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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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!

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