In addition to EXPO Wheelmen representing at the Fitchburg Longsjo Stage Race and Tour of the Hilltowns (covered earlier), we’ve also been racing some of the more “grassroots” races – local crits.

Sponsor and teammate Aki S raced at New Britain July 11 (report here) and he, along with Chris A, raced at Naugatuck the following Sunday, July 18 (report here).

For those of you that don’t race but want to see what it’s like, be sure to check out Aki’s helmet cam videos.  His footage of the Keith Berger Cat 3 race is a study in team tactics and includes prominent displays of EXPO kit (not to mention bike handling skills).  Check it out here.

Finally, if you want to try out racing, you probably already know about the weekly crit series at Rentschler Field in East Hartford on Tuesday nights.  It’s a fun venue and will give you lots of practice in a safe environment.  There are two races – “B” and “A” – with the beginners through Cat4s racing first in the Bs.  But don’t let the laid-back atmosphere fool you – both races are hotly contested.  But EXPO is well-represented, especially among the Cat4s in the B race.

Teammates Aki and Chris do the “A” race and were able to surprise the Cat1s and 2s last Tuesday, July 20 with Aki leading out Chris for the win.  Read more about it here.

With July winding down and the Tour de France over, there are only a few races left – that is, until ‘cross season starts.

Those posts will have to wait, but only for a little while…

Team Expo lined up four Cat 4s for this year’s Tour of the Hilltowns.  The rough roads and packed field took their toll on half of team Expo as Mike M’s ride was cut short by a flat, and Dave J’s aspirations for a good race were derailed as he came to a halt to avoid a pile-up (he’s OK).  The hills, in particular that beast of a climb called East Hawley Road, and tough competition brought on a case of bad cramps for Dennis D as the race drew to a close, sending him a minute or two off the lead pack (read his write-up here).  The only rider to leave the event with a smile on his face was Dave D, either due to some satisfaction in a great personal effort, or because he’s a masochist and loved the pain inflicted by the Tour of the Hilltowns.

On Saturday, July 17, Jon Tarbox, Mike Martin and Cliff Kenyon ventured out to Western MA for the inaugural Jeremy Powers Gran Fundo.  The Gran Fundo supports J.A.M., which in turn supports motivated, young cyclists reach their potential both on and off the bike in and around the Pioneer Valley through the issuance of grants and mentoring.

In the cycling world, a gran fondo is a massive group ride/race, which can attract riders numbering in the thousands, encompassing all ability levels.  This ride took the spirit of a gran fando and added some interesting changes and called it a Gran FUNDO!

The ride consisted of a 62 mile scenic route with minimal auto traffic and 20+ miles of dirt roads with some dirt roads being just slightly better than mountain biking double track.  The route included several long steep climbs strategically placed towards the middle of the ride which in turn resulted in some fun descending at the end.  Overall the ride was well supported with several rest stops including an ice cream truck rest stop at 35 miles.  For some reason Cliff was the only one out of the group which actually enjoyed ice cream at the rest stop!!

At the conclusion of the event all sat down for a pig roast where the ice cream truck made a second appearance.  A great day and event and one we’ll certainly attend in the future.

The weekend of July 17-18 saw some strong EXPO support at the ERRACE charity ride to benefit the Helen & Harry Gray Cancer Center and the Livestrong Foundation (www.errace.org).

Twelve EXPO Wheelmen started the 100 mile ride from the cancer center in Avon at 7:00 on Saturday morning.  As expected the pace was high until Dave H. bagged the first town line.  After that the paced slowed, but only slightly.  Groups had formed based on ability or motivation level by the first rest stop at 25 miles.  The second rest stop at 50 miles was a welcome sight.  The huge climb immediately after was not.  The miles and climbing ticked by until the course reached the center of Colebrook where a long down hill grade brought us to rest stop three.  From there it was 25 relatively flat miles back to a waiting barbeque and cheering crowd at the cancer center.

I think we can all agree that the organizers and volunteers did a great job organizing the event.  The rest stops were well stocked with snacks and drinks along with encouragement from the volunteers and the food at the finish was tasty and plentiful.  It was great to see and ride with some good friends and team mates.

This week we have Expo News filed from two different race reports.  The first comes from Dave H from last weekend’s CT State Championship at New Britian, CT where he scored another podium finish.  The second report comes from Jon T about his top 10 finish as well Johnathan S’s  mechanical challenges at the Pat’s Peak MTB race.

CT State Championships (by Dave H): 

Great race today – I lined up with 65 competitors, the sun was out and the heat was up. At the whistle I attacked to get something going early. I was able to get up the road a bit and had A.Zane Wenzel from Benidorm join me but it wasn’t meant to be as we needed more in the break to make it work and soon the pack caught us. That was just the start of the activity! There were a flurry if attacks throughout the race, and I tried my hand in a few to take my chances but also made sure to leave a small amount of energy in case it didn’t work.

Coming into the last 3 laps the pace went up as high as it could and we were strung out with a few teams taking turns. I stayed in the middle of the excitement at the front not allowing myself to go back any further than 6th or 7th place. This paid off as we came through the last lap on the back side up the short left hand hill it was full speed into the final left hand downhill corner then the sprint. I was in good position and let it all out for the final sprint. I was able to take the Bronze medal for CT masters 35+. This is my best year for placing in States as I was able to medal Bronze in the Pro-3 race here three weeks ago as well.

Pat’s Peak MTB Race (by Jon T):

The Expo Wheelmen were represented at the Pat’s Peak mountain bike race this past Sunday by myself, Jon Tarbox, and Jonathan Sawn.  Pat’s Peak ski area is in Henniker, NH and hosts the race as part of the Root 66 race series.  The weather was beautiful, though quite hot for mounatin bike racing.

This year’s race took place on a primarily new course relative to years past after it was discovered that a large part of the old course was not on ski area property.  The trail designers and builders did a great job putting together an interesting and very challenging 5.2 mile course. The course climbs a total of 850′ per lap, mostly on technical single track and a few sections of gravel access roads.  The aggressive main descent from the top of the mountain was as tiring as the climb, leaving you with sore hands and a very stiff back (in my case any way).

Jonathan discovered a crack in his chainstay on Saturday.  He decided to attempt a “splint” with the creative use of hose clamps and bits of metal and wood and give the race a go.  Jonathan lined up for the cat 2, 19-29 race and took off for three laps of the course.  After two laps It was evident that the “splint” wasn’t going to hold and he pulled out of the race.  That was his first DNF ever.  Sorry to hear that, Jonathan.

I took the start with 7 others in the cat. 1, 40-49 group who were set to tackle four laps.  At the gun, two guys were off like a rocket, the rest of us felt that pacing may be a better approach on this course.  At the top of the mountain on the first lap, one other rider had gone ahead and I had about a 20 second gap on the remaining riders.  The down hill proved to be my undoing and all my gains were lost by the bottom of the mountain.  We continued to trade places a bit, but settled in to our positions by the third lap.  The fourth lap was a survival-mode slog for me.  I finished the four laps in 3:03 in 6th place, about 30 min. behind the winners.

This was a great day at a beautiful venue on a really tough course, and it beats crit racing any day in my book.