Tuesday, July 28, 2009

circle takes the square ROUTE up... mount UP !


Here is the current flier with sponsors added. There may be one or two more to add to the list, so we'll keep you posted. Thank you to Fabric Horse, Cognition, Yanco, Joe's Cycles, and Panther By Hand for sponsoring our race !
Also, the Route for circle takes the square is ready. Thanks Sam !

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

word has it

That NACCC's this year will be active messengers only for the main race. The side events are open to everyone, but the simulation race is rumored to be an open alleycat ( no blocked streets ) A bit different from last years closed course race. The idea behind it is to limit the number of participants and creating a safer race environment. This is still just rumor as nothing has been posted to the main site, and hasn't changed my mind in making the trip to Boston next week. If it turns out to be true, I suppose we'll do our best to represent the midwest in the side events !

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Coming home to find


MACAFRAMA !!!! made my day. Now it's time to pop this bad boy in and watch it ... then the tour ... then immediately watch macaframa again !

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

hoping for a speedy recovery

Sam Jackson of the BRA went down hard today on a training ride, sustaining two broken ribs and a punctured lung. It was on a steep and winding descent that nearly took my tire down to the tube navigating it safely. The front left portion of his helmet was caved in and probably saved his life.
The likely cause of the wreck was the washout ( sand and fine pebble gravel ) that had spilled into the turn from a hard rain earlier in the day. Combined with the speed of the descent, there was virtually no avoiding the crash.
Please, everyone, WEAR YOUR HELMETS ! and be safe out there !
Sam, I hope you're back on your bike soon -- I'm gonna miss training with you in the meantime !

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

and Circle Takes The Square ...


The second race from B.R.A ! It'll be fun, so come out and show your stuff. We have several pretty awesome sponsors and will put up a finalized flier once all are confirmed. If you have any questions/concerns/comments/jokes , send us a message ! ... Also - as usual- fixed gear ONLY !!!

Meet : American Legion Mall -- 700 N. Pennsylvania St. ... we'll ride to the start close to race time. The meet time is 10AM. We'll be starting the race once everyone has arrived and had time to relax a bit.

Friday, July 10, 2009

Well ...

Another fine day at the track yesterday with a pretty sizable turnout. Masi Mark ( of course ), Shawn Wolf ( of course ), Ben Morrow, HC, and myself held it down in the heat. It seems like each time we race we get a little better, so that is pretty encouraging. I shaved another second off my fast lap and made it on to A team.
There were quite a few out of towners that came out to race. Some folks from Louisville, Chicago ( a fast guy, John Cline, from the HALF ACRE team ) and Muncie were there to keep us on our toes. No clip outs this time and it seems like everyone is getting more confident racing in a pack. All around, a pretty great time ! Can hardly wait until next week.

Friday, July 3, 2009

apologies, please !




I was so wrapped up in getting the photos posted, that I forgot to include the photographer's name ! Whoops ! Thank you to Meaghan Crowell for helping us with photographing the race ! As well as handing out the food and water along the way. Additional thank yous to Jessy Falvy for driving the support vehicle and to Julie Mellin for additional photos/moral support.

THE century of this CENTURY !

Around 9am i roll out of bed and head over to Sam's house for some breakfast. We have a little coffee and scrambled eggs with some background chit-chat. I smile when i see the orange Masi sprint frame in the living room -- Masi Mark had ridden down the night before to join us on the first half of what would be a bit longer than a 100 mile ride.
We hit the road at about 10am. It's a little chilly -- in the 65 degree range -- but only because we've grown accustomed to 95 degree temperatures with 80% humidity. Once we've gone 15 miles or so our legs are getting warmed up and we're averaging 20 miles per hour. I know this won't last the whole trip, but it still feels good to be in a comfortable cruise at this speed.
The route is a familiar one for the first 20 miles or so, but once we've passed Lake Lemon I start to pick my head up and look around at an unfamiliar view. We chose to take a less direct route with more back roads and hills, and i'm glad we did. It was a much more scenic route than my boring, flat, noisy, and frightening trip using State Road 37. A lot of rolling hills and farmland made this ride a much more enjoyable one (visually speaking). I often found myself wishing that i had a camera or commenting on how pretty the ride was.
At the quarter mark, we took a break and stretched a bit to get the blood flowing back into our feet -- and any other parts of us that were falling asleep. It was a strange stop. Morgantown is a pretty small town, so we really got some strange stares from local folks. Most people had dirt or drywall dust on them, and were obviously the hard-working type. So our lycra clad forms standing in a parking lot munching on Cliff bars and drinking water probably left them scratching their heads a bit. Maybe strange is the wrong word ... awkward could be a better one.
A few short miles later, we were back into the open farmland and i was smiling again. From the stop in Morgan town to the start of Indianapolis yeilded only three points of interest ( aside from the scenery) : two mutts decided to try and push our pace a bit when they came running from their owners yard at us, barking all the while. it wasn't too scary, just surprising. Even more surprising was when we rounded a turn 5 miles down the road to have it happen AGAIN ! Only this time it was one dog, a beagle. When i realized this i slowed down and took a sigh of relief, only to look ahead and see that Sam and Mark are 30 yards ahead of me ! Still pedaling their hearts out ! Soon they realized they weren't in danger of getting bitten and slowed back down. Once i caught up we all had a good laugh about it and were silently glad we didn't have to get a rabies shot.
The third point of note was the rain. It wasn't so much a point as it was a steady presence for the rest of our ride to Indy. It started around the 46 mile mark and didn't let up until we had reached our destination, Joe's Cycles.
Once we made it to Fountain Square and saw the familiar store front, my stomach started grumbling. Until that point i had been so focused on everything else that i hadn't realized how hungry i was ! Fortunately, a pizza place was right across the street -- making the food choice pretty clear. With a little food in our belly, we took a breather at Joe's and chatted with Shawn a bit. We had ridden 60 miles and were feeling pretty good still. Mark said his goodbyes and went home, while we set back out on the road -- riding the exact route we had just finished... only the opposite direction this time.
The rain showed itself again, but only for 5 miles or so. The beagle wasn't there to greet us this time, but the two mutts were. We rode by them before they had a chance to realize we were there, so their reaction wasn't quite as aggressive as before. The stop in Morgantown was no less strange than the last time ... nor awkward. This time we saw a younger crowd of kids. Before we witnessed the middle aged and elderly aspects of Morgantown, and now the teens and tweens showed their faces. They didn't give off the hard-working vibe like the older folks...more of the angsty dressed entirely in black to match their disposition vibe.
Oh well, to each their own. We had ground to cover, and were ready to get home. The trip back through Lake Lemon was a tough one. The hills are pretty difficult on a fixed gear, especially after you've ridden 90 miles before you meet one. We struggled through and made it up them, taking solace in the fact that those were the last tough hills we would face. The rest were fairly tame and the majority of the ride would be flat ( or as flat as Bloomington gets).
A few groups of roadies passed us, and i couldn't help myself ... I sprinted up to ride their draft for a few miles. Not because I needed them to pull me along, but because i wanted them to look back and see us right on their wheel. Riding the same road they were riding, and still keeping up with them... only we had 90+ miles under our belt to their 20. That was just the pick-me-up Sam and I needed mentally to make the rest of the ride into Bloomington a happy one.
A couple protein drinks, a shower, and a generous application of Tiger Balm and I am feeling a bit tired. It was a tough ride for us, but a pretty impressive one. For my second century and Sam's first one our results were: 120.56 miles, 7:03'33, 17mph avg, max 37.8mph. Mark's max was 43.3 and Sam's max was between 44 and 44.5 ... all our max out speeds were down Lake Lemon hill. Sam rode 50 x 16, I rode 48 x 15 ( a bit easier than my last century at 49 x 15 ), and Mark rode 48 x 16.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

HEY ! We have photos from Hell of the Midwest !

Since we had 30 + miles ahead of us, we decided to forgo the running to the bike style race opener. Instead, a friendly roll-out was picked.
Jason taking the early lead and keeping the tempo up. Everyone was pretty good at keeping the pace high and competitive.

A few steep downhills peppered the route. It made things more fun ...

... and also some steep uphills ! Didn't want to make things TOO easy ! This is at the bottom of Beanblossom.


Thomas, though injured, pulled out third place -- giving him a nice off-the-bike head adornment ! Thank you to Octopus Caps for sending us three superb caps : )

Shawn got a hipbag and t-shirt from Chrome. Nicely done, sir !

The photo issue of COG Magazine is pretty snappy. I looked at that photo for fifteen minutes alone !

Jason lookin sharp in a Chrome shirt and also lookin hairy with them facial furs !

I never really know what to do in photographs ...
Probably the best photo of Shawn ever !

There are MORE PHOTOS ON OUR Flickr PAGE !!! Be sure to take a look-see.
Thanks to everyone who came out Saturday. We'll see you July 24th for sprints.