first race of the day. Then the fog rolled in. Despite the thick weather, it never rained until the final race was over despite the forecasts and the reputation. Anyone who has been there knows to expect rain and wind no matter what time of year it is.

Cat 5, 34 years of age and less
A pack of ten started in the warm morning sunshine but during the first lap, the temperature dropped 10 degrees as the Ninigret fog rolled in. Eight of them stayed together to the end despite a couple of attacks by Connor Walsh (NEBC). Harris Navelski (Lindscott) lead out the sprint from a couple hundred yards and barely held on to beat Walsh by a couple of tire widths. It was close enough that we had to check the camera. George Lowe was third but not by much.

When Connor lined up for the Cat 4 race a little bit later in the day, the officials realized that something was wrong. He couldn’t have gotten an upgrade that fast without Diane Fortini being around. They checked the USCF via wireless web thingy and found that Connor is indeed a Cat 4. They let him finish the Cat 4 race, but DQed him from the Cat 5 race. He told me later that he thought it was a combined 4/5 race when he registered on-line. The DQ put Lowe into second and moved Matt Appleby into third. Connor gladly returned his 2nd place trophy when informed of the error.

Cat 5 35 plus
14 men and one brave woman started the 17 lap race in dense fog. By 11 to go, a lead group of 5 formed with Tim Curley, Chris Darling, Todd Samuelson, Mark Schleinitz and Vinny Defrancesca. As the remainder of the field exploded behind them, they became the biggest single group on the road. So does that make them a breakaway, or just a depleted field? I guess it’s a judgment call. If I was in the group of 5, I would prefer to think of it as the field. There’s too much pressure in being a breakaway.

Rebecca Lowe, the only woman in the group, held her own just behind the leaders. She spins a small gear. If she can develop the strength to push a bigger gear yet maintain the “suplesse” of a spinner, she might have potential to be a pretty good bike racer despite starting later in life than most.

The group of 5 stayed away and built a 25 second lead over the nearest straggler. A chase of three closed it some, but there wasn’t enough time left to get back up to the lead. Todd Samuelson narrowly won the long sprint over Chris Darling with Vinnie DeFrancesco third.

Cat 4
An escape of 4 riders got a 10 second lead in the first half of the race but it was caught. From that point on the field stayed together. Gary Birkamshaw lead out the sprint from the final corner and powered away from them sitting down. He got a 20 yard lead and held it without even standing up despite a furious out of the saddle sprint behind him.

Junior 10-12, 13-14
The cub juniors started under a controlled pace for the first 5 of 9 laps with coach/mentors from the Cyclonauts and CCB clubs riding along. They taught the kids to ride in a paceline and get used to being adjacent to other riders. I am sure they helped the kids with cornering also since the Ninigret course has 6 corners, some of them more than 90 degrees. This was the first time I had seen the kids start a race with a controlled pace and coaching. It seems like a great idea and can only lead to a better experience for all the kids and quicker development of their skills. Let’s do this at more races! The alternative is to have the 2 or three most experienced kids (i.e. those with parents or older siblings in the sport) take off and leave the rest behind to ride their own solo rides just to complete the distance. When that happens, they probably aren’t be too inspired to try again.

Once the gloves came off and the coaches moved aside for the final four laps, a lead group formed with Ian Keough, Peter Goguen, Ryan Walsh, and Brian Wolfe. The sprint came down to Wolfe and Goguen with Goguen taking it by just a few feet. Walsh rolled through a couple of seconds later, then Keough. Kara Mullaly won the girls race just seconds behind the lead group of boys.

Juniors 15-18
The host club, Mystic Velo, has had strong racers in the masters age groups for years, but last season they put together a team of juniors from the southeast Connecticut region. Unlike some of the powerhouse junior development teams, the Mystic Velo team is made of local kids without prior experience. It is a truly regional grassroots team. They didn’t seem to get a lot of results last year, but this season they have been on fire lead by Evan Kirk and David Gilchrist among others. They had four riders on the line for this one with Evan Kirk sitting it out waiting for the Cat 3 and Cat 1, 2, 3 races later in the day.

Connor Walsh (in his third race of the day) kept trying to attack at the front of the field but he appeared to be just having some fun as he knew he was greatly outnumbered by the Mystic boys and they were right on him every time he tried. Emily Curley (Gearworks) and the Mullaly sisters, Kelsea and Katy (Capital Velo Club) were able to stay with the boys and it was all together through 8 laps to go. David Gilchrist (Mystic) launched with 6 to go and bagged a $5 prime. He stayed away with a 22 second lead that shrunk to 8 seconds when Tommy Goguen (Minuteman) attacked. But John Harris (Mystic) stuck with Tommy and Tommy diverted his energy and added a lot of extra feet to his race trying to shake him when he should have been focused on his pursuit of Gilchrist. Gilchrist stayed away and Tommy got out sprinted for second by Harris, then Ian McFarland (Mystic) came in fourth solo. After almost losing her lead by refusing to pull through with Nate Etchells who was also trying to do the shake and bake like Tommy Goguen, Kelsea Mulally took the girls race ahead of Emily Curley. Emily had a chance while Kelsea slowed down. Emily told me to shush and not tip Kelsea off that she was sneaking up as they passed through the start/finish line. I was shushed by a fourteen year old!!

Cat 3
Little breaks rolled off the front but nobody was really getting away. This race had lots of masters racers in it getting a warm up before the age graded races start, maybe more than there were young guys who are trying to make it up the scale to Cat 1. The Gearworks team (Paul Curley, Tom Stevens, Bill Sawyer) took turns keeping the pace high. It all stayed together to the end with Mike Maloney (Cyclonauts) launching but getting caught with a lap and a half to go. Nice try, but it wasn’t for nothing as he did soften the field for his team mates by making the other teams chase. Ben Wolfe (Mystic) went to the front with Evan Kirk (Mystic) on his wheel a lap and a half before the finish but it was too early. Wolfe buried himself trying to keep Kirk at the front but they got swarmed with 1/3 of a lap to go. As they came out from behind the trees heading into the final corner the field was spread across the road with a few yellow and black Cyclonauts jerseys forming a new lead out train at the front. Two of them held on including Mike Norton who took the win followed by team mate Douglas McKeon. Paul Curley was third.

Masters 55/65
These races started with separate fields on the course at hte same time. The 55s stayed together despite some attacks from Mark Hagen (CCB). The 65s saw Richard Martin and MCRA champ David Burnett (Mystic) roll away early on. After a couple of primes, the 55s caught the 65 field with 12 to go and they raced together from then on.

Martin and Burnett sprinted like gentlemen drag racing from the final corner, no drafting, no games. Martin couldn't quite match the speed and Burnett won the sprint by a half bike length.

In the 55s, world champion track racer Chip Berezny (Bike Line) narrowly took the sprint with, I got to talk to Chip for a few minutes after the race and found out that he won his rainbow jersey in the scratch race for his age group last year in Australia after a couple of near misses the previous years.

Masters 45
This race stayed all together until 12 to go when a group of 5 rolled away. The group included Dave Solobreak Foley (BOB), Mike Norton (Cyclonauts), Todd Buckley (arc en Ciel), Sam Morse (Corner Cycle), and Gary Dalton. They worked well together until about 5 to go when they stopped cooperating. Mike Norton appeared to be the first to turn off the groupthink as he pulled out of the pace line from second place and dropped to the back of the group. Meanwhile, a chase of three formed from the front of the remaining field. When Norton dropped back, that left a gap behind Todd Buckley that Dalton would have to close. However, Buckley took off and extended his lead. He finished it solo while the remaining break of four fell apart completely. Meanwhile, the Gearworks train moved to the front of the field and started grabbing back time on the 4 scattered breakaways. Buckley finished strongly but exhausted to take the win solo by several seconds. Then Foley took second alone, with Morse a couple of bike lengths behind. Norton barely avoided getting caught by the hard charging field to take 5th.

35 plus
Mike Rowell (NEBC) took off from the gun and got a 25 second lead. He stayed out for several laps alone and took a $10 prime before being caught. Johnny Bold (Corner Cycle) took off into the lead from a small breakaway group that included Scott Giles (Velo Brew), David Potter (Arc en Ciel), Ciaran Mangan (CCB), Rick Kotch (Union Velo) and William Mark. Bold and Giles time trialed away and lapped the field with 3. They mixed into the field and for the most part stayed near the front. Mike Rowell took a dig for third off the front but got caught. Bold and Giles remained mixed in the field for a couple of laps and with 1.5 laps to go bold caught Giles napping. Giles was stuck in the middle of the field a few places behind Bold. Bold used the opportunity to attack and got an immediate gap over Giles. Giles took most of the next to last lap to pick his way through the field then turned on the after burners for the final half lap. He closed the gap on Bold on the finishing stretch but could not finish it off. He lost by just ½ a bike length after spotting Johnny Bold a couple of hundred yard lead with 1.5 laps to go.

Cat 1,2,3
This race went 41 laps for 35 miles. CLNoonan, CCB, and Indy Fab were represented along with regional micro-celebrity in the making Adam Myerson from the Mountain Khakis professional team. Since Adam was alone without team mates, it can be assumed that this race was not a priority of the Mountain Khakis team and Adam was primarily interested in getting in some training at race pace.

Emerson Oronte (Independent Fabrication), Amos Brumble (CCB), Alec Donahue (Spooky), and Tautkus (Exodus) formed a break early on. Ben Wolfe, a Cat 3 junior from Mystic Velo, tried to bridge but got caught by the field that wasn’t ready to let anything else go, especially a Cat 3 junior. The break stayed away thanks to cooperation between the breakaways and also the blocking of the Spooky team who still had several riders in the field. The lead was big enough that when splits were taken, it was from the back of the field to the front of the break. And the gap kept closing. With 4 laps to go Oronte crashed out of the break on the third corner. It happened at the worst possible time – one lap sooner and he could have gotten a free lap, one lap later and he would have only had 3 to go and it can be guessed that he would have finished solo in fourth since the chase group of 7 didn’t catch him until the last half lap. But he lost precious time as he circled his bike a couple of times and collected his thoughts before remounting and trying to hang on to his 4th place.

The chase caught him on the last half lap so a crash a lap later would probably have left him in fourth. Also, the remaining three riders in the break caught the back of the field in the half lap following his crash so presumably, if he hadn’t crashed when he did, he would have been riding in the field. When the break got close to the back of the field, Donahue’s Spooky team mates conspicuously dropped to the back of the pack ready to escort their “Dear Leader” anywhere he wanted to go. And he wanted to go to the front so they set up the train and led Donahue out for the win which he took by half a bike length over Tautkus followed by Brumble.

Luke Keough took the furious downwind sprint for fourth using junior gears amongst older riders in the chase group. He had noticed that other riders were in their 11 cogs for the sprint but he was restricted to junior gears which I think max out somewhere around a 46x12. Oronte rolled in at the back of the chase group to take 11th place. The prize money went to ten places so he probably had to go to the ATM to buy first aid gear for his road rash.

I found out later that he clipped his inside pedal on the pavement as he rounded the third corner on the course. His former team mates on the CLNoonan team said the abrasions on his hip looked very deep, but the results of Sundays Hoosatonic race indicate that he did pretty well there despite his injuries.

Luke Keough was the camera man for my in-race video camera. I will post excerpts when I get a chance to edit it down to a reasonable length (but I have said that before and still there are no race videos on the blog yet).

Nutmeg Classic Criterium and Whaling City Cyclone

Nutmeg State Games, New Britain
Results - http://www.bikereg.com/Results/2009/06/13-Nutmeg-Classic-Criterium.asp

With races scheduled for almost one complete lap around the analog clock, the Nutmeg Classic Criterium has to be the longest day of bike racing in New England. This race could only happen near the summer solstice or there wouldn’t be enough day light. Add to that a two and a half hour drive to get there by 7:00AM and I had my work cut out for me. As the announcer, I have to be coherent all day on the mic, manage all the primes, help keep the event on schedule, and various other tasks that always seem to come up. This time I even got to play neutral support mechanic a couple of times. All this is to say – I didn’t have time (or the energy by the end of the day) to take careful notes for the blog. And the video camera never left its hidey hole deep within the back of the truck. But here is what I’ve got for you. Sorry for any inaccuracies and omissions. I am sure I have mis-remembered a few things. Feel free to correct me i nthe comments. I promise to do better next time (Mystic Velo Crit tommorrow).

Cat 4/5 under 30
Despite a rather leisurely pace, the race stayed together for 15 laps until Colby Nordbloom (NHCC) tried to go solo with 5 laps to go. But he got caught at 2 to go and found a comfortable spot to sit in and recover as the field meandered around the 1 mile course another time. When the bell rang for the final lap, the field was still together and didn’t get moving until the sprint. Nessim Mezrrahi (Quad Cycles) took the sprint for first by a bike length. It was his next to last race before getting married (in two weeks) and moving to DC. Quad Cycles will miss him but some club in DC will be lucky to get him on board. Greg Vigneux (Spin Arts) was second followed by David Gilchrist (Mystic Velo). Gilchrist, the first of the finishers from the State of Connecticutt, won the pale blue Nutmeg State Games Jersey.

Cat 4
Evan Kirk (Mystic Velo) took the sprint win ahead of Mason Chen (Chesire) and Andrew Tucker (Quad Cycles). Evan made it two Nutmeg State Games jerseys for Mystic velo.

Cat 4/5 30plus
The day’s schedule was set up perfectly for those that wanted to do more than one race and the scissors were in high demand between races starting with several of the Cat 4s from the previous race.

They started the 20 lap race at a gentlemanly pace and stayed together through 13 to go when back to back to back primes sprung Rob Ehrman (Vision Quest). He kept going, working the lead up to 18 seconds. Nathan Turillo (Refunds Now) tried to bridge couldn’t make it across before dropping back to the field. The field started chasing with 3 to go and Ehrmann’s lead began to drop. He started the final lap with an 8 second lead. In the last half lap the margin was just a few seconds or a couple of first downs. As Ehrmann rounded the final corner and struggled to keep his legs turning to the finish line, the field was in full gallop. Ehrmann had just enough left in him to hold off the field and win by only 2 bike lengths.

The 55 plus and 65 plus fields raced at the same time with a 1 minute gap at the start. Unfortunately, it didn’t stay that way and keeping track those off the front and the back got a bit confusing. The lead groups of three in both races stayed separate, but the fields got mixed together. This wouldn’t have been a big problem except that the lapped riders caused the race volunteers to miss ringing the bell on the last lap. But these are gentlemen and the three gentlemen in each lead group decided on the road to ride one extra lap and have a proper sprint. Clarence Ballard (Somerset) won the 55s with Turgut Baliki (CTS) and Thomas Cormier (NHCC) right behind. In the 65s it was Ed Lang (NEBC) outsprinting John Auer (Somerset) and David Burnette (Mystic Velo).

45 Plus
After several small breaks were launched but couldn’t stay away, Stephen Gray (Bethel) won this one with Aubrey Gordon (Liberty Cycle) and Paul Curley (Gearworks) right behind.

40 Plus
Patrick Ruane (Sunapee) took the win with a solo break.

35 Plus
Patrick Ruane won his second race of the day coming out of a break of ten for another victory.

30 Plus

Patrick Ruane sat this one out to save a match or two for the pro race. This was a super aggressive race with lots of little breaks noodling off the front but the field wouldn’t let anything stick. Paul Richard (CCB) took the victory.

All the 20 mile races (30plus Cat 4/5, the Cat 4, the Masters 35 and the Masters 30) finished within 43 to 44 minutes. I would have epxected the Masters fields to be noticeably faster than the Cat 4 and 4/5 fields.

Cat 3
The field had to wait on the line for a few minutes before the start. In the mean time, I got a little bored so I decided to give them a first lap prime while they were waiting. I announced it on the line and rang the bell as soon as they were told to go by the oficial. This strung the field right out. Morgan Hiller (CLNoonan) took the prime then the race settled in to a more normal cadence. But soon the primes came fast and furious and lap times dropped to 2 minutes (30 mph on the 1 mile course). The large field of 70 or so wound it up and raced super fast in this race. Morgan Hiller busted a spoke toward the middle of the race and came in for a replacement which his younger brother got for him. He got back in before the free lap rule ended and found his place toward the front of the field. In the final sprint, Sergio Atocha (GS Gotham) took the sprint ahead of Hiller (CLNoonan) and Jurgen Neblong (Base 36). Worthy of note, 58 year old former Olympian for Trinidad and Tobago, Patrick Gellineau (Team Squiggle), finished a very respectable 6th after already taking two 5 places and an eighth in the Masters races earlier in the day.

Women 30 plus and Women 40plus
These two groups raced as one pack of about 25 with separate prize lists. At the finish Rebecca Wellons outsprinted her NEBC team mate, Brook O’Connor. A couple of places back, Steph Chase (IBC) took first place in the 40plus.

Men Pro-1,2,3
A big field of more than 70 riders lined up eager for primes and prize money totaling well over $2000. Regional powerhouse teams from New England and New York were well represented with the notable absence of Robbie King and his Indy Fab squad. The racing came fast and furious with lap times occasionally going under 2 minutes (over 30 mph). After awarding 8 $100 primes, the field was strung out heading into the final laps but no move could make a lasting impression. That is until Craig Luekens (CCNS) and another rider (sorry I don’t have the name) established what looked like it could be the winning move with an 18 second gap. But with 4 laps to go CCB moved to the front and began an organized chase. Three and sometimes four CCBs dragged the field along, apparently without much help. from the rest of the field. They absolutely buried themselves to catch the break. Meanwhile, a series of crashes marred the final three laps with a few riders being taken out in each one. One of the riders later explained “people were sticking their wheels where they just didn’t belong”.

With only a couple hundred yards to the line for the finishing sprint, the CCB train caught and passed the 2 man breakaway at full gallup delivering their designated sprinter to the line with a clear shot and a full head of steam. It would be Colin Jaskiewicz’s day in the spotlight after the self less work from his CCB team mates. Those team mates included Will Dugan, Aliaksandre Bialiauski, Yahor Buben, and Dzmitri Buben. Dugan and Jaskiewicz are team mates at UVM as well as at CCB. Jaskiewicz is the current national collegiate criterium champion and Dugan is the national road race champion. Through in Jamie Driscoll, UVM’s collegiate Cyclocross champ, and you have an impressive school cycling team.

Women 3 and Women 4 raced together in one field with separate prize lists. Although there was some confusion at the finish when some of the women couldn’t see the lap cards, Frances Morrison (Mount Holyoke College) won the Cat 3 race and Pan Xieyuel (CRCA) was the first of the Cat 4s. I am sorry I don’t have more details on this race, my memory of that one is just a blur.

Women Pro-3
Rebecca Wellons (NEBC) broke away from the field to time trial away the last few laps of this one. Here is the finish line photo:

Whaling City Cyclone, June 14th, 2009
Results - http://www.bikereg.com/Results/2009/06/14-Whaling-City-Cyclone.asp

After early rains soaked the first few races of the day, race promoter Bill Humphries (aka the Bike Guy) got the weather he was hoping for. The skies dried out followed by the roads and a great day of racing was had by all except the Cat 5 field that had to race in the pouring rain. One of them even had a flashing red tail light on his bike.

The race schedule included all categories and most age groups but this report is going to be brief and limited to just the feature race of the day, Men Pro 1, 2, 3.

Many of the same riders who had competed the previous day were also present for the Whalng City Cyclone with the addition of the Independent Fabrications Team lead by last year’s winner Robbie King and Team Fuji lead by former national pro road race champion Mark McCormack. The CCB (Cycling Club of Basingstoke) was present after their win at the Nutmeg Classic the previous day.

With the prime bell going off frequently the speeds were high on this technical 6 corner course and the field was often strung out single file. Around half way through, Robbie King (Indy Fab) took a prime and kept going. This drew out Amos Brumble (CCB) and Ron Larose (CCNS). Dylan McNicholas (CCB) quickly joined giving CCB the tactical advantage in the break. With the two strongest teams in the race represented in the break, the blocking started and the lead group established a solid gap that approached half a lap of the 1 km course. At one point the gap came down a little bit and Will Dugan (CCB) jumped across to join his two team mates in the break giving CCB 3 out of 5. Robbie King kept sprinting for the primes, maybe realizing his chances in the finish were slim, and winning them. With 6, 5, 4, and 3 laps to go everyone in attendance who knows anything about tactics was wondering when CCB would begin to use their numerical advantage against Robbie and Ron. It was not until the final lap or so that the three CCB riders started attacking and making the other two chase. Larose cracked after one CCB attack but dangled in no man’s land long enough to take 5th place. The second attack went and King covered again. Heading into the final corner, CCB made their final move hoping that King was spent but he countered and blasted into the lead going up the uphill sprint. Dugan stayed right with him. Despite having been off the front for almost half the race, taking most of the primes from the breakaway, and covering strong attacks from McNicholas, Dugan and Brumble in the last lap, he held on to beat Dugan to the line by just inches. That’s two for two for Robbie at Whaling City. Robbie said after the race that he was glad Will wasn’t a little taller; he might have won with a bike throw. It was that close.