Team,

Fit Kits from Hincapie are at the shop!.  There are Jerseys, bibs, LS Skin Suits and Jackets  from Small to XL to try on and get sizes.  I checked mine yesterday and fit better in mediums than large, to my surprise.  They fit a little large compared to Sugoi,  but are real nice kits!

Please get to the shop by Wednesday 5/2 to test the sizes.  Kevan and I are planning to submit the order on Friday 5/4.  We will follow up  early next week on the orders.  Give this a high priority so we can get the orders in to have a delivery by the Tour of t he Valley.

Ask Todd or Dennis for the kits.  When I was there they were in the first floor, employee bathroom .  Some of the packages are poorly labeled so allow enough time to fish through the box to find your size.

Big Race tomorrow, good luck to all, see you there.

Bill

Cleveland to Pittsburgh ride report

Since moving here, I've wanted to ride from my parents' house on the east side of Cleveland back to Pittsburgh.  I finally had a chance to do that this weekend.

My route started in Chagrin Falls, zig-zagged east and south through Ohio, crossed the PA line, continued down to Beaver, then followed the Ohio River back to the City.  Here's a map for more detail: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=5423128

Rolling out from my parents' house at 8:30 Sunday morning, the temperature was in the low 40's with a persistent wind from the north and occasional drizzle.  I headed toward the town of Mantua to pick up a rail trail, but had difficulty finding the trailhead.  Eventually I stumbled on a trail that was better suited to a cross bike.

After a mile or so on the trail, I passed through a residential neighborhood.  Riding by a fenced-in yard, I saw what appeared to be three dogs heading toward me.  Looking again, I realized that A) these were awfully big dogs, B) they were moving in complete silence, and C) their faces seemed unusually pointed. At the same time I realized they were wolves, one of them reached the end of the fence, bared his teeth, snarled, and took a big bite into the chainlink.  I didn't stick around to see if they could jump the fence.

After a few miles the trail unexpectedly petered out, forcing me to detour onto the road and adding several miles to the trip.  Continuing through Ohio, I passed through Newton Falls, picked up the Mill Creek bike path outside of Lordstown, and made my way down to Columbiana.  It was fun riding some of the same roads as the Tour of the Valley road race.

Heading east, I crossed the PA state line outside of Negley, OH.  The state line marker offered a good photo-op.  The marker might be crumbling, but at least it's landscaped!

Distracted by daydreams of the Starbucks in Beaver, I unknowingly made a wrong turn at the 100-mile mark.  It took me a good four miles to realize my mistake, adding another 8 miles roundtrip to the day.  On the bright side, my espresso and scone were even more delicious when I finally made it into Beaver.

From there, it was a "short" 30 mile trip up the Ohio River back to the city.  The temperature hadn't improved much since starting out that morning, and the drizzle was near-constant from Beaver onward.  Fortunately I layered adequately that morning, and never really felt cold during the ride.

Rolling into Station Square, the Pittsburgh skyline was a sight for sore eyes (and butt).  By the time I rolled up to my front door at 7:00, I had covered a total of 150 miles.  Mission accomplished!

 Thanks for reading!

- Kevan

Race report for ABRA Green County RR

Lovely day for a bike ride, 50degrees and rain.  Anyway at ABRA #2 RR outside of Waynesburg a little rain made the fields a little thin but many of the usual showed up.  Ian and I represented UPMC.  Ian was out first in the 3/4's  I understand he did well riding in the peleton combined with the 123's.  A couple 123's broke away at the first climb but Ian sat in the main group, climbing as well as usual.  He had a little sprint in the chase group of a dozen or so and placed 14th overall in the 3/4's.

I raced the Masters of course,together with the women, about 30 of us all together.  The rain was constant but never real hard during the race.  The first hill I started a little too hard and lost position but got back with the group with a hard effort on the downhill.  Recovered only to see Gunnar pull off the front by himself and not enough organization to pull him back in.  I didn't care since he is racing the +40's.  The next two hills I managed better and saved a couple matches for the top.  Descents were slow because of the wet roads.  By the time the third hill came about there were three women, four +40's, myself and another +50's .  Six miles to go and the group rotating well positioning for the eventual sprint.  500 meters out I go! What was I thinking?  I happened to hold off all but Ted Mac McPherson, a +40 to finish 4th  in our race and 1st in the +50's.  A quick change to get into some dry and warm clothes and wait for the podium and the wheel truck.

Next week Steel City Showdown,  Kiddie-up!

Thanks for reading

Bill  

Team,

Storm is suppose to pass by noon tomorrow.  Team ride still on?   How about meeting at 11:30 am Starbucks in Heidelberg for a noon depart. Usual of 40-50 miles.  Ian plans on joining us.

How did Clarksburg go?  I hope the weather held okay

Bill

Yes, I am over due for a race report but with the holidays this weekend, now is time to catch up.

Morgantown RR the first of JR's ABRA Road Race Series and what a beautiful day.  65 degrees and a light breeze to welcome +300 racers.  Ian raced 3/4's, Johnny +40's and  me in the +50's. Lot's of folks excited to race.

I believe Ian's field was full at 75 rider's.  He finished well in the pack at  2:12:43 for 20th place.  Dynamite finish for a guy half the size of many of the racers and stuck with junior gears on those fast descents. Great job!

Johnny and I raced together in a field of 37 for the +40's and 28 in the +50's.  Some power houses from DC and Annapolis including Bax and Thasher in the +50's.  I felt good at the start and even chased Ray Russel on a little break.  Then came the first hill.  A typical JR race with a 1.5 mile climb that included some 15% grades.  I was in the lead group with Gunnar, Thasher and Russel at the start of the hill but about half way through I blew, couldn't dig deeper and lost about 10-15 places. I started working in a little group but decided to break away on the next hill outside a coal mine and a young +40 joined me.  We could see the next chase group in sight but could never catch them.  Finally the Calvary came that included Johnny with about 15 miles to go and the last of the four hills.  Johnny and I, Jeff Guy and Ted McPhearson his teammate were pitted against two guys from Annapolis (one of which was a +50). I lead the group over the last hill and then a fast descent and 5 miles to roll into the finish.  The six of us really went out fast dropping any other player's. Each taking a pull but carefully jockeying for position for the sprint.  With about 200 Meters to go Johnny jumped. I carefully watched my competition and followed a bit behind.  Johnny won our little field sprint, I came in forth with my competition a little back.  A fun finish despite being back in the race a little.

So how did we do?  Johnny rode 2:19:15 for 16th in the +40's  and I was at 2:19:18 for 9th place in the +50's.  There were a few protests in the results but I am happy with my results and had a great bike race on a beautiful day.

Thanks for reading
Bill .

Second Post,  Who is thinking about Racing JR's training race this Sunday?

www.bikereg.com/Net/15133

Wow what great weather.  So training outdoors tomorrow at the oval.  Skip was talking about bring the TT bike down for some efforts.  If there is a quorum I'll bring mine too. Who is in?

Team calendar

Thanks to Jeff for putting together the racing calendar!  It's an excellent resource to have.

I have created a link to the calendar on the blog, right above the jersey image.  Please use this link to view and update the calendar throughout the season.

Racing is coming soon!