road TEAM CF's Blog

Blount Fine Foods Crit

road team cf — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 01:56:52 +0000

Sunday 8/15 Tristan Morgan and I road in the PRO-1,2,3 crit in Fall River. The course was about a mile long with 4 corners and had a pretty big hill for a crit. While warming up my legs felt a little tired but after about 5 laps I was feeling good and racing at the front. I followed a lot of strong breaks but nothing was really going. With about 15 to go one guy got a little gap on us but no one seemed to be worried a couple laps later a prime was called and the pace sped up but we didn’t catch the lone rider. A couple guys attacked on the finishing stretch, I didn’t react thinking they just thought they might still have a chance at the prime. After a lap I realized they had caught the one rider and were opening up a bigger lead, I then followed some attacks but no matter what we did we weren’t getting any closer. With 3 to go I attacked I couldn’t bridge the gap and only stayed out one lap. Going up the hill coming to the bell I felt good even after my attack so I fought my way in to the top ten. I was able to hold my position pretty well all the way to the last time up the hill. Going up the hill I tried to get onto Luke Keoughs wheel but was forced back a couple spots from him. Going around the last corner I was in about 7th, there was a head wind and it was slightly up hill so I tried to follow wheels for as long as I could. The 1st jump was with about 225 meters to go I followed more wheels till about 100 meters to go and then jumped around 2 guys to finish 5th in the field sprint and 8th over all. I was hopping to top five but was still happy with how my legs were feeling with cross coming up so fast.

Manny

THE LONGSJO

road team cf — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 21:01:26 +0000

We started the Fitchburg Longsjo with high hopes even though we were down a rider. Our fastest sprinter Morgan Hiller was over trained and taking some necessary emergency rest off the bike. With stage one being the circuit race instead of the TT for the first time in 50 years we were excited with the possibility of taking the leaders jersey with a win. Unfortunately a break of about 10 riders slipped away and finished just ahead of all of us in the field, both Manny and Tristan tried desperate moves in the waning laps to try to get across alone or with anyone else, but to no avail. Stage 2 was the Wachusette Mtn road race. When we studied the results from the day before we noticed that there were no riders who had distanced themselves ahead of everyone else in the sprint points competition so we adjusted our tactics to go for the sprints and see how that went. It started out pretty well the first time up the hill Manny and I were up at the front and Manny jumped out ahead of the field to take 2^nd place (15 points) at the top (one rider slipped away at the bottom) the next lap the points leader tried launching early but I reacted and followed his move up the hill with Manny on my wheel then Manny immediately counter attacked and pulled away to take 1^st place (25points) and I was able to hold on for 3^rd (5points). After that Manny was only 20 pts down from the overall sprint point lead. After this sprint is when the break formed and Manny was up with the riders making it happen, but that’s when a giant horsefly flew into his mouth and upon trying to escape managed to crawl up his sinuses! So now Manny is battling this bug as well as the other riders flying up the stair stepping route that slowly keeps climbing up the backside of the course. Manny said he was finally able to drown the bug by shooting his water bottle up his nose but it wasn’t until later that night that he finally sneezed it out. So Manny was unable to hold onto the break as he was struggling to breath with a live horsefly inside his head, the break stayed away most of the race and the points leader was in it to build up a large lead on Manny or anyone else in the field…. I put in a lot of work chasing that lap after Manny came back to the field and ended up popping myself the next time up the hill. I cruised the rest of the day in the grupetto, Tristan finished in the field and Manny had a very strong race finishing 6^th in the field which was good for16^th with 10 riders in the break just ahead.

Tristan was the only Team CF elite rider who had any real aero equitment, he did a pretty good time, I’m not sure exactly where he finished maybe around 40^th? Manny and I just completed the course on our regular road bikes.

The bank thermometer in down town Fitchburg was showing over 100 the day of the criterium. Tristan and Manny where battling the heat the whole race, they were unab;e to get to the front at the end and I was left to fend for myself. I had been tail gunning most of the race trying to use as little energy as possible at the back of the field. On the last lap I was up near the front and had to fight aggressively for position, elbows were banging as we flew down the fast backside of the course toward the final two left hand turns that lead into the long straight away finish. The Embrocation team took control of the front to lead out their sprinter Colin Murphy and I was sitting a few riders behind, a strong CCNS rider moved up a few spots on the left coming into the corners and I jumped out onto his wheel, we whipped around the two turns and the CCNS rider jumped to the left I was reacting to this move when another rider popped out in front of me taking the CCNS wheel and forcing me to slow up just a bit, it was pretty much a drag race to the line from there, with CCB taking the win and the rider who popped out in front of me along with CCNS rounding out the top 3 Colin Murphy was 4^th and I was 5^th. It was good to get a top 5 but not quite the results we really wanted for this prestigious stage race.

PAtrick -_-

Leading up to Fitchburg

road team cf — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 20:46:16 +0000

On Sunday June 27^th some of us were down in East Hartford for the Keith Burger crit testing out are legs before the Fitchburg Longsjo a 4 day stage race the following weekend.

Tom road smart and executed a winning move perfectly on the last lap of the junior race. He won out of a break away of 5 riders that lapped the field, Peter also made the break and finished 3^rd; certainly a great race for Team CF.

I felt good in the pro1-2 crit, my confidence was high coming of my recent win down in New London CT. Unfortunately it was a day for the break away and we were not in it. It was only Manny and I for TCFers in the race, the intense heat got to Manny a bit in the last few laps. I tried to set myself up for the sprint but got a little too boxed in through the final two corners and ended up 4^th in the field sprint, only good for a 12^th place finish…

Tuesday evening June 29^th was the 28^th annual Exeter criterium, Manny, Tristan and I lined up against by far the most talented field we’ve faced to this point in the season highlighted by the local European pro tour rider, team Cervelo’s own Ted King. As expected the race started off at a blistering pace and did not let up, I felt strong and Manny was riding very well also. The plan was for me to lead Manny out through the final turn and then see how he could fair in the sprint. Manny was stuck to my wheel like glue (as far as I knew) for the last 5 laps as I battled to hold a good position in the top 10-20. Coming into the final tight corner of the last lap I jumped up the inside and dove into the turn, I didn’t get to the front quick enough for Manny to be on my wheel but he was able to slip into about 5^th position in the field ready for the long sprint to the line, I hit it as hard as I could out of the turn and lead it out down the small hill on the run into the finish, then the sprint exploded by me as we drove for the line, unfortunately Manny didn’t have much left for the sprint but still finished 11^th which was good for 1^st cat 2 rider and 2^nd U23 rider, definitely an impressive result considering the competition, I came in just behind in 13^th as the 2^nd place cat 2 rider. It was an exciting night and always fun to race in front of the big crowd.

PAtrick -_-

Connecticut Cash Crits

road team cf — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 23:55:06 +0000

6.12.09

Things finally really started to come together for us this past weekend. Saturday was the 1^st pro12 crit in New England this year with a prize purse over $1k. It was down in New Briton on the easy winding crit course through the inner city park just south-west of Hartford. There’s always a few races held on that course each year. Being that it is a simple course the likelihood of a break staying away is low and we were preparing ourselves to set up Morgan for a field sprint finish. Manny took a $100 prime with a savvy sprint early in the race and I went for one about half way through the race but timed my sprint poorly and couldn’t come around Jerome Townsend so I sat up and got nipped at the line for 2^nd then learned from Manny on the next lap that it was a 2 place prime and 2^nd won $50… A move went up the road with about 9-10 laps to go and was dangling at an uncomfortable 15 second gap as the next few laps ticked by. So Manny moved up the inside and I got on his wheel and we hit the front at 6 to go when I pulled through on the backside I realized the field had allowed us to walk right off the front and we had about a 100 meter gap already. So we put the hammer down and Manny practically killed himself to get me across to the break. Manny was unable to stay in after his great effort but I sat behind the break for a bit and then started to put in some heavy pulls. We opened the gap up on the field a bit more but I was still skeptical that we were going to be successful. Fortunately we had the right teams in the break, with Wheelhouse, CCNS, and one of the Dutch riders that were over from Holland, the great diesel time trialist Josh Liptka (formally of bikereg.com team) was in it as well. So Manny, Morgan and other teammates of the break were severely hindering the chase behind to give us a chance on this course. I felt a lot stronger than I had yet this year and I worked really hard the 5 laps I was in the break. We made it to the last lap still holding a gap on the field, after getting over the small hill on the back side, the wheelhouse rider made a move but I held his wheel. Then just before the final turn the CCNS rider jumped and opened up a small lead on me (the 2^nd rider) the Dutch rider who we all assumed was dead because he only pulled twice in the last 5 laps came off my wheel, caught the CCNS rider in the sprint and won the race. I held off a charging Liptka for 3^rd. It was my best finish in a pro12 race ever and our biggest result as a team so far. I definitely couldn’t have done it without Manny getting me up to the break. Also I’d like to give a shout out to Daniel Greenfield for “giving us young guys a break” and ride off the front.

6.13.09

Sunday’s crit was held on one of my favorite crit courses of the year, just off the water in New London CT. It had a $1,500 prize package so attracted a lot of the strong New England teams, along with the Dutch team as well. So we were careful to make sure we had a rider in all the moves that had a dangerous mix of teams. The course was much more technical than the day before, with 6 90 degree turns, one long sweeping turn, 2 elevation changes and a solid breeze coming off the water, all in only a 1k loop(definitely my kind of course). So there was certainly a threat for a break to go. At one point I had to put in a few long, strong pulls at the front for a couple laps when there was a scary break up the road that had several teams as well as lightning quick Luke Keough of bikereg.com. Once there were about 10 laps to go I could tell that it was evident that it was going to come to a field sprint. I asked Manny how he was feeling, he said alright and asked him what I wanted him to do. With Morgan out due to some fit issues on his loaner bike, I was the designated sprinter, so I told Manny just to lead me around the final turn in front of the field and give it everything. He and Tristan had both taken a prime earlier in the race so things had already been going pretty well. I felt very strong, completely recovered from any previous efforts during the race, I began to move back up toward the front. Nick Keough of the Kenda Professional Cycling team, tried a flyer at about 5 to go which raised what had been a very fast pace all day a bit more, but I still had no problem moving up into position, and Nick came back a couple laps later. With 2 laps to go I was in excellent position but as we got the bell it began to swarm a bit at the front, I moved back to about 9^th but after a few turns I followed one rider up on the backside into about 5^th again, but I knew I needed to be further up coming around the final turn to have a shot at the win. We took the 2^nd to last turn, Alec Donahue followed by Luke Keough at the front, I had an opening on the left and I jumped up the side taking the front just as we entered the final turn. I took it well and put my head down and tore into the pedals trying to hold off the field in the long 250 meter slight up hill final stretch to the finish. About half way down I shifted one harder and used every ounce of my roaring adrenalin to keep accelerating up to the line and was just able to hold off a charging Luke Keough and take the win. I couldn’t believe it, definitely the biggest result of my life. Cornering has always been my greatest strength, the last crit I won as a junior was also the result of diving into corners faster than anyone else would dare. I now hope things can keep moving up from here, my fitness is definitely at a level that I’ve never been able to attain before.

PAtrick~

From Connecticut to Maine

road team cf — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 02:02:45 +0000

Saturday 6.7.10

We decided to go down and try out the pro12 Tour of CT in its 2^nd year. Manny, Tristan and I took our turn amongst the 100+ rider field starting the prolog TT in the morning with out high expectations; our focus was more on the Circuit race late in the afternoon. It was a 3 mile loop with 2 climbs in which we had to complete 14 laps. There were 3 KOM sprints at the top of the more difficult climb and 3 sprinters sprints at the finish which was at the top of the easier big ring climb. It turned out to be one of the hardest races I have ever done, 3 laps in I didn’t know if I was going to make it to the finish. Every single lap up the KOM climb I had to dig deep within myself to find the strength to get up over the top (except with 4 to go when the field seemed to take a break oddly enough..). So somehow I find myself in decent enough position as we crested the KOM early in the final lap. I began creeping closer to the front right through the middle and thanks to the Canadian pro Luis Garneau team leading it out there wasn’t much of a swarming effect from either side and going around the final turn with about 500 meters up to the finish I was in about 15^th place. The sprint was hesitant to start where I was and riders behind me began to jump and overtake me forcing my sprint into the wind to start a bit earlier than I would have liked but my legs held out alright and I ended up 11^th. I was definitely satisfied with the finish placement given the size and quality of the field and after how hard the race was for me, but still not quite what we were hoping for.

Saturday 6.8.10

So the next day was a 90 mile hilly road race that Peter and Tom were not really looking forward to, and frankly didn’t sound to appealing to us either. So we decided to leave Saturday night to go home and head up to Auburn Maine the next morning for the old Great Falls criterium. This is a fun technical downtown crit where I had a good result last year. It ended up pouring rain, there were only about 15 starters and the race was quickly blown to pieces, and like the day before my legs didn’t feel that great. With Thom Coupe of Bikereg.com out front I raced in the second group of 6 racing for 2^nd place. Thom had used his cornering ability to get a gap and then powered away to eventually lap us. I was one of the few riders comfortable going around the corners at that speed but could not follow every one of Thom’s attacks and he finally got free. Towards the end of the race a couple other riders snuck away and I settled for a disappointing 6^th… despite the small number of riders the promoter still paid out the full 10 places which was nice, so even Tristan pulled in some prize money finishing 8^th after getting lapped 2 or 3 times…

So we found out that there was a huge crash in CT that day on a wet metal bridge. And then the field was sent the wrong way and the entire race was nullified except for the 2 riders who had broken away before the crash. So leaving to do the Great Falls crit instead turned out to be a good idea after all.

PAtrick~

Nutmeg Classic Crit

road team cf — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 18:47:36 +0000

Last Saturday Morgan, Tristan, Patrick and I raced the Nutmeg Classic Crit in New Britain. The course was a 1 mile loop in a park, with only one real corner about 400 meters from the finish, the rest of the course just bent back and forth with one small hill on the back side and then the one corner and a flat 400 meters to the finish that bent a little to the left and then the right. The race was 40 miles with 84 starters. There were a few teams there, Wheelhouse Racing had around 8 guys, CCNS had about 6 and there were 6 Dutch guys too. Those were the teams we were watching expecting them to send some guys off the front. We weren’t too worried about a break staying out because in the few years we have been here we have never seen a break stick in any of the categories, probably due to the fact that there is only one tight corner so the field doesn’t have to slow down and they always have $100 primes so people knowing this don’t let anything go off or stay off the front. After about 7 laps a small break got up the road a little bit, again, since it was so early in the race we weren’t worried. After about 10 laps the break was still just hanging off the front and the announcer announced a $100 prime. Hoping the break would get caught, I moved into the top 10, but the break just made it to the line before us. After the prime I dropped back a few places but kept myself in the top 20. After about 20 laps they called another $100 prime and there wasn’t a break so I started to move up, just after the hill 2 big teammates past me so I jumped on their wheel, they brought me right up to about 7th, I was right on them going around the last corner when the guy in front of me hit his pedal. Luckily he didn’t fall but I had to hit my brakes and a group of about 15 got a gap but I was able to close the gap with about 200 meters to the line. As I came up to them I jumped by on the inside and was able to gap them and take the $100. I sat in after that. Then at about 7 to go there was a break kinda far out with all the right Teams in it so I got to the front to try to pull it back. After I pulled for about 20 seconds I looked back and to my surprise Patrick was on my wheel and no one else so we worked together for a little. I took one last hard pull to close the gap to the break, unfortunately after that pull I couldn’t stay with the break but now we had a teammate in it. When the field caught me I got near the front and messed up the chases. Morgan was also up there and some guys from the other teams that were in the break so other teams could never get an organized chase going. With 2 laps to go the break was still out but I couldn’t stay at the front so with 1 to go I pulled off and watched and hoped Patrick could take the win from the break. The break stayed out by 5 seconds and Patrick was able to take 3rd. We were very happy and made $220 it was a great start to a weekend of racing.

Manny

Memorial Day Weekend In New Jersey

road team cf — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 14:18:12 +0000

Racing started for me friday night (5/28) at Manville Madness in new jersey where I raced the cat 3/4 race. The course was a rectangle crit through A neighborhood and around a school. The course was about a half mile long and we only did 25 laps so the race was really short and started out fast. Right away I was not feeling good and was just trying to hang on. That race was just short fast and boring, I hung in till the last lap then just went across the line behind everyone.

Saturday (5/29) I did some track racing down at t-town in Pennsylvania. I did three races the first one was scratch race which was A 20 lap first person to cross the line on the last lap won. I wasn’t feeling any better than the day before so it was really hard and I just hung on till the end. The second race was a 20 lap points race, sprint points on lap 15, 10, 5, and the last lap. This one got dropped half way trough but kept going fast enough to not get lapped. The third race was A 9 lap tempo which is 2 points for the first rider across the line every lap and 1 point for the second rider. That one was real hard and I got dropped real quick then lapped. That was all the racing for that day.

Sunday (5/30) was the bound brook 6 corner crit in new jersey. I raced the junior category and there were about 25 riders. The race started out with a lot of attacks an after a little bit I was in a break of 4. After a few laps I got dropped from it cause I still wasn’t feeling good. When the main group caught me I could only stay with it for a couple of laps then after getting dropped from that I pulled out of the race.

Monday (5/30) was the Tour of Somerville crit. My legs in warm up felt better than the other three days so I was getting excited for the race. I got to the start line a little late and there were already 40 juniors lined up so I tried to get as close to the front as possible because I knew there were going to be attacks right away. As soon as the whistle blew there was an attack, the whole field followed it, then there was another and another and they just kept going for the whole race and I just kept following them till with about four laps to go I slipped to the back of the field. When I got back up to the front I found out there was a break away way up the road and another just a little bit ahead. For the last few laps we tried to pull the breaks back but we weren’t getting any closer. On the back stretch of the last lap me and my team-mate Peter got to the front. Coming into turn three Peter was leading it out and I was on his wheel, after turn three he started going faster making sure no one got by us, we went around turn four and on to the finishing stretch. Peter was all tired out from leading out the back stretch and through the corners so I started my sprint really early. About half way through the finish stretch I caught the first break away got by half of them and finished tenth over all but first for the 15-16 year old group.

~Tom~

some week night fun

road team cf — Tue, 18 May 2010 01:58:04 +0000

Manny, Tom, Peter and I went down to the Wompatuck training crit on Tuesday and up to our sponsor the Northeast Velodrome and cycling park on Wednesday, May 4^th and 5^th. I was very impressed with how Peter road at Wompatuck staying in the cat1-2-3-4 field for the entire race of over an hour. I was in a break with one other rider Lucas Fortini for several laps but we couldn’t hold off the charging field for the entirety of the race. Shortly after I came back to the field I flatted my rear tire and was reduced to coaching from the sidelines… I got to see Manny ride to an impressive 2^nd place out of a late break of 5 or 6 riders.

Wednesday night was fun at the track, unfortunately there were not very many other riders being it the first race night of the season there. We easily controlled the first couple races, Manny winning the Scratch then Tom winning the Snowball. After that we decided to race individually to make it more interesting and challenging. I fairly easily won the remaining 3 events, another Scratch, Miss an Out, and my favorite the Points race. We are definitely looking forward to racing a lot of track this year, hopefully the competition will grow as the year goes on.

PAtrick~

Whole team finally together

road team cf — Tue, 18 May 2010 01:54:21 +0000

Upon coming back to New England from my winter in Phoenix as the road team captain I put together a clinic and team camp to be held on Saturday May 1^st. The team met down at Ninigret Park in Charlestown RI where we used the public criterium course there to hold our event. Several other junior and other lower category riders that we invited showed up for the clinic which we held from 12-3. We covered a lot of things and it went very well. All the riders who attended seemed to enjoy it and to get a lot out of it.

Next we did an elite team camp, where we discussed team goals and tactics. Then we did several sprints with full lead outs, determining different rider’s speeds and strengths.

Confidence was definitely high Sunday May 2nd at the Wells Ave. training crit the day after our team camp. It was the first time the entire team was together for a race. We even had Tristan Baldwin a talented young cat 3 riding with us as well. Manny and Tristan covered many attacks through out the race, I went in one move and put a fair amount of work at the front and trying to get it organized. Eventually the rest of the team bridged up to it with other riders and it just got to big and the field swallowed us back up. There was a dangerous break dangling off the front of the field in the last few laps but Manny put in a great effort to bring it back and than Tristan and I got to the front to lead out Morgan for the sprint on the penultimate lap. Tristan hit it hard first bringing us up over the hill on the back side and then I lead the way down the hill into the final straight away sprinting around the turn. Morgan was then able to jump the field and take the win easily for the team with a powerful sprint.

It’s definitely great to be back home and racing here in New England with the team. Winning our first race together (albeit a “training” race) is definitely a good sign for things to come.

PAtrick~

Sterling road race (hypothermia run wild)

road team cf — Wed, 12 May 2010 04:39:15 +0000

Peter raced with the cat 5 under 35 group since there was no junior division. This is our old team race Minuteman road club. It was a good turnout as usual and Peter also had a team-mate from the team cf club team Dr. Tom Goodman. Well after lap 2 Tom froze up literally and got hypothermia like many other racers, he managed to tough it out for 17th place out of 50 starters. Peter said the first lap was kinda slow. Then on lap 2 they sped up some and Peter stayed near the front. Coming up the hill to get the bell on the beginning of the 3rd and final 8mile lap, some guy jumped out front so Peter went with him. When Peter caught him he jumped again and again Peter caught him, by this time 2 other riders also caught up. The guy jumped again and Peter said he was going his hardest just to stay with him. After that 3rd jump the 4 of them di a pace line and took turns until the final corner to the uphill finish. When the instigating guy jumped and gapped them for the win then Peter stayed in third halfway up the hill until he started his sprint and managed to get around one of the 2 guys and hold on for third. When the guy who won asked Peter how old he was and Peter said 13 he said can I have your autograph. Both Peter and Toms pack finished 2 minutes ahead of the main field in their races.

Ron