4.10.2009

SHARE the road.

I'd like to bring the following article to everyone's attention, because it simply astounds me how ignorant members of the human race can be. Sometimes I think someone forgot to add the chlorine to the gene pool when I read things like this. This guy disgraces my name.

Click HERE to read the article.

While this is not the first time, and it certainly will not be the last time I see something like this, I think it serves as a good reminder for all of us to promote effective bicycle advocacy every chance we get.

4.09.2009

Photos: Army Spring Classic 2009






Entire album can be viewed HERE.

Lightly used wheel for sale!

Since the D-riders have lost their fearless leader Steve to C's, I thought I would step up and comment on this past weekend's race. My fellow D-riders and I had a solid showing at Army this past weekend. We placed in the middle of the pack for the TTT (having never practiced). The Circuit and HCTT were more challenging than expected, but congrats to Zack for kicking the rest of our PSU D-rider butts up the hill. As for the Crit... we were spread throughout the pack, and all performed well. Zack sprinted to the front to bring back a break away towards the final laps and finished 17th; Brian and Drew both had solid races to finish in the pack, and I was able to pull out 9th to get my first point of the season.
The success of this weekend has left me feeling the need to upgrade my wheelset for something a little faster, lighter, and more fragile... So I am selling my old front... stiff, lightly used, raced twice, only less than a year old!!! Pictured below (courtesy of Zack Repp)... Let me know if you're interested!

4.08.2009

Photos: Philly Phlyer 2009







As the resident camera-totin', downtube-shiftin' MTB'er turned crazy-quasi-roadie, I present to everyone the photos from the 2009 Philly Phlyer, race #4 of the 2009 ECCC road season.

Click HERE to see the entire album.

Enjoy!

4.06.2009

Category C!!

So, this has been a long time coming. As the captain of the C's, I need to create a race report. First, I will briefly highlight the first two weekends.

Rutgers: We had some good racing here and a huge field. Over 90 guys showed up, so they split the fields for the races. Nate Depenbusch graced us with his presence and low sleep. We love racing with Nate. Also in attendance were Andy Mina, Andrew Lloyd, and Keith Groshans. We rode hard in the ITT and Crit on the first day.

On the second day during the circuit race I attempted a very daring strategy. I would ride away from the pack by attacking the corners. I believe that at corner 2 or 3 this strategy failed me as my wheels slid out from underneath me. I did not use my brakes at any point during this turn and I was the first man into the turn, following my original strategy of attacking the corners. I heard from another rider that everyone said things like "eeewww" or "ouch" when the saw me crash. I got up and realized that: a. front wheel wouldn't spin and b. I could not finish the race with blood coming out of various wounds all over my body. In the end, I got to ride to the hospital in an ambulance with the lights flashing. I got six stitches in my chin and had road rash on BOTH hips. So, there it is! o, and it was the first time I wore this stinking kit!!

O yeah, and our results weren't awesome at Rutgers...I think it was the beginning of a trend.

Philly: I was not in attendance for this race, but I can report on the results and a few stories that I heard. Our numbers were down this week, with Andy Mina and Keith Groshan. Andy and Keith rode hard in the circuit and had ample fun doing it! Keith had his best race so far in the Crit. He rode to an 11th place finish. Those 16 miles per day are really paying big dividends!

Army: In attendance were me, Steve Derkits (reinforcement from D's), and Keith Groshans. Our TTT finished 10th out of 15. The effort was at least at a 9th place level, as evidenced when Steve got dropped and puked! The circuit was an exciting race. I can attest, as the first few laps in the field were really fun. I attempted a rear breakaway as I like to call it and finished behind the field. Steve claims my being dropped hindered him... Keith performed a foward breakaway just before the uphill finish, but could not maintain his position and eventually lost a few places.... On Sunday, we started out with a hill climb TT. Steve represented us well, with a hard ride to the top of West Point's campus. Keith and I saved our legs for the Crit... The bad ass guy from Army who Keith mentions below demolished everyone, taking the win in the ITT. The C team is quite impressed by this man. We finished the weekend with a crit. I proudly say that we rode hard and (unlike many other riders on this day) came away physically unscathed. The emotional wounds are pretty deep and I'm going to skip talking about the results. After the crit the C team did some real bonding as we shared a bagel loaded with peanut butter AND nutella. Let's just call it carb loading for Dartmouth in 2 weeks, where we plan to have a good finish. All I have to say to the rest of the C field is: wait until we peak at Easterns.

If you are still reading at this point, kudos to you ,and hopefully this breaks up the monotony that is class.

-Drew

The Most Chill Rider in the ECCC

In the three race weekends we have been able to attend, one thing has become clearly apparent: Blake Hawthorne from Army is the most chill rider in the ECCC. This fact is clearly apparent in the accompanying picture. Note how cool and calm he looks just chillin' there in the peloton, waiting to dominate everyone at the finish. This picture was taken before he unleashed a super chill sprint to win the Men's C circuit in Philly. This weekend on his home turf at West Point he showed just how chill he really is. Before the TTT, when it was like 30 degrees and 50mph winds, Hawthorne could be seen chillin in shorts and a t-shirt with his shaved head uncovered. Then he slaughtered the entire C field in the hill climb on Sunday. This was a foregone conclusion due to the fact that for the past month he had done 100 repeats of the hill every night at midnight. As Steve Derkits put it, "That guy is my hero, I want to Facebook friend him." Feel free to nominate another rider as the most chill rider in the ECCC. Regardless, Blake Hawthorne will win, hands down.