Bike the Bricks III

The big night is almost here!!!  Don't miss the 3rd annual, Bike the Bricks in historic Downtown McKinney.   Brought to you by the City of McKinney, Fiat of McKinney, Richardson Bike Mart, any many more...(Full Sponsor Listing).

McKinney Velo will be well represented in all the races, so be sure come out and see all the action!

McKinney Velo at the Joe Martin SR - Masters A Field

McKinney Velo ventured to Arkansas last weekend for a national caliber event (the Joe Martin Stage Race) against a national caliber masters field and proved MV can compete with the region's best. Russ Emerson 'Fitipaldi', Jeff 'Big Ring' Fene, 'Smokin' Joe Howard, the Seabass Brad Price and Steve 'Oz' Weber tackled the 3 stage Joe Martin Masters A field and helped Joe land a spot on the 2nd step of the 50+ podium, with a 4th place overall finsih in the combined 40+/50+ event. The JMSR begins with a 2.5 mile uphill TT. Eventual Masters A winner Janne Hamalainen (Tulsa Tough) proved to be the class of the field with his :29 TT victory. Howard settled in at 4th just :02 behind 3rd (Frank Jakofcich - OKC Velo) and :10 behind 2nd (Peter Beland - BMC/Walmart). Although the time gaps would increase slightly, that's how the overall combined GC would look after Saturday's 75 mile very hilly road race and Sunday's brutal crit... forced to battle the start/finish hill shown in the picture above each lap, only 17 Masters A racers were left to contest the crit finish. Despite the tough race conditions and strong field, MV kept Smokin' Joe out of trouble and ushered him to a 2nd place overall GC finish in the 50+ filed behind Janne H. Well done boys!

Team Brownie's Battenkill Prep Continues.

On April 14, 2012, MV's Mike 'Brownie' Brown and Russ Emerson 'Fittipaldi' [not an authorized nickname] will team with Austin Bikes racers John Ashe, Cord Offermann and Kevin Schaefer to battle a 150 rider 40+ field at "America's Toughest 1-Day Race" - the Tour of the Battenkill. As part of their Battenkill preparations, Brownie and Emerson travelled to Louisiana today for the always difficult, 100+ mile Rouge Roubaix. The RR road race is perfect for Brownie and Emerson because its run over roads that are similar in condition to what they will face at Battenkill.

According to Brownie, Rouge Roubaix "was the hardest race I have EVER done in my entire life [says the man who raced Battenkill two years ago]. Just to give you an idea there was one section where we had to get off our bikes and run up a hill that was so steep you couldn't ride up it!!! And that was at mile 86! Have you ever jumped off your bike and run 1/4 mile up a 20% grade after racing 86 miles over the absolutely worst paved and dirt roads ever created. Truly, truly epic.

I finished 2nd and Russ finished 3rd. People were coming up to us after the race and telling us they have never seen two guys race so well as a team before. Just a great experience."

Brownie and Emerson's strong effort at Rouge Roubaix follows their strong showing two weeks ago at Texas racing's little taste of Belgium -- the Walburg road race. Both Russ and Brownie pulled double duty at Walburg. Russ started the Cat 3 race before offering tremendous support to MV's Masters team in the 40+ race. While Russ was racing with the 3s, Brownie was starting ... and finishing (24th) the 72 mile P/1/2 race. Brownie then bridged up MV's Tim Brandish in the the winning break before taking 2nd to the always strong John Korioth in the 40+ race that started right after the P/1/2 concluded. Just behind the winning break, the 'Seabass' Brad Price was leading out Smokin' Joe Howard for 5th overall. Another fine day for McKinney at Walburg. And a precursor of things to come for Brownie and Emerson at Rouge Roubaix... and perhaps at the Tour of the Battenkill too.

Cedar Park Day Two

Saturday he had a solid day of road racing -- 5th in the 1/2/3 in the morning before helping launch Brandish and Hobson into 4th and 5th in the 40+ that afternoon. But on Sunday, Brownie came out ready to seize the prize Sunday. After initiating a three man break, he did just that, taking the 40+ victory. Behind, 'Seabass' Brad Price battled a trio of OKC guys before finishing a solid 7th. Congrats boys on the start of what promises to be another solid season for MV.

Cedar Hill Road Race - Day 1

Led by typically strong efforts from Mike "Brownie" Brown (top left) and Steve "Oz" Weber (bottom left exhibiting his tried and true recovery method), a number of McKinney Velo racers made memorable 2012 season debuts on day one of road racing at Cedar Park in southwest Dallas next to Joe Pool Lake. In the early morning, bitter cold 1/2/3 race, against a very strong field, Brownie and new MV recruit Russ Emerson Fitipaldi, made the break that lapped the field on a two-mile hilly circuit. When the ice crystals settled, Brownie had finished a very respectable 5th with Russ right behind him in 6th.

In the afternoon Masters race, Weber joined Richard Wharton in an early break. Bret Crosby soon bridged to them. That threesome eventually lapped the masters field with Weber landing the final spot on the podium. Behind the lead group of three, MV members Tom Brandish and Clay Hobson managed to slip off for 4th and 5th. Behind them, David Garrett took 9th to place 4 MV racers in the top 9.

With slightly warmer conditions and a wind shift predicted for day two, expect a very active MV team to make its presence felt again in day two of racing.

McKinney Velo Camp 2012

Under the good strong leadership of Jeff Fene, this group of McKinney Velo racers is enjoying the scenic roads of the Fredericksburg area by day, and sharing food, spirit and camaraderie at night. So far, the weather is cooperating and everyone is... if not in good fitness, at least in good spirits (yesterday's standoff with a rabid llama notwithstanding).

Setting the 2012 Results Bar High...

Congratulations to MV's Julian Howitt who secured MV's first road race 1st place (the rhyme rolls off the tongue much like Julian rolled across the line) of 2012 in the first road race of 2012 - the 1/14/2012 TRP Winter Crits. Julian took the victory in the 3/4 crit and then for good measure, placed 4th in the 4/5 race that followed. Way to set the tone for what many prognosticators are predicting will be MV's most successful season ever... in the history of MV's ever.