Friday, November 18, 2011

Jay's Cyclocross Season Summary










Hi all,

I thought I’d give a quick summary on how things are going in Cyclocross.  We are currently 9 of 12 races into the season and sit 7th overall (of 30) in the team competition.  While that sounds good, a better measure of our potential is our first place overall on the Saturday of Halloween weekend!   Apparently it takes cross-dressing to bring out our best.  We have had a total of 18 RMCC racers participate in CX this year in the Junior and Adult categories and a ton of racers in the Kiddies and Strider categories.

Earlier in the year UTCX placed the kids on a shortened course and it didn’t workout so well – they wanted to be let lose on a full loop.  If you watch a race now you’ll see racers like: Evan Flick, Lucas Boniface, Peter Stack, Seth LaCasse, Conor Smith, Reyna Smith and Ronan Smith hitting it hard on the full adult course and Mikey Riley (2 yrs, 9 mos) taking charge on a Strider Bike.

In the Junior category Charissa Boniface is currently 2nd overall with 4 races.  If her schedule allows she could squeak out a 1st.  Evan Flick, at age 10, decided to start Junior’s early this year, and following in his father’s foot-steps, has been doubling up by doing the Kiddie’s race as his warm-up.

In the adult races, Erik Harrington studies until moments before his “A” race, rips out a quick top 10 and then heads home to finish studying.  Peter Archambault (5th in 35As) has been dishing our pain and has at least one podium this season.  RMCC has had 5 racers compete in the Masters 45s (Mark Fisher, Tim Stack, Doug Smith Jay Boniface and Jeff Flick) and Mark and Tim are currently sitting 4th and 5th overall.  Mike McHugh is top 10 in the 55s!   Jess Dear should easily break into the top 10 in single speed if he can get some more races in.  Andrew Love, Michael Granger and Marek Shon have raced in the Masters 35Bs and Andrew had multiple podiums before a crash forced cyclocross retirement.  (He’ll be fine – he’s already skating).  Kevin Moore, Ryan Crabbe and I have been representing the team in the Masters 35Cs and I just had my first podium.  I hope to rejoin my colleagues in the 45 Masters soon.  Troy Gorman  (12th) and Kevin Cummisford (2nd) have been racing Bs, but with each only completing 6 races we might see Troy move into the top 10 and Kevin take the title.

Many non-RMCC riders joined me for the Wednesday evening Cross practices and expressed interest in joining RMCC.  That and our 1st place overall on Halloween weekend reminded me of how great it would be to see the team continue to grow. If you have friends or family that may be interested spread the word, or if you have other recruiting ideas let us know.

Iron Jay

Monday, November 14, 2011

CX and Snow




These photos were taken by Ryan Crabbe.  He posted them on facebook.  I chose a few to put in the blog.  CX season has now officially started since we have people racing in some major weather.  I think Jay is going to add a CX update sometime this week.  I've been out of the scene.

We will have a team party sometime in mid December, maybe the 16th or 17th.  I hope we can find a date that works for most.  We have a number of people joining the club and it would be a great time to meet everyone.

Keep charging hard

Erik

Saturday, October 29, 2011

CX season is in full swing



Cyclocross season is going strong.  RMCC has great representation in most fields.  One thing that is extra cool are the numbers of youth who are riding for the club and having fun.  It’s really neat to see these guys/girls get such a good start to their cycling.  This is a link to a recent cyclocross video by Grizzly Adams.  He did a great job at capturing the spirit and beauty of the sport.

There are a number of things for the club to look forward to:  holiday party in Dec, planning for the next season, and winter training activities (skiing skiing more skiing and riding the trainer).  We have new members who are moving rapidly through the ranks and will soon be pooling up at various levels.  This is exciting for the club because the team tactics and camaraderie really make the sport what it is. 

Cheers
Erik