Matt's Wee-Veloman Blog

Goal for this week be like "Jens Voigt" while on the CX Pain Train

2011-10-03T15:54:00.002-05:00

OK I'm copying and pasting Jens Voigt's Basic Info from Face Book cause its hilarious and he is my Hero:

"I no longer have a shadow because I dropped it repeatedly until it climbed into the Saxo Bank team car claiming a stomach ailment and retired.

My big ring is 56. My rear cassettte is 11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-12.

I once challenged Lance Armstrong to see who had more testicles. I ended up winning by 5.

I don't get road rash, the road gets Jens Rash.

When I ride off the front of a peloton, i'm not actually riding faster, just pulling the earth closer towards me."

This week I will think like Jens as I'm riding the "Pain Train" Cross Style

Off Season and Cross Season

2011-09-12T11:35:00.001-05:00

Enjoying my MTB and Cross-Bike. Spent yesterday at Marsh Creek with Dave Grant on the MTB, lots of fun and only a smashed finger. Really enjoy Mtn biking, would like to get to the point where I don't crash on every ride

Had to post the poster!

2009-08-16T15:24:00.005-05:00

Doing a quick hijack of Matt's blog to share that I'm not the only one that think Matt avatars well. Even with the posterizing of the photograph, it's very obviously Matt leading out the pack at last year's Tour de Millersburg.

Oh, and btw, Matt's team mate won the GC this year! Some great results for team mates and friends! Great job guys!

Yet an Other Freakishly Accurate Avatar for Matt

2008-12-14T20:09:00.001-05:00

Matt's Xbox Live avatar.

All ya get is pictures

2008-07-05T18:06:00.003-05:00

I took a couple of photos of the Iron Hill Twilight Criterium (just the 3/4 amatuer race as that's all I stayed for).

Matt had a good finish and all the guys looked great out there. Hard work from everyone. A good showing for their title sponsor's race. Great race guys!

Ya, uh, hi...

2008-06-01T17:39:00.003-05:00

Yes, Matt really does suck at blogging. Lucky for you, I went to the Habitat for Humanity race with him. It was a beautiful day, with some fab results.

I'm not good at the whole "discussing the race in minute detail", as I don't race (and that seems to be as much a part of racing as shaving your legs). However, we did get to see Marty win the Cat 3, and Joe finished 3rd in the 40+ (which is the race that Matt did).

FYI: I think if it weren't for the beard, Matt would look like a junior in the 40+ (but then most juniors are bigger than him)... but Matt did just point out that he is kind of the junior of the 40+.

How to get your ass kicked in one training race

2008-03-09T17:44:00.002-05:00

Nothing like starting the season on the right note. Today Matt and Tim went up Trexlertown, PA for a training crit. Basically, all catagories are thrown together (cat 5's thru pros), they ride around in circles and the pros crush the field.

Between the wind, the cold and the fact that those pros already have been racing this season, I think the boys did well. A good kick in the ass to motivate them for the upcoming season.

Matt's not sure what happened, but suddenly, there was a pack that lapped the field. Ya, the pace was hard. The wind was hard (especially for little Matt who was tossed around like a piece of paper in the wind). However, the boys stood strong and managed to hang on to them for the second split. So if it weren't for that lapped lap, they would've been right with them!

Last night was the the team's fundraiser at the Iron Hill Brewery. Good times! The team has grown quite a bit and it should be a good season for them!

First official race will be this weekend in Strasburg. Matt's not sure if he's going to do both the 40+ (his first) and the 3/4. Depends on Marty's schedule on the 40+. It also will effect if I go or not (the 40+ starts early... 8:30 and the 3/4 starts after 11:00). Oh, and weather. I'm not going if it's cold. No reason for me to suffer. I leave that to Matt.

Matt's Off Season Training

2007-12-04T12:30:00.001-05:00

It might not be my powder room re-do (I'm told that's next on the list), but this is pretty sweet. Lot's of storage for my books and projects.

Thanks sweetie (and Keith)!

30 Races Later...

2007-09-18T17:46:00.000-05:00

...and the season comes to a close.

Matt did the Yuasa Right From the Start Crit on Sunday with not great results. He and Tim did the 1/2/3 race. Tim was taken down in the first lap on the final turn (which was very tricky... lots and lots of crashes). Tim was able to get up make it to the pit and get back on, but it's not a fun way to start a race. Matt had to close three gaps within 5 laps and he knew that he was done. You can only close gaps so often. He just didn't have it that day and abandoned. Tim did as well a few laps later.

Jason and Rick both crashed in their races. I think everyone is ready for the season to be over.

The team had a great year this year. Some great results, which I'll let Matt summerize. A few bad crashes, which is always hard to deal with. Let's hope that we see Bryan on his bike soon!

So Matt ended up doing a few more races this year than last year. I count 30 on the USA Cycling website, but I know that the site isn't always up to date.

However, I think he's glad the season is done. It's been a long season for him (his first race was back in March) and he raced a lot. He trained a lot. We spend a lot of time preparing for races.

Who knew that when he pulled that bike out to drop a few pounds that it would be 75 lbs and it would become such a part of our lives.

So congrats to everyone for a great season! Enjoy the winter... 5 months before the next race! Is that enough time to redo my downstairs powderroom?

Tour de Christiana '07

2007-08-13T16:13:00.000-05:00

Well Cindy has been posting most of racing info, but I've decided to get off my butt and give a race recap.

What a great racing Weekend. The team had great Results at Christiana with Kyle pulling off another GC 2nd in Cat 4 to go with his recent GC 2nd at Tour de Toona and Tim Getting GC 10th in Cat 3. Keith pulled a great finish at the Tour Of Medford Soloing the last 9 laps to take 1st place.. Best story of the Christiana weekend's was Kyle's Crit finish..

We get to the start finish line at the top of the hill in time to see the 2nd to the last lap of the Cat 4 Crit finish. We see Marty come over the top of the hill leading the pack and who's at the back of the pack, but Kyle... I thought to myself something must have happen to him and of course Kyle explained it all as he yelled out F#*K as he passed us. So I think what a shame the guy finished 1st in the Road race, but looks like he's going to have a crappy Crit. Then as the field charges up the hill on the final lap who's up on the front of the race but Kyle who takes 2nd place and Marty still there with an excellent 5th... what great job of moving thru the pack.. We catch back up with Kyle in the parking area and he explains how he was off the front in a break only to get tangled up in the corner going down in the orange netting... He scraped he's way back to the pack and then pulled the rabbit out of the hat on the last lap.. Nice Job...

I didn't start the weekend with an optimistic outlook , but had a good time and really enjoyed the Crit on Sunday very fast and technical .. Becoming my favorite type of race.

And then there were nine

2007-08-06T13:43:00.000-05:00

Matt did the Deodate race on Saturday.

It was warm.

Okay, in fact it was hot.

Very hot.

There was no shade on the course.

The refs were even pacing the riders.

Only 9 riders finished the course for the Cat 3 race.

Keith was offering cold beer at the feed zone.

A break got away and Jim chased, but wasn't able to catch them. He finished 3rd.

Matt finished 6.

Matt wants everyone to know that it was hot.

Updated Correction: Matt wants me to reiterate that it was #^@#%%$ hot.

Next season's team bike

2007-08-01T14:23:00.000-05:00

Here's Kyle testing the new team bikes for next season:

Just remember boys, we don't care about the size of the bike... just how you ride.

Okay, now we know why he's not winning...

2007-07-24T20:26:00.000-05:00

Maybe a little less posing for the fans... or is he ordering a beer?

Hmmmm... maybe it's something the whole team needs to work on?
Millport 3/4 Race
... okay, the race is over (and I think Keith is still griping that Matt's not blocking enough wind in the cool down lap)
Photo courtesy of Phil Fox. check out the rest of the photos here.

Gotta lay the groundwork

2007-07-14T07:30:00.001-05:00

Matt's cleaning his bike, getting ready for the Millport race today. So I thought I would do a quick post about what I've learned over the last few years attending amateur bike races.

First, winning is hard. So hard that you need to be sure that you've already laid the ground work for when you don't win.

Some good pre race excuses:

Man, it's hot and muggy today. (any weather related issues are handy here... rain, cold, heat, etc).

I think I over trained on Thursday at the Great Valley Crit trying to grab Kincaid's wheel.

I raced this morning, and I'm not sure my legs are strong enough for a second race today.

I'm not well hydrated.

I think I'm getting a cold (this will also work as a training excuse: I've had a cold this week, so I didn't get to train much).

man, my allergies are bad today!

My hamstrings are tight.

Okay, now here's mid race strategy:

be sure to do one really hard effort at the front or bring a team mate back. This shows that you have good form and are a "team player"

when you drop out, immediately check your bike... either the chain or the back break (this will give the impression that you had a mechanical issue... and look how long you stayed on while the back brake was rubbing!)

However, it's all about the post race talk. Every rider loves to stand around and talk about what they should've done in the race. Where they should've attacked, how they grabbed the wrong wheel: "he looked strong, but he gapped at the first hill!". The hydration issue comes in handy here too... "I lost one of my bottles on the first turn!". Oh, and always make sure that you think the guy that won is in the wrong cat..."man, he's sandbagging, he's a former mountain bike champion and should be a Cat 2!"

In full disclosure, I've heard every single one of these comments.

Keep an eye out for my "favorite races to attend"... meaning the races that have flush toilets available!

Iron Hill Twilight Crit

2007-07-08T06:40:00.000-05:00

I accidently took a video of the men's pro race at the crit (who knew my camera could do that?). These guys are fast!

PHOTO UPDATE: I took a bunch of photos at the race. I put them up on Flickr just to make it easier.

Iron Hill Twilight Crit
Click on photo for more pictures

I have to say it was a great day for racing. The day started with the men's 3/4 race and it started off fast. Guys were getting dropped on the first lap. With a starting field of 80, only 20 made it to the finish (you got pulled off the course pretty quickly, as it was going so fast). Iron Hill had a great day with 5 riders in that finishing pack. The guys rode hard (and you can thank Jim for that hard start). About half way thru, a solo break got away and it stuck. He had a great gap averaging about 20 seconds and he just kept a strong tempo the rest of the race.

Matt finished in the pack, one place shy of a payout (but better than last year) and he looked great in the race. Marty finished the highest and congrats to Keith for his finish (Keith crashed on the first turn last year). Kyle and Jason also made it to the finish with great finishes! Great job guys!!

We caught the end of the women's pro race and I understand there was a pretty bad crash in that one. By the time we caught the race the field was down to about 15 riders (and I think they started with about 50... haven't verified that tho'). A lot of attacks on that one and it was a very exciting final couple of laps.

The men's pro race also got off to a very quick start and watching them race as the sun slowly set was fabulous. Those guys even warm up fast! Again, the pace started high and the pack got thinner and thinner as the sun was setting. A two man break got away and it stuck with a final move on the final straight... a perfect strategy. A stunning, exciting race. I actually tried to get photos of the men's race, but due to the speeds, the photos all came out blurry (which is how I accidently got the video).

Everyone was beat by the end of the day, and my throat is a little gruff from all the cheering, but it was a fabulous time. Great job by the Iron Hill Brewery for hosting one of my favorite races (to watch.... glad I wasn't racing!)

Here's a link to the Philly Inquirer with a video of the Iron Hill guys leading off the cat 3/4 race.

Ya, Matt sorta sucks at blogging, eh?

2007-06-17T13:14:00.000-05:00

Since I went with Matt to the Cargas Crit today, not only is there an update, but also some pictures!

Matt jumping off the front
click to enlarge
It was a good day for the Iron Hill team, with lots of attacks off the front. Tim and Kyle had a nice gap going for a while, as did Matt and an other rider. Keith attacked and helped string out the pack. They kept the pace very high.

I'll let Matt post the actual finished for the race, but I know that Tim finished 5th, Kyle got a preem and Rick had a top 10 finish. I'm not sure how everyone else did.

It was a stunningly beautiful day (in the morning before the heat kicked up) and the industrial park was absolutely gorgeous. Chrissy (Tim's fiance') and I decided that we really like this one (yay for flush toilets!!!)

A great showing for the Iron Hill Race team! Great Race Guys!!!! Here's some more pictures from the race (click to enlarge):

Turkey Hill (Can you count to 12)?

2007-05-11T19:17:00.000-05:00

So I've been feeling good. My fitness is up and I'm able to keep up with most of the "A" list riders in the area. Some of you may have noticed I didn't post about the Tour de Epharata. Well that's because the race didn't go well for the us. In fact on Saturday after the Road Race which ended with massive carnage in the print finish I spent the afternoon in the ER with Jim who got 20 stitches in his eyebrow. We then found out that in the Cat 4 RR Chris Candy broke his collar bone.. So as I said not good.. Personally my finishes were crappy with my best place 17th in the Crit ...

So during the week when I thought about 125 hungry 3/4 guys fighting for the finish at Turkey Hill I decided that it would be best for me to go ahead and do the Pro 123. Another reason to do the Pro 123 was that Tim couldn't get into the 3/4 so I didn't want him have to ride alone. So Tim and I joined Geoff(He's a Cat 1) for some fun in the sun. The race was 125K which was 12 laps on the course, oh and did I mention the last 5 laps they add a hill that's kinda like a small version of Manyunks Wall. I learned a couple of things

Don't ride on the right side of the road when the pack starts saying pee-pee wee-wee. Cause that's when everyone who has to take a nature break goes to the right of the pack and goes of the bike... I had to go 50miles into the race, but wasn't brave enough to attempt it
Grabbing a water bottle from someone at 20+mph is harder then it looks. Oh and open the top on the bottle it makes them softer and easier to grab.
Best advice was from Geoff.. When the pace picks up just go as hard as you can it will eventually slow down.. Of course every lap up the hills on the back side the pace would accelerate. If you fall off the pace you aren't getting back on

It was a great experience and Tim and I both finished were has 40+ riders did not. For my first big road race I was satisfied as most of the top finishers were on Pro Teams(Rite Aid). I was dead the next day and my legs were toast, but a couple of days later I felt good and I know it will payoff later. Hopefully in the Mt Penn Race..

Sunday Beautiful Weather and a fun Crit.

2007-04-24T19:46:00.000-05:00

Ok so when I signed up for the Lower Providence Crit 3/4 race I wasn't to excited. Anyone who knows me is aware that a)I'm not a good sprinter and b)If its a flat crit I have not chance. So my goal was to get some fitness training. When I found out there were over 100 guys in the field I thought this wasn't a good idea.. That would certainly mean a dicey race with crashes. So when Tim and Bryan said lets move to the Cat 1,2,3 Pro race I said hey why not.. At least I know the race will be safe...Wasn't sure how long I would last but what the heck it would be good practice. We were also joined by Joe Hamilton from our team who is a Cat 2 and a very seasoned strong Crit racer.

The best advice got is basically don't use your brakes(at all) and keep your focus. I think the field had 100+ racers and there were several pro racers including Stephan and 5 of his team mates from the Rite Aid Pro team.

Interesting points in the race.

The Pro team use radios and it was cool to here them talk tactics.
35+ mph doesn't feel bad until you find yourself on the front in the wind... Then it gets a little hard
If you stay up front as I did its not too bad... The guys watching the race told me that people were getting shelled off the back, but I never let myself get that far back in the pack.
Everything is fairly friendly and people will let you in the line.. Until the last 4 laps.. Then its team against team and if you don't have team mates its going to be tough to stay up front.

So Tim, Bryan and I all finished the race in the pack and considering it was our first big boy crit we were very satisfied with our performance. Joe got 15th in the race and I tell you it was very impressive to watch him work up through the pack. I hope to get as good as him some day. At one point I felt good enough to jump off the front into a break... But I wasn't confident enough to believe that when it was caught I would be to gassed to hang on... so I wimped out.. Maybe Next time.

I finished the day doing the 30+ race which was 20 Miles .. Again a pack finish for me.. but I did feel good even though I had already done 30 miles 2 hours before.. I know this was excellent training for both Body and Mind.. The races and how I felt have really helped boost my confidence.

Secret Training Weapon: Winning Tips

2007-04-19T20:13:00.000-05:00

I've been pushing my training up a notch getting read for the Ephrata Stage Race next Weekend...

I think I have a new rig that's going to help me win those tough sprints..

Kirkwood:Cool Pic

2007-04-11T13:12:00.000-05:00

Phil Fox just sent me some more pics of the kirkwood race.. I like this one... He's in the lead group...

The cold and wind are sucking the fun out of training

2007-04-10T07:41:00.000-05:00

Its been a difficult 2 weeks to be motivated to train. As we all know mother nature has decided to crap all over us with nasty cold weather and gail force winds.. I know it will make you stronger in the end... Well this guy needs some heat. Just as I think I'm starting to ratchet up my fitness I spend a few days in the cold riding for hours and the next thing you know I feel dragged down and pissy. Okay enough whining.

No race last weekend so we did some good team training on the Willowdale training ride on Saturday. Last week was to be a big training week for me so I rode about 15 hours and did hills on my own on Monday and Friday and of course pushed myself on the group training rides on Tuesday and Thursday. This weekend is the Mt Joy race and I hoping to try a couple of offensive moves for the team during the middle laps of the race. The course is very rolling and there is a steep hill(Mt. Joy) right smack in the middle of the circuit. The part that will most likely break the field up is the long descent with the 90 degree turn at the bottom of the hill... Last year there were a few crashes on the 90 degree turn... Needless to say best place to be is up front.

Tonight is the Tuesday night ride and hoping that Trey shows up. He's a local Cat 1 who's extremely strong and always fun to try to match. He can basically crush me in most cases(sprinting, climbing whatever). I spent the last 4 years chasing him on the local group rides and it has done wonders for my fitness. He stopped racing late last year, but I'm hopeful that he will still come out and smack us down and push us.

Kirkwood:The best Offense isn't always a good Defense

2007-04-01T13:39:00.000-05:00

Kirkwood was the first race I did in my lengthy 2 year racing career. Thanks to Jay my buddy who told me I should give racing a try, lets just say I really enjoyed it. The first time I did the race I got 7th in the Cat 5 and Jim won the race and got a really nice bike trophy. I've since done about 40 races and I've yet to get a trophy(its one of my goals) . I placed 3rd last year at Mt Nebo and was so excited cause I thought I was going to get a bike trophy only to find out no trophies(Disappointed!) :(.

This years Kirkwood was great weather and I really enjoyed the 42 miles.. I do have to say there's no way I would have wanted to do the 82 miles the Cat 1/2 pro field was doing (Eeek). To summarize as a team we are way to defensive. We spent the whole race covering the breaks and really made no attempt to send out an offensive move. Its something we will need to work on to be more successful. I think offensive moves come with confidence in your fitness. I'm starting to get more confident in my fitness and my goal for Mt Joy will be to force an offensive move.

Here's are some cool pic from Steve D. of our club affiliate WCCC. Congrats to Mike, Marty and Kyle with our best finished for the race(Full Results)

Mike C. in the Cat 5

Cat 3/4 race Pics

Jason Pedeling his bike...

Scott and I folling Kevin F. on the yellow brick road

Kevin enojoying the lovely views

Kyle feeling his Oats ready to sprint

Scott and bustin out and sprinting past the Moter pace official. You go

Strasburg Race: Much better than last Year

2007-03-28T11:54:00.000-05:00

Saturday was the Strasburg Race and our first race as the new Chester County Velo - IronHill Team . We had a full compliment of racers SANS arguably our best racer Jim Walls. Right now Jim and Bryan are ahead on fitness and when they turn up the pace I have a real hard time hanging in. So when Jim told me on Friday that he was totally out of it sick I felt bad for him as I thought he had a real good chance for a win. It also meant the strategy to work for Jim went out the door and we had no clear replacement to work for in the 3/4 race. So the plan was hang in and see who felt good in the last 500M and try to line up a sprint for that guy. Turns out Tim, Kyle, Kieth and I ended up in the final pack at the end of the race and Keith in a totally selfless move jumped from the back of the pack and sprinted out. His effort broke apart the pack and allowed Me, Tim and Kyle to sprint to the line in 5th , 7th and 8th... So not bad team results. In the Cat 4 Race Bryan ended up 4th which was another good finish for Bryan and with it he will probably upgrade to Cat 3. Full results

So for an early race it was a good time and actually not as hard as last year. The wind was not bad and it wasn't raining and/or 30 degrees :)..

Its kind of boring to continue positing about training, but if you want to know what I do basically its 6 days a week 10-15 hours a week I ride the bike. In the middle of summer I might even get to 15-20hrs on the bike with 2 races on the weekend. As Cindy will attest to its a big time commitment and when I'm not riding I'm recovering, working or whining about how bad I feel(Sorry Honey). So I would like to thank Cindy for her considerable Patience and Understanding.. I'm sorry I was such a mess on Sunday and not able to go to the Floyd fairness fundrasier.

ADDED (by Cindy): Photos!
Matt took some photos at Strasburg (I didn't attend the race). Obviously, no 3/4 race photos (I'm guessing it's hard to race and get photos). Just click on the photos for a larger image.

Man I need more training.. Tuesday Night Oh Fun

2007-03-15T10:57:00.000-05:00

So this week is the beginning of Daylight Savings Time and with it brings the first Tuesday night ride of the year. Tuesday night is my favorite training ride, its a 25 mile loop that starts out with a tempo pace and then kicks into high great with 20+ speeds over the hills and 25+ on the flats. It took me about 3 years and 30lbs to be able to hang with the ride :). It was good to see many of the guys from our team and our friends from Team Alliance(Jeff and Evan), and Geoff from High Gear.

Its a fast ride with a couple of hard sprint hills that the group pounds with no mercy for the weak(which currently would be me). The pain starts at the bottom of the 842 Climb and ends 35 minutes later.
Tues Stats for the ride:

Avg Heart rate 141
Max Heart Rate 193
Alltitude Gain: 2400ft
~ 40 miles
2 Hours
1 pair of tired legs :)

I got dropped on the end of the last climb when the tough guys jump to break the pack, luckily had Tim and Keith to finish the ride up with. We could see the front group, but just couldn't quite catch them.

After Tuesday's fun, I thought I needed to punish myself with some hill repeats up Gypsy Rd near work in Upper Merion. Its a tough hill and I use it to help gauge my fitness or in my current form: lack of fitness. It felt good to hit the hill hard. I know this work will all pay off in a couple of weeks. Try to have some fitness for Kirkwood and Ephrata
Wed Stats for ride:

Avg Heart rate 163
Max Heart Rate 188
Altitude Gain: 1500ft
~ 15 miles
45 minutes

Well, I may get to ride today. Looks like rain, but we'll see.

1 week before Strasburg - Cram week

2007-03-11T18:08:00.000-05:00

In my effort to jump start my fitness for the up coming race season(Strasburg is next weekend) I spent some hours on the bike this weekend. Friday I went hard on my own hill workout and felt good, but I may have over done it... Evidenced by the 5 hours of pain I spent on the bike on Saturday: not so fun. Of course the tempo part of the Wilowdale ride wasn't too bad but I could tell that this damn head cold/sinus thing is still lingering. It might even be a touch of fatigue. Anyway I kept going and when the ride got fast at the end, I was there up the first hill but just could not keep up the pace on the flats. Once again I fell off the pace and finished behind the lead group. Then Jim asked me to do a another loop after the ride and I stupidly went with him. Another 1.5 hours later, I ended up with 90+ miles and a splitting headache and some serious bonking... Oh well, falls under the pain has to be good for ya..

Sunday was a good recovery ride, but my muscles were sore and my calves were aching. Think tomorrow is time for a day off and then go slow this week. Everyone wants to start Tues and Thursdays this week, so we'll see.

Move Over Hugh Jackman

2007-03-08T21:26:00.000-05:00

Ah the new racing kits arrived today. I dug thru the boxes to find Matt's (seems no one else wears a small on the team). We decided to do a quick fit check when he got home.

The new kits look great! and I'm sure that the new skin suit will take minutes off his time trial time!

Now we're just waiting for the new wheels to arrive, and he's all ready for race season! (well, those legs are looking a big hairy....)

Winter Pain, Getting Dropped .. Time for New Wheels

2007-03-05T12:51:00.000-05:00

I had to take off most of Dec and Jan due to my calve problems and that wasn't fun for anyone, ask Cindy :)... I'm back at my training trying to whip myself into shape for the first race of the season Strasburg. I've been feeling like crap and can't seem to kick this damn head/body cold, but being a gluten for punishment I went out on Saturday for our 60mile march of the penguins(It did warm up but it was still below 32 when we started)...

All the usual suspects were on the Willowdale ride including one of our local pros on the Rite-Aide team Stephan. Luckily I flatted a couple of miles before the ride kicks into high gear so Scott fixed my flat and we re-joined the ride after the first hard climb.. Stephan, Jim and Jeff had about 45 secs on the group and they were setting a blistering pace.. We jumped on the lead group and Stephan proceeded to kick our asses.. I managed to stay on for a while, but my fitness wasn't good enough to keep up and I had to drop off within 1 mile of the final sprint...

That leads up to my decision that I better get new lighter wheels so I can hang on...I know its mostly mental.. But if it makes me think I'm faster then It's worth it.. So I order the American Classic 350's with Sapim spokes and Ti skewers... Should be right at 1300grams! I'll do whatever I can to try keep up :)

Matt's Easy Cat 3 Upgrade Program

2007-02-27T13:45:00.000-05:00

So let's say you're a Cat 4 local racer. Maybe on the small side (like say 5'5", 133 lbs) and you want to upgrade to a Cat 3. Well, let's face it, those crits are hard to win when the guy winning it rides a bike that's bigger than you are!

So why not try Matt's Super Easy Volume Cat 3 Upgrade Racing Plan

That's right, in 27 easy steps you too can upgrade from a Cat 4 racer to a Cat 3 racer, just by racing in 27 races in one season.

This takes considerable dedication. Sometimes you might have to race twice in one day. Make sure your wife understands that there will be no vacations during racing (or training) season (oh and let's not mention the physcial toll this might make on the libido... I'm sure she'll understand). You also might hope that she can't do the math on how much money you spent on race fees (or the traveling fees... let's not even discuss "equipment fees"...you really "need" a time trial bike for this plan to work, right?).

Sadly this plan will not work for upgrading from a Cat 3 to a Cat 2 racer. You might actually need to win races for that.

Some Housecleaning

2007-02-21T19:46:00.000-05:00

The race season is right around the corner, and Matt is busy training and helping to get everything ready for the team.

Some changes have taken place this year. Some old sponsors and some new ones. The team is "official" with it's own board and set roster. Including a Chester County Velo website (coming soon).

Matt and I will be keeping this blog to keep his own record of how he's doing etc (and I'll continue to post photos of the races that I attend).

So Iron Hill Brewery continues to be a sponsor and they'll be joined by Bean's Bikes, Brandywine Coachworks, Cannondale, Chester County Orthopaedic Associates, Ltd., Comcast, Liberty Properties, Radius Technologies, Rudy Project, SAP, Strohl Systems, West Chester Anesthesia Associates and the West Chester Cycling Club.

Team Roster:

Chris Candy
Kyle Centrella
Mike Ciunci
Scott Gamble
Aaron Hendriks
Stephen Howard
Timothy Karabin
Thomas Keenan
Kevin Kopanski
Charles Kruelle
Richard Maclaughlin
Marty Mrugal
Matthew Perry
Bob Ruther
Jason Schiltz
Richard Steele
Kirby Tirk
Bryan Verdeur
James Walls
Joe Hamilton
Phil Fox
Adam Snoke

The bikes arrived at Beans from Cannondale
and Matt's taken it out a couple of times (now that the snow is melting and the temps are in the 30's). He really like the aluminum frame for racing. Some of the other things have also come in (like the helmets) but the new kits won't be here until March. Just in time for his first race (let's hope!) on March 17th! Hmmm... I hope he ordered warmers, too!

So best of luck to the team for this upcoming season... I'll add more content (and do a little site clean up in the next couple of days) as well as the upcoming season race schedule!

Tour de Christiana(Did I run over Something?)

2006-08-14T09:45:00.000-05:00

Matt's Post:
Well I've had a pretty good season and as a Team we have had great contributions from all our racers. This weekend was the Tour de Christiana which serves as a the end of the Season for local Road Races and a big event that we all hope to do well in. I've been having great luck and been riding in good form with a 3rd at Mt Nebo and a 4th at the Deodate race. I had personal goals of a top 10 finish in Saturday's Road Stage.. and up until the 40th Mile I spent the whole race up front and in good position.. Then my luck ran out and I had my first crash of the season... I usually blame this type of stuff on Karma.. Like maybe I ran over a chipmonk or squirrel accidentally.. But damned if I can remember doing something like that.. What I do remember is being right behind Filip who eventually won the stage and then the next thing I knew I was running over Gale Hess and doing a face plant in the asphalt(Front teeth first Ouch!). Bryan also had bad luck when some idiot ran into him from behind going up hill and totaled his wheels... However Both Jim and Tim finished Top 10 and Marty and Chuck also finished well .

Sunday was the TT and the Crit and once again I personally messed up and missed my start time by 45 secs so my 25:45 would have been 25:00 which would have put me top 20ish... Overall the team did well in the TT with Jim and Bryan finishing top 15 and Chuck and Tim top 20. The Crit was SUPER fast(Out of the 100ish starters 40 got pulled) and very short: only 8 laps. Basically it was like an 8 lap sprint. We tried to keep Jim and Tim up front and ended up with Tim taking 7th, and a good top 20 showing for the rest of us..

Overall in GC we had Jim and Tim tied both taking 12th place.. Next year goals.. Get Tim a TT bike and some TT interval training and for Jim work on his Crit riding....

We had a good time!

Cindy's Additions the Photos!
Okay, so obviously I'm not the best choice for team photographer... I completely forgot to get pictures of the Crit at the Tour de Christiana. I also missed a bunch of guys at the Time Trial start (including Matt... Who was late getting to the start house). However, I did manage a few, including this great group shot (thanks to Susan who got them all organized).

I'll let Matt do the race updates, but kudos to the team for a great race!

Deodate Road Race

2006-08-06T13:03:00.000-05:00

I know pictures would be nice.. I think so too!.. We need to get a staff photographer... Great weekend for racing which is good as the season is winding down and there are only a few more road races left. This weekend was Deodate Road Race and we had a good group of racers. Even thought it wasn't as hot as it has been it was still pretty hot.. The course had very little shade and that made for hot racing, cramping and just plain great fun.. I vote the the promoters plant some shade trees in the parking field for next year.. A couple of big ring climbs at the beginning and middle of the 5 mile loop kept the racers honest as you couldn't just hang in and sprint the finish. The team's results were good and I'll post a link as soon as they are available. Best finishers in the Cat 4 were Matt with 4th and Chuck with 6th and in the Cat 3/4 Jim with 8th and Bryan with 11th.

This race serves as a final tune up for the Tour de Christiana with a Road Race, Time Trial and Crit. The Crit is a fun fan friendly race on Sunday in downtown Christiana. If your looking for an exciting cycling race to watch make sure you don't miss the Crit...

A fun Crit.. Really?

2006-07-30T20:19:00.000-05:00

You have some guys like Rick and Kevin F. who enjoy Cirts.. I have to say I'm a Road Race guy... I prefer some rolling hills.. over Crits's with there tight corners and guys fighting for position on every corner. Turns out Tim had a crash(Unluckly involving a Car and a guy walking a dog...He's doin okay now) and wasn't able to compete at Mt Nebo. Red Roses was nice enough to move his registration to the Great Grandview Heights Crit. Bryan and I decide what the heck it'd be a good workout to go and support Tim in the 3/4 Race.... Glad we decided to as it was one of the best races in terms of course, very nice 1 mile Crit right in the middle of a tree lined neighborhood. We also did a great job working as a Team and all finished in top 10ish(4,10,11). Bryan pulled an aggressive 2+ lap time trial at the end of the race which pushed up the pace and kept the big sprinters from making their moves at the end.. Tim and I chased with the 8 riders in pursuit of Bryan.. Unfortanely Bryan got caught with 50M to go but Tim ended up winning the field sprint just behind the 3 man break..

Next year were going to bring some more guys! .... If we had one more guy we could have probably pulled back the break.

Mt Penn and Mt Nebo(Hooray for the Climbers)

2006-07-24T19:32:00.000-05:00

If you know me then you know I'm kinda small.... I really don't feel that small, but in the last several years it's become obvious to me I'm less then average size. In the world of cycling that gives me little choice but to become a climber.. I mean at my size you really can't duke it out with the big boys in the sprint, they'll spank you down like a little school girl.

So I'm happy to say the last two races(Mt. Penn and Mt. Nebo) have been right up my alley and on my "A" priority list. As a team we spent the 2 weeks before these races doing extra hill work trying to push are workouts so that we climbed over 4000ft per hard workout. On to the races....

Mt Penn is the tune up race for Mt Nebo. Mt Penn is raced in Reading and the course is a 3 mile loop around the Pogoatta/Fire tower on top of Mt Penn. Race day was not very nice and the rain began as soon as we started. Let me tell you its no fun going down a pot hole filled road in the rain with 75+ other riders... The 3/4 race was 10 laps and the pace was pushed each time up the hill by some young guys on Tri-State Velo.. . Turns out that I should have raced the 4/5 as it was only 7 laps.. I fell off the pace on the 9th lap of the 3/4. As a team we all ended up with respectable finishes.

For Mt Nebo however I stuck with he 4/5 race as each of the 3 9 mile laps includes 1100ft of climbing. Nebo is considered one of the 10 hardest amateur racing courses in the country so its a race of prestige. Congrats to all the team he competed. For me it was my best finish of the year a 3rd place! We had 3 guys in the top 15 n the 4/5 race so once again we had a good day.

Pieffer Hill and the Iron Hill Twilight Crit

2006-06-17T18:56:00.000-05:00

Millport Road Race.. (Make mine a double)

2006-05-29T20:18:00.000-05:00

Well another race weekend and I came into it with some real hard training. At the training crit on Thurday night the team worked really hard. We spent much of the ride with either someone in a break off the front and/or guys sitting on the front of the ride pulling breaks back. I also got some good advice from Trey that really motivated me. At one point during the crit I was out with him and several others trying to breakaway from the field. Trey and Dean from the Alliance team both made mammoth pulls at 35+ mph and I was next in line.. We had about 50 meters on the field and the break would have stuck except I couldn't pull thru.. The pain was too much and I sat up.. Trey came up to me after the ride and told me basically if I had pulled thru we would have kept that break going. He said when you feel the pain that's when you gotta push the hardest everyone's in pain you have to remember the pain is only temporary.. Your not gonna feel it tonight when your sitting on the couch.. He's right .. When I think back to the breaks or winning moves that I see work its always after a very hard effort when everyone's tired an the spirt to chase is at its lowest...

So are you wondering how the Millport race went for the team? It was a great race for all and personally one of my finest days of racing as I placed top ten in both the 4/5 and 3/4 races...(A double). The course was fairly flat with one big ring climb in the middle. We had racers in both the 3/4 and the 4/5 and our results were very good. Some real nice pictures to look at with bunches of IH riders at the front in total domination :). Best finishes come from pushing the pace right after hard efforts!

Union Grove(Its all about the Team)

2006-05-24T17:32:00.000-05:00

Union Grove was a race that I crashed at last year.. I was inline for a top 5 finish when a guy crashed into me with 50M to go.. That crash was in the back of my mind as we raced this year...

Our results as a team were excellent and the way we rode is something that we can build on. In the 5, 4/5 and the 3/4 we rode we'll and had good placing in all races. I felt that we really showed good team racing and team tatics. In fact other racers have commented on how well we work as a team. What we need to work on is the final piece of the pie.. Getting a win for the team...

This is a hard goal as it means we have to balance working for ourselves and our own placing vs working for the team and a possible win for a team mate. I don't think the two ideas are counter productive. You can work hard for the team and still have something left to get a good placing. It means working and riding smart and its going to take time and practice to get good at. Our goal over the next couple of weeks will be to step up how we use our team tatics in our training races on Tues and Thurs.

Turkey Hill (Good Ice Cream... Tough Race)

2006-05-24T17:21:00.000-05:00

Turkey Hill is one of the longest races of the year at 55 miles... However in an odd mistake the officials made the race EVEN LONGER by adding an extra lap for a total of 62 leg breaking miles... Things that would have been nice to have for the race:

Someone supporting the team in the Feed Zone
At least 1 More water bottle(to add to the 2 I had on board)
One less Lap :)

We had a strong group of guys at the race and we finished well consider the size of the field(125) and the strength of the competition.

Next up Union Grove...

Tour de Ephrata: Mt. Pain TT(Not Just a Clever Name) and Crit

2006-05-02T11:42:00.000-05:00

As I said in my last post we reconned the Mt. Pain TT course on Saturday.. When we went up the hill I thought this won't be that bad(see the hills profile below in the previous post).. Well lets just say I under estimated how the 5 mile TT effort before the 4 mile hill climb would effect me. The title Mt. Pain is very appropriate as I don't know that I've ever felt that much pain during a bike ride. Once again I was disappointed with my result but impressed by the guys on the team. Both Bryan and Jim had excellent times in the TT and the efforts pushed them into top spots in GC.

Once the TT was over we had to kill 4 hours waiting for the crit to start in downtown Ephrata. A couple of points about the crit...

Note to self don't start a 90 rider crit in the back....I know better than that.. It took about 20 minutes of really hard racing just to get up to the top 20 racers.
Crits are dangerous... We had 2 guys go down in the crit .. Both Chuck and Jeff were okay, but man its not fun to hit the pavement at 30+ mph.
Its tough to get your body to work hard after you've abused yourself in a grueling uphill time trail... Why am I doing this? Oh because I love to race.... Yeah that's it..

As a team we competed well in the Crit and our efforts for the weekend were rewarded with Bryan getting 5th overall in Cat 5 and Jim getting 3rd overall in Cat 4. To the wounded speedy recoveries. I'm including a link to the complete results for our weekend of racing.

Tour de Ephrata: Road Race Complete

2006-04-29T14:45:00.000-05:00

This morning I was very excited.. Another chance at a good finish in a road race. Last weekend was the Lower Provience criterium which I would describe as a tour of "Pot Holes". I flatted in the crit with 3 laps to go. Overall today's road race went well for the team members in the Cat 5 and 4, however Kevin Kopanski had a crash in the Cat 3 race. He's OK with some shoulder pain. His bike also took a hit to the front rim. He's a tough rider and still plans to ride tommorow in the TT and crit. We have by far the strongest showing of any team in the Cat 4 race and a couple of guys have a strong chance at winning the General Classification. The day was a bit of personal disappointment for me, but I continue to gain race experience and learn where I'm making my mistakes. I felt very strong and basically botched the finish... I did get a chance to take some great pictures of our racers.

From Left:Rick, Jeff, Chris, Bryan,Kevin K., Jason, Matt

Tomorrow the Hill Time Trail starts at a very early 7:30am. We reconed the course today and the hill reminds me of Purdue Mountain out in Penn State country. It's definitely a course that I should do well on and I'm hoping I feel as good and aggressive tomorrow as I did today. My plan for tomorrow is hold nothing back and lay the hammer down the whole stage. We'll see how it goes...

Kevin and Jim

Here's a link to the Tour de Ephrata Race Flyer... take a look at the MT Pain Time Trail.. 1200+ of climbing it should be fun :).

Mt Joy...Where's the Joy in 26th?

2006-04-17T06:55:00.000-05:00

What a perfect day, Sunny and 75 degrees. All the races were full with a strong list of competitors. I personally had high expectations for today's race as I've done my best finishes in races with "Mt" in the title. Mt Joy's course is 5.7 miles of rolling hills with one fairly steep climb and a long decent on the backside. On to the action.

In the 4/5 race we did fairly well with Jason and Casey finishing 14 and 15th and Jeff(Team Alliance) coming in 9th. Bryan had a tough break with his chain coming off on the first lap.. He ended up chasing the field the whole day. Kevin K. and I were signed up for the 3/4 and Kevin was doing well in the front pack until the 4th lap when he and the misfortune of hitting Kevin Farmer who dropped his chain. Both Kevin's where fine but Kevin Kopaniski took a spill over the bars and could not catch back on the front pack. Kevin and I ended up racing with the chase group and having a good time. The best part of the race for me was jumping off the front after the big climb with 1.5 miles to go and being able stay away all the way to finish. Kevin got to enjoy sitting in and watching everyone else try to chase me down . He was fresh when the final sprint came and he easily took the line. .. So we were racing for 26th and 27th it was still one of the most fun finishes I've had in a race.

Kirkwood:What's up with Wind?

2006-04-02T07:44:00.000-05:00

It was another fine day for racing in Lancaster County, well except for the nasty rain in the morning and the 40mph crosswinds! On the positive side the whole team looked great in the new kit!

Here's a sample .. More pictures to come as soon as I learn how to use a camera better .. or get my wife to come out and take some for us.

If you're looking for some better race pictures check out the racingcaptured. There are some great pictures of the racing.

The Race
Kirkwood is a 7 mile loop with a couple of hills, not a difficult course. What makes the course tough are the crosswinds, strong enough to blow you over on the bike( I'm not kidding the winds push me off the course twice). Oh and the rain ... Oh and the big descent(50+ mph) that ended with a 90 degree left turn. That left turn was made for a crash, caution was the best strategy. Our guys raced well and we had a great turn out.

Cat 5
Bob Poley
Rick Steele

Cat 4/5
Chris Candy
Jeff Salvitti(Team Alliance)
Jason Schilitz
Bryan Verdeur

Cat 3/4
Kevin Fryberger
Kevin Kopanski
Matt Perry
Jim Walls

Full Kirkwood results are available, overall Iron Hill had a good race. Next week is open; there's a Time Trial and the Philadelphia 2 Day Classic which is a Circuit and Criterium Race. See you on the road...

Strasburg Race: Windy and Fast.. Not our Best Finish

2006-03-19T19:44:00.000-05:00

Strasburg ...
The first road of the season started with a clear cold morning, quite picturesque imagery with Amish farms and the horse and buggies going about their morning duties .... As I stepped out of the car the first thing that came to mind was man that Wind is going to blow me over... Lets just say it made for an extremely challenging, cold and all around hard day. I was surprised to see how many teams showed up for the race, and many were from out of state. The course was 5.2 miles of mostly flat, wind swept fields with 2 minor hills... Our strategy in races like this is generally stay up front for the first few laps and then try to push the pace and break up the pack. Well I think every team had that idea as the whistle blew, the race took off and the pace hardly let up.

Iron Hill WCCC - Results
Positive points from our racing are we all rode hard and no one went down; that's definitely positive. Our young riders like Bryan Verduer showed great strength and good form especially for his first road race. A special mention to Jeff Salvitti(Team Alliance) who rode a perfect race and finished a strong 2nd in the Cat 4/5. Results for Strasburg were positive, but I personally missed my goal of a top 10 finish in the 4/5. As I thought back about how the race unfolded, my main regret was how unaggressive I was about moving up through the pack on the 3rd lap. So here's what I'd like to work on for the next race:

Things to work on...Tatics?

Keep up at the front especially with strong cross winds... But don't waste energy trying to lead the race.
If someone goes flying past you heading for the front grab on and take the free ride..
Communicate with my teammates so that we can work together. This was difficult given the conditions
Don't wait until the last 1km to try move up thru the pack... It's too hard
Be more aggressive and move up thru the pack... To win the race you gotta be willing to lose( para-phrased from Kevin K. and several other wise sources...).

Next race is Kirkwood... Hope to have a better day.

Welcome to the Iron Hill WCCC racing blog

2006-03-19T09:14:00.000-05:00

This blog will be a place where you can find information about the Iron Hill WCCC racing cyclists. This includes our training rides, racing schedule and results. Please come join us, either to race or to show support.