Bike the Bricks V - May 23, 2014

Details coming soon....

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.

T.V. Face Time for Matt Brady.

Earlier this week, friend of McKinney Velo, Geoff Godsey, appeared on Good Morning Texas to discuss gifts for people with active lifestyles. Geoff brought gift ideas for show and tell, and used MV's Matt Brady to model use of a stationary trainer. Check out Matt and Geoff's television appearance here. [MANDATORY FBI DISCLAIMER: Matt was used for display purposes only and is not for sale.]

Texas High School Bike Racing League

McKinney Velo members Justin Hicks (pictured here) and Austin McCown are among hundreds of Texas high school bike racers who are gearing up for the 2012 Texas high school racing season.

High School boys road racing has two categories: B races for Beginner/Intermediate racers, and A races for Advanced racers. The Texas H S League also has a separate category for girls. Texas H S races are scheduled on weekends so schools from all across Texas can compete at the same events. Most of the weekends include a road race, a crit, and a TT. Points are earned in each event. Small medals or trophies are earned at each event, and there is an overall award at the end of the season for overall team points and individual points.

Here is the league website: http://www.texashighschoolcycling.org. Andrew Armstrong, a teacher at Jesuit High School in Dallas (and a Cat 1 racer with MV's sister RBM sponsored Matrix team), heads up the league and does a great job.

Here are the 2012 tentative race dates. The HS races piggy-back on the college events – we use the same course, officials, etc. It’s fun for the HS kids to see the college racers, and sometimes they will run the HS A group with the college C group.


March 3/4 - Texas A&M (College Station, TX)
March10/11 - Denton Crit/Jesuit Roundup RR (Denton and Celina, TX)
March 24/25 - Univ of Texas at Austin (Austin, TX)
March 31/April 1 - SMU/TCU/UNT (Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX)
April 14/15 - Midwestern State (Wichita Falls, TX)
May 5/5 - Coldspring RR & Crit (Houston, TX)

If you're a Collin County area high school student and interested in bike racing, drop us a line at info@mckinneyvelo.org... we'd like to see if we can help you pin on a number.

Brownie’s Take: Pros & Cons of Off-Season Weight Training

BROWNIE’S TAKE: PROS & CONS OF OFF-SEASON WEIGHT TRAINING.

Mike “Brownie” Brown (pictured here securing his annual victory in the Copperas Cove season opener to another Texas road racing season) just finished his 2011 season where it all started – on the top step of the podium in Copperas Cove. Brownie’s most recent Copperas Cove victory made him the 2011 Master’s Age 45-49 State Champion... which makes a nice bookend for the P/1/2 State Championship Brownie won at Chappell Hill in 2001. Brownie will be the first to tell you that he owes a great deal of his success each season to the foundation he builds during the off-season. In this “interview” with Bob He of Timewaster Media Enterprises, the first in a series of at least one, Brownie offers what some may consider a surprising view on a common element of most off-season training programs – weight training. But with 2011 victories in January (Copperas Cove), March (Jesuit Ranger Roundup), April (Matrix Challenge) and September (Age-Based State Road Race), along with podium finishes at the Age-Based State Crits in May and at Cotton Patch, Brownie’s opinion is certainly worthy of respect and consideration.

Bob He: I’m here with Mike “Brownie” Brown, newly crowned Texas Masters State Road Race Champion. “Brownie” – what an odd nickname... where did it come from?

Brownie: You add an “i” and an “e” to my last name... it’s a pretty common nickname for anyone named “Brown.”

Bob He: Oh yeah, duh... sorry, that was a panic first question. Forgive me, I’ve never fake interviewed a state champion before. Let’s talk about the race: So you won huh? Was that pretty awesome? [delete before publishing] Where the guys you beat any good? [ditto] Anyone you’d like to thank?

Brownie: Yes, my teammates at the race, Price, Weber, Fene, Burke, Moore, Looney, Feldman and Millwee, and of course all our McKinney Velo sponsors, but especially Jim and Rhonda Hoyt over at Richardson Bike Mart.

Bob He: A lot of Texas racers, including many from Oklahoma, are wondering what they can do this off-season to have a season like Mike “Brownie” Brown had in 2011. Some are asking if they should go to the gym for lower extremity weights... what do you think?

Brownie: The answer to that question is very simple. It depends on when your first "A" race is in 2012. If you answered that question with Lago Vista or Pace Bend, then the answer is "NO". If you answered a race in April or May then maybe.

Bob He: (Possible Pulitzer winning question alert.) Why is that?

Brownie: My answer is based on the TxBRA calendar. With the State Road Racing Championships being in late September and the real road season officially starting (at least in my mind) with Walburg 4 ½ months later, that time frame will not help you at all from a weight lifting perspective (if you're planning on riding hard starting in February and March.) Let me explain this in more detail.

Bob He: Can you explain your answer in more... oh, sorry.

Brownie: Joe Friel's Training Bible does an excellent job in laying out a good time line if you truly want to benefit from weight training. The first weight training phase is an anatomical adaptation (AA) phase. This phase is critical as one transitions from a whole season of pedaling in circles to squats, leg presses, etc. Most people lift way too heavy way too fast. They don't start lifting light weights first and let the muscles, tendons and ligaments adjust to the new motions and stresses and end up being sore as hell for the first month after starting in the gym. Being that you should only be working legs hard 2 times per week, this AA phase should last at least 4 weeks. This time frame should be adequate in helping in a smoother physiological weight room adaptation and prevent a too hard too fast injury.

Once the AA period is finished you may begin the max strength (MS) phase. This phase is the super heavy weights at about 3-6 reps. This phase also lasts about 4-6 weeks and is nothing more than pure strength building. Power Endurance (PE) follows MS and involves lifting loads slightly less heavy than the MS phase for 6-10 reps but with much more explosive movements during lifting. Once again, this phase should last 4-6 weeks. The last phase for the off season focuses on Muscular Endurance (ME). ME involves lifting much lighter loads than the MS and PE phases, but you lift those loads for 40-60 reps. As you might expect, it takes much longer to build muscular endurance than strength or power, so this phase is much longer at 6-8 weeks.

So, based on these time frames set forth by Friel, the off season weight training program will take you approximately 14 to 20 weeks. That's 3 ½ to 5 months. That would work great if our off-season started after the Hotter n Hell Hundred (ed. -a/k/a "HHH”). But the Texas race schedule reality is that there are only 4 ½ months between the State Road Racing Championships and Walburg. Also keep in mind that your mileage on the bike is minimal or constant during the AA, MS and PE phases. A very common mistake by amateur cyclists is that they try to lift heavy weights while also trying to race cross, increase their base mileage or even begin on the bike workouts for next season! Your mileage on the bike should not increase until you begin the ME phase. Otherwise you will not be able to get 100% out of each workout because you're trying to give 100% effort in the gym and then turn around and give even more by building base at the same time on the bike. And some people wonder why they don't get any better year after year.

So, in summary, if you're truly trying to build strength for 2012, you did the Championships at the end of September and you want to have a good result at Walburg or Lago Vista, weight training, in my opinion, should not be part of your workouts. Four months is NOT enough time to benefit significantly from a properly planned AA, MS, SE and ME phases weight training program.

... to be continued (maybe).

MV Congrats & Condolences

Congratulations to MV members:

- Justin Hicks on a great junior profile in the July issue of the Racing Post: http://www.theracingpost.us/images/Issues/July%20%202011%20Web.pdf;

- Jake the Snake Wood for his win last Tuesday in the 'C' race; a much deserved victory after the Snake lost a chance to win about a month ago when he flatted out of a two man break that had a huge lead, and then came back a week later to lead out the Hammer for the Hammer's 1st W;

- Larry 'Blue' Price for beating all the 50+ old dudes (and almost everyone else) at Ginny King's Fair Park Crit Saturday 7/02;

- the MV 40+ team for the clinic it put on: (1) at the Fair Park Crits with Patrick 'Bling' Burke winning from a 2 man break; Rocket Richie Miller taking advantage of a huge effort from Blue and Johnny 'White Shoes" Moore to bridge him up to a chase with Brownie and Brad 'Seabass' Price by attacking through that group and taking 3rd in a solo effort, and to Brownie and 'Bass for knocking out 4th and 5th. That's right, MV took places 1, 3, 4, and 5; and (2) at the Mountain Creek Parkway Crits on 7/03 where strong work by Blue, Jeff Fene, Brad and Patrick led to another win for Bling and another 5th for the Seabass; and

- to the Chosen One, Clay Hobson, for his 4th in the 3/4 race at Fair Park and his WIN today in the 3/4 at Mountain Creek!

Finally, condolences to our road team leader, Steve 'Oz' Weber, on the untimely demise of his Specialized frame... she was strong and true and faithful, but some foes just can't be beaten; and concrete is one of those foes.

Ouachita Challenge

Decorated MV Correspondent Pedro "El Guapo" del Busto (pictured here on his road bike), files this report on the 2011 Ouachita Challenge:

Larry Price [ed. a/k/a "Blue" or "LP"] and myself headed out to Arkansas this past weekend to participate in the 10th anniversary of the OC. This is a very hard 60 mile MTB ride through the Ouachita and Womble trail systems just east of Mena.
Larry went out and did both the tour on Sat and the Race on Sunday! Not only did he ride both, he killed it! On Saturday, the route bypassed "Blow Out Mountain", but added a few more miles to the route.
Well, Larry decided he felt strong and was never going to let a couple of Plano guys show him up, so he went on to finish FIRST with an amazing time of 5:03 (Larry, correct me if I'm wrong because that seems awfully fast).
On Sunday I decided to join and do the race. I was able to beat my goal of sub-6 (by 3 minutes). Larry went on to finish very strong with a time of 5:45!


This is an amazing event. It is put together very well, the volunteers are noticeably excited to be there, everyone in town seems to know about it, and the trails are outstanding. We even had nice and sunny weather this year!


Hope more of you can join us for the 11th edition!

Bike the Bricks II - May 27, 2011

Bike the Bricks 2011
When: Friday, May 27, 2011 from 5 p.m. – 11 p.m.
Where: Historic Downtown McKinney

McKinney Velo and McKinney Main Street are proud to announce the second annual “Bike the Bricks” closed course “crit” bike race in Historic Downtown McKinney on Friday, May 27, 2011. The focus will be to deliver a nail-biting and interactive event that will draw increased exposure not only to health and wellness but highlighting McKinney's one-of- a kind Historic downtown. The event will include six races along with a mayoral cup invitational, live entertainment, food and drink. The climax of the event will draw in racers from across the state and beyond as these cyclists square off and chase a purse in the amount of $20,000.

Event spectators of all ages will enjoy a Friday night free event in Downtown to enjoy cycling, live entertainment and an opportunity to purchase food and drink. We are estimating up to 500 cyclists participate in the event, and thousands of spectators to enjoy event amenities. A portion of the proceeds raised from this event will be donated to the McKinney Education Foundation and Spokes for Hope.

For more information on this event, please visit http://www.bikethebricks.com/

It's Time...

Rocket Richie Miller and 18 other MV-ites are set to head down to Walburg for the Milan-San Remo of Texas cycling. While the international cycling calendar is full of events between the beginning of January and mid-March, Milan-San Remo (March 19, 2011 this year) is the accepted start of the real road racing season. M-SR is the first of the "Spring Classics," the monuments of pro cycling that define the sport and can serve to boost a nobody to star status, or cement an established pro as a racing legend. Walburg, with its narrow country roads, and traditionally wet and windy conditions, serves the same purpose in Texas. You really can't say that you're a Texas bike racer until you've done Walburg in 40 degree rain, and/or 30+ mph winds.

Tackling Walburg for MV in 2011 are:

Nokki Choeynim and Trevor Rigby in the Cat 3 race; Scott Millwee - 5A, and John Trotter and Jake Wood - 5B; Tim Kolb and Michael Winders in the 35+ 4/5; and Adams, Brownie, Bling Burke, Joules Corsi, Fene, the Chosen One - Clay Hobson, Walt 'Disney' Megura, Rocket Richie Miller, TBT [The Box Turtle] - Jamey Munroe, Doc, Seabass Brad Price and Larry 'Blue' Price, in the 40+. We wish them all well.

Super Bowl Sunday Ride Time

ATTENTION MV SUNDAY RIDE RIDERS: In order to accommodate our MV Sunday Ride Riders Super Bowl tailgating needs, we will roll out at 11:00 a.m. this coming Sunday, February 6, 2011. GO FOOTBALL!!

MV Camp 2011

MV held its annual road season opening training camp in Fredericksburg, TX between Jan 20-23. Why travel all the way to Fredericksburg... look at these pictures; that's why. Camp went great and expectations are for a 2011 season that will be of equal greatness. It's time....

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.