Nationals Pictures

Thanks for the pictures Charlie.

Yesterday Sara Tussey, Lynn Berry and Pat Roberts all raced in Road Race National Championship races. All three team members were in different age bracket races and all three finished on the podium for their own race.

Later the same day Sara Tussey and Daryl Rains raced in one tandem road race. They placed 4th against some tough competition.

Lynn and Michael Berry raced in another category and will both be sporting Stars and Strip Jerseys when they return home as they finished in first place.

Congratulations to all of these brave team members representing us at the National Championship events in Kentucky.

regards,

Charlie

Tour de France Fantasy League

I am going to be doing some sort of Tour de France Fantasy "league" for this years Tour. I am not sure exactly how I am going to do it or what the criteria is, but I will come up with something over the next few days. I'm not going to make it too complicated, basically just points probably for the podium finishers, maybe KOM and sprinters points. Like I said, I'll figure it out by Thursday and post it on here.

To get people interested I am going to be offering up a $25 gift certificate to Paceline Bicycles for the winner. To make this happen there will be need to be at least 10 people participating so hopefully I'll get a good response once the league rules are solidified.

Bert's ACE POV

The following is Bert's perspective of the Ace Speedway crit on Tuesday......

How to dominate Ace -- even at breakneck speeds:

1) Round up seven teammates. You can't go wrong with Scott, Jim, Pat, Chad, Dave, Kevin, (and me). Even if one of them is in Kannapolis, convince him that driving more than two hundred miles, to Altamahaw and then home, rather than simply going home and doing the local ride, is the right thing to do.

2) Carpool. Cramming three teammates in one vehicle can lead to talking smack, self-delusional talk of game-winning strategies, and talk of baboons copulating atop car hoods.

3) Register. Sorry, there's nothing more to say about that.

4) Change. Wrap a towel around your waist, drop your trousers in the parking lot, and put your kit on. If you break a sweat merely while changing, take both 24-ounce water bottles to the start/finish line. Drink one before the race and the other during the race. Then, refill them and repeat the process for the second race. (I wish I had done that).

5) Warm up. Get to the start/finish line on time. If the teammate driving in from Kannapolis happens to arrive a wee bit late, and registration is officially closed, lobby the promoter to allow him to race. It helps when one of your teammates is also a promoter. It worked last night.

6) This next step was contributed by Chad: "Jim offered me a Fat Tire (beer) before the race for every time I didn't chase a teammate who was in the break." Of course, Chad sucked back a beer from Jim's cooler after the race.

7) And we're off!

8) Flood the front with Blue-n-White. Get some guys (Chad and Pat) in the first break. When that break gets caught, get another guy (Scott) in the break. When that break gets caught, get another guy (Dave) in the break. When that break gets caught, get another guy (Yours Truly) in the break. Take a swig. Spit. Control the pace. Do this until the teammate in the break laps the field.

9) Once the break laps the field, flood the front -- again -- with Blue-n-White. Chad, Pat, Dave, and Scott, like pitbulls, can chase down anything that tries to break away. Jim can string out the field with three laps to go.

10) Sprint! Sprint! Sprint!

Sincerely,

Bert

PS: I hear that the 4/5 race averaged 26.6 mph and had 53 racers in it. If that wasn't fast enough, the second (3/4) race averaged 27.7 mph and had 63 riders registered. I barely remember the second race. I wish I had paid attention to Step 4. But I did manage to get third in the 4/5 race and 16th in the 3/4 race -- thanks to the six guys I rode with.

Wednesday Night Recovery Race

This Paceline-hosted ride is always lots of fun. Tonight, we had a good group of classic participants (Cam, Curtis, Jeff...) and some PVSers (Jim, Scott, Mitch, me) plus some late-arriving MOBers. And Jim Conrad.

In a nutshell, we yapped and joked for two laps of Dull Rd then got serious on the third lap. The MOBers (who I hear are at least Cat 3?) bridged an early gap and then hit the gas. A few of us stayed on, with Scott grabbing second in the sprint. I think Mitch was third. I was around 4th-5th with the ever-speedy Dr. Rob right there. Anyway, a good time was had by all. A nice way to spend a Wednesday night...

Speaking of that, I grabbed a frosty beverage at Big Shots and then someone took my picture. Ah well. The children (or anyone with style) should avert their eyes.

ACE Speedway Results

Fresh off the wire.......courtesy of Jim Martin

Sounds like the pace was fast and furious tonight at ACE Speedway with PVS having 7 racers there.

Jim said the C race average was 26.6 mph or 42.8 km/h for the true Euro's.

The B race average was 27.7 mph or 44.6 km/h.

Bert placed 3rd in the C race and Jim also said there were several high finishes in the B race.

Even more fresh off the wire........courtesy of Chad Chadwick.

53 in the C race and

63 in the B race.

Good job everybody.

Congratulations Sara

Sara won both "Queen of the Mountain" hill competition and the Overall for the females at the Tour de Kale on Saturday.

Good Job Sara.

State Games Crit Write-up

Mitch, Todd, and I did the State Games Crit in Mooresville, NC today. We raced in the men's cat4 at 2:30PM. It was very hot and slightly windy. The course was fairly long and had four left-hand corners. There was one uphill leading into turn four that lead to a flat finishing stretch. There were probably 30-40 riders (I guess). The pavement was somewhat rough, especially in the corners (more to come on that). There were a few teams with more riders in it than us. I am so used to racing first and at the buttcrack of dawn that I had a hard time figuring out what to eat throughout the day.

The race started and I missed my pedal. I was last off the line. Mitch and Todd were up front and looked good. The race was fast from the beginning and for the first 15 minutes I thought that banana I ate 30 minutes before the race was going to come up. The race was a little on the unsafe side. Mitch was leading a few laps and Todd was up there as well. In the third turn two guys in front of me touched wheels and then leaned on me. We were going up the hill and I had to jump up on the sidewalk and ride to the top of the hill on the sidewalk. About a lap later there was a crash on the backside in the long straight. We all dodged it and the race continued. Mitch was in the back with me and Todd remained up front. Somewhere in the next 15 minutes Mitch got off the back because of some slow riders got gapped in front of him. I moved up into the middle of the pack and with ten laps to go Todd and I were still there. Three riders had attacked and had 20 seconds on the field with 10 to go. With 9 to go the field (not the breakaway) sat up some at the finish line. I got some water and decided to attack. The bad thing was I did it way too close to turn one and was going to fast. I skidded into the turn and heard the aweful "BANG"! My rear tube blew and my tire came off. I rode the corner on my rear rim! The field managed to dodge me and I stayed up. Mitch was back on and stopped to offer me help. I was done by then.
Todd hung in there like a champ and with a few laps to go he went down in turn four. He was at the top of the hill and had the inside line and someone cut in on him. He is ok except for some scraps/bruises. I tried to get him to arrest the guy but he declined. Good thing I am not a cop. I would have clubbed the bastard! Anyway, 3 PVSers started and none finished. Good thing is we are all ok.

Later!

Memorable Ride

My most memorable ride would probably have to be the first charity ride I ever did. I ride the "Spokes for Strokes" ride in Yadkinville about four years ago. I just started riding that summer and the ride was in October. I had one cheap pair of shorts and wore a cycling jersey with a Nike longsleeve shirt over it. The bad thing was the temperature was 38 degrees that morning and only warmed up into the 40's. It was fairly windy and I was freezing from the start. I showed up by myself. I think I had riden around ten times with a group. My longest ride up until that point had been 20-25 miles. I signed up for the 40 miler and started the ride.

I was shaking from the start. I had one water bottle and no idea what I was in for. I started with the front group (not knowing any better) and about bonked 20 miles into it. I stopped at a rest stop and ate some. Thankfully, a female rider stopped and could tell I was in trouble. I rode the final 20 miles with her and she showed me how to draft and drink and ride at the same time. When I finished (in about 3-4hours) I felt like the scene from Dumb & Dumber with snot frozen to my face. I was so cold after the race that it took a day for my feet/hands to have adequate circulation to warm up. I learned a lot. I have pictures from it and when I look back I have to laugh. The t-shirt is classic.

More 36 North Pics and writeup

Sent out by Charlie:

Yesterday we had good team representation at the 36 North Triathlon at Tanglewood Park. The star from our team was Pat Rimron with a 5th overall place and 2nd overall in the master's division. Everyone on our team placed at least 3rd in their category either as an individual or as a relay team. This was a great event and a lot of fun. Attached is a picture of me starting the run. I will share more pictures as I get them.

Our fearless leader:

Charity Ride - Saturday June 27th

This was sent by Kevin Fox:

Pain Pathways/PVS Team and Friends:

The 3rd annual Saddles and Spokes ride will be held on Sat. June 27 leaving from Friedberg Moravian Church (near Mrs. Hanes cookie factory) and goes throughout Davidson County. Proceeds benefit the "Hoof and Paw" Therapeutic Riding and Activity Center (a 501-c-3), which is a tax exempt organization. The Hoof and Paw Center works with physically, mentally and emotionally challenged individuals through horseback riding and related activities.

Ride Date: June 27
Time: 8:15 am for 100k ride
8:30 am for 50k ride
Spaghetti lunch served after ride.
Price is $30 if registered by June 13 (add $5 after)

http://hoofandpawtrac.org/

I attend church at Friedberg Moravian with Helen Bee, the lady who runs the Hoof and Paw Center. I will be working the event and I hope to squeeze in the ride myself! We would love to have as many cyclists as possible if it fits your schedule, budget, etc. - goes to a good local cause.

Thanks, Kevin Fox

The truth hurts sometimes

My first venture into Cat 4's was this past weekend in East TN for the Roan Groan and associated crit race. I didn't do the time trial.

Basically the road race boiled down to this. I did the cat 4/5 race. There were 55 of us. I ended up 25th out of 55. My time was pretty much the same as it has been the past few times doing this race. I finished 10th last year with basically the same time. The 4/5's came within a minute of catching the regular cat 4's. Oh well. Better results next year.

The next day was the my first straight up cat 4 crit race. Right to the point. The race was fast from the get go. The race was unusual in that there were 7 turns. I stayed with the pack as long as I possibly could. When I finally couldn't go anymore I looked down at my timer.......25 minutes. That obviously is the typical length of a cat 5 race. Coincidence? I think not. I have more work to do. I made it 30 minutes and then got pulled. I wasn't even lapped and they pulled me......how rude. I ended up 20th out of 32. The good news from all of this was that 12 people were pulled before me.

Here are some pics from the race. Some people didn't like the course, but I personally loved it. It was different than your typical 4 turn race.

Here is the view coming out of the 3rd turn. You can see the 2nd turn in the back.

Coming out of the 3rd corner headed to the fourth. The fourth corner is a left turn followed by a quick right turn that was maybe 30 yards between then.

36 North Triathlon

We had a great time at the inaugural 36 North Tri at Tanglewood today. In a quick summary, Pat and Charlie had great rides, with Pat placing second in the Masters Category. Go Pat!

Tri-Divas (Jill, Amy, and their friend Dianne) placed second in the female relay division, while the Wheelsuckers (Erik, Drew, me) placed third in the male relay division.

The event was a real hit, with free pizza and beer at the finish party! All in all, the race was well organized, safe, and pretty fast (except for that hilly run course).

I meant to take a pic of Charlie finishing, but accidently had the camera set on video. So, what you'll see is one of the shortest, fastest videos ever.

First Cat 4 Race at Ace

I had always wanted to race at Ace Speedway and finally got the opportunity tonight. I recently cat'd up to the 4's and this was my first race. Danny, Chad, and myself did both the C race and the B race. It was very hot and the asphalt keep the heat in. Ace is cool: banked, smooth pavement, and balls out fast!
C Race-
The C race (Men's 4/5, Women's 4) had around 30 people in it. It was fast from the gun! We raced for 25 minutes and averaged slightly less than 26mph per my computer. We did almost 13 miles in 25 minutes. There were numerous attacks and Danny, Chad, and myself stayed with the group. Danny raced really strong throughout. I got caught out of the paceline with 5 laps to go. SO with three to go I decided to attack and break things up. I lead a lap with Danny on my wheel. We strung out the field and I pulled off the front with two to go. Danny stayed out in the front 1/3. I hung on with the lead group and finished around 10th-12th. Danny was up near the front at the line!
B Race-
The B race (Men's 3/4, Women's 3+) had around 36 people in it. It started out at a nice pace and after a lap or two the field picked up the pace. There were some speed enhancing primes! We raced for around 45 minutes (well those who finished...more on that later). With about 25 laps to go the pace ramped up. Chad and Danny looked good in the group. I was holding on in the middle of the group. With less than 15 laps to go disater struck: I crashed! Two guys went down right in front of me before turn one. There were people all around me and I saw a guy laying in front of me. I tried to bunnyhop him and needless to say did not make it; I ran over him. I crashed as well. A total of four people went down. I stuck my right arm out and did not hit my head!! I got up and assessed me and the bike. I have road rash on my right shoulder, shoulder blade, right hip, little below my right knee, and bruises on my left knee and elbow. My left wrist hurts the worst. The bike looks a little rough and the front wheel is not rolling. I tore up my handle bars. Paceline here I come.

I hate going down but at least this time I didn't hit my head and get a concussion. I hope everything else is well but I may need a visit to the MD. Hopefully, I will get to go back to Ace because the track is great but the speeds are scary.

Chancey