NEBC/Cycle Loft/Devonshire Dental Men's Elite Team News
These past two months of racing have been a huge mixture of good and bad luck, I think we last left off w/ a brief mention that Alex Dossin had won the Great Falls Criterium in Auburn, ME. That was a largely successful weekend for the Cat 3s as the day before NEBC pulled out a double podium (just missing out on the top step) at the Auburn Road Race as well.
The Auburn Road Race was 6 laps of a 11 mile loop, we had good representation from Scott Brooks, David Chiu, Alex Dossin, Jay Robbins, and Keith Reynolds the plan was to sit in for the early laps and try for something later in the race, purposely keeping the plan a little vague, as super detailed grandiose plans rarely come to fruition, especially in the Cat 3s. Throughout the early parts of the race everyone was super jumpy in that negative-racing manner chasing down everything that moved but never really wanting to move much beyond 20mph when we were all together. Around the half way point in the race, Scott Brooks made his signature counter attack, which is really less of an attack and more of a list-fully rolling off the front. This “attack” has worked for him in the past on several occasions, probably the most successful being his win at Sunapee in 2007 in the freezing and driving spring rain
The next day was the Great Falls Criterium also in Auburn, ME. In attendance was: Alex Dossin, Dave Chiu, Jay Robbins, Keith Reynolds, Brian Campbell, and Eric Brassell. We went into this race with the same game plan, wait till the halfway point to do “something”. This course is a basic four corner crit with a nice hill in it, a steep wall of a kicker, just enough to really hurt the legs and kill your momentum. On the other side of the course was a screaming fast downhill that fed you back into the wall. At about the half way point, a red and white (non NEBC) rider started things off by launching a solo attack that lasted for about a lap and a half, the field took it’s time to bring him back to within a few dozen meters, at that point I countered on the wall got up to the solo rider and just kept motoring for a solo move that eventually got a gap as large as 1/3 of a lap thanks to teammates blocking in the field. Once again Base36/SMCC/Gorham Bike goes to the front and nails it to bring the move back, I was caught on the wall at 4 to go, just as a solo rider with no team thanks the chasing team for all their work, Alex jumps up the road. Tired of chasing me the field hesitates before trying to chase again, there were a few times Alex was brought back close to the field but the field always sat up before the final catch was made and Alex never gave up, always nailing it right after the wall to keep moving, that in combination of me getting back to the front to slow the field down during the fast downhill let Alex’s gap stick, giving him his first solo victory! Along the way, in various breaks and moves, NEBC had also taken all the cash primes on the day, not too shabby. Alex had commented earlier in the weekend that he’s never won a race before, I don’t think he can say that anymore!
Landen was the only Cat 2 that came up to Maine for the weekend and had a bit of bad luck as he touched wheels with another rider in the Crit and took a tumble forcing him to pull out of the race about 1/3 of the way in. Landen is a durable kid though and bounced back w/o any issues.
The following weekend was a New Britain and New London criterium, nothing of note happened in the New Britain Crit in the Cat 3 race. Roy Van Cleef contested his first Master’s race in the 30+ category though and picked up some primes as well as third in the field sprint, the P/1/2/3 race saw Peter Chiu, Jim Thomas, and Rebecca, and Brooke of the Women’s team. Jim survived 6 crashes in the last 2 laps to finish 11th and Peter rolled in just behind him for 20th, not bad at all considering the bombs going off in the peleton in the last 2 laps.
New London is a fantastic race course, a bit of a figure 8 with 7 turns and one sweeping turn that almost takes the riders 180deg before a sharp 90deg right, and a bump through the Start/Finish to make the legs hurt a bit. Easily one of the most fun Criterium courses in New England. Jay Robbins and I were the only NEBC riders represented in the Cat 3 race. The race was much more aggressive Jay Robbins found himself in a good move that didn’t stick, I made several attempts that were never as successful as Jay’s, and it all came back down to a field sprint. I found myself on the front going into the last corner (oops), the eventual winner squeezed inside of me and got the jump on the rest of us, Jay was very well positioned and came around me on the finishing straight for 4th on the day, two places ahead of my eventual placing. Another good effort by the team!
In the P/1/2/3 race we saw Jay Robbins (again), with Peter Shapiro, Peter Chiu, Landen Wark-Acebo, and Jim Thomas. Jay only lasted a lap before calling it a day, but it was a good lap, as Shapiro was able to get in one of the first moves of the day. After that was brought back another group went, but NEBC missed the break and Jim began his barrage on the field to try to bring it back. In the end though, it wasn’t to be, there were 7 people up the road in 2 groups, and the field was all back together, Shapiro made a strong move on the back side which no one followed and rolled across the line solo for 8th.
After the Connecticuit Crit Weekend was the Giro di Jersey. A nice low-key stage race in Southern New Jersey, in and around the Princeton area. Scott Brooks had won this in 2008 and we were looking for a repeat. Landen and Shapiro, were contesting the P/1/2 5 day Timed GC Stage Race with Scott and Dave in the 3/4s 3 day Omnium. This race had lots of potential, but a huge string of bad luck between a newbie officiating crew, weather, road conditions, and more weather it was actually kind of a disaster. The promoter tried the best he could, and a lot of the problems were completely out of his control. In the end, Scott was only able to pull off a 7th on the GC.
But, on the bright side, AFTER Giro di Jersey, Landen hauled it up to Central Harlem to contest the David Walker Memorial Skyscraper Cycling Classic. A flat as a pancake 4-corner criterium around Marcus Garvey Park on Manhattan. If you’re a crit fan, this is definitely one of the races to do. Lower key this year than last when it was the Rock Racing Harlem Rocks big money crit, the race saw smaller more local teams. But the weather couldn’t decide if it wanted to rain or be sunny, so it did both. Raining just enough to soak the course and make the painted lines extra slippery and then stopping so that the sun could come out. Peter avoided another 6 crashes on the day, including a spectacular one man slide-out right infront of him as he was jumping across to a break that was a little up the road. Landen got caught in the tail end of a crash in Corner 1 where all the “action” seemed to be happening. Eventually a very strong group of 4 got up the road, Landen and Peter got in some groups that tried to bridge but it didn’t happen. Peter and Landen rolled in with the field for 29th and 32nd respectively. While we didn’t win, it was a great motivator to have Peter and Landen duking it out in a super aggressive and super strong field, a good step in the right direction for the later-season Criteriums we’ll be targeting, like the Crossroads Cycling Classic 5x Criterium Series in North Carolina, Portsmouth Downtown Criterium, and the Boston Downtown Criterium.
This brings us to Fitchburg, Landen Wark-Acebo contested the pre-Fitchburg warm up race, the Exeter Twilight Criterium in Exeter, NH. Landen was in excellent position going into the finish following the CRCA/Empire lead out when Empire’s Sprinter blew his front tire and had to slow and exit the race, boxing in Landen for the finish. Landen was able to pull out a 20th place finish, but frustratingly could have been much higher.
Fitchburg for us was a four days of Bad Luck. Especially for the Cat 2s. The Cat 3s only fared marginally better. In the Cat 2 race, we had a guest with us from Edmonton Canada, Shaun Adamson, as well as Roy Van Cleef, Jim Thomas, Peter Shapiro, Peter Chiu, and Landen Wark-Acebo. The first day was the Time Trial that saw us on a very nice Time Trial course, of course the weather had us time trialing through a dense fog with a strong tail wind on the way out, which became a crushing head wind on the way in. Jim and Shaun pulled out strong performances as our top finishers in the TT at 16th and 19th respectively. The 2nd day we wanted to try to defend Jim’s position and were thinking of going after the Points Jersey. Right away after a leadout into the hill for Jim in the first lap, Peter Chiu was caught behind an early crash and was split off from the main field. Later in the race Shaun hit a pot hole funny and crashed in the chicane after the hill. A break got up the road with all the points and placings, so the guys packed it in to finish with the field and try again the next day. In the road race, Jim got in an early move that got as much as 2min 30sec on the field, soaking up many of the points towards the Points jersey. Unfortunately Jim bonked hard and got dropped from the break, then from the chase, and then from the field. To the point that going through the feed zone in what would have been the last lap, he got a push and some cookies from Tyler Hamilton. Absolutely spent, Jim actually took a break in the feed zone for a bit before deciding to go again and finish out the day to start the crit tomorrow. Only to get hit by a car that blew through a four way intersection without stopping and without looking. This was a fast section of the course and Jim couldn’t do much but was able to scrub some speed and hit the side of the car at an angle and minimize any damage. He’s okay, but did need to get a few stitches on his finger, unfortunately was DNF on the day. The final stage was the Crit. Plan C for the team was to try to get Roy a stage win, as Crits are his specialty. But after 3 hard days in the saddle, and a strong break of 2 up the road, the guys had some difficulty setting it up in the end, Roy and Peter Chiu ended the day in 17th and 18th. No luck at all, but lots of good racing for the guys.
The Cat 3s had their share of difficulty as well. Alex Dossin, Dave Chiu, Brian Campbell, and Keith Reynolds were the guys who represented for NEBC/Cycle Loft/Devonshire Dental. Alex rode a fantastic time trial, placing 30 seconds ahead of Dave for 16th overall, I was 32nd, it was another 30 seconds back to Brian, and Keith another minute back from Brian. Going into the Circuit race, we wanted to keep Alex towards the front, as these uphill stomps really suited him well, and hopefully move him up into the top 15 on GC or even the top 10. Unfortunately, Alex had a mechanical issue the first time up the hill where his rear wheel came out of the dropout, stopping him dead in his tracks. Not good, he finished the day a lap down. I became the team leader on the road w/ my 32nd place on GC being the highest for the team, a bit far from contention of anything. In the last half lap, I found the wheel of the eventual stage winner only to lose it in the last swell of the field as it reorganized before hitting the final turn onto the finishing hill. I had a lane open up infront of me on the left of the finishing climb and took it, went all out in too much wind but was able to come in 12th on the day, not bad, not great, but it didn’t do much for GC for the team either. The Road Race the next day the plan was to just sit in and maybe get Alex up the road, as the finish was once again an uphill stop that seems to be favoring Alex as of late. Half way through the race, the Cat 3 field is actually neutralized 3x in the same lap! All the starting and stopping was no good for me as I got popped out w/ 1.5 laps to go, and rode in solo about 10min down. Alex, Brian, and Keith finished out the day in the field. The last day was the Crit, all Cat 3 NEBCers were present and accounted for, I pushed himself to the front and got a first row start and started things off, jumping off the line wanting to see who was still attentive after 3 days of racing. From there I slid back from the very front of the race to about 10-20 wheels back and stayed out of trouble for the crit, any thoughts of a break sticking in the Cat 3 race were silenced after experiencing the head wind going up the finishing straight-away. New plan, sit in for the finish. The race saw about 2 or 3 crashes, always in the same spot, at the bottom of the course in the straight away in between the double left hand corners. People would take the corner too wide and just hit the curb. In one of these crashes I saw a rear wheel swing by my head, I had to do a little body english to avoid getting smacked in the face, but made it through clean. Going in to the finish, I jumped on the Cambridge Bicycle leadout who dutifully kept the pace high in the closing laps keeping everyone at the front of the race out of trouble. Exiting the last corner I was in good position but I hesitated a bit as Morgan Hiller of CL Noonan jumped up the left side starting things off and holding it too the line. Everyone else followed suit, I got caught up in a little traffic, having to re-start my sprint and maneuver around riders, came across the line in 5th place. A good result to cap off a less than lucky stage race.
So, with all that bad luck the Team’s been experiencing we have some good news to report, Alex Dossin and I both applied for and were granted our Category 2 upgrades! The team has grown to 7 regularly-racing Category 2 riders, a huge step forward since the Elite Program’s founding in 2007, when we only had 1 Category 2 racer (Todd Rowell, who decided to take a break from racing this year, and we hope to return next year!) with the promise of more on the way! Both Alex and I have been racing with NEBC since our Category 4 days (for me, it’s been about 5 years), and it’s great to have move up through the ranks learning and growing as racers and team mates, learning the virtues of racing together as a team and not just for ourselves. Bike racing, after all, is a TEAM sport, and we can not emphasise this any more. Look for more to come as in the coming weeks a portion of the team travels down to North Carolina to contest the Crossroads Cycling Classic, 5 nights in a row of Twilight Criterium racing; the team also plans on hitting up the Hanes Park NRC Crit in Winston-Salem, NC on the way home to make it a complete 6 crits in 6 days! After that we’ve got GMSR, Prospect Park, Portsmouth Downtown, and Boston Downtown! Amazing how quickly the season goes by.
We’ve had our share of ups and downs so far this year, and there’s still plenty of racing left to go, we’re hugely grateful of the fantastic support we continue to receive from not only our sponsors but the club members as well. Men and Women racers that support and cheer us on, we are all a part of NEBC/Cycle Loft/Devonshire Dental.
If you guys missed it, double check your emails, as Jeff from the Cycle Loft has some FANTASTIC deals on 2009 Specialized gear that he’s clearing out to make room for the 2010 line. We may say it’s not
about the bike, but our results certainly could not have come without being on some of the best production equipment available on the market: Specialized Tarmac Pro framesets, SRAM Componentry, and Optics by Tifosi.
In case you forgot, the 2009 NEBC/Cycle Loft/Devonshire Dental Elite Men’s Team Consists of: Roy Van Cleef (Cat 2 – Weston, MA), Peter Chiu* (Cat 2 – New York, NY), Peter Shaprio (Cat 2 – New York, NY), Landen Wark-Acebo (Cat 2 – Waltham, MA), Alex Dossin* (Cat 2 –
Durango, CO), Jim Thomas (Cat 2 – Chattam, MA), Dave Chiu (Cat 2 – Brookline, MA) and Brian Campbell (Cat 3 – Waltham, MA); * denotes U25 riders.
As always, we are hugely thankful to all the NEBC club members and our sponsors for making this possible: Jeff and Anthony at the Cycle Loft, Dave and Althea at Devonshire Dental, Bank of America Mortgage, Breakstone, White & Gluck, P.C., Attorneys at Law, CCNS, Core Structural Therapy, Lester’s Roadside BBQ, Natural Wellness Clinic, Performance Lifestyles, and Workwell Massage Therapy. Until next time, stay healthy, see you at the races, and thanks for reading.