Saturday, August 4, 2012

We want you! LCBC Recruitment

LCBC has had a great first season of road racing and appreciates all the support from our sponsors, racers, families, friends, and fellow cyclists. Although the road season hasn't officially ended, we wanted to get the word out that LCBC is looking for enthusiastic, dedicated cyclists who are interested in road or cyclocross racing next season.

Our team was formed earlier this year to serve as a new face for Baltimore County cycling and an opportunity to unify the numerous avid cyclists who have a desire to be competitive in the world of road and cyclocross racing. We believe in riding as a solid unit and support and push each other to excel and exceed personal and team goals.

If you are interested in joining the LCBC team, shoot us an email at lequipecyclismebc@gmail.com and we'd love the opportunity to chat, ride, and get to know you.

In the meantime, we'll have representation out at the Highway to Heaven TT next weekend and will be finishing up the road racing season with Dawg Days of Summer. In the interim, a couple of our racers are already preparing for the cyclocross season and look forward to an exciting Fall schedule.

Sunday, July 22, 2012

FreshBikes Group Ride

Since the LCBC team has taken a brief hiatus from racing for a couple of weeks, we wanted to highlight an awesome group ride one of the team members, Andrew Stroup, stumbled across while down in DC on a weekday. The Arlington FreshBikes Tuesday group ride is not your common group ride. Unlike the numerous group rides we've grown accustomed to in Baltimore, you aren't simply joined by 5-6 other cyclists looking for a good workout, but a posse that is almost overwhelming.

Feeling like a neutral roll out for a gran fondo, Andrew was joined by ~150 other cyclists for a solid training ride through Arlington, Falls Church, and McLean. Attempting some reconnaissance pre-ride, Andrew identified some cyclists who he raced with throughout this season, talking about the A riders, the B riders, and then everybody else. As the ride began, FreshBikes requested all the "slower" riders to start up front. The group was escorted by a train of police cars and bikes, blocking major intersections and roads for a continuous roll out to the "loop." As the ride progressed out of Arlington, Andrew found himself in the middle of the pack, passing and being passed by various cyclists over some moderate rollers at a casual pace. As the group turned onto an on ramp (yes an on ramp) and headed West, the groups quickly broke off and the ride was on.

By the time Andrew realized what was happening, the A group noodled off the front. Keeping in contact with some of the other cyclists he had raced with, he bridged up to them and stayed in contact with the lead B group. He quickly learned that the A and B groups were more of a race than a ride and found himself constantly drafting, pulling, or bridging up climbs, around corners, and down descents.

The B group headed home after one lap, while the A loop stayed around for a couple more for some extra suffering. Andrew was with 3 or 4 riders that broke off the front of the B group and was rejoined with the remaining group as they entered back into Arlington.

Overall, the group ride was a great change of pace, a chance to catch up with some fellow racers in a non-hostile environment, and some good conditioning as the summer racing season comes to a close. As far as upcoming races for LCBC, we have our eyes set on the Highway to Heaven in a couple of weeks and the Dawg Days of Summer as a closer for this year's season.


Sunday, July 8, 2012

Hagerstown Challenge Criterium

Despite the blistering heat, LCBC showed up for another weekend of racing. Andrew Stroup and Joe Siegel packed their steads and headed out West to the Hagerstown Challenge Criterium on Saturday for the Cat 4/5 race.

The course looked promising, a 4 turn, fast and moderately technical course. Andrew and Joe performed their pre-race rituals and warmed up, mentally and physically, preparing themselves for the race ahead.

The Cat 4/5 field was small and the start of the race was fast. Halfway through the race, Andrew dropped out due to mechanical issues, leaving him to support Joe from the sidelines. In the closing laps, Joe had the best shot at a solid finish as he joined a 4 man breakaway in the last few laps of the race. In the final turn of the penultimate lap, Joe was riding the inside line, but had to take the turn tighter than planned. Before he knew it, his bike slid out from underneath him and ended his shot at the finish line.

Fortunately, Joe was able to walkaway from the crash with no broken bones, but was rewarded with some gnarly road rash down his right side. Sometimes the racing gods aren't in your favor and you're simply rewarded with the ability to walkaway from a race. Until next time, stay safe and cool.

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Assault on Franklin Ave

On Monday, an unfortunate event occurred where one of the LCBC riders was assaulted on Franklin Ave during the Fed Hill Race Pace Recovery Ride. During the downhill descent on Franklin Ave, heading back into the city and towards Pratt, a group of kids jumped into the middle of the street, forcing Andrew Stroup to slow down. As he reached them, one kid grabbed his bike while the other hit him in the head and was then thrown into a parked car. Fortunately, Andrew wasn't badly injured and his bike only suffered a crooked shifter.

As Andrew composed himself from the incident, he went to confront the kids who quickly ran off. The neighbors came out and helped him clean up before he got back on his bike and headed into Baltimore and then home. It's sad to see this type of random act of violence in Baltimore and even worse when people accept these events as commonplace circumstance. Andrew was told these type of occurrences aren't uncommon when the kids aren't in school, noting "kids in July."

LCBC is glad Andrew was able to walkaway from the incident without serious injury and suffered only a bruised knee. Stay safe out there, since avoiding the heat isn't the only concern while riding in July.

Saturday, June 30, 2012

Brownstown Road Race

As promised from the last post, another episode of LCBC race reporting from this weekend's events. Even though storms crushed the Mid-Atlantic and Tour of Page County was handicapped by the damage from the wind, Joe Siegel made his way up to Lancaster, PA for some road race action in the Cat 3/4 Brownstown RR.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/julieelliott/7475516756/in/set-72157630362363180
Joe in the breakaway at the Brownstown RR (c/o Julie Elliott)
Being a fairly short road race and a packed field of 80 racers, Joe assumed the pace would be fast, but found the peloton maintaining a mellow pace throughout the majority of the race. Weighing his odds, he knew he'd prefer to be in a successful breakaway than fighting for a position in a bunch sprint. Halfway through the race, Joe moved to the front of the peloton and laid down some work out of a turn to bridge up to a solo breakaway. A couple of other racers followed Joe's lead and they started working together to maintain their distance. After a couple of minutes, two racers quickly fell off the pace line rotation, leaving only Joe and another racer to work together. Unfortunately, the other racer didn't have much left in the tank to give and signaled to Joe that he had burnt his last match. At that point, Joe realized a one man breakaway was likely not going to last and rejoined the peloton.


With 3 miles to go, Joe found another opportunity to break away from the peloton. Attempting to lay down some serious watts, Joe tried to maintain his gap from the peloton, but was caught and consumed with 100 meters to go, overtaken by the anticipated bunch sprint and finishing in the middle of the peloton.

You can't win them all, but Joe played the best hand possible to try and create some results for himself. LCBC has the Hagerstown Crit teed up for next weekend and we look forward to another round of exciting and positive results!

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Greenbelt Training Race, B

With the Brownstown RR on the horizon, LCBC's two Cat 4s, Andrew Stroup and Joe Siegel, made their way down to the Greenbelt Training Series to get some hard riding in before the weekend and the series of races over the next couple of months. Joe had raced in the C group earlier in the season, but this was both racers first time in the B group, since their upgrades to Cat 4.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/julieelliott/7463352604/in/set-72157630334158976
Joe and Andrew at the Greenbelt Training Series, B Race (c/o Julie Elliot)
The B group was relatively large, with ~35 racers, which rolled out a couple minutes after the A group. As the race started, Andrew quickly found his way towards the front of the group, leading the charge and setting a fast, steady pace. During lap 8, Joe decided to make his move and jumped out in front of the group, creating a 10 second gap up the climb, hoping to coax a couple of riders to move up and form a substantive breakaway. Simultaneously, Andrew, implementing some team tactics, eased up at the front to maintain Joe's gap, which also encouraged the riders Joe was looking for to bridge the gap.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/julieelliott/7463413870/in/set-72157630334158976
Joe crossing the finish line for 1st at the Greenbelt Training Race, B Group (c/o Julie Elliot)
Working with the two riders who bridged up to Joe and the latecomer who joined the breakaway with one lap to go, they were ready and set for a sprint finish. One of the racers threw down a hard effort halfway up the climb and created a 20 meter gap. Joe maintained his position in 4th and waited until 50 meters out, dumped watts towards the line, and finished the race 1st by half a bike length.

It was a great showing for LCBC and we're glad to see Joe and Andrew implement some team tactics. We look forward to Joe's performance in the Brownstown RR  and the Hagerstown Crit as Andrew joins him in the Cat 4/5 field.

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Reston Town Center Grand Prix

Another weekend, another race. This time Joe Siegel and Andrew Stroup made their way out to the Reston Town Center Grand Prix on Sunday for the Cat 3/4 race. This was the first time either of them had ridden in a combined Cat 3/4 field and Andrew's first race, since his broken left hand and the addition of three titanium screws (aka weight weenie cheater)!

To fully appreciate the events at the race, notice should be taken that both Joe and Andrew didn't sign up for this race until 11PM on Thursday, an hour before the closing of online registration. Being new neighbors and drinking away the heat, a gentlemen's agreement was made, which ended up with two registrations for a Sunday beating we like to call road racing.

Andrew in the RGP, Cat 3/4
The course was a 1.25km crit w/ 8 turns, half uphill and half downhill, making this a fast and technical course. Straight off the whistle, the field went off sprinting, stringing the group out and forcing everyone to dig  into the pain cave early to maintain the pace. Unfortunately, between the brutal pace and the inability to negotiate the turns effectively because of his hand, Andrew found himself off the back and ended up pulling himself.

Joe in the RGP, Cat 3/4
Joe was able to hang on to the back of the group until a few laps to go, where he slowly moved his way up the group as the pace slightly eased. Towards the last couple laps, several racers attempted to breakaway from the group. One racer created an 18 second gap, the largest throughout the race, with 3 laps to go, which was where Joe laid down the hammer and broke away from the group and bridged the gap. Joe was looking for racers to work with him to maintain a breakaway, but quickly found himself in the group and ended the race in a bunch sprint, finishing 20th overall.

LCBC is once again well represented by Joe and Andrew and we look forward to finishing up the race season strong this year w/ a couple more races in our cross hairs.

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Tour of Washington County

After almost a month long break from racing, LCBC came out for the Tour of Washington County with Joe Siegel racing in Category 4. The Tour of Washington County was a two day, three stage race; consisting of a RR Saturday morning and a TT and crit on Sunday.

Joe in the Tour of Washington County Road Race, Cat 4
Joe had an impressive Saturday morning, finishing 3rd in the RR, keeping him in contingency for the GC. Even though the finish was close, there was still a lot of work to be done on Sunday, since time bonuses were being awarded. To make the fight for GC an even greater challenge, a lot of time bonuses were being awarded via prime laps during the crit, requiring careful strategy on how to manage Sunday's effort.

On Sunday, Joe finished third in the TT and was able to move up to 2nd in the GC. This still left him 38 seconds behind the TT winner and now leader in the GC, and 4 seconds ahead of third entering the crit in the afternoon.

Joe Siegel, 2nd place, Tour of Washington County Cat 4 General Classification
As expected, the crit was brutally fast and several racers were out to make up some time and win the primes. Fortunately, Joe was able to position himself well and snag the first and third prime bonuses, each one second. On the last tight turn leading into the finish, two racers went down right in front of Joe, forcing him into the grass and losing his position in the front as fifth wheel. Recovering quickly, he rejoined the group at around 30th and grabbed the wheel of the 3rd place GC racer. They were able to move up past several racers before the finish and crossed the line together, finishing 18th in the crit and maintaining 2nd place in the GC.

This weekend was a great showing by our newly minted Cat 4 racer Joe and a solid representation for LCBC. We look forward to more races as the we reach the backside of the racing season. There are several races the team has started teeing up within the next couple of months and with Dave Cohen at almost 100% from his surgery and Andrew Stroup finally back on the road from his broken hand, we're looking forward to some full-on team races near term.

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Tour of Tucker

The Memorial Day weekend ended up being another great weekend for LCBC cycling. Joe Siegel made his way to West Virginia for the Tour of Tucker County as a fresh Cat 4, racing in the Cat 4/5 field. Unfortunately, both Luke and Dave weren't able to make it to the Sommerville, but there's always next year!

The Tour of Tucker County Cat 4/5 race was a mountainous 34 mile road race with two category 2 climbs at the 5mi and 29mi markers. The race started downhill, 4 miles down the same road as the final climb and finish. It became very clear the final climb to the finish was where the race was going to be won or lost, a 5 mile category 2 climb with over 1,800 vertical feet of climbing. Joe was able to team up with a couple guys from Kelly, Andrew Dunlap and Pete Bolster, and BRCC, Tom Blanks.

Being able to stay towards the front of the race from the get go served Joe well, as the front 15 broke away from the rest of the group at the start of the first category 2 climb. The climb followed several fast and technical downhill sections, where he stayed at the front to avoid any crashes from squirrelly wheels or flat tires. The group of 15 quickly identified last year's winner and decided to keep him in sight as the group began the final climb towards the finish. As expected, last year's winner made his move on the climb, where Joe was able to respond and hold his wheel or maintain a reasonable distance as they created separation from the remaining racers. Joe caught up to him at the mid-climb flat section, did some recovery "chatting", and both went back to work as the grade issued out another round of beating for the last mile. Separation was created between the two and before Joe realized it, the 200m sign appeared. Throwing down a monstrous effort, Joe was able to close the gap towards the finish, but wasn't able to overcome last year's winner, finishing at a very solid 2nd place.

c/o Julie Elliott
Joe on the final climb of the Tour of Tucker County
Congratulations to Joe for representing LCBC well and attacking the climbs with some Euro pro-ness style (see above, c/o Julie Elliott).

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Norristown and BikeJam

This past weekend held great results for LCBC as they continue to establish themselves among the MABRA and Baltimore velo community. Joe Siegel and our el presidente, Luke Mysko, made strong impressions with solid performances at the Norristown Crit and Kelly BikeJam, respectively.

At Norristown, Joe faced 30 racers in the Cat 5 field. The race started off with a neutral lap, and after losing 20 spots, he quickly learned "neutral" doesn't mean much among the Cat 5s and moved towards the front as the race progressed. As the prime lap bell rang, he sat fourth from the front and decided to make his bid for the prize after the 180 degree turn, where he and another racer ended up sprinting for the line, ending with him second across the line. After the prime lap, he moved back into the pack and rested for a few laps, assessing the field for the final sprint. As the final laps approached, a racer made his break and Joe quickly responded and grabbed his back wheel, creating a decent gap between them and the group. Planning the rotation of pulls just right, Joe found himself in perfect position on the final stretch to the line for a two man 500m sprint, where he won almost completely uncontested and crossed the line for a solid first place finish. Joe rode away with the $50 first place prize plus a bonus second place prime that consisted of Gu and a bottle of Freddie's Choice Body and Muscle Cream (exp date 5/15/99), which he promptly shared with all his teammates.

c/o Andrew Stroup
Luke at BikeJam, Cat 3
On Sunday, our el presidente, Luke Mysko, made an appearance in the Cat 3 field at Kelly BikeJam. Having played a gig the night before, leaving him only 3 hours of sleep and a chest cold, Luke faced some stiff competition with a field of 40 strong riders. The pace was brisk and Luke was able to lead some early laps, establishing himself among the group. About mid-race, a group of three noodled off the front and maintained a consistent 15 second gap until the second to last lap, where everyone was brought together. On the last lap, Luke sat towards the front of the group and as they made their way through the "s" turn on the backside, the sound of metal and carbon fiber hitting tarmac went off in the background behind him. Clearing the turn without collision, Luke found himself at the front pulling up to the line. The sprint line passed him during the last couple hundred meters, but he was still able to bring in a solid 9th place finish. Although having an excellent finish, Luke remains constant the highlight of the day was watching his 3 year old son participate in the kids race.

Congratulations to Joe and Luke on their great performances this past weekend. This week(end) Joe plans to hit up another Greenbelt Training Race and the Tour of Tucker County in West Virginia, already submitting his Cat 4 upgrade. Luke will be entering the Tour of Somerville in New Jersey with the potential of fellow teammate Dave Cohen joining him, pending his recovery status. LCBC looks forward to another weekend filled with racing and exciting results! Best of luck to all of our racers!





Friday, May 18, 2012

Earth, Wood & Fire

One LCBC's team sponsors just opened up their Baltimore location on Thursday. We are very thankful for all of our sponsors and look forward to checking out the new space and trying some great dishes!

Earth, Wood & Fire
1407 Clarkview Rd
Baltimore, MD 21209

Greenbelt Training Race and Team Update

Since the team took a weekend off of racing, they've had a chance to catch up on the Giro and Amgen while prepping for BikeJam. Meanwhile, Joe Siegel decided to enter a mid-week training race over at Greenbelt to test his new training regime and log another race for upgrading.

Still working on his last couple of Cat 5 races before upgrading, Joe entered the Group C Greenbelt Training Race. The field was about 30 deep, with some familiar faces as well as various unattached racers. In typical clydesdale fashion, Joe spent the majority of his time at the front of the pack, cranking away the watts and pushing the pace the entire race. Unfortunately once again, he was unable to inspire the other racers sucking on his back wheel to hop up there and form a legitimate breakaway. Already running on tired legs from a hard week of training, the power wasn't quite there to manage a solo breakaway.

c/o Julie Elliot
Joe at Greenbelt Training Race, Group C
On the last lap, after the neutral turn, Joe, Nathan Ong, and another racer sat at the front of the group with little room for any racers behind them to pass. As predicted, a couple of meters out, Nathan shifted into his drops and started to lay the hammer down for his sprint finish. Joe quickly picked up on his back wheel and rode in for 2nd place.

Another solid performance by Joe in the Cat 5 field as he prepares himself for upgrading and joining the rest of the team. His upgrade will serve as a turning point, allowing the team to enter into 3/4 fields and race as a cohesive group with purpose.

As for our other racers, Dave Cohen is on the quick road to recovery from his double hernia surgery a couple of weeks ago. He's been easing into riding and recently joined up with the Wednesday night Twenty20 ride, winning the sprint section (and that's taking it easy, hah). On Monday, Andrew Stroup was out on a rainy training ride with Mike Retzlaff and crashed out over a bridge, breaking his left hand. This puts him out of racing for 6 weeks and a forced mini-winter break on the trainer. We wish him a speedy recovery. This leaves Luke Mysko to fend for himself at BikeJam this Sunday, but the entire team will be out at Patterson Park supporting our el presidente. Mid-term, the team is eyeing a couple of tour races (Tour of Page County) in June/July where we'll have the whole team riding together.

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Turkey Hill and The Bunny Hop

Another weekend, another series of races on the books for LCBC. Once again, Joe Siegel and Andrew Stroup hit the road, with Joe heading North to race in the Turkey Hill Cat 4/5 and Andrew heading South to race The Bunny Hop Cat 5.

The rain held out on Saturday and made for a great day of racing up in Lancaster, PA. At around lap 3, Joe found himself once again at the front of the group, leading a breakaway. Unfortunately, no one was willing to work with him and the race ended up in a sprint finish. Getting boxed in at the last 50 meters, Joe came in at a solid 12th place out of 55 racers (7th among the Cat 5s).

More importantly, due to Julie Elliot's fantastic photography skills, she was able to capture Joe's true emotions while racing at the front of the field, right behind Andrew Dunlap. Perhaps it's because he had free hot dogs and ice cream on his mind, but whatever he was thinking about, you can't fake this type of happiness.
Joe at Turkey Hill
Although confused on which day his race was; on Sunday, Andrew made his way down to Suitland, MD to race on a misty, chilly morning. Andrew found himself towards the front of the group the entire race and held a strong position up until the end. On the last lap, he got caught up and slowed down in a turn and found himself sprinting to catch the group before the last turn on the final lap, finishing 20th-ish out of 50 racers.

c/o Madeline Laxa
Andrew at The Bunny Hop
We'd like to give a more precise placing, but the judges experienced some "technical difficulties" with the finish line camera, asking racers who thought they finished top 10 to step forward ... which was EVERYBODY. This race is also Andrew's last Cat 5 as he has put in his time and will be upgrading to Cat 4 this week, congratulations!

With Bike Jams only a couple of weeks away, we look forward to LCBC making a strong presence on their home turf. Keep spinning.

Friday, May 4, 2012

Keeping it Aero, Head Injuries, the Pebble, and Elite Women

A few articles have popped up across the series of tubes pertaining to velo culture, news, and updates that the LCBC team has found interesting.

Keeping it Aero

Aerodynamics is here to stay. Although the attention to and incorporation of aerodynamic designs and considerations in cycling have been slow to progress compared to other sports, the topic is now a hot issue and will likely drive cycling technology over the next few years.

Source: y-rocket.blogspot.com

VeloNews posted an article about the topic and the slow acceptance of aerodynamic qualities in gear by the pro peloton. There is a plethora of additional information, both on technical and laymen levels, of why aerodynamics plays a huge factor in road cycling, and since some of our racers tote formal technical training on the subject, LCBC looks forward to the further development of aerodynamic qualities as more companies invest in this area of research.

Head Injuries


Source: drunkcyclist.com
Another interesting article by VeloNews was posted about USA Cycling discussing head injury protocol during races and the appropriate actions cyclists, teams, and on-hand physicians should be performing post-crash. This has always been a touchy subject, since often times we'll see racers crash and then immediately scramble to get back on their bike without any consideration of potential short or long-term damages that just occurred. No official rules have been implemented, but we won't be surprised when some additional rigor is applied to address this issue at races.


The Pebble


Not directly related to cycling, but really interesting, TechCrunch posted up an article about the Pebble smart watch, which destroyed their KickStarter fundraising goal (raising $1M in 28 hours, with only a $100k goal) and is quite an interesting product with an application towards cycling. The Pebble is a good looking e-paper watch for the iPhone or Android that syncs via bluetooth. Phone information is displayed on the watch based on customized applications, including phone calls, text messages, emails, and music, also including controls and action buttons customized for the applications. The creator is an avid cyclist and found it tedious always stopping to check his phone for various reasons. There is an array of applications from cycling to golf, with endless opportunities as more apps are created. Since we have several tech geeks out there, this is another fun little toy to check out!



Elite Women


Source: CyclingNewsAnd finally, thank you CyclingNews for giving all of us a little cycling eye candy and hope for women's cycling with an article about Ferrand Prevot, an elite French woman cyclist who not only crushes the field at the age of 20, but also has become our new cycling crush (although we're sure she would also crush us on the road too). She has her sights set for the Olympics and we look forward to watching her performance.



Saturday, April 28, 2012

High Point Hill Climb and Rock Lititz Tour

Zach Hyland and Andrew Stroup were out representing LCBC this last weekend in the Garden and Keystone States (NJ and PA).

Returning to Montague, NJ, Zach raced the High Point Hill Climb in the Cat 1/2/3 field for the second year in a row, a 5.5 mile time trial that finishes at the highest point in New Jersey. The climb was brutal and with a start time of 10:40 AM, the temperature matched the climb's severity, staying at a frigid 39 degrees Fahrenheit. Zach finished the course with a time of 23:36, finishing 15th overall and shaving 39 seconds off his last year's time.

During his weekend racing trip, Zach also had the opportunity to visit Cannondale's world headquarters in Bethel, CT, one of LCBC's sponsors, checking out a ton of really cool designs and products. (insert jealous remarks here)

Up in the small town of Lititz, PA, Andrew raced the Rock Lititz Tour in the Cat 5 field, his first staged race, consisting of a road race on Saturday, followed by a time trial in the morning and criterium in the afternoon. The tour was a great learning experience, testing his physical and mental stamina, finishing 27th overall out of 37 racers. Being one of the two Cat 5 racers on the team, he's now only one race away from upgrading into the Cat 4 field.

Andrew in the Rock Lititz Tour Road Race
A couple of interesting notes about the Rock Lititz Tour: 1) prior to the road race, racers who pre-rode the course were getting flat tires because someone threw down a whole bunch of tacks before the race (Andrew concluded it was the same kid who creepily smiled at racers at a corner while holding a toy shotgun), and 2) turn 4 in the crit was super sketchy with lots of wrecks all day long: http://www.sportsgrid.com/video/rock-lititz-bike-crash/

This weekend, the LCBC team has The Bunny Hop and Turkey Hill lined up w/ BikeJams in their sites. Best of luck to the team and all the racers!

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

A Weekend Filled w/ Bad Decisions

This weekend, our Cat 5 racers headed North and South, with Joe Siegel making his way up to the Farmersville Road Race and Andrew Stroup heading down to the All American Road Race. Both were hoping to repeat last weekend's favorable performances at Carl Dolan; however, the race gods had different plans for them.

In the Cat 4/5 race at Farmersville, Joe maintained a solid position throughout the entire race and ended up the lead rider with a little over a mile left to go. Unfortunately, during the last turn of the race, Joe went the wrong direction. He was able to stay with the group and finished mid pack, 27th overall (out of 68) and 7th among the Cat 5 field.
Joe at the Farmersville Road Race
In the Cat 5 race at the All American Road Race, Andrew started off in the back and was forced to deal with jumping wheels to maintain contact with the group. Misjudging a greater than 90 degree turn, he lost the group and spent the remainder of the race chasing the group, which maintained a 10-15 second gap, finishing 33rd out of 43. To add to the weekend's list of bad decisions, Andrew headed up to the Fort Ritchie Criterium on Sunday, only to find himself shoeless. A Cat 5 mistake he'll never make again!

Andrew at the All American Road race




Fortunately the season is still young and LCBC has only just begun. The majority of the team will be resting up this weekend; except for Andrew, who will be racing in his first staged race, the Rock Lititz Tour. The Rock Lititz Tour is a 2 day, 3 stage race, consisting of a road race, followed by a time trial and criterium the following day.

Thursday, April 19, 2012

San Diego Velodrome

Another picture by Mark Mehlinger to make everyone a little more jealous of the West Coast velo culture.

San Diego Velodrome @ Balboa Park

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Carl Dolan Spring Classic


LCBC sent three racers to the 19th Annual Carl Dolan Memorial/Howard County Library Spring Classic; Luke Mysko racing the Cat 1/2/3 and Joe Siegel and Andrew Stroup racing the Cat 4/5. The race weather was oddly warm (mid-80s) with a moderate breeze, making it feel more like June then April.

The Cat 4/5 and Cat 1/2/3 were the last two races of the day, so the guys arrived around noon to scope out the course and conduct their pre-race rituals. Word got around quick about the numerous wrecks on the course in almost every race. As Joe and Andrew pulled up to the starting line, the Cat 3/4 race was on the course again for a restart due to a really nasty wreck, sending a racer to the hospital with a cracked skull. During the last lap of the restart, another 5-7 bike wreck went down in the back of the pack, cutting the race in half; definitely not a good omen for the start of their race.

The officials decided to cut the Cat 4/5 distance from 10 to 8 laps, making the race about 16.7 miles. The reduced distance only increased the speed of the race with a 23.6mph pace, including a neutral lap due to a wreck mid-race. Joe and Andrew were able to maintain a mid-pack position throughout the ride, moving with the surges of the pace lines. As expected, the final lap pushed everyone's legs into overdrive, driving the pace to the highest of the entire race. The group started stretching, dodging the lapped racers on both sides, and testing the racers on whose legs would hold out to the finish line. As soon as the group made the final turn, the hammer was laid down into the descent, leading up to the incline and finish. Joe was able to pull away and grab a back wheel, only to get exposed to the wind towards the top of the hill, finishing ~10th overall. Andrew was not far behind, holding onto a wheel, attacking a little too early up the incline. Both Joe and Andrew finished well among the Cat 5s, 6th and 14th place out of 47 racers and a >80 field.

Joe and Andrew in the Cat 4/5
Luke's race followed immediately after, 18 laps on the board or ~38 miles. The pace was consistent and fast the entire race, where any mistake would push a racer to the back of the group and potentially dropped. Halfway into the race, a three man breakaway formed, consisting of two DC Velo racers and a Kelley racer. A couple of chase groups attempted to bridge the gap, but were never able to close the time difference and were consumed by the peloton. Luke maintained a solid mid-pack position, always finding a wheel and putting out solid efforts when the peloton would surge. The breakaway ended up creating over a minute time gap with 3 laps to go, securing the top three podium positions. During the final lap, Luke pushed hard around the turn and hammered out a solid sprint to secure a 21st place finish, 2nd among the Cat 3s.

Luke in the Cat 1/2/3
LCBC was represented well. Congratulations to all of them and we look forward to the next race!

PICTURES:


Others:

Saturday, April 14, 2012

SoYoCo Circuit Race

Joe Siegel and Andrew Stroup headed up to Brogue, PA for the SoYoCo Circuit Race on Saturday. The weather was cold and like most races in middle PA, they were surrounded by rolling hills and Amish country.

The course consisted of two 90 degree turns right after downhill sections, followed by a mile long false flat and then a solid, short kicker right before the finish line. Increasing the difficulty, there were multiple patches of gravel and dirt all throughout the course.

Joe and Andrew were in the Cat 5 race, totaling 15 miles. During the second turn on the first lap, a wreck between two racers split the group in half, leaving 8-10 racers, including Andrew, in the back, chasing after the lead group, where Joe maintained his position, along with 15 others. Unfortunately, Andrew was having shifting problems, unable to downshift leaving him dropped and left to suffer in an unfavorable gear combination throughout the climbs.

Joe continued on with the lead group, where 2 guys made a break right before the last lap. Trying to motivate a chase, none of the other riders wanted to budge or had the legs to form a chase, leaving Joe at the front and no one to follow suit. Realizing that many of the racers in his group were in the same team as the two in the breakaway, a chase group was futile, so he laid the power down, threw down a solid attack a quarter of the way up the final kicker, leading the group by ~10m, and holding his position for a clear third place finish.

Joe's third place finish at the Cat 5 SoYoCo Circuit Race
Congratulations to Joe on his solid 3rd place finish and to both of them for priming their legs for the Carl Dolan the following day

Friday, April 13, 2012

Garmin Vector Delay

It looks like the elusive Garmin Vector power meter pedals stay elusive a little (or a lot) longer via a press release on Wednesday, providing no updated delivery date. This isn't the first time the pedals have been delayed and who knows if it'll be the last, although not providing a date likely resolves that issue.

Several LCBC riders have been looking forward to the summer release, but it looks like they'll have to put their pedal power dreams on hold and either stick with or turn to their Quarqs and PowerTaps for all their power measurement needs.

It's good that Garmin is taking the necessary time to refine the pedals before release to the public, but one can only wonder how long it'll take before our sweet dreams of knowing how imbalanced our legs are turn into reality. On the flip side, the Edge 500 was a nightmarish ordeal, where the first owners were more or less beta testers, so hopefully the delays indicate avoiding repeating the 500's history.

Posted on GamJams via Velo News

Interval Enthusiast

For quite some time the Lake Montebello loop has been closed due to a construction project that started mid-March. As of 10 April, the loop is open and available for runners and cyclists.

This is a great place for the guys that live in Baltimore to spin around on a recovery day, practice a pace line, or throw down some mean intervals, gauntlet style. LCBC is definitely glad to see the reopening and we'll see you out there!

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Wednesday Night Worlds


Part of the LCBC training regime has been attending the Wednesday Night Worlds (WNW) ride, an unaffiliated, drop group ride. You’ll often see Cat 1 and 2 riders, along with the occasional Pros/Semi-Pros. Anyone making their way up the racing hierarchy or simply looking to test their chops against some challenging terrain and even more daunting riders, this is the place to be on Wednesday. You’ll find the ride breaking up as the stronger riders will make attacks and breakaways, testing the limits of the group. The route can be found here; 30 miles and over 2,500ft of vertical climbing through the Hunt Valley area.

This week, Luke and Joe made it out to represent LCBC. WNW had pushed back their start time to 6PM (from 5:30PM), but Luke wasn’t in on the update, leaving him plenty of time to warm up alone and reflect upon the ride to come. Unlike the past few WNW where the weather was temperate with a cool, mild breeze; tonight was cold with a solid overcast of dark clouds. Because of the weather change, the normal 20-25 attendance was whittled down to 15 riders.

Heading out of Oregon Ridge, Luke was at it again, leading the pack the majority of the way to the Stringtown climb. One can only assume he simply loves being at the front, hammering away until he can do so no more, plus likely keeping himself warm. While Luke was off leading the charge, Joe maintained a position in the middle of the pack and began to feel the effects of the cold. As the group turned onto the Stringtown and began the long effort upwards, Joe decided to raise his body temperature a little and move his way up towards Luke, who was still hammering it away, and hopped in front to get some work done. As the group made its way up the climb, the clouds opened up and spit out some mean sleet and hail to sweeten the Stringtown climb experience.

Finishing the Stringtown climb and continuing up Yeoho, Joe found himself in a breakaway with Andrew Suchocki (Kelley), where they caught up with two additional riders, Chris Beck and an unknown rider, and separated themselves from the main group. Joe’s legs weren’t feeling prime for the sustained effort of a breakaway, but dug deep, settled into his drops, and persisted on. Joe was able to contribute to the breakaway, pushing when necessary and having just enough time to recover on the descents. Meanwhile, Luke, Galen Wallace (Kelley), and 3 others formed a group and began the inevitable chase after the breakaway.

It wasn’t until the top of Corbett and the turn onto Glencoe where th breakaway split up, already losing the unknown rider a few miles back and now the remaining three creating separation amongst themselves. As the three approached Upper Glencoe, Chris went on the offensive and delivered an attack up the climb, followed by a response by Andrew, and Joe ten seconds behind him. As Joe topped the climb, Chris and Andrew were rolling through York, leaving Joe to contend with traffic for a good 45 seconds.

At this point, Joe decided to revert back to his tri-athlete days and throw down some TT/Threshold work, maintaining a constant 95-100% threshold for the remaining 8 miles, staying ahead of the group behind him. With an average 171 bpm and 98% FPT from York to the top of Cuba, Andrew (and Chris from time to time) remained in sight as he turned on Priceville, finally catching up to Andrew at the bottom of the last hill up Cuba, where Andrew turned the afterburners on and pulled away from Joe to finish the last climb, leaving Joe with a solid third place finish. A couple of miles back, Luke’s group broke up towards the end of Priceville and his friend Stewart flatted, where Luke stopped to help him get his bike back on the road.

Joe and Andrew rolled into Oregon Ridge together w/ the main group 5 minutes behind, followed shortly after by Luke and Stewart. Always an adventure and a test of your limits, WNW is where it’s at when it comes to race season training.

Baltimore Velo Updates

Although there are various Baltimore velo blogs, sometimes our readers don't always have the luxury of perusing and filtering through all the blogs and posts, so we'll try and condense a quick summary of Baltimore related velo news pertinent to the team to keep you informed.

First off, if you'd like to check out the individual Baltimore velo blogs, here are some links to get you started:

http://baltimorevelo.com/
http://www.bmorebikes.com/
http://bmorefixed.com/home/

3-Foot Law

The most interesting Baltimore velo news has been the study published by the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for a Livable Future. The study addressed Baltimore's use of the "3-foot law." The article, written by Dave Love and posted on www.bmorebikes.com (the article is no longer available via B'more Bikes, but the original study is available here)

TLDR: 1 out of 6 motorists don't adhere to the Maryland law, surprise surprise, BUT lucky for the cylists, if you're riding on a street with a bike lane, motorists follow the law 20% more often.

Bottom line, keep an eye over your left shoulder because we all know that riding with/next to Baltimore motorists can be sketchy. Be safe out there!


Greenspring Ave Bike Lanes

Riding the train of safety and bike lanes, if you're deciding to head North out of Baltimore via Greenspring Ave, feel a little more at ease with some new bike lanes that have been added North of Cross Country Boulevard. B'more Bikes has the story here.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

LCBC rides LA

LCBC strikes the West Coast again, this time with Andrew Stroup leading the charge. During a business trip this week, Andrew found himself spending a few days at a LAX hotel. Since Joe and Andrew have a double header race weekend, Andrew could not simply let four days go by without his legs spinning. Originally, he was going to pack his team bike (Cannondale CAAD10) and fly it out to LA, unfortunately, the airline he booked was going to charge $200/direction. So instead he found a great bike shop 30m north of LAX in Santa Monica, Helen's Cycles, who was a Cannondale dealer and rented CAAD9 bikes.

Flying in on Monday afternoon, he checked into his hotel and grabbed a cab out to Helen's Cycles, making it to the bike shop 30m before closing. The bike shop was in a great location, a 15m bike ride down Santa Monica Blvd to the shore and park! The crew was helpful and friendly, and already had the bike ready for him. Adding to the sweet deal, the bike they brought out wasn't a CAAD9, but a '11 CAAD10 instead, being even one step closer to his own bike! Andrew rolled out of the bike shop and headed back to the hotel, taking an easy 45m route back into LAX.

Since Andrew had obligations on Tuesday, starting at 8AM and ending at 4PM, he decided he would try and get an early morning ride in, followed by an afternoon ride. Conducting some early recon, Andrew found two locations, Palos Verdes (PV) and Topanga State Park, finding various Cat 3 climbs. Since Baltimore and the surrounding Maryland area has very limited Cat 3 climbs, he definitely wanted to test his chops against the longer efforts. Using Garmin Connect and his Edge 500, he created courses (40mi round trips) moving along the coast line and into the foothills of each area.

Tuesday morning was an early start, clipping in at 4:30AM (7:30AM EST) w/ a 15mi ride South down the coast line through Manhattan and Redondo Beach, rolling up to the foothills of PV. Andrew made his way up the Cat 3 climb, spinning up Via Del Monte. While making his way up the climb, he would catch glimpses of the coast, an absolutely beautiful view of LA 800ft below shared with an endless blue horizon, appreciating the West Coast terrain and topography.

After taking a quick break at the top of the climb to refuel, he made his way down Via Coronel, which is where the story turns for the worse. Halfway down the descent, a car came cruising around a bend with their brights on, blinding Andrew. As soon as the car passed, the road T'd and he was suppose to make a left. Going 35mph, he didn't have time to course correct, hit the brakes hard, skidded, turned sideways, and finally hit the curb and flew into someone's yard. Like any bicycle crash, the first couple of minutes became surreal. Andrew stood up, tried to prioritize a post-wreck checklist, and patted down his body to make sure nothing was broken. Fortunately, everything checked out, no broken bones or protruding body parts. Also the bike was good, minus the front brake being misaligned. The majority of injuries were on his right side with no major external cuts or scrapes, minus a nice road rash down the left side of his face (see below). Adjusting himself and his bike, he hopped back on the bike and continued the descent and ride back up the coastline to LAX with 18 miles remaining.

Taken immediately post-crash to assess the damage
During the ride back, the sun was finally rising and although still recovering from the wreck, he refused to let it damper the great scenery and experience of this early morning ride. Once he reached Manhattan Beach, he stopped at the pier, near the Roundhouse Marine Lab & Aquarium, and took a quick picture.

Enjoying the coastline sunrise
Throughout the entire ride back to LAX, he felt sluggish and his pace (15-16mph) was much slower compared to the ride down to PV (20-12mph). Not until the stoplight right before his hotel, he noticed the right side of his front break was rubbing against the wheel, making those last 18mi a resistance training ride!

After some bandaging, meetings, compression socks, a quick hour nap, and more meetings, 4PM rolled around and he was free for the day. Originally, he was planning to ride Wednesday, returning the bike Wednesday evening, but the forecast predicted an 80% chance of rain starting late Tuesday evening through Thursday morning. Since he still had to get the bike back to the shop and take a cab back to the hotel, he decided to truncate his time on the bike and throw in another ride Tuesday afternoon before returning the bike @ 7PM. He threw on his beaten kit and headed North up the shore line towards Topanga State Park, riding through Venice Beach and down Ocean Avenue (insert the Yellowcard tune here).

The afternoon climb took him all the way up Amalfi Drive/Alta Mura Road, ending at someone's gated driveway. The majority of the climb was easier than this morning, minus the nice kicker at the end, which ended with a beautiful view of Rustic Canyon Park.

Rustic Canyon Park view at the top of Alta Mura Road
During his trip back to Helen's Cycles, he made one last stop at the Santa Monica pier, next to the park. Grabbing a sweet picture of him, the LCBC team kit, the bike, and the park before returning the bike.

Santa Monica Beach Park
Logging 60 miles for the day, two cat 3 climbs, a wreck, and some amazing views, Tuesday in LA was quite the adventure; one Andrew is looking forward to repeating (minus the wreck) next time he's out on the West Coast, hopefully next time with Mark in San Diego!

Sunday, April 8, 2012

West Coast Representation

One of the original members of LCBC, Mark Mehlinger, recently moved out to San Diego to seek out new adventures, roads, and mountains, since Maryland simply could not contain him anymore. Since being out there over the past couple of weeks, he has had the opportunity to experience the SoCal velo culture, which has been a drastic change from the East Coast scene.

During one of his morning group rides with the San Diego Bicycle Club, where over 100 riders were in attendance, Mark found himself at the front of the B group, making a break away with a few bold others. During the breakout, he noticed another guy in the break away rocking an Adventure for the Cure jersey with the Princeton Sports logo. When the group reached a light and had to slow down, Mark had a quick conversation with the cyclist, asking about the jersey and where the local Princeton Sports shop was located, since he didn't realize it was a national chain. The cyclist responds, "Columbia ... Columbia, Maryland." Mark instantly did a double take and explained his recent move from Baltimore. It was later discovered that Mark had actually sold this guy a coffee table through Craigslist some time back, while they were both in Mayland, such a small world! Mark also found out there was another guy with this cyclist who both rode and wore the Adventure for the Cure kits. They were originally from San Diego, moved out to Maryland a few years ago before moving back.

This new found connection through a random series of events led to a mean climb-fest out East today, riding out to some mountains to test Mark's chops against the West coast terrain. Best of luck Mark and keep the representation strong!

West Coast Princeton Sports representation

Saturday, March 31, 2012

Salisbury Road Race Results


The Salisbury Road Race was held up in Gap, PA and had a forecast of low 40s and rain. Fortunately, the rain held off and the racers only had to contend with the low temperature. Both Joe and Andrew were racing in the Novice/Category 5 group.

Joe had a rough start for the day and had to turn around 30m into the drive up to the race to grab his ID that he left at his house. He made it to the race 15m before the start and ran over to registration to get checked in and suited up for the race, leaving no time for warm-up. If that wasn't enough, when he pulled his bike off his car rack, the chain had lodged itself between the crank and chain ring and wasn't going anywhere without a good amount of force. The race was lined up and was about to start, but had to wait for an Amish horse carriage to pass by, giving Joe enough time to finally dislodge his chain with one Thor-like motion, clip in, and roll up to the back of the group right before the start of the race.

The race was brisk w/ the main group carrying an overall 22.5mph pace and about 1,000ft of climbing over 20 miles. Andrew started off in the middle of the pack and Joe was able to move up to him halfway through the first lap. The course had many rolling hills and was filled with gifts from the horses pulling the Amish carts. Halfway during the second lap, the group started breaking apart and picked up the pace, where Andrew was unable to hang on, but Joe continued to press on and slowly make his way up the front. During the final lap, Joe and 4 other racers broke away from the remaining group and carried it to the finish.

There was a climb and then a slight positive grade leading into the finish line, where the entire road was opened for a sprint finish. Joe was on the leader's wheel during the climb and was where he decided to make his break for the win. He passed the leader, earning him lead into the finish line. Little did Joe know, but the guy he passed was silently and stealthily holding onto Joe's back wheel and attempted a finish-line sprint to overcome Joe and grab the win. These series of events were unbeknownst to Joe, who still secured the win and won by half a wheel length.

Joe and his first place prize!
Some additional photos on a flickr pool, taken by Matthew Bunting at the race:

New Blog Location

Hello all! The LCBC team is transitioning to a new blogspot location to better facilitate team news, race results, and general updates. Below you'll find all the important information that was located on the original blog.

"2012 Jersey" - Sunday, December 11, 2011

LCBC team kit design
This is the 2012 jersey design stoked to see the finished product!!!

"Oui a bio" - Friday, December 9, 2011

Bonjour,  Just wanted to give everyone the low down on this team. L'equipe de Cyclisme B.C. was started by yours truly President Luke Mysko.  I have been racing bicycles since the tender age of 12. I started out racing BMX, then moved on to mountain bikes, and now the top of the food chain ROAD CYCLING. I started out my road career in the early 90's as a junior racing for Team Snow Valley/ABRT which is now ABRT. After a 10 year hiatus from serious cycling, I eventually got the itch again for racing so I gradually started training and doing a couple races here and there. During 2011 while racing for ABRT I got the idea to start a cycling team native to Baltimore County. I wanted to start a dedicated team of racing cyclists who are passionate about racing and committed to riding as a strong solid unit. The team name was chosen to be written in French out of a deep respect for La Grand  Debacle (the Tour de France), and the French classics which we as cyclists hold dear to our hearts. Please email Lequipecyclismebc@gmail.com if you are from the Baltimore County area and are interested in joining a focused racing team for 2012. Bonsoir

Luke Mysko
President
L'equipe de Cyclisme B.C.

"Excited" - Friday, December 2, 2011

Hello Everyone, L'equipe de Cyclisme B.C. is a new cycling team from Baltimore County, MD.   I'll be updating this blog as news comes along for the team. Right now the team is accepting applications for 2012.  If you are interested in joing the team please contact  lequipecyclismebc@gmail.com  .

Stay tuned as we get things going for the next season, and check out our sponsors.

http://www.cannondale.com/
http://www.defeet.com/
http://www.princetonsports.com/
http://www.earthwoodfire.com/