Journey to the Top of the World

If there were ever a climb that could be categorized as super beyond HC bonus plus, this would be it. As soon as I found I would be taking a work trip to Hawaii (yeah, I said work trip), I knew the task ahead. Ride up the Haleakala Volcano on Maui. The ride starts by renting a sweet 20+ lb bike from a little shop in Paia (http://www.gocyclingmaui.com/rentals.html). Guess all the "light" ones were taken. Tradition is to head over to the beach less than a mile away and dip your feet into the ocean to truly start at sea level.


From there, it's time to go up...36 miles in length...10,023 feet of elevation gain...all of 180 feet of descending. You start off in the sweltering humidity and wind and are a third of the way up before the temps begin to drop. Soon enough, you approach the cloud layer and you are greeted by the cattle and pastureland (confusing for me..it's Hawaii, right?). And then through the clouds...


Eventually, after getting rained on a few times, you get to pop out of the clouds and enter the pine forest (again, I am in Hawaii, right?). Finally, it's on to the moonscape as you approach the top of the volcano. Luckily for me, the McKinney Velo kit is quite easy to spot against that background so the lovely wife can pick me out. Can you?


Finally, it's McKinney Velo, on top of the world.


And, really, it was all just hill work for the more important event the following weekend in Tennessee.


Thanks to those that supported me for my 15th MS150.

Tuesday Night Crit

A Race - Weber in the mix.

Bill hard at work.

Bill Nagel secured the toilet during today's trash pickup.

Congrats to Friend of MV Pat McCarty

Last Monday, Memorial Day, Patrick McCarty of MV's sister team Matrix/RBM, finished 3rd in the P 1 Texas State Crit Championships in Fort Worth. Pat did so even though crits are not really Pat's preferred terrain. Immediately after that race, Pat headed off to Oregon for a race that's more suited to his abilities, the 6 day Mt. Hood Cycling Classic stage race. And on the queen stage 4 to the top of Mt Hood Ski Resort yesterday, Pat made his trip a success with a solo win from a 3 man break (pictured here). Stage 4 was 93 miles long featuring almost 10,000 feet of elevation gain. The Mt Hood race organizers described the stage as "epic, brutal, amazing...." The key test was the final ascent, "a 35 mile grind up 4500 feet of elevation to the Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Resort" with an average gradient of 10% and 12% sections in the final 2 miles -- perfect conditions for Pat to display his climbing strength. And display he did.

Read the full story here: http://velonews.competitor.com/2010/06/news/mccarty-wins-stage-as-de-maar-solidifies-lead-at-mt-hood_119950.

MV salutes a great Texas racer and good guy on a brilliant result!! And we look forward to seeing Pat race in McKinney next Friday June 11 at the 1st annual Bike the Bricks Criterium.

Bike the Bricks Countdown: 6 days

Next Friday, June 11, 2010 beginning at 5:00 - 1st race (6:30 for the 1st band - John Christopher Davis) the 1st Annual Bike the Bricks in Historic Downtown McKinney will be awn!! Lots of excitement from businesses on the square... a number have decorated Richardson Bike Mart provided cruiser bikes and put them on display in anticipation of BtB. Bands, beer and bikes... a beautiful trifecta; come see for yourself.

State Age Based Crits

Mv had a big, strong contingent in the combined 40-44 and 45-49 State Championship Crits at the Driveway in ATX today. And our boyz came oh so close to another State Jersey with two on the 40-44 podium... CP 2nd and Bling 3rd; but no jersey this year. Congrats to Will Ross for the 40-44 V, and to friends of MV Chris Carlson (Matrix/RBM), winner of the 45-49 title (MV's Johnny 'White Shoes' Moore finished a solid 8th), and Kurt Bickel (Joe's Pro Bikes), winner of the 50-54 title.

Sat/Sun MV Ride Time Changes

For those who aren't racing this weekend, we are bumping our ride time changes up a week. Beginning tomorrow June 5, 2010, (instead of the 2nd weekend in June as our calendar has been indicating), both Saturday and Sunday rides will roll at 7:30 a.m. Spread the word... enjoy the fun.

MV @ the Texas Chainring Massacre

[The following account of the June 8, 2010 Texas Chainring Massacre comes courtesy of MV’s Marco ‘Joules’ Corsi.]

Texas Chainring Massacre starts and ends in Roanoke Texas near the Texas Motor Speedway. It is a winner takes all bike race covering 116 miles of mostly dirt roads. We had a lot of discussion in the MV team as to what we needed to do in order to compete in this event and in the end Chris Powers, Mike Brown and Marco Corsi signed up for it. On Friday the 7th May 2010, the night before TCM, Chris went out in his car to scout the course and after we saw the pictures he took during his reconnaissance trip, we all started to wonder what we had signed up for.

The first photo (top left) Chris posted back showed a snake in the course.

The next photo (top right) showed a water crossing.

Then the last showed a lot of nothing but dirt.

The plan was in motion: Chris would ride his new cross bike, Brownie his Battenkill setup and Marco his cross bike. We met at 7am on the 8th and prepared for battle. We each carried 4 water bottles and food plus enough spares for a few years worth of normal riding. The enemy was in the form of Brian Fawley and his 2-wheeled posse from Park Place and Dallas Bike Works.

We set out at a fast pace and for the first 20 minutes or so no sign of Brian. He finally caught us and then disaster. Chris flatted. Brownie and Marco stopped to help and Chris got going with a can of sealant. As we were chasing back on, Chris’s tire deflated again. This time Brownie and Marco kept chasing and left Chris. We caught back on just as we all stopped at a Stop sign across Highway 380. Luckily Chris put in a second can of sealant and caught back on at this point too.Very shortly after this Brownie had a catastrophic finch flat which ended his day.

At the 60 mile point we intercepted Carol Ann, Marco’s wife who was sent out in her Panzer Wagon to drive Sag. This was really good since without refueling, finishing this thing would not happen. At this point we were 8. Every hill and tailwind section Brian drove a fast pace and before long we were 5. At about mile 75 Brian flats. This is the first bit of good news for us. We lay it down at this point for the next 10 miles with no sign of Fawley. (Remember he did not wait for us when we flatted several times earlier in the race.) Now there are three of us Chris, Marco and a Hooters rider. After a while Chris rides off and comes in for the win with a finishing time of 5h57min. Marco and the Hooters rider come in at 6hours on the nose.

A long long day in the saddle and one of the hardest days I have ever done. Brownie ends up riding back to the car down I35W. He has a big tail wind and rides for 20 miles at 40MPH. A few folk finished with road bikes but most of the racers that finished rode cross-bikes with cross tires.

MV at Coldsprings

JameyWatts (Munroe) (pictured at left) and Mr. Fitness (Steve Borski) travelled down I-45 today to tackle the Coldsprings Cat 3 race. It came down to bunch sprint on the finish hill. With ample support from Mr. Fitness, JameyWatts was in position to contest the sprint. And even though he sat up just before the line (which cost him a placing), he managed a fine 5th place result. (Domestique duties accomplished, Mr. Fitness sat out the sprint and finished well back in the field.) When asked why he chose to race about 20 meters less than everyone else, JameyWatts blamed oxygen deprivation while noting that it's always a challenge for him to contest an uphill sprint with "the lungs of a box turtle." Turtle lungs or not, a 5th place Cat 3 finish is a good day or racing. Congrats to JameyWatts and Mr. Fitness for a solid effort with a very short roster.

The Code is Broken...

Well well, well, what do we have here? It's Oz in California (pictured with Bling - just back from the gun show), "buried with work" on the last day of his employer's fiscal half-year. So the next time Oz says he stuck at home with a bunch of conference calls lined up, know that he really means he's heading out for another stealth 100k. Thanks to Seabass for breaking "the Oz code."

MV at the Matrix Challenge

Every year since McKinney Velo sprang to life at the outset of the ‘08 racing season, the “King of Crits,” the Matrix Challenge (2 full days of criterium racing near downtown Dallas), has been a race the team targets. The MC organization is impeccable; the support, race purse and primes supplied by our sister club Matrix and the sponsor we share, Richardson Bike Mart, is superb; and the venue, a super technical 8 turn track run under the shade tress of the Meadows Foundation’s campus, never fails to produce a worthy victor. Unfortunately, in the 40+ field at the ‘10 MC, that worthy victor wasn’t an MV racer either Saturday or Sunday. Instead, Kentucky resident and 23 time national champion Curtis Tolson of the Texas Roadhouse team took the W both days. But not without a fight from MV.

Saturday, 11 MV racers lined up for the start of the 40+ race determined to leave their mark. Sure enough, within the first 10-15 minutes of the 50 minute race, Oz (Steve Weber) and Bling (Patrick Burke) powered off the front with Tolson and Park Place racer Shaun Bonavita. Although their lead fluctuated as their cooperation periodically broke down, their break was never seriously threatened. After Oz nailed back a dangerous move by Tolson – a move Oz desperately wanted to counter, but his stomach didn’t cooperate – and Bling brought back an attack by Bonavita, it was obvious the victory would come down to a 4 man sprint. As Bling powered down the back stretch heading into turns 7 and 8 with Oz tight on his wheel, Tolson took a sharp inside line and slipped ahead of Bling and Oz. Oz responded, but the finish straight at the MC is so short, it’s almost impossible to pass anyone. As a result, Oz ended up 2nd and Bling held on for 3rd.

To some though, the most impressive effort of the day was put in by Seabass (pictured above practicing his standard pre-race ritual... in his dinosaur race socks, no less... the resemblance to his son Jack is uncanny, huh?) just behind the break. As Oz and Bling worked to keep their 4 man break up the road, Seabass, CP (Chris Powers), and Richie Rocket (Rich Miller) put in some monster efforts patrolling the front of the field. After CP neutralized a particularly dangerous effort to bridge to the break by fast finishers Jorge Merle (Park Place) and Richard Lamb (Sun & Ski), Seabass took off after a strong move by an Austin Nationals racer. But instead of just being satisfied with shutting that move down, Seabass launched his own effort to bridge to his 2 teammates. And on the bell lap coming down the back side stretch, Seabass made it across. Sadly, he wasn’t able to help Oz and Bling battle Tolson because Mirage’s John Eder, a lapped rider who had been catching a ride with the break for 20+ minutes, eased up just as Seabass latched on the back of the 5 man group. Fortunately, Seabass still held on for 5th, while CP managed 8th. No win, but 4 in the top 8 and 2nd to a 23 time national champ is a decent consolation prize.

MV’s contingent on Sunday was significantly smaller as only CP, Brownie (Mike Brown), Seabass, Bling and Walt ‘Disney’ Megura returned for a 2nd day of racing. The 40+ field was clearly determined not to let Tolson and any MV racers get away for a 2nd day. As a result, our boyz endured a super hard, super fast and super frustrating race that ended in a field sprint. Tolson took that win too, while CP secured a spot on the podium with a 3rd place finish. While MV is never really happy unless an MV racer wins, we still enjoy a hard fought battle at a high quality race. And the 2010 Matrix Challenge certainly provided that. Thanks to Matrix and to Jim Hoyt and the rest of the folks at RBM for another fabulous weekend of racing.

Eavesdropping on the Webers...

An authentic transcript of a fake conversation between Julie and Steve (Oz) Weber and their daughter Olivia last Sunday [April 25] at the family farm:

Olivia: “So Mom (Julie), how did you and Mrs. Seabass [Olivia thinks the MV nicknames are ‘fun’] do at that Young Life Adventure Race in Lewisville yesterday?”

Julie: “We did very well Olivia... Ms. Lara (Price a/k/a Mrs. Seabass) and I won the Epic Adventure Female team race!”

Olivia: “Did you crush the competition like you usually do?”

Julie: “I don’t know if we crushed them. The 2nd place women only finished about 18 minutes behind us, and our time was only better than 12 of the 17 men’s teams that started.”

Olivia: “Wow Mom, and you had to run 3 or 4 miles, then paddle a canoe for about 30 minutes and then ride your mountain bike like 12 miles? You and Ms. Lara must be really fit. So Dad, how did you do in your old man’s bike race yesterday? You know, that race where all you had to do was pedal your bike around in circles on concrete.”

Steve (OZ): "It wasn't a circle, it was a technical 8 turn course."

Olivia: "Whatever... how did you do?"

OZ: “Pretty good, I was in a break almost the whole race and I finished 2nd!”

Olivia: “2nd [sigh]?!? You didn’t win this race either? Well if you didn’t win, then which teammate were you “helping” win this time?”

Oz: “No one; I was trying to win this race myself.”

Olivia: “ Daaaaaad, I thought we had this talk already. If you’re going to take the time to “chamois up” (whatever that means, although it sure sounds gross...), you may as well win!”

Taking the win every time she chamois up is becoming old hat for Julie Weber. Congratulations to her and semi-MV member Lara Price for their victory last weekend. And good luck to Julie as she goes for her 3rd straight weekend victory this Sunday at the McKinney Kiwanis Triathlon, and to all other MV triathletes who tackle the McKiwanis Tri.

Justin Hicks High School Racing Update

Heading into last week’s State Championships in Austin, MISD (MHS)/MV Junior Justin Hicks had taken a commanding lead in the High School Men’s B overall standings. It didn’t hurt any that Justin swept all the men’s B races at the MSU race weekend April 18-19... swept as in he won the road race; he won the street sprint (at left, Justin is shown lining up for a wet sprint); and he won the crit! Congratulations on a great race weekend and a great high school race season.

Because nothing says King Tut like an April Triathlon in McKinney Texas... Stonebridge, McKinney, Texas, Earth was once again host to Playtri's King Tut Sprint Triathlon yesterday, April 18. Although McKinney Velo had a much smaller race contingent at the Tut in '10 (only 3 -- Julie Weber, Eduardo Guerra and Jonathan Sparling) than at the '09 version (where 10 or 11 current or former MV triathletes competed), MV's 2010 participants left their mark! Congratulations to Julie who took top weekend race results honors in the Weber household (i.e., Julie placed higher than Steve) with a 1st in the Women's 40-44 division and to Eduardo who won the Men's Clydes 40-44 division with a strong 1:12:38 time! And in the very competitive Men's 25-29 division, Jonathan came in a solid 11th. Nicely done MV Tri-people... way to represent!

Mineral Wells Stage 3 - Final GC - Team GC

Sunday Stage 3 road race finale was both good and bad for McKinney Velo. The bad started with another brutal day of wet rain and ended with Allen Abel of Joe's Pro Bikes besting CP for the 40+ GC title. The good - CP topped Abel in Stage 3, finishing 2nd while Abel took 3rd (with Bling in 4th for the stage, Oz 7th, Fene 10th, Seabass 13th and Big Patrick P T Cruiser Boxer Burke 14th). With those finishes, CP ended 2nd on GC, Bling was 4th, Fene 11th, Oz 12th, Seabass 14th and Boxer 15th. And that was enough to allow MV to handily take the 40+ team title.

Congratulations to Mirage's John Emerson who read the race dynamics beautifully and soloed to the Stage 3 win. Also congratulations to Abel on a hard fought GC win. Finally, congratulations and a big thanks to Mineral Wells race promoter Andy Hollinger and his fine promotional team for a splendidly organized and run race from start to finish... nothing makes old men feel more like the pro kids than racing a challenging stage race with hills, rain, wind and a ROLLING ENCLOSURE. Great race Andy! And thanks to the people of Mineral Wells for letting a bunch of silly looking cyclists play in your streets.

Mineral Wells Stage 2 & GC

After two stages in Mineral Wells, the Fayetteville 40+ race revisit continues. One place separated Allen Abel (2nd) and CP (3rd) in the stage 2 TT and one place (and one point) separate them in the GC heading into today's road race finale. In the team competition, it also looks like it'll come down to Joe's Pro Bikes v. McKinney Velo. Recognizing that these photos, the GC picture (top of page) in particular, are not terribly 'crisp' - thankfully CP's rides better than he photos - the GC after 2 stages has Abel (Joe's) 1, CP 2, Bling 5, Richmond Frasier (Joe's) 8, Kevin Barton (Joe's) 10, Fene 11, Oz 14, Seabass 17, and Big Patrick PT Cruiser Boxer (f/k/a Tenzing) Burke 18. Look for MV to leave it all out there today as the team works for another narrow CP over Abel win, and a team win as an added bonus.

Meanwhile, over in the MW 3s race, The Chosen One, Clay 'Hobby' Hobson, took a great 4th in the RR yesterday. MV 3s captain Steve 'Fitness' Borski didn't fare as well on the hilly, windy and wet road course. Nevertheless, Fitness planned to be the faithful teammate and ride support for Hobby in the 75 mile cat 3 road race finale... too bad then that Hobby was to be a DNS today. Stay tuned as we investigate and determine whether Hobby maintains his status as The Chosen One.

Mineral Wells Stage One

Fayetteville all over again... that was the feeling after stage one of the 40+ at Mineral Wells. Like Fayetteville, it was wet, it was windy and it was a little cold. And like Fayetteville, it was McKinney Velo's Chris Powers in a knock down drag out battle with Joe's pro Bikes Allen Abel for the GC lead. As this results sheet shows, Abel took the first stage 50 mile road race win, but thanks to some KOM points, CP sat 1st on GC. Stage two, a 6 mile TT was to follow about 5:00 this afternoon, and then it's another 50 miles Sunday. The biggest difference between Mineral Wells and Fayetteville? At MW, CP has more help. At Fayetteville, Team MV had only three: CP, Marco 'Joules' Corsi and Brownie. At MW, Team MV has the Bros' Burke x 3 (Patrick ('Bling'), Patrick Timothy and Timothy), Jeff Fene, Seabass (Brad Price), CP and Oz (Steve Weber). But then Joe's has a strong team too, as does OKC Velo. It's shaping up to be another battle royale (with cheese).

MV at Fort Davis - Race Roundup

From the better late than never file.... My typo in the Fort Davis stage one report where our MV boyz (pictured here returning to their base camp) had such great successes – that “MV is not set to solidify its 40+ lead in the afternoon TT” rather than is ‘now’ set... unfortunately proved to be prophetic. Think Cash Racing’s Jack Stepczynski tapped out a blistering fast (37:15) TT to jump up to the top of the 40+ GC. Bling (Patrick Burke) also broke 38 minutes (37:54) to hold onto 2nd. CP (Chris Powers) came 6th with a 38:46 which dropped him to 4th on GC. Meanwhile, Oz turned a 39:44 that left him almost 4 minutes back of Stepczynski. (Meanwhile, over in the Cat 2 race, Deuce (Mitch Blackwell) passed 3 on his way to a time that rivaled Bling’s and that moved him up 9 places on GC. Unfortunately, Deuce overworked his back in the process and was a DNS on Sunday.)

While not pleased to give up the GC lead heading into Sunday’s 75 mile RR finale, that shift in the standings did allow our MV boyz to race the way they are most comfortable – triple aggressively! With Richie Rocket (Rich Miller) and Oz (Steve Weber) more than 4 minutes down on GC and the stage offering 4 major climbs, they were designated to blow the race up in hopes of setting up Bling and CP for a breakaway that would bring the GC lead back to MV. Richie Rocket did an amazing job keeping things in check and setting tempo, covering early moves. Then Oz snuck off the front with Kevin Barton of Joe’s Pro Bikes who was also right at 4 minutes down. Barton was the perfect companion for Oz because Barton did not have any teammates higher on GC and he’s strong.

Oz and Barton stayed off over first 2 of 4 climbs until mile 60, and had a 6:30 gap at one point which meant the field and in particular GC leader Stepczynski had to work while Bling and CP followed wheels. Over the 2nd climb, Oz stopped pulling because he knew he needed to be fresh to help Bling and CP if caught or ensure the stage win if he and Barton made it to the finish.

Back in the field, Bling and CP used the 2nd hill to launch an attack that only their stage one break partner, Mirage’s Joe Howard, could follow. Bling and CP were all too happy to have Joe come along – he’s super strong, a great guy and was lying 7th on GC, so no threat to Bling or CP’s placing. This threesome caught Barton and Oz on the flats after the 2nd climb at mile 60. Shortly thereafter on the 3rd climb, Barton who had been off with Oz for 50 miles, had to pull over and stretch to overcome severe cramping. The 3 MV and Howard pushed on over the top of the 3rd climb.

It was a super fast technical decent in the pouring rain and hail coming off the 3rd climb, but Oz gave it all to help seal the break for Bling and CP. These three and Howard continued to drill it through the next flat section to put time in chasers. Oz could not keep pace on the 4th and last climb, so he dropped off and waived Bling, CP and Howard to go up the road. At the top, Oz was caught by a group of 4 which had the race leader, 5th, 9th and 12th on GC. Oz followed wheels on the 4 mile decent and 4 mile flat section before the steep 500 meter finish. There, Oz snapped off an attack for 4th on the day.

Up ahead, Bling and CP reversed their stage one finish with Bling taking the stage win and CP 2nd while Howard again came 3rd. With stage finishes of 2nd, 2nd and 1st, Bling was your Fort Davis 40+ GC winner, while CP’s 1st, 6th and 2nd were good enough for 2nd on GC! Oz used 2 11th places and his 4th on stage three to move up to 7th on GC, the last paying place! Meanwhile, Richie Rocket, the ever faithful teammate finished 15th on stage three and 16th on GC. Congratulations boyz, you done MV proud!

MISD/McKinney Velo High School Team News

Led by 2nd year team member Justin Hicks (pictured at left), the McKinney High School team sponsored by McKinney Velo has quietly put together a strong high school race season. Justin won the Men’s B road race and finished 2nd in the TT at the most recent high school event – the Baylor race weekend, on his way to 1st in the GC! Justin’s friend Austin McCown became his teammate at Baylor and with a strong 3rd in the TT, Austin finished 5th on GC. As a result, the McKinney Boy’s team is 3rd in the B season standings and 5th in the overall Boy’s standings. Other McKinney High/McKinney Velo boy’s team members are Brett Fene and Zachary Koeppe.

The McKinney/MV Girls (Christina Koeppe and Jennifer Garcia) are 3rd in the Girl’s season standings. Combined, McKinney High/MV sits 4th overall... quite an impressive showing for such a young and inexperienced team – the very unofficial and not widely publicized word is that a couple of the McKinney High team members would be eligible for a McKinney middle school team. Congratulations to all our high school/juniors team members for your successes and for representing your schools, your city and MV so well! Congratulations are also owed to the men who head up the MV/MISD program - Johnny White Shoes Moore, his assistant Big Patrick P T Cruiser Boxer Burke and our MISD team/club sponsor Mark ‘baby’ Bayer (hey, he volunteered his nickname... just sayin’).

Brownie at Battenkill

MV’s Mike Brown, known by most as simply “Brownie” (pictured here winning the 40+ at Copperas Cove in January 2010), had targeted the Tour of Battenkill in New York all Winter and into the early season Texas races; going so far as to lose 10 el bees to drop down to his high school weight.

Brownie aptly chronicled the obstacles racers face at Battenkill in a series of TxBRA posts, but in short, the 40+ field tackled a 100km course that featured 8 dirt/gravel road sections with several hills (like the two pictured above, the top picture showing a climb being crested by the Pro 1 field), including some at 17-19%.

Brownie gave a brief race summary on TxBRA and will provide greater detail on his experience in The Racing Post. But you’re not on TxBRA and you’re not reading The Racing Post. Instead, you want to know now, how did he do? And I’ve got the answer – damn hell well! Out of 125 starters, Brownie finished 20th, which is a very nice result for such a challenging course, but that placing hardly describes the impact and impression Brownie left on his fellow competitors.

Battling legs that were threatening severe cramping and knowing that the final dirt road section included a nasty climb, Brownie attacked with 20 miles to go on the approach to dirt sector 8 of 8 in pursuit of a 5 man lead group. Although he didn’t catch the break, Brownie did manage to hold off the main field for 16 miles. Then, after sitting in to recover for 2 miles, Brownie launched again and stayed off until he was swallowed by the field with 50 yards to go. All in all, an excellent display of aggressive McKinney Velo racing!

McKinney Velo Boyz at Fort Davis

LIFE IS GOOD

Not sure what (l-r) Bling, Oz, Deuce, Rocket Richie and CP ate and drank yesterday in Fort Davis as their pre-race meal, but it was the right choice. During this morning's 40+ stage one, Oz and Rocket Richie set tempo and kept the group together until CP and Bling could launch an attack on the finish climb that only Mirage's Joe Howard could follow. Then in the last K of the climb, Bling attacked first, but Howard brought him back. CP immediately countered and got the gap that would lead to the stage W! Bling was then able to drop Howard and follow CP in 2nd. Great job by the entire team. MV is not set to solidify its 40+ lead in the afternoon TT.

While his teammates were practicing team tactics in the 40+ race,Deuce was left to fend for himself in a brutal P 1,2 field -- the 2s were scored separately, but the race was combined. With Hotel San Jose setting a blistering pace leading Blackgrove to the stage win, it took all Deuce had just to survive and finish mid-pack. But even then, his climb time was as good as or even better than CP's winning climb in the 40+ giving an indication of just how hard the P 1,2s raced today.

TT reports to follow.

2010 Ouachita Challenge

This past weekend, Pedro and I headed up to Oden, AR, for our first Ouachita Challenge. It's a 60 mile mountain bike race on the Ouachita and Womble trails with some gravel road connectors. We'd both heard about how great the trails are, and they didn't disappoint. This event had been the focus of my training since the fall XC season ended.

I did a local 6-hour race at Big Cedar a few weeks prior, and while my result wasn't bad, I wasn't happy with my performance. I struggled with cramping and just couldn't make much power. I figured it was due to some combination of three things: lack of dirt riding, lack of intensity in training, and race nutrition. I got one good dirt ride in, but the weather prevented more. I had just started adding intervals, so I kept that up and added the Wednesday MVC ride to the schedule. And, I revamped my nutrition plan, settling on a mixture of Heed and a bit of soy protein at around 280 cal/hr.

Keeping it low-budget, we stayed in the gym at the school that serves as race headquarters. It was nice waking up on site, and I slept fine. I'd stay there again, but once we got kitted up, I did hear a couple comments about MVC at a mountain bike race and how the road team doesn't sleep on the floor. ;-)

Race day morning was cool, windy, and damp with some spitting rain. The race started with a short neutral roll-out to a long, hilly gravel road before the first section of trail. I stayed towards the front but out of the wind. A small group of guys that ride for a living got away on one of the last hills, but I rolled into the singletrack around 30th without having to go too hard.

This ain't Texas anymore! Up, down, lots of rocks! Relative to others around me at this point, my technical skills suck (I'm still "new" after two years, right?). I must have dropped 15-20 positions on the first section of trail. The number of riders passing me dwindled as the trail headed up Blowout Mtn. There are some brutal rock gardens here that are sketchy even on foot, and I took a couple of low speed tumbles. Over Chalybeate, I started passing more people than passed me.

Whew! I made it through the rougher Ouachita Trail portion unscathed and felt pretty good. I tried to find someone to work with on the second road section, but it never worked out. I traded pulls with one guy for a couple miles, but he eventually dropped me. No one else I passed could hang on, let alone help. I rolled into the third aid station in 3:15 and mixed up my second half fuel.

The following section of the Womble trail was as I had expected. It was much more groomed than the OT, but the lake it was winding around was a long ways down. Rounding a corner onto a steep downhill section, I hit a hidden rock just wrong, and my rear tire popped.

I was now on a narrow, bench cut trail, covered in mud, trying to repair an inch-long gash in the sidewall of my tire. I was constantly interruped, trying to make room for passing riders that invariably let out an "Oh $#!*" when they first saw me. I installed a tube and boot and aired up the tire, but it didn't look all that great. There was a bulge around the gash, but at least I was rolling again.

The next couple sections of trail were fast, flowy, and fun. Unfortunately, my rear tire was getting noticeably softer. I stopped when I hit another gravel road and added some air, but it didn't last long. I put in my second tube and spent more time making sure the boot was positioned just right before airing it up. Success.

The rest of the Womble trail was great. I was passing people left and right with only occasional twinges in my hamstrings on the granny-gear climbs. When I came upon the last token station, they said I had 4.5 miles left and it was all road. That was a welcome report, so I put my head down and drove to the finish.

I finished 54th (263 registered) in 6:18 with 32 minutes stopped for the tire. Bryan Fawley won it in 4:51. So, I have some room to improve, but I felt strong and was very happy with the performance. I'm looking forward to next year!

El Guapo rolled in at around 7 hours. I never saw Patrick or Todd. Leave a comment and let us know how it went.

Cat 3 captain - Borski (aka Fitness) - Ronde Von Manda

Ronde Von Manda Cat 3 Race Summary from the eyes of Borski:




Well I knew when Trevor picked me up at 6 am and the wind was blowing 20+ out of the northwest, we were in for a hard day! The race started hard and went from there. A field of 63 started this venture, needless to say, only the strong survived! LOL! The first lap attacks were many and rather gutsy, but each time solo efforts, so I just had to laugh a bit at that, we had 60 mi to go in a 25+ wind on a unprotected course. But oh well lets chase them down anyway seemed to be the motto. Trevor and I stayed near the front, just knowing it was the place to be all day, the teams seemed to want to work hard on the first lap to chase back what seemed futile in the wind. Well finally things settled down, that’s when we knew it was time to do something. Trevor took a flyer in the tailwind section, mostly so he would not get gapped once we hit the several crosswind sections. He just kind of kept it going for about 6 miles. I heard snickers in the peloton, about how that will never work, they let him sit just off the group for a while, Trevor happy to know what we had talked about earlier, would probably work if done at the right time. So just at the catch in the headwind section about 100m from a hard right into a ugly crosswind section, I gassed it, hit the corner and we were off, strung it out and gutter city, got a few guys to help taking turns and before we knew it we had a gap, hit a tailwind section and had a few stragglers tag on and the 8 of us were off. That was the race, we were gone, managed to work well as a group, we stayed away for 36 miles, soon it became evident that some were less enthused about what we were doing, so with about 5 miles from the finish, I went, and just like that we were 5, selection done! The rest was just tactics, I learned a lesson for sure, I felt good with 1 k to go, so made a false attack to see who wanted to play, the biggest wheel suck of the 5 jumped with 500m to go, we got on his wheel, me the last in line, then disaster, the two riders in front of me died, just blew at about 270m from the line, I followed the kid I was marking all day(raced with him in Fayetteville, knew he had good legs) but stupid move we passed on the left, just crossing the yellow line at about 250m, yep the ref let us play all over the yellow line all day, but the rules are rules, I got 3rd in the sprint, but after ref protest, relegated to 5th. Oh well, we came and raced our bikes, that made it fun, well worth all the effort. My thanks to Trevor for the work early, and yes I love it when a plan comes together!!!! Oh yeah Boss, it was EPIC! Afterwards the winner said he was marking MVC all day as it was apparent they came to race.

Click here for the Video link of the Cat 3 finish (3rd place for Borski):

Fayetteville 40+ stage 3 as told by Brownie

[This is a great account of yesterday's stage 3 in the fayetteville 40+ race as told by Mike 'Brownie' Brown on TxBRA.]

"This was one of the most tactical races I've been in in a while. Since Allen [Abel of Joe's Pro Bikes] and [Chris 'CP'} Powers were tied on time, MVC's goal was to get the two second time bonus and then sit back and let the pack bring the race to us and do our best to hold it together for the sprint. Well, Allen beat Chris up the hill with a huge power surge that nobody could match [to earn the mid-race :02 bonus]. That put Joe's as the leaders on the road by 2 seconds. As it played out, that actually proved to be their downfall. Because when [Mark] Wiggins [Austinbikes/Revenant] went up the road with Duane [Neu - NTRT], that put Joe's in a must chase situation to maintain their overall GC.

Chris and I also knew Duane was about 1 minute behind him and Allen going into stage 3. When Joe's went to the front to chase, we sat in the back and just monitored their progress. I must have done 50 time checks during that race. Every time we crested a hill and saw Wiggins and Duane, I started timing their gap. If their gap would have started to blow out to the 1:30 or 2:00 minute mark, then I would have had to have gone to the front to help Joe's in order to bring the gap back down to around the 1:00 minute mark, thus negating Duane's overall GC chance, and putting the ball back in our court hoping Chris could outsprint Allen, take the time bonus and thus the overall CG.

But Patrick [McGrath], along with an occasional pull from Allen, kept the gap at exactly 1:00 minute. It was a huge, impressive effort by Patrick. In fact, it was such a huge effort that MVC never had to come to the front. If Allen had not beat Chris for the 2 sec bonus on lap 2, then it would have been MVC on the front instead of Joe's. It was a pure tactical game all day of knowing where everyone stood on CG, who was up the road, how much power they had, constantly maintaining time checks on their advantage and adjusting tactics if needed to always keep that gap right where we needed it in order for Joe's to do all the work and us do nothing. So, in a nutshell, that's exactly what the 40+ 1's and 2's were doing all day...having a tactical war!"

[As reported yesterday, CP took 3rd on stage 3 and with it the :04 bonus that moved him to the top of the GCand the 40+ win.]

Fayetteville: Day 2

Day two of Fayetteville brought more great results from McKinney Velo’s 5-man race contingent! To the news:

Cat 2 – The Cat 2 field was shredded today as 11 took a DNF, leaving only 23 finishers. But despite his relative inexperience, Shane “Sammy” Haga hung with the guys he needed to stay with. As a result, he moved up a place to finish 5th on the overall GC!! Haga’s result is all the more impressive since he was a CAT 3 only two weeks ago – must be something in that Haga gene pool (congratulations to Shane’s older brother Chad on his very convincing win in the P, 1 field at Fayetteville). Great job Shane.

Cat 3 – It was also a difficult day in the Cat 3 field. With 13 DNFs today, only 1/3 of the field finished the race. Congratulations to Steve Borski for his 10th overall on GC!

40+ – As we noted yesterday, Chris Powers started the day tied atop the GC with Allen Abel of Joe’s Pro Bikes. Marco and Brownie did what they could to help CP gain that one second he needed for the win. But after Abel’s teammate led him out for a :02 mid-race time bonus, the onus was on CP to pull out something special if he was going to overtake Abel for the GC win. Duane Neu and stage 1 winner Mark Wiggans went up the road and took with them the :10 and :06 bonuses for 1st and 2nd place. All that was left was the :04 bonus for 3rd place and CP nabbed it from a four man group that included Abel. As a result, Chris Powers is your 2010 Fayetteville 40+ GC winner by :02! Congratulations to Chris and teammates Marco Corsi and Mike ‘Brownie’ Brown for a great result.

An Epic Saturday in Fayetteville!

On a day that will go down as one of the most epic in Texas racing history – torrential rain, hail, lightning, a 15+ degree temp drop down into the 40s and brought 40 mile hour winds to match the temperature – 5 McKinney Velo racers took the challenge and performed remarkably well quite well.

Steve Borski, racing solo in the 3s, rode a smart race. He was positioned near the head of the cat 3 field when the storm front blew through and split the filed in a serious cross wind. Steve made the lead group and ultimately battled to a 12th place finish; a result made all the more remarkable when you consider that only 41 out of 86 registered racers completed the stage.

In the Cat 2 field, McV’s Christopher Shane ‘Sammy’ Haga was where he needed to be when the key split happened. ‘Sammy’ made the decisive 10-man lead group before finishing a solid 6th. Unfortunately, the poor weather took its toll on Haga in the TT. Between worn out brake pads and a slick road, Haga couldn’t keep his bike upright in the TT turn around... after remounting, ‘Sammy’ spent the rest of the TT trying to limit his losses. Nevertheless, a fine effort on a brutal day.

Brutal is the only way to describe Marco ‘Polo’ ‘Kilojoules’ Corsi’s day in the 40+ field. Marco flatted once... each race - rear in the road race and the front in the TT. But on a day when so many racers packed it in early, if they lined up at all, Marco stuck it out and finished both stages. And it’s good that he did because he’ll be needed Sunday. Why? Because Chris ‘CP’ Powers is dead even atop the 40+ GC with Joe’s Pro Bikes Allen Abel after he beat Abel by 4 seconds to win the 40+ TT! CP put himself in position to pull event with Abel and to take the overall title with a ridiculous late race chase in the road race. About 10K out, CP suffered what so many others did today, a flat. After taking a rear wheel from the follow that didn’t match his components, CP chased back on riding in his 53/12, the only gear he had available where he took 9th. Up ahead of CP, Brownie (who ruined 2 tires today – and he didn’t suffer a flat!) was bagging 4th on the stage! Although CP finished 9th, with the benefit of 2 bonus seconds earned during the stage, CP began the TT in 4th, 8 seconds behind Mark Wiggans (who was late for his T start, thereby taking himself out of the running for the overall) and 4 behind Abel. CP reversed that deficit by the same time gap. So together with Marco and Brownie, CP will head into Sunday looking to gain 1 more second on Abel and the overall victory to go with it.

Week's Worth of Race Results

Overdue Congratulations:

MVC has been busy racing in the DFW area the last 7 days.

We begin with the HCTT last Saturday morning, where on the juniors side, Zachary Koeppe took 2nd in the Jr. Open, Christina Koeppe took 2nd in the high school girls and Jennifer Garcia finished 8th. Shane “Sammy” Haga placed 7th in the College A despite a very quick time. Steve Borski was 7th and Stephan ‘Country’ Davidson 12th in the 3/4, and Goran took 11th and Eduardo 19th (out of 46 starters) in the 4/5s.

Saturday also saw a number of McKinney Velo racers tackle the Denton Rhapsody Crit. Tim Kolb managed 4th (out of 46) in the 5s in what was only about his 5th start ever. Trevor Rigby managed 13th, Borski 17th and Walt ‘Disney’ Megura, Jamey ‘Watts’ Munroe and Marco ‘Polo’ ‘Kilojoules’ Corsi finished in the 20s (out of 71 starters). The big news though was McV’s WIN the 40+ courtesy of Steve ‘Oz’ Weber. In true McV fashion, Chris ‘CP’ Powers launched on lap one to initiate the break that would define the race, although truth be told, CP did wait until after the 2nd turn. When the break quickly grew to 6, Kurt Bickel attacked and Oz followed, soon to counter and beat Bickel to the lead group. Bickel would join within a coup0le more laps and 30 minutes in, that group of 8 had lapped the field. From there, the other six from McV in the race (Brad ‘Seabass’ Price, Doc, Jamey Watts, Polo, Disney, and PT ‘Cruiser’ Burke) began working the front trying to set up CP and Oz for the finish, while fast finishers from the 8 man break Richard Lamb, Les Akins and Jorge Merle (in that order) marked CP. On the last lap, CP moved into 2nd position behind Seabass with Lamb and Akins glued to his him while Doc escorted Oz through the wind and dropped him off on Akin’s wheel. Seabass first and then CP drilled the pace heading around the south side of the stadium and then OZ took it to the outside and won by a couple of bike lengths over Lamb!! CP held on for 3rd!

Sunday brought the Jesuit Ranger Roundup, and more strong racing by McV. On the scholastic side, Sammy Haga finished 4th in the College A while Brett Fene took 13th in the High School B. In the USCF races, David Garrett turned in a fine 5th in the 4/5 while Tim Kolb showed that Saturday’s result was no fluke with a 7th place finish. Jon and David Rhodes and Brian ‘Irish’ Fitzpatrick had nice races in support of Garrett and Kolb. Following monster efforts chasing breaks by Jeff Fene, Rocket Richie Miller, and particularly Johnny ‘White Shoes’ Moore, and some good help from Rigby, Polo Kilojoules Corsi and Country Davidson, Jamey Watts managed 4th in the field sprint and 6th overall. In the big boyz (P, 1, 2, 3) race, Oz made the 6 man break while CP and Mike ‘Brownie’ Brown patrolled the field. After repeated attacks from Metro teammates, Oz held on for 6th while CP followed in 7th. A splendid results against a strong field.

Tuesday brought the season’s first Tues Nite Crit. With cooler temps and a breeze from the NW, the pace was fast, fast, fast. Many attacks were launched, but none succeeded. The B and A cane down to field sprints. Garrett notched a nice 4th in the B while Sammy Haga matched that result in the A with lead out help from Oz (7th) and CP (9th).

Last night saw the start of Dallas’s first ever Thursday Night Race series in Sunnyvale. Rocket Richie spent the week encouraging race participation, and then showed why – because the course suits him! Racing in his 2nd race of the night, Rocket Richie took 5th in the inaugural A race!

All in all, an impressive week of racing from McKinney Velo, against some great competition, in some super well run races. Thanks to all the promoters and competitors.

Lago Day Two & Texas Tech HS Races

First off, all apologies to internet eyes for the delay in reporting MVC’s Sunday [2/28] successes – a high school race overall victory by MVC junior Justin Hicks and a 40+ Lago win by Patrick “Bling” Burke. Now, to the news.

Texas Tech High School Races – With great success, MVC and McKinney HS racer Justin Hicks made the trip to Lubbock to race in the Texas High School League events held in conjunction with the Texas Tech Collegiate races. Although Justin, a McKinney High sophomore, is not quite a year into his bicycle racing career, he raced like a true veteran in men's HS B division races in Lubbock. On Saturday, Justin won the opening road race and then took 2nd in the afternoon time trial. Justin then came back on Sunday and finished 2nd in the crit. And that placing secured Justin a spot on the top of the omnium podium!!! Well done Justin!

Lago Day Two: Lago Vista 40+ road race – As reported earlier, with the support of only 2 teammates, CP (Chris Powers) secured a fine 2nd place finish in the Lago Day One 40+ race. While 2nd is nice, 1st is so much better. So for Sunday’s 40+ race, Brownie switched over from the P 1, 2 and reinforcements were brought in from Dallas (Richie ‘Rocket’ Miller) and McKinney (Steve ‘Oz’ Weber, Brad the ‘Seabass’ Price, Patrick ‘Bling’ Burke and Doc). It’s generally agreed among Lago veterans that Sunday’s shorter 4.4 mile course is more difficult than Saturday’s 5.5 miler... less flats; less opportunity to rest and recover. With that in mind, the plan for Sunday was to constantly apply pressure to make the race as difficult as possible. The goal was to get 2 MVC racers up the road (ideally CP and Bling, the 2 best suited for the Lago terrain) and be sure someone in orange, blue and white climbed to the top step of the podium.

Ignoring CP’s suggestion that we wait a lap before we went on the offensive, Bling attacked as soon as we made the first turn and started the backside climb. While the Proactive riders were particularly vigilant at the head of the field, no one tried to join Bling... so he rode out front on his own for the first 3 (of 9) laps. When Bling was finally brought back at the S/F to start lap 4, CP immediately attacked. The field responded before CP could get much of a gap, so Bling punched it again on the back side climb, a move that really strung the field out and saw the first real race casualties slide off the back.

Once Bling was brought back, others from MVC took their shots. At one point, Oz thought he’d gotten in a move that could stick, but it too was reeled in. Then inside 3 to go, Mirage’s Tom Lattig took a flyer. Whether he was going for the win or simply trying to set up his teammate, the always strong Joe Howard, was unclear. In any event, Lattig’s move worked to MVC’s advantage. Lattig, a well known fast finisher, sapped much of his energy with his move, but we still had enough matches to burn to chase him without sacrificing our chances for a late winning move. And that’s just how it played out.

Brownie, ‘Bass, Oz and especially Rocket Richie (who took a back side hill long pull at one point) worked hard to bring Lattig back and to set a pace that otherwise kept the field in check. Finally, while tackling the back side climb one last time, Bling and CP got off the front with Howard, OKC Velo’s Peter Erdoes, and Allen Abell of Joe’s Pro Bikes. While those five worked well together to establish and maintain their winning move, Oz and Seabass followed wheels... specifically, Kevin Schaefer’s wheels, as Kevin fought in vain (and much to his frustration, alone) to bring the break back.

With 1.5 km to go, CP launched a move. Abel, Erdoes and Howard were forced to chase, while Bling settled in for a ride to the line. Then as CP was caught, Bling made his move up the left side and bested Abell, Erdoes and Howard (in that order) for a hard fought win. CP hung on for 5th while behind, Oz took advantage of a strong lead out from the Seabass to secure the field sprint and 6th place. Brownie followed in 11th, Seabass in 16th and Miller was 24th. A plan well executed; a reward well earned.

Lago Vista Day 1

Lago Vitsa is a monument of Texas cycling, and this year, it has weather to match its . McKinney Velo had a small contingent at Lago day one, but a nice result in the 40+ nonetheless. With just 2 teammates, CP (Chris Powers) battled a tough field stacked with heavy hitters from THSJ to take a strong 2nd behind Will Ross. First is always the target though and with MVC reinforcements on the road to Lago -- look for a 9 man team Sunday, that'll be the goal.

Another Wednesday...

Webster's, MVC style...

Recently, CP (MVC's Chris Powers) used the term "clean wheels" to describe a victory by MVC fast finisher, Shane 'Sammy' Haga -- what does that mean, you ask? http://emcguire.smugmug.com/Sports/Pace-Bend-2212010/11321509_6Gnvz#794935853_W8th8.

Dateline Pace Bend

Newsflash: Shane ‘Sammy’ Haga adds to his W collection. Haga built on his strong effort yesterday at Walburg with a convincing sprint win in the 3s race at Pace Bend today. To say Shane was disappointed that he got popped from the long, winning break at Walburg on Saturday would be quite the understatement. But with Teammate Jamey Munroe riding a solid race and some super domestique help from MVC Cat 3 team captain Steve Borski, Haga turned Saturday’s disappointment into a Sunday celebration. Borski’s sacrifice almost set Munroe up for a placing too, but as so often happens in the final sprint at Pace Bend, a crash marred the rush to the line. Jamey was forced out of his pedals and off the road, but at least his body and his bike came away unscathed. Of course the best away to avoid the carnage is to get out in front of it, and that exactly what Shane. Congratulations Shane on your 2nd W in 2 weeks of racing and your 3rd as a 3.

Although MVC didn’t have near as many at Pace Bend as it did at Walburg, Nokki, Kolb and Michael Winders did take on the 35+ 4/5. Alas, their luck was bad, bad and worse. All three stayed active and did there best to remain near the front 10-20, but then Tim got hit with a flat... and with no wheel truck help around, he ended up walking half the PB course. Nokki and Winders made it to the finish and even put themselves in position to contest the sprint, but like the 3s race, the story at the end of 35+ 4/5 race was a big crash. Fortunately for our boyz, all they suffered was frustration (and not broken bones like others). That’s not much consolation though when you work hard to put yourself right “there” when it’s money time, only to have bad luck rob you of the chance to close the deal. Let’s hope these guys have better luck at Lago.

Dateline Walburg

Here’s a recap of MVC @ the Walburg Classic. First, to no one’s surprise who’s ever raced at Walburg, the predicted nice weather was a bad report. It was wet, and a little windy, and for extra fun, muddy. In other words, it was another Walburg Classic. Before we get to Jamey’s Cat 3 race report, here’s what we know about the other 4 races with MVC personnel. Well, to be accurate, what we know about Hammer and the 4s and that we still don’t know anything... except that the race is over.

Team Hotel San Jose hammered the P 1 field to set Josh Carter up for the win. Brownie fought valiantly as the only MVC-ite in that field, but finished well back of Carter. Nevertheless, he deserves our praise for taking on that challenge.

Nokki and Kolb tell us that the old(er) 4/5s have learned to race as teams. Nokki made the lead group but got guttered and slipped back to Tim in the 2nd group. Tim paced him back to the lead, but the teams in the lead used the weather and roads and split things up again. At that point, Nokki and Tim decided to save themselves for Pace Bend. Best of luck tomorrow boyz!

Once again, MVC made it’s presence known in the 40+ field. Seven started – Adams, the Patrick Burkes, Davidson, Powers, Price and Weber and 4 finished in the top 7! Bling Burke and road team coordinator Oz Weber made a 5 man break that also included OKC Velo’s Peter Erdoes and Lance Armstrong’;s regular ATX training buddy, John Korioth. Sensing that Korioth was the strongest in the group, Oz launched a late race attack to force Korioth to chase... and it worked but Koroioth was still able to hold off Bling and take the win. Bling was 2nd and Weber took 5th while Powers and Adams lead in the field taking 6th and 7th.

Congrats to all the race podiums and thanks to Team Brain and Spine for another classic Walburg Classic.

Now, here’s Jamey’s inside Cat 3 report:

“Shane [Ed. Note - that would be Shane “Sammy”] Haga was in a Cat 3 Walburg break for 45 miles and looking strong with a 2 minute gap and, at least at the start of the break, 8 guys to work ... Guys popped until only 4 were left including Shane.

Epic rain, enough wind to make it hard, and mud ... Excellent!

Last lap, chase of 5 went with 8 miles to go and we [ed. - “we” is Jamey and Steve Borski; Trevor had been caught up in a crash by then] didn't think it would stick ... It did ... but unfortunately Shane fell out with 5 miles to go in a 72 mi race. He said he did too much work and then they used him later on. I gave Shane a Gu and told him to regroup but he was shot.

Borski and I had been at front disrupting the chase in a good way. The remaining 3 from original break stayed off the front and damned if a 4 man the chase break didn't stick too. Borski and I were up front and trying to help a chase but guys must have been tired as we could never get it going.

I attacked with 2 mi to go but could not hold it as they chased me down pretty quickly and it was clearly a suicide mission ... Borski countered which was awesome but they did the same to him

Sprinting for 8th as we hit the finish hill and I had great position ... But I unclipped for 5 seconds after taking evasive action from a guy's bars next to me .... Lost 15 or so places ... and ended up having to repass them to regain original position and could not make it all up. Missed 8th by about amount of unclip. Not that 8th is great but it does have upgrade points with it ...

Borski and Shane soft-pedaled in but both raced great.

Borski rode like a champ doing textbook blocking at the front for all 3 laps! Tucson did him good!

Only 40 out of 80 finished, I think... Our only tactical mistake was not getting into that late chase break ... But we didn't think it would stick and we were still blocking as Shane was still up the road so did not want to invite a chase.

Looked like we had finished Paris Roubaix with the mud and wet from the rain!

Trevor had bad luck as a guy wrecked him on lap 2 on a right turn in the rain which sux. [Ed. Note - Trevor wasn’t hurt and his bike was fine too; but several bikes became entangled and by the time everyone unraveled the mess, there was no chance of chasing back on.]

We will try again tomorrow.

Jamey Munroe”

MVC & Walburg

The real Texas racing season starts tomorrow at the Walburg Classic, and “classic” is an apropos title. Walburg is usually a battle of attrition... 24 mile loops run on narrow farm country roads in a predominately east/west direction. There are a fair number of rollers on the loop (including ah uphill finish), but the attrition is almost always weather driven - cold, windy, wet – often all three. None of those conditions are on the forecast for tomorrow though, but the prediction here is that the forecast will be wrong... out on a limb, yes, but it’s a pretty sturdy limb.

MVC will have a presence in 5 of the fields:

Borski, Haga, Munroe and Rigby will take on a 75 rider strong Cat 3 field;

Michael “Hammer” Caney will fly solo in the a surprisingly small Cat 4 field, not that 59 racers is all that small, especially on the narrow roads of Walburg, but a 59 rider Cat 4 field, at Walburg?!?;

Nokki and Tim Kolb (making his MVC race debut) will tackle the 35+ 4/5 race;

Adams, 1 of our P. Burkes, “Country” Davidson, Powers, Price, and Weber will battle 36 others in the 40+ filed; and

Brownie will join an extremely strong 49 racer P, 1 field.

Best of luck to all our MVC racers for strong, safe racing! Stay tuned for reports.

MVC Alt Sat Ride fro 2/13/2010

Hey Internet Readers -- Due to the anticipated sloppy conditions in the morning of February 13, an MVC spawned group will depart from the usual locale outside of Starbucks in the Tom Thumb parking lot at Hardin and Eldorado at 2:00 p.m. It's been suggested that we cut the top (i.e., northernmost) 8-9 miles off the route, but that decision has not yet been made. Spread the word and come join us.

'Jim Hoyt for President"...

That is the lead post in a growing thread on the TxBRA general discussion forum praising Jim's efforts in support of Patrick McCarty. Jim, Max Miley and the RBM/Elite team have stepped in to give Pat a racing home as a bridge to a new pro team contract after Pat's deal with Rock Racing fell through. Pat's RR contract was voided when RR couldn't obtain UCI approval for a Pro Continental license in 2010. Rock was only a Continental team in '09, but 1/2 of the roster of Continental teams must be under age 28, and Pat hit 28 in 2010.

As a Texas racer, Max Miley needs no introduction, but some may not know that Max was Pat's original coach (dating back to when Pat was 14). Max helped steer Pat to great domestic race success as a junior including a couple of national time trial titles. That lead Pat to the US National U23 team where Pat ultimately achieved a top 5 World U23 ranking and several race successes before embarking on a pro career with US Postal/Discovery, Phonak, Garmin and OUCH. Pat is one of the "good guys" in Texas racing and the recent TxBRA thread speaks to his popularity, and the resulting appreciation for Jim Hoyt's help keeping Pat in the racing arena.

Jim's efforts are not a surprise to McKinney Velo though. Jim, Rhonda, Woody and the rest of the RBM family have been great friends of McKinney Velo and our club objectives and we are quite thankful for their support. Jim's support and commitment to Texas racing will be particularly evident when we Bike the Bricks in Historic Downtown McKinney on June 11, 2010. Details very soon... But until then, thank you Jim.

2/10/2010

The forecast for today calls for temps approaching 40, no precipitation and light winds. So, MVC sprints in Craig Ranch are on. 6:00 p.m. on the roads outside the TPC and Cooper Clinic entrances. Come join in if you can.

MVC 3s at The Driveway

Shane (Sammy) Haga followed up his Saturday victory with a strong 2nd today. Credit to Hobson and Munroe for a great lead out.

MVC 40+ Team @ The Driveway

With an embarrassingly strong team of 9 racers -- Adams, Brownie, the Burke triplets (the Patricks and Tim), Miller, Powers, Price, and Weber -- the MVC 40+ team was constantly on the attack this morning in the 40+ races at The Driveway. And it paid off... CP took 1st, Oz took 5th, and MVC took every prime, including Bling winning the gambler's prime ahead of CP's win!

3s are racing now... hope to have another win to report from that group later.

MVC @ Belterra

Cat 3s: With a perfect lead out from Clay Hobson, Shane (Sammy) Haga took a big W earlier this afternoon. And Clay held on for a well deserved 2nd. We don't anticipate many more days like this for Haga and Hobson, but only because their days as 3s are numbered!

40+: MVC fielded a super strong squad for the 40+ at Belterra today. And as expected, MVC was active at the front throughout the race until Bling slipped into what proved to be the winning 5 man break late in the festivities. Sadly, Bling was squeezed against the curb in the sprint and was forced to settle for 4th. But tomorrow is another day. Stay tuned and keep your eyeballs reading here for more news.

Belterra/Driveway Race Weekend

For the first time in '10, McKinney Velo has a team traveling to a TX race... yes, Brownie and CP raced as a "team" at Copperas Cove and did fantastic -- fantastic as in 1st and 4th! But this weekend is different. This weekend, MVC has 10 racers pre-registered to race in Austin; 8 in the 40+ races and 2 in the 3s. So keep your eyeballs reading here for updates on the results turned in by Shane (Sammy) Haga and Jamey in the 3s and Adams, Brownie, the Patrick Burkes (Bling and PT), Rocket Richie, CP, Seabass and Oz in the 40+ races.

It's Wednesday in McKinney...

and elsewhere, of course, but we're not the Elsewhere Velo Club. We're MVC and on Wednesdays in February and into March, we have sprint workouts under the lights of Craig ranch by the TPC and Cooper. Start time is 6:00 p.m. -- lights are not required, but they are recommended. As long as the weather cooperates, our 1st official Wed Nite workout of '10 is this evening; and if it goes anything like our 1st unofficial workout last week, expect good fellowship and some excellent speed and lead out training.

Flying solo at ToNB

Congratulations to MVC's CP (Chris Powers for those without a program) for finishing 5th and 6th at the Tour of New Braunfels road race and crits this past weekend. CP accomplished these fine results racing solo against a filed stacked with talent from Joe's Pro Bikes' masters team and several other stout racers from SA and ATX. It's going to be a much more level playing field this weekend -- Hello Austin, MVC is coming to town!

MVC sat ride -- 1/30/10

Due to possible icy roads in the a.m., our Saturday ride will start at 11:00 a.m. tomorrow morning, January 30, 2010. Sunday’s ride will roll at 1:00 as usual.

Wed Nite Round Up

Small group, but great weather and a great workout! First, the McKinney Police had to thoroughly secure the perimeter for us while protecting our community from a Cooper Clinic member who went Britney in the ladies locker room. But then, we put in 5 solid sprint interval efforts while rolling around until 7:30. As the Great Oz noted, Wed Nites are a great opportunity for MVC team fellowship, work on team cohesion, and a damn hell hard leg speed/power work out.

Come join the fun next week.

Ride Notes and News

Saturday and Sunday MVC Rides -- Be advised that: (1) (as always) we roll neutral until we turn off Lawn Meadow onto FM 2933; and (2) we now turn left onto FM 2933 and head toward Squeezepenney on both Saturday and Sunday -- updated maps will be provided soon, but just after the Squeezepenny sign, turn right onto CR 341, follow it to CR 409 where we turn right again and then rejoin the old route on FM 1827 just to the east of the church.

Wed Nite sprint workouts at Craig Ranch (by the Cooper Clinic) officially start next Wednesday February 3, 2010. The riding starts at 6:00 but we do a loop (counter clockwise) so come when you can and join in when you're warm and ready. Bring your legs and as many lights as you need to feel comfortable... part of the course is reasonable well lighted, but parts are dark. Official start date aside, the Seabass is going to get a jump on the fun and be out there tomorrow night, 2/27/10... and I plan to join him. Come too if you think you're ready for fun, 'Bass style...!

New Kits; First Win!

MVC's new kits arrived Friday; MVC's first win of 2010 arrived Saturday.

Mike 'Brownie' Brown took the 40+ win at Copperas Cove Saturday 1/23 over 2009 Masters road champion Kurt Bickel. Brownie received much needed support in a 10 man break from Chris Powers who went on to nab 4th place in a photo finish from another Joe's Pro Bikes racer. The question is -- what looked better, the new kits or the W?

Nice job boys!!

Results here: http://www.teambicyclesinc.org/CC%20Race/TBi%20Classic%2010%20Final%20Results.pdf

Powers photo finish here: http://www.teambicyclesinc.org/CC%20Race/point0045%20powersMcGrath.jpg

MVC RIDES 1/17 & 1/18

RIDE ADVISARY: On Sunday January 17, we will do our usual Sunday route at 8:30 am instead of our usual 1:00 pm start-- It is after all the NFL's best playoff weekend, and the Cowboys play at noon.

McKinney Velo will also have an MLK day ride beginning Monday at 8:30 am from the usual start location-- Starbucks at Hardin & Eldorado.

Please join us if you can; all riders are welcome.

END OF ADVISARY