CFT Cycling Team Tuesday Night Ride

GREAT ARTICLE REGARDING LAST SUNDAY'S RACE. CONGRATS ON A JOB WELL DONE TO THE STOMACH OF ANGER BOYS.

http://www.mlive.com/lansing-news/index.ssf/2012/09/nearly_100_cyclists_descend_on.html

WE WILL DO ANOTHER CYCLOCROSS EVENT, THURSDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 20 @ 6:30PM. LOCATION IS THE RED CEDAR COURSE IN LANSING.

THIS IS THE SITE OF THE SWAMP THING #1 SANCTIONED CYCLOCROSS RACE THIS SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 23. CHECK THE MBRA SITE FOR REGISTRATION INFO.

FOR THURSDAYS EVENT, BRING YOUR BIKE, SOME SOUND LEGS, $2.00 AND IN RETURN, GET A GOOD WORKOUT AND SOME COLD BEVERAGES POST RIDE.

SEE YOU THEN.

TNR START TIME HAS NOW BEEN MOVED TO 5:30PM

Lack of daylight is becoming a factor. This week TNR will begin at 5:45pm.

Also,

We will hold our 2nd Xcross timed event this Thursday at Red Cedar. 6:30 is start time, entry fee $2.00

End of road season party announcement coming very soon.

later

Cyclocross at Red Cedar

We kicked off our Thursday night informal cyclocross training races this past week and based on the feedback, it was a great success. 12 riders participated and we even had some spectators. Wade set a torrid pace for 45 minutes and made sure everyone knew the course. When we finished, it was cold beverages and chatter about going faster next time.

We will do it again the Thursday after Labor Day. Stay tuned.

RED CEDAR SOAP BOX

Stand back as I am getting on my soap box.
Hopefully more will join. For those of you not in Lansing proper, let me bring you up to speed on some things. I think all of you are now familiar with the former Red Cedar golf course owned by the city of Lansing. It is the site of the Stomach of Anger races. The site consists of approximately 65 acres of pristine green space in the middle of urbania. ONCE GREEN SPACE IS GONE, ITS GONE FOREVER, (except in Detroit, but that is for another blog). This year the voters of Lansing approved the sale of the front 12 acres of the parcel for development. The proceeds of the sale was to be used for creating a public park on remainder and to once and for all remedy the drainage issues coming from the Frandor mall across Michigan Avenue. I for one voted for this, because it makes sense and was a win win for development and preservation of green space. Now things are changing, new development plans are appearing and a vote being contemplated to sell the remainder. End result being, the green space is vastly being reduced, and GONE forever.
Now is the time for those that believe in green space and an active life style to get involved and get our stake in the matter heard. This includes the bike community, the running community and the conservation community. Many on this blog have friends in city and state government. We need to form a coalition that brings together all the bike facets (the League, TCBA and other bike organizations), the running community and politicians that are friendly to our cause (Jessica Yorko comes to mind).
That remaining 40 some acres has so much potential for active, everyday uses, as well as bringing in national events. A permanent cyclocross track could be created, a permanent cross country course for the local high schools, etc etc. Google Valmont Bike Park in Boulder and see what some of the potential could be. Local politicians want Lansing to become a "world class" city. All world class cities have tremendous green space in the heart of the city. Green space that allows the everyday city dwellers to enjoy everyday outdoor activities as well as attracting events that bring people from all over the world to that city. REMEMBER ONCE THE GREEN SPACE IS GONE, IT IS LOST FOREVER. If you have an interest in assisting with building a coalition, contact me and lets get this ball rolling.
Ok, i am now off my soapbox. have a good day

WHAT?: CYCLOCROSS RACE!

WHERE?: OLD RED CEDAR GOLF COURSE/LANSING. SAME SITE AS STOMACH OF ANGER RACES FROM LAST YEAR AND SWAMP THING RACES TO BE HELD LATER THIS SEASON;
RIGHT ACROSS MICHIGAN AVENUE FROM SEARS IN FRANDOR.

WHEN?: THURSDAY EVENING, AUGUST 23 AT 6:30PM SHARP.

DETAILS:

1. RACE LENGTH, 45 MINUTES
2. RACE FEE $2.00
3. SIGN IN BEGINS AT 6PM
4. BRING CORRECT CHANGE
5. ONE RACE, ONE CATEGORY.
6. TOP 3 PLACES GET SOME COLD BEVERAGES

THE INTENT OF THIS RACE IS TO HOLD A SIMPLE, INFORMAL EVENT THAT WILL ALLOW RIDERS TO BEGIN TO HONE THEIR CYCLOCROSS SKILLS.

SHOW UP, PAY 2 BUCKS (TO BE USED TO BUY COLD BEVERAGES FOR THE WINNERS), SIGN IN AND RIDE IN A CIRCLE FOR 45 MINUTES.

SPREAD THE WORD, ALL ARE WELCOME.

Much has happened in the world since the last post. Let me tell you about a few of them.

1. LoLo Jones did not medal at the Olympics
2. the drought has continued in the Midwest and beyond.
3. the street in front of my office continues to be under construction.
4. Badminton came to the forefront in the Olympics
5. The voters of Lansing approved the sale of the former Red Cedar Golf course.
6. I trapped a skunk in my yard this morning.

Those were the highlights.

Regarding TNR; I have missed several weeks in a row, but have gotten reports back. The numbers have stayed right at 20 and the rides and weather remain superb. Random thought: we have had ZERO rain outs this year.

Regarding CFT Cycling: it continues to be an amazing first year with the podium tally growing every week. Congrats go out to Jay, Craig and Brad, they received their notification of Cat 3 upgrades yesterday. Further congrats to Craig for wrapping up the Cat 4 points competition.

Regarding a end of season get together: stay posted, details are being put together now.

Good luck to all at Gaslight

This weekly blog entry will begin with a link to some AC-DC music. There is no logical reason for adding this link, other than every good biker blog should have some AC-DC music now and then.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9iOk8PqkKs

Milford crit:
This upcoming Sunday is a big day for Michigan cycling. State individual crit champions will be crowned in Milford. CFT will be represented by some worthy contenders in numerous categories. If you are not racing, try to make it and enjoy the festivities and cheer on your team mates. If your racing, good luck!!

TNR:
I was not able to make this past Tuesday ride and reports coming back from the field were a little scarce. This much I know. The weather was great, and there was approximately 20 riders. The ride was very fast. I know this to be true because Mark Warner said so, and Mark Warner is known to be an honorable man. Also, when the ride was not fast, it got faster, with black and white jerseys sprinting for an imaginary line. Then they slowed, looked around, smiled, saw that it was good and did it 5 more times.
Not to be lost in all of this was a marvelous milestone for TNR. Kari Sederburg, who has been racing with the cat 4 women this year, attended the Tuesday ride. Other than Leslie, Kari represents the first female to attend this ride in many years. Kari we are glad you are on board. According to Mark Warner you were right in the mix, and as mentioned above, Mark is an honorable guy.
Until next week; later.
and
one more time
GOOD LUCK CFT RIDERS THIS WEEKEND!

Weekend events:

Saturday is the Ability Tour in Lansing. Great event, and a great cause. Wade and others leading a group from the Hannah Center at 7am to ride to the route, then back. It will be a good 70 mile training ride. Remember to bring your check book or cash to register once you get to the ride.

Sunday, the Flint crit on the bricks. Good luck to those racing.

This past weekend continued on with more of the same, some fine results from the CFT gentleman, and lady. Here are the highlights.

BTR crit

John Gracely 2nd in the cat 3's
Justin Drobish 5th in the 5's
Zach 11th in the 35M.
Brad 3rd cat 4
Alex 5th Cat 4

Race for Wishes RR

Kari Sederburg 2nd in the women cat 4
AJ 1st in the cat 5
Justin 2nd in the cat 5
Jay 3rd cat 4
Alex 4 cat 4
Zach 3rd 35M

see you tonight at 6

3 matters to cover in this weeks post. (1) summary of this weeks ride; (2) past weekend racing results; (3) CFT season update.

1. the past weeks blistering heat melted away to a very pleasant 85 degrees for this Tuesday ride. 20 riders made their way to the infamous Spartan Speedway (race home of the champions according to the sign). We implemented a new scoring system this week. The point totals will be set at 1 through 6, in conjunction with the sprint number. In addition, we will have triple points for a breakaway win. There is no firm rule on what the definition of "breakaway" is. However, to determine whether a breakaway has merit for triple points we will follow the logic of Justice Potter Stewart, "I will know it when i see it".

All this being said regarding the new point scoring. I/we/they/all of us did a poor job of tracking who did what this past week. I know for sure that several EOTS took sprints, and there are others out there I am sure that have more results. Bottom line, the results did not get memorialized for the TNR history books. THIS UPCOMING WEEK I WILL BRING THE RECORDING DEVICE TO GET ACCURATE INFO. As for the rest of the ride. Awesome, clean and fast. No mechanical issues, fast pace and fun sprints.

2. This past weekends racing results at the Terry Reisch road race. CFT had 3 podium spots. In the cat 4, Craig and Brad occupied the 2nd and 3rd tier, and in the Masters 45/55, Mark Warner took the highest honor. Well done men!!

3. I wanted do a quick summary of our racing season to date for the CFT riders. I think it was February that we had our meeting at MSU. At that meeting we outlined some goals for the season. To an outsider, they may have seemed somewhat lofty for a newly established team. And maybe they were. Time will tell. Below are the highlighted goals we had set, and how we have progressed toward that particular goal.

a. Our first goal was to have fun. I feel confident in saying that has been accomplished

b. 2nd goal, win team points competition in 4's and 35masters. Current points standings in the 4's has CFT in first place by 109 points. Current point standings for 35m has CFT in first by 16.5 points.

c. 3rd goal, win individual point series: Current 4 point totals has CFT running one and two with Craig and Brad. Current 35m has Cary in first by 13 points.

d. 4th goal, bring an individual state championship back to Lansing. Those two races are on the horizon. They will require maximum teamwork to accomplish the goal.

There is much racing left to do, but the team and its members have put themselves in excellent position to accomplish the goals set forth at the beginning of the year.

ONE FINAL IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT. PLEASE WELCOME THE FOLLOWING TWO TEAMMATES TO THE CFT TEAM. THEY WILL BE RACING IN CAT 4.

JAKE PRATT AND JUSTIN DROBISH.

that is all for this week.

July 3, 2012, 12 hardy TNR'ers braved the 100 degree weather and 15mph westerly Martian winds. I actually found myself doing a mental questionnaire. What is more uncomfortable, today, or early in the year when 12 of us showed up in 36 degree weather and 15mph westerlies? I had not come to a conclusion before my mind turned to mush.

We were joined for the festivities by Fast Freddie and Leslie. It was good to see them slug through the evening with us.

We did a slow roll down Ewers and Potter road to view the work that has been completed. It appears the repairs began on the North end of Potter and are working their way South. North end of Potter is 100% better and there are markings for repairs all the way back to the Ewers entrance. We will continue to monitor the progress.

Hope all had a good 4th, and good luck racing this weekend.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IUDNMlKW1U

Short and sweet this morning:

The medal tally for the year has been updated. Nice job by all podium finishers.

The race this past week went well, our official photographer, Jackie Neagos will be wrapping up her photo shoot recap, then we will post the results.

The TNR ride this week had 26 riders, the weather was fantastic,, blue skies, 80 degrees. If you were not on a bike this evening, you missed out.

Banky took a neutral sprint!

Finally, beginning this Thursday, June 28 we will begin weekly crit training. This training is meshing with the standing Thursday night ride. The ride will leave the Hannah Center at 6pm to head to the training grounds. July has many crits, take advantage of this training to impove your skills.

Did I mention that Banky took a neutral sprint last night?

Later.

My apologies for being MIA for two missing blogs. I attribute this to time constraints and writers block. To remedy the matter, I no longer keep track of time and I pulled out some Edgar Allen Poe writings for inspiration: Lots has happened. Two TNR nights have come and gone. I will summarize them in one line. Fast and furious. In addition we have been loose on keeping score tally's, which is no big deal as we are accomplishing what we want on the ride. Two teams are still working hard to hone strategy and tactics and things are meshing fairly well. We have juggled the lineups and put some parameters on how much one rider can score in one night. This has opened up sprints to other individuals and it has worked well.

We have to talk about Potter road. For those of you that do not know it by name, it is the road through the trees leading to the 5th sprint. Bottom line is the road is crumbling from the edges in. Those of you that were there Tuesday night know what I mean. The one section in particular has crumbled halfway across the right lane leaving about 3 and half feet of pavement on our side of the yellow line. In its place now is a 4 to 5 inch deep gaping hole that devours wheels and bikes. Until fixed it will only get worse. There are other areas on the road that present some great hazards also, especially at high speeds.

There has been some brief talk about finding alternate route around that road. Maybe continue on up Williamston to Dexter Trail. Further discussions will happen on this before a decision is made. In the interim, I propose/suggest this for the next ride: The 5th sprint and the leadup to it become a neutral zone for this next week. First of all we need to ride that road slow to see if the bike eating hole is even fixed. Second, if you have not been on that section by yourself and your only exposure to that road is in a pack on Tuesday night, then you really don't realize where and how bad that right edge is. By running that section in a neutral, reasonable pace this upcoming Tuesday it will give all riders the ability to see where not to be on that road at a high rate of speed. Then after this Tuesday we can discuss further on what to do for the remainder of the rides. Anyways, that is my suggestion for this upcoming week.

As for the CFT Team. West Branch and Mt. P. By now I am sure you have seen the results. Pretty darn good stuff. This weekend brings on two more points races. Good luck to all

Finally, our race is now 10 days away. Thanks to all that have volunteered and for registering early.

That is all for now. later.

READ BELOW FOR ALEX'S SUMMARY OF HIS MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND IN AMERICA'S HEARTLAND:

This past weekend marked the famous Snake Alley Criterium in Burlington Iowa, which happens every year memorial day weekend. Along with "the snake" there are also 2 more crits which follow up on Sunday and Monday. Paul Gregory who is living in St. Louis for the summer decided to to take the short drive up and meet me for a weekend of racing.

Saturday
The snake lived up to its infamy without a doubt. It was 95 degrees and our race didnt start till 1pm so keeping cool was a snuggle in itself. Those of you who dont know the snake, its a 5 switch back one block climb that averages 12.5 percent with kicks of about 17-18% and a one block lead in that averages about 7% so its no easy roll in.
and it looks something like the pictures attached. The race was awesome and it was an all out sprint to the first climb I was able to wiggle a bad start spot into top 15 at the top of the first climb. I was able to say about 15th for the first 4 laps of 12 but the heat really got to me, and Paul. We both blew up to the point where pedaling in the little ring was a chore. Paul ended up passing me way late in the race but I was far to tired to grab his wheel. He ended up 22nd and I was 26th of about 55. Not a great result but an awesome race and would love to do better there in the future.

Sunday
The 34th annual Melon City Crit was an interesting course of a 1 mile oval with one 90 degree corner and a long grinding climb at the bottom of the decent there was a speed bump that every lap you hit at 30+ mph which was very interesting. The race started fast, and on lap 2 of 14 a crash happened in the only corner and it split the field. I was right behind the crash but able to sneak threw and stay with the group, Paul was not so lucky. But like a MAN he crashed back on solo in one lap and was able to sit in the lead group of ~20. With about
11 to go the first big attack came and a rider went solo for about 6 laps, him being solo it was no huge threat. In this time paul snagged a field prime and I could tell he was feeling good up the hill. I however was not. On the bell lap a good attack came from a michigan guy and with Paul on my wheel I went to the front to try to bring it back. I went to the last climb with an all or nothing mentality, I hammered as hard as I could to string out the field and took Paul up to about 500m to go. He was not able to catch to solo move but ended up 5th and I was 20th of 55. Not the best tactics on earth on my part but Im glad we got a top five. We dealt with the 95 degree heat much better this day.

Monday
Was the Quad Cities crit to cap the weekend. A flat 14 lap 8 corner crit in downtown Rock Island, IL. The race started off very fast and very windy and stayed that way, i had to work hard to move to the front but once I was there it was pretty easy to stay around the top 10. There were not many attacks being that we were holding about 28-30mph the whole time. On the bell lap no one really took control of the race which scared me, and I was right. I was able to stay toward the front and was sixth 7th wheel going into the last corner.
The last corner also had a huge crash which I was in-front of but it still cause the person ahead of me to react to the outside and I was literally inches away from nailing the barrier. When I gained control of my bike I looked back and there was no one in site that was still upright. I was happy to roll in for 7th still on two wheels. Paul was not involved in the crash but was unfortunately popped with about
3 to go in a big acceleration.

Overall, a great weekend of some fast racing with some very good fields from all over the midwest.

The gales of November returned for our May weekly ride and they were straight out of the West, proving to be a formidable opponent for 20 riders. But, thanks to Cary, with input from Rick and Mark, they provided an excellent training moment as we headed South. After a demonstration at Barnes road, we learned the fine art of an efficient echelon in three separate groups. Some of it was pretty and at times ugly, but the concept was embedded into all. We need to continue to hone these techniques and skills in the coming weeks so that we all ride more efficiently.

As for the scoring, the suggested change by Cary was welcomed by all. Our two team concept will stay intact, but each rider can only score once for the night. In a duplicate win for one rider, the scoring will default to the second rider across the line. This worked out well with six different riders taking sprints. The scoring for the night ended up 16 white and 5 black.(someone double check this)
Totals to date are:
white 43
black 27
eots 6

Frankenmuth
"there are a thousand stories in the Naked City".... great movie... there were also many stories from a Frankenmuth weekend. If you want the cold hard numbers, the results are posted on the MBRA site. If you want the rest of the story, here is some of it. First off, I knew nothing about the goings on of the Dog Bowl, now I do and I am still traumatized. As for the racing, 15 CFT riders made the journey with many fine showings. In the cat 5's Tanner had his inaugural RR experience. Thanks to a course marshall snafu, I am sure it did not turn out as planned, but he has the bug now. Joe Kennedy had a good showing in the 5's, Bryan Waldman and Kevin Gamper had superb showings crossing the line in 1st and 4th place, only to be told otherwise, (see aforementioned comment about the course marshall snafu). Both took the disappointing news in stride. In the 4's, Craig Newell and John Gracely had nice showings and both finished in the points in what proved to be a very fast field finish. Also in the 4's Brad Neagos suffered through a mechanical issue at the start and watched from the sidelines. But, as one passer buyer stated to Wade as he saw the issue unfold, "your rider handled the situation with class". Nice thing to hear about a teammate. In the 45m's, Mustapha and Mike Williams (good to see Mike racing) finished in the field as did Mark in the 55's. In the 35 masters the ZACADOWA train (my new acronym for wade, doug, zack and cary, get used to it) was a major factor in the race. Although each of them said separately they were a little disappointed in not getting Cary to the line first, the ground work is laid for the future. In talking with Cary he said it was an "awesome sight" seeing 4 black CFT jerseys come to the front of the field with 1 mile to go and take control of the finish. End result 3rd place for Cary and a superb effort for the team.

Hope to see all at West Branch, until then, later.

WMSR summary by Brad Neagos

West Michigan Stage Race was a great weekend of weather and of racing. The mystery man John Gracely put CFT on the center stage of the Midwest racing scene with his performances. John had an impressive victory in the crit coming from about 15 riders back to take 1^st place and win the field sprint. He followed this up with another 1^st place finish in the road race. John finished 8^th overall in cat 4. Craig Newell also had a strong performance this weekend finishing 5^th overall in cat 4, and dominating all 3 events. In the time trial department Dave Joos put in a strong effort taking 2^nd in 55 plus category, For the other 3 CFT riders, John Draminski, Joe Kennedy and Brad Neagos, WMSR proved to be a great learning experience and will certainly help as our racing careers start to take form.

Lots to write about. First the summary of last nights ride. The weather keeps on getting better and better and our stretch of rainless Tuesdays continues on. 26 riders last night, of which one of them was Dave Jessup, showing no ill effects from last weeks mishap. Also on the ride was an out of towner from the Fort Wayne Outfitters race team. Of course I cannot remember his name, but that is to be expected.
As for the scoring, by executive decision, with no objections, last nights scoring has been ruled a "bye" week. I think we are all in agreement that we are accomplishing all we want to accomplish with the scoring and the two team concept. We are learning tactics, team riding and enhancing our finishing efforts. But, we think we can make it better. Currently the brain trusts are huddled in a darkened cave and pondering some variations. We will have a conclusion by next Monday and will then unveil it to the masses.

WMSR results.

A solid weekend of racing for the CFT participants, here are the results for the 4/5

Overall Results

5. Craig Newell
8. John Gracely
26. Brad Neagos
56. John Draminski
61. Joe Kennedy

75 man field started the race

John Gracely won both the Crit and the Road Race.

The week before had some outstanding results also.

Greg Hughes took 5th in his age group at the 6 hours of Stoney Creek

and

John Wlodarczak (TNR regular, racing for Einstien Bagels) took first in his age group in the 12 hour race.

Well done.

thats all for now. See follow up entry with Brad Neagos' weekend summary.

this week will work the same as last.

Annis Rd.     6
Blackman Rd. 1
Kinneville Rd.    2
Catholic Church 4 DOUBLE POINTS,, TOTAL OF 8
Potter Rd.    5
MCL        3

see you at 6pm

Remember to get your results to Doug on Monday, good luck to all that are racing.

The Brotherhood

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Monday, September 3, 2012

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Friday, July 20, 2012

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Friday, May 18, 2012

Hill Climb Thursday

sprint Competition Sponsored By the Capital Area Bike Association

Thursday Night Time Trial Series Results