CFT Cycling Team Tuesday Night Ride

We were reminded of why we tolerate six months of cold and darkness last night, the temp was 72, no humidity & the sun was shining, stunningly beautiful night. We had 20 riders some battle worn from the SBF race weekend and some chomping at the bit. It was the fourth and last night in the series of Sprint Night’s sponsored by Capital Area Bike, and it was blistering fast and fun. We saw some new faces and some old faces who rejoined us. On to the competition, with the Minnesota State Track Champion Brian Crosby with us we knew it would be a hard night. Brian attacked over ½ mile out from the first sprint, it was everything I had to get up to him, then he hit me again and go the first sprint. Brian took the 2nd sprint too, Cary got 2nd. With the west wind we were flying east and Cary got the jump to take the 3rd sprint ahead of Kemp. I took the fourth sprint and on the fifth attacked at the crest of the last hill and barely held off the charge at the line. Chris was awarded ‘most aggressive rider’ he pulled the entire group from Leslie nearly all the way to the next sprint and attacked at least ten times last night. Please take the time to thank Mike Williams (aka Doogie Houser) when you see him next, this series was highly competitive and super fun and we all got stronger and faster. Until next time boys and girls, I am up and out.

Forecast: Sunny & 71, NW wind.

Format: This will be the fourth in the series of sprint competitions in June sponsored by the Capital Area Bike Association. So far Craig Newell, Greg Christian and Brian Crosby have won competitions, who will be the fourth and last? I have seen Todd and Jeff both with glazed eyes and some mobine perspiration on their upper lip areas at the end of the last few competitions, or will it be Kemp who like the Viet Kong tries to weave a series of interconnected tunnels through the field, there are others, ride smart and you can win.

Going Forward: We are looking for suggestions to keep the ride fresh for July, put your ideas in the comments of this post below so everyone can see them. We have sponsors and interested party’s we just need some ideas.

In predictable fashion riders from our TNR performed well at the State Championships in Marquette this weekend. Here is a short summary.

Womens Cat 3: Leslie Gaines got 2nd in the State Road Race Championships, nice work Leslie.

Cat 5: Jeff Chapin WON the Cat 5 Omnium, which includes the criterium, road race and circuit race. In addition he won the criterium on Friday night in a pouring rain. He attributed TNR to part of his success, and we have been doing this since March. Working on finishing speed and riding with fast people in general will make you fast. Jeff, outstanding work my brother, you are born again hard.

Cat 4: Ben Cox finished up 9th overall for the cat 4 Omnium and Cameron Marshall finished up 10th overall in the Omnium. They both finished consistently in the front of the field of over 30 riders showing their racing acumen. Great job men.

Cat 3: Todd Davidson in what I believe is his coming out party to cat 3 got 10th overall in the stacked and strong cat 3 field. Todd got 8th place in the crit in a downpour then followed it up with and 8th place in the state championship road race the next day. Nice work Todd.

Masters: yours truly had a great weekend, 2nd in the crit, 2nd in the road race, 4th in the circuit race, wrapped up the Omnium and won the 50+ state championship. Also, Fast Freddie who won this Omnium before placed 7th overall.

A total of 14 TNR this year certainly played a part in the results across the board in each category. Outstanding!

Jeff Chapin won the cat 5 race today in a pouring rain. Outstanding!

Weather sunny and 78, low humidity, low winds, stunningly beautiful, 18 riders. I assume numbers were down due to school being out and State Championships this weekend, but still a great group. You could tell who was saving their legs and who was chomping at the bit from the start. Jennifer was the first to attack two miles out from the first sprint. Brian got the first sprint and started a pattern for the evening. Jennifer, who races for Kenda, had an out of the ordinary night on her first TNR. First with shifting, then a flat, more later. Cary got the second sprint, he won this one before. Todd took the first KOM. Brian took the third sprint and fourth and wrapped up the points to win the 3rd sprint competition. After the third sprint I rolled up to Brian who was holding a kitten, no I am not kidding, look closely at the picture above, Brian has the Sprint Competition prime in one hand and the cat in the other. Brian and Jennifer rode that cat all the way to the end of the ride, Brian even won the 2nd KOM with the cat in his left hand. Alan said “we’ve taken care of any bad karma that might be coming our way for the rest of the season by saving that cat.” Cary nabbed the coveted Mason sprint to wrap up 2nd place. And the long, strange trip was over. Sayonara until next time boys and girls.