A new site for 2013.

We’ve moved! Check out our new home at http://teambikedoctor.org and please update your bookmarks.

Bike Doctor finishes on the MABRA Super 8 Podium

Ed Sander CX brought a close to the end of a long cross season that saw racing continuing late into December. The weather was reasonably warm for the time of year with the wet conditions concentrated around the lilly ponds. The course was challenging as usual, with punishing off-cambers on the front half followed by technical, slippery mud by the ponds. Fortunately, the course was no longer underwater from the storms earlier this year!

Despite a long road and cross season, Nicholas Taylor showed up to continue the fight for placing in the final elite series race of the season. After falling back from the leaders in the first half, he was able to work his way back up to a podium position and took 5th in the race. Despite losing points to a commanding win by Jake Sitler, he was able to help further secure his points position in the series. As a result, he came in 3rd in the MABRA Super 8 Elite Series―a great way to close out 2012!

Tanner Browne again opted to take on the punishment of the elite race, and fought through to the end despite a few spills and on-the-course adversity. Even though he did not challenge the last few races of the 15-18yr Junior series, his five wins throughout the season secured him a 2nd place spot atop the 15-18 junior Series Podium. Congrats!

In closing out 2012, the team would like to thank the promoters of the MABRA Super 8 CX series and the Sportif Cross Cup, without whom we would have a very boring fall waiting for next year’s road season!

The team would also like to thank their sponsors for their generous support, without whom they wouldn’t be able to promote and enjoy the sport that they love. Please check out their great products and services: Bike Doctor, DigiSource Discovery Solutions, Elite Endurance Training Systems, Cannondale and CycleOps Power.

Bike Doctor Takes on Cross! Upgrades & Wins Galore

All may have been quiet on the blog front, but fear not, as the team has been very busy racing this fall!   So far this season has seen a number of new faces stepping out both to experience the unique thrill of racing cyclocross and subsequently stepping up on the podium.  The number of wins, category upgrades, and podiums are almost too much to list, so here is our best attempt at a a run-down of the team’s campaign:

Nicholas Taylor returned to the MABRA elite schedule with wins at BCA and Patapsco CX.  He also saw podiums at the MABRA Super8 elite races at Hyattesville, Schooley Mill, and Rockburn, and also at the Sportif Cup Seneca CX race.  He currently stands in the top 5 of the MABRA Super8 elite series and hopes to finish the season on a good note.

Brian Rist decided to give ‘cross a try this fall, and opened his season with a podium in the 35+ 3/4 at Tacchino CX.  He moved on to give the Sportif series a run, with a hat trick of wins in the 35+ 3/4 at BCA, Psycho, and Seneca CX.  Not one to stop others from a chance at glory, he received his Category 2 CX upgrade and moved on to the punishment of MABRA’s 35+ elite field.  He ended up 4th in the Sportif 35+ 3/4 series after upgrading mid-season.

Michael Cordova was another new face jumping barriers this fall.  He saw podiums in the 3/4 category both at Patapsco CX and Turkey Chase, the MABRA/MD CX championship.  He finished with 4th in the Sportif Cup 3/4 series.

Tanner Browne returned for another dominating series in the MABRA And Sportif series.  He was nearly untouched in the MABRA Super 8 15-18 junior race, seeing wins at Tacchino, Hyattesville, DCCX, Schooley Mill, and Rockburn CX.  He saw a similar performance in the Sportif series, winning at BCA CX.

He also gave the regular a 3/4 races a go, seeing podiums in the Sportif series at Psycho, AACX, Patapsco, and Turkey Chase.  This enabled him to end up 2nd in the decidedly non-junior competition of the Sportif 3/4 series and achieve his Category 2 upgrade.  He also hopes to do well in the MABRA Super8 15-18 junior series, despite not competing in the final two races.  Watch for him coming to an elite race near you!

Jeff Chun also decided to test the waters with his first season racing cross. He opened his year with a podium at Tacchino CX in the 35+ 3/4 followed by a win in the 35+ 3/4 at AACX. Not one to sit idly by, he immediately upgraded to category 2. MABRA elite fields will be seeing a lot of new faces in 2013!

Bike Doctor presents an Intro to Cyclocross Clinic

The team is pleased to announce an introductory cyclocross clinic scheduled for September 2nd, 2012 from 10am to 1pm at Rosaryville State Park in Maryland.  This will be a 3 hour long clinic geared for those with little to no experience who just want to get down the very basics that are needed for racing Cyclocross.

You do not need a cross bike to participate, but a bike with knobby tires and off-road appropriate clipless pedals will provide the best learning experience.  A mountain bike would work just fine.  A helmet, however, is required.

The cost to attend is $10 and attendees are encouraged to register in advance using paypal to bikedoctorclinic@gmail.com.  Please include the names of those attending.  Juniors are FREE–just email us with their names!  Day-of registration will be $15, however, we recommend that you register in advance as we reserve the right to close off day-of registration if we reach capacity.

More information on the clinic is provided in the flier below.  Tell all your friends!

Bike Doctor Intro to Cross Clinic Flier

A Championship Weekend

It was a big weekend for title-grabbin’ across Virginia and the Mid-Atlantic with the Shenandoah Time Trial on Saturday awarding state champion bragging rights to the victors and the Miller School Road Race on Sunday offering the championship jackpot, MABRA and VACA, to the Juniors and not-so-Juniors (i.e. Masters) of the region.  Page Valley Cycling and Monticello Velo Club have outdone themselves again in putting on some great races.

Bike Doctor sent a full squad to Page County to try their legs on the constantly rolling Shenandoah Time Trial course.  Like a beautiful woman, the course had many curves, could be approached many different ways and intimate knowledge was essential.  In the Category 1/2 race,  Scott Giles rode himself to the 2nd step of the podium while Nicholas Taylor finished in a very impressive 4th. As a Virginia resident, Nicholas came away with 3rd in the Virginia state time championship.

For the racers without time trial equipment that still wanted to test themselves on a great course, the Eddy Merckx category was offered at the Shenandoah Time Trial.  Ryan Bodge barnstormed the field and snagged 1st Place in the division!  Congrats, Ryan, on the smokin’ fast race and your first win in Bike Doctor colors.

Early Sunday morning brought the inaugural Miller School Road Race.  Bike Doctor shook the previous day’s effort out of the legs early sending Giles off the front in the first lap, taking pressure off the rest of the team.  Giles spent the majority of the race off the front eventually being caught by a hard charging peloton coming into the last lap.  Due to Giles hard work, Taylor was perfectly positioned to follow the counter-attack that followed the catch.  After a gut-wrenching final 20 miles, Taylor was able to take 2nd overall from the breakaway!

Taylor, showing off the hardware for 2nd place in the VACA 30+ Category.

Cleaning up in the championship titles, Warner was able to snag the MABRA 40+ championship placing 10th overall in the race.  Congrats, Pete!

The guys would like to thank the team’s sponsors for their generous support, without whom they wouldn’t be able to promote and enjoy the sport that they love. Please check out their great products/services: Bike Doctor, DigiSource Discovery Solutions,Elite Endurance Training Systems, Cannondale and CycleOps Power.

Racing in the Sahara Desert at RGS Chantilly Crit

Yowzers, Sunday was a scorcher for sure. We’ll start by giving the Evolution Cycling Team, Officials and Volunteers a mighty thank you for withstanding the heat and pulling off a nice event. The majority of the team missed the memo that it would be a good idea to bring a tent. Shade was certainly a tough commodity to locate.

We’re a little light on photographic evidence, but the team did well across a variety of categories. There was a Bruce Buckley siting, but he was all kitted up without his strapping camera hung around his neck. Junior rider, Emir Crnovic, kicked it off in the early Cat 5 race. Late in the race he got baptized with the old Cat 5 shoulder check going through a corner sending him off the road. No injuries and some more experience gained for him.

Sjoberg and Warner represented in the 35+ race. Sjoberg, fresh off winning 1 race and taking fourth in the 2nd race at Ironhill on Saturday, was targeting what we believe may be a record, 4 crits in a 24 hour period. The dude is made of iron, or most likely, just plain crazy from drinking too much Belgium beer. Well, Warner ended up getting off the front early and after a few laps, ABRT strongman, George Ganoung, bridged up. Sjoberg provided some great teamwork back in the field by marking the threatening moves. The duo rolled around in circles and battled it out for the win. Warner edged Ganoung at the line in a hotly contested sprint finish. Tip of the hat to both riders, well done.

The only thing Warner could come up with is some random video clips his wife captured. Judging by her yells at the end, we think he may have been divorced if he lost. Ah, the pressure of an audience can prove motivating.

Chantilly 35+ Crit from Peter Warner on Vimeo.

In the P123 race, Taylor locked down 7th place on the day after getting away from the field in a small move later in the race. Fife just missed the podium with 4th in the 35+ 3/4 race. And for our Cat 3 squad doubling up in the final race of the day, the fellas landed 4 riders in the top 13 – Hampton 8th, Bickling 10th, Chun 12th and Fife 13th.

All in all, a fun day of racing on a resurrected course!

Tour of Page County!

Where to start here? There are just so many great things to write about during our weekend in Luray. It’s probably fitting to start with this fella, Chris Gould.

Promoter Extraordinaire – Chris Gould

How in the world this guy manages to find the energy, creativity and drive to put together a thrilling event is beyond our comprehension.  There is just no way Team Bike Doctor wouldn’t be there to support and contest this jewel of a race. A team member summed it best by saying, “Whenever I come to Luray for a race, I always have such a great time that it feels like I was here for a week by the time I leave.”

After witnessing one of the most powerful storms we’ve seen in a long time whip through Luray on Friday night, it wasn’t much of a shock to find out on Saturday that the road race was cancelled. Yes, it was a bummer after seeing how cool the road course was, but sometimes you just have to roll with the punches. What better way to roll with the punches than spend some time at the pool doing stupid tricks and having a few beers.  We present Exhibit A.

Rest Day at Tour of Page County from Peter Warner on Vimeo.

Fun at the pool

Number pick up at the Ride for Art Gallery

After going to bed praying that another storm wouldn’t rip through during the night, we were greeted to beautiful skies at the start of the Time Trial. A fun 9 mile rolling out and back course.  The team produced some excellent times in the 1/2/3 race with Scott Giles placing 3^rd, Pete Custer 6^th and Nicholas Taylor 11^th. Frank Ramos placed 5^th in the ¾ race.

The next event on tap following at 11 a.m. was the downtown Luray Criterium.  There is no faking your way through this course. There are no flukes.  The strongest come out to play and force the action. Our junior, Emir Crnovic, kicked things off by placing 9^th in the Cat 5 race, his first ever crit race.  Maybe we’ll make a racer out of him, yet?  Here’s a little video to give you some perspective of just how challenging this race is.

Emir at Tour of Page County – Luray Crit from Peter Warner on Vimeo.

At 2 p.m., the 1/2/3 race kicked off in some sweltering conditions.  As the field continued to whittle down, Scott Giles made his move with a few others to try and reel in a flying Ryan Mckinney of DC Velo. With 1^st and 2^nd from the TT still with the field, the team worked hard to keep chasers at bay.  In the end, Mckinney maintained his advantage over the Giles’ led chase group but Giles was able secure 2^nd place on the day. It was a great result which led to some nervous anticipation prior to the official GC results.  Did Mckinney gain enough time to leap frog Giles? Did Giles gain enough time on 1^st and 2^nd to leap frog into 1st? It was mindboggling attempting to figure it all out.  Taylor and Custer finished strong as well, taking 9^th & 10^th place respectively.

In the end, Giles came home 2^nd on GC. Mckinney’s stellar ride was just too much to overcome. It was a hard fought battle with some great drama at end.  Can’t ask for a more fitting end to an excellent event!

Here’s the great  podium shot of some first class racers  (Not often you get the chance to share the podium with a rising star in American cycling):

Podium- Scott Giles 2nd on GC

Again, Team Bike Doctor would like thank Chris and everyone involved in helping make this past weekend so fantastic. And to the Town of Luray and Page County, we love coming to visit and appreciate you having us.  We hope this becomes an annual tradition!

NUE Series #3: Mohican 100

Jed Prentice made the trek out to Loudonville, OH for the Mohican 100, the third round of the National Ultra-Endurance (NUE) Series, finishing 16th with a time of 7:30. The course was fun but demanding, a nice mix of fast singletrack, primitive single and doubletrack, and dirt roads, with over 11,000 feet of elevation gain. However, the longest climb gains 350 feet over a mile, which means means countless short, steep, punchy climbs that take their toll on the legs after several hours of racing. A steep 200′ paved climb immediately after the start, followed by a short rolling section of road leading into the woods makes a fast start and good positioning a must. A $200 preme awarded to the first rider to leave the Loudonville city limits near the top of the climb adds fuel to the fire. (The rider who wins the preme has to finish the race to collect.)

Jed got a good start and went into the woods in a good position, settling into the top-20 and staying there all day. He shredded the singletrack and rode smart on the roads, working with other riders to keep the pace high. After riding in a group of 2-4 riders for most of the day, Jed shredded the final section of singletrack to come in a minute or so ahead of the rest of his group.

You can sit on Jed’s wheel for about 20 seconds in the cyclingdirt.org race highlights video, starting around 1:35

Jed would like to thank the team’s sponsors for their generous support, without whom he wouldn’t be able to promote and enjoy the sport that he loves. Please check out their great products/services: Bike Doctor, DigiSource Discovery Solutions, Elite Endurance Training Systems, Cannondale and CycleOps Power.

Ride Sally Ride Report (Cat 3 Victory!!)

Team Bike Doctor represented at this weekend’s Ride Sally Ride in four events hosted. Ride Sally Ride is promoted by Whole Wheel Velo Club and is perhaps the most prestigious flat, office park criterium of the year.

Robb Hampton rode his brand new team custom Cannondale CAAD 10 to a 3rd place in the Master’s 35 3/4 race and a victory in the Men’s Cat 3 race.

Bruce Buckley was on hand to capture Bike Doctor victory. Hampton has been working with Brian Sjoberg to improve his victory salutes.

In the Master’s 35 3/4 race, over 75 competitors lined up hungry for victory. That victory belonged to NCVC’s Andreas Guzeit, defending MABRA Champ, who timed the final sprint perfectly. Hampton was hot on his heels but ran out of sprinting real estate managing to hold on to a hard fought 3rd place.

In between races, Hampton joined his Cat 3 teammates to prepare for the next race. Todd Bickling, Jeff Chun, Mike Schiender and Ian Morrison prepared to line up for another 31 times around the flat, oval loop. Unimpressed with Hampton’s 3rd place in the Masters race, Sobe gave Hampton a peptalk by saying “you better win and he didn’t want to hear excuses.” The pressure was on.

The Cat 3 race was dictated by an unknown, out of area, team in neon yellow kits. They raced aggressively throughout the race but ended up with nothing to show except exceptional time off the front. With the help from teammates and other members of the group, all breaks (some very threatening) were brought back and the peloton prepared for the final sprint. The November Bicycles team lined things up with 5-6 laps to go, followed by the neon yellow team. Soon enough there was only one lap left and Hampton was in prime position four or five wheels back.

Hampton grinding his way to victory. Thanks to District Velocity for the photo!

Luis Infante of Evolution took a dramatic flyer with 1/2 lap to go. Noticing that two of the five members of the front group were from Evolution, Hampton did not hesitate and jumped about 150 meters before the final corner, managing to get a large gap and securing victory for the first Bike Doctor Cat 3 MABRA win of the year.

The guys would like to thank the team’s sponsors for their generous support, without whom they wouldn’t be able to promote and enjoy the sport that they love. Please check out their great products/services: Bike Doctor, DigiSource Discovery Solutions, Elite Endurance Training Systems, Cannondale and CycleOps Power.

POOLESVILLE ROAD RACE

Yep, ALL CAPS for this baby…well deserved.  NCVC ordered up a beautiful day for one of THE most coveted races on the MABRA calendar. It carries a tradition and a course profile that every racer would cherish to have their name written in the history books for winning.  No two years are alike.  It’s a race where the unexpected is expected and you feel blessed afterward if it can be accomplished mechanical free.  Team Bike Doctor circled the wagons and brought a strong team to contest the 1/2/3 race as well as the 3 race.

It took a LONG time for the move of the day to sail in the 1/2/3 race, but once it was clear and with one of Bike Doctor’s locomotives, Scott Giles, it would last to the end.  In a dramatic last few miles, the duo of Giles and Escobar (XO Communications) were left battling it out for the win.  Unfortunately, Escobar had just enough sugar in the legs to come around Giles at the line.  Although Giles wishes there was about 5 miles left of racing, his second place is extremely rewarding for himself and the team.  The team arrived with ambitions to land on the podium and made it happen.

In the Cat 3 race, the Bike Doctor crew raced hard. A break got away without its representation, so the team was left to battle it out for the field sprint.  The team took 9^th (Ramos), 10^th (Hampton) and 11^th (Chun).  Hey, at least they stick together to the bitter end!

Make sure to check out Bruce Buckley’s photographs HERE!  Amazing shots!

Results HERE

Bike Doctor p/b DigiSource would like to send a BIG thank you to the entire NCVC contingent for a  great day of racing! Poolseville Road Race never disappoints!