Men's Elite Team News - April 2009 Edition
Well here we are, the eve of the official New England season opener: the Michael Schott Memorial Circuit Race in Marblehead, MA. We have a great crew this year racing in the P/1/2/3 field at Marblehead: John Broussard, Brian Campbell, Jay Robbins, Peter Shapiro, Jim Thomas, Roy Van Cleef, and Landen Wark-Acebo; everyone has been working hard all winter with a few indoor events, training races, collegiate races, and a few USCF races out West to test out the legs.
Roy once again finished on the top spot at final event in the Cycle Ops Indoor Time Trial Series at the Multisport Expo in the Zesiger Center at MIT in Cambridge, MA; In a thrilling virtual race Roy and the runner up were continuously leap frogging each other on the 6.03mi course until the very end when Roy was able to surge ahead and win by just 2 seconds! Several of the guys on the elite team made an appearance throughout the two day expo to demonstrate the eMotion Rollers by Inside Ride at the Cycle Loft booth, including Landen who rocked a monster 5hr session on Sunday!
As we roll into the 2009 racing season, I can’t help but think back to the early days of the elite team, when Todd Rowell was the lone Cat 2 on the team; since then we’ve grown our program to be fielding no less than six riders in the Cat 2 field this year: Peter Chiu, Todd Rowell, Peter Shapiro, Roy Van Cleef, Landen Wark-Acebo, and new comer Jim Thomas. Most of whom have been with NEBC since their Cat 4 and Cat 5 days! We also have some tremendous talent in the Cat 3s coming through in the legs of Alex Dossin, John Broussard, and Brian Campbell. But the talent doesn’t stop there, there are plenty of Cat 3s in the club that are just as strong and have just as much potential; we have 21 Category 3 racers this year! Not to mention all the up and coming racers-to-be attending the NEBC Spring Racing Clinic, needless to say I am incredibly excited for this 2009 season!
Not only do we have some phenomenal talent on the team; we have some tremendous support. The Cycle Loft has us on our third year on Specialized bicycles and SRAM components. The team issue Specialized Tarmac PRO SL framesets are some of the most incredible race machines on the market today, very much a pure-bred racing machine! Landen comments:
In my two seasons of racing I have raced on the following: Trek 2100 (aluminum with carbon seat stay), Trek Madone 5.9 (Trek’s top of the line Madone), and the Cannondale Six13 (Alumnium with carbon inserts on the top and down tube). After being on the Specialized Tarmac for the past three weeks I am not disappointed to say the least. The frame is extremely responsive, it corners great, and for sprinting this is the best bike I have been on! I am very much looking forward to racing on the Tarmac SL for the rest of the 2009 season.
It’s amazing to see how the down tube, chain stays, and bottom bracket area have gotten bigger in the 2009 Tarmac SL giving the bike the feeling of direct power transfer from the pedals to the rear wheel with no lag what so ever, yet remaining comfortable on long rides and races with it’s svelte seat stays and signature arched top tube. The Tarmac PRO SL also features a tapered head tube providing a super stiff base that will not get sloppy on you in an all-out sprint. Take this frame, and pair it with SRAM’s newly redesigned 2009 Rival groupset, and you have a formula for a barely race legal 15lbs bike entirely build with affordable off-the-shelf components! For this year, the Rival groupset has gotten plenty of trickle-down improvements from the top-of-the-line SRAM Red groupset from last year. So much so that the 2009 Rival groupset resembles the 2008 Red Groupset more than the 2008 Force Groupset. The brake lever blades are longer and easier to reach from the drops, the shifter paddle is larger and flared out a tad for better ergonomics, and the reach of the system is adjustable to fit all hand sizes. That combined with multiple hidden cable routing options, all black components (brakes, cranks, derailleurs), and carbon fiber molded brake levers it is also one of the best looking groupsets available! Now, if you can get down to 15lbs w/ a Tarmac PRO SL and SRAM Rival, imagine what Specialized’s top of the line S-Works Tarmac SL2 with SRAM’s top of the line Red groupset weighs in at… contact Jeff or Anthony at the Cycle Loft to get yours.
Also new this year, Tifosi Optics have joined up to provide the team with its excellent (and very much affordably priced) sunglasses. The team will be racing this year in all weather conditions in the Tifosi Tyrant sunglasses thanks to its three interchangeable lenses (with polarized options available too). These glasses are light weight, stay put without crushing your head, have adjustable nose bridges, and most importantly of all protect our eyes with some fantastic optical clarity. The Cycle Loft has plenty of Tifosi styles available in a variety of colors.
Being that the first race of the season around the corner, it seems fitting to announce the races that the Category 2 racers will be focusing on this year:
- May 9, 2009 – Sterling Road Race – Sterling, MA
- May 16, 2009 – Lake Sunapee Road Race – Newbury, NH
- May 30-31, 2009 – Connecticut Stage Race – Colebrook, CT
- June 17-21, 2009 – Giro di Jersey – Princeton, NJ
- June 27, 2009 – Downtown Boston Criterium – Boston, MA
- July 2-5, 2009 – the Fitchburg Longsjo Classic Stage Race – Fitchburg, MA
- July 18-19, 2009 – the International Tour de Toona – Altoona, PA
- July 25, 2009 – Tour of the Hilltowns – Windsor, MA
- July 26, 2009 – Norwell Circuit Race – Norwell, MA
- August 2, 2009 – Central New Hampshire Road Race – Bow, NH
- August 4, 2009 – Crossroads Classic, Downtown Mocksville – Mocksville, NC
- August 5, 2009 – Crossroads Classic, Downtown Concord – Concord, NC
- August 6, 2009 – Crossroads Classic, Downtown Salisbury – Salisbury, NC
- August 7, 2009 – Crossroads Classic, Downtown Slatesville – Slatesville, NC
- August 8, 2009 – Crossroads Classic, Downtown Harrisburg – Harrisburg, NC
- August 9, 2009 – Crossroads Classic, Downtown Hanes Park – Hanes Park, NC
- August 22, 2009 – G.S. Mengoni Criterium – New York, NY
- September 4-7, 2009 – Green Mountain Stage Race – Waitsfield, VT
- September 20, 2009 – Portsmouth Criterium – Portsmouth, NH
- (Official Schedule subject to change)
With all this racing going on, proper recovery is just as important a part of a racer’s routine as training is. Longtime sponsor and NEBC member Guy Bedau of Harvard Therapeutic Massage and Workwell Massage & Consulting out of Harvard, MA is a fantastic resource that is available to NEBC Members. Guy has been in and around the cycling industry since his teen years working in Bike Shops in and around the Boston Area and has even raced a bit. There is no question in my mind his understanding of the sport and the proper massage techniques to help get you through a tough stage race or training block. In fact, the past few years, we have even brought Guy up to Vermont with us to utilize his services in the Team Condo at the Green Mountain Stage Race!
Well, here we are, tomorrow is the the beginning of the season; everyone’s hard work this Winter and Spring will surely pay off as racing gets going, for many team members, it has already started to pay off!
In case you forgot, the 2009 NEBC/Cycle Loft/Devonshire Dental Elite Men’s Team Consists of: Todd Rowell (Cat 2 – Arlington, MA), 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), John Broussard (Cat 3 – Wilmington, MA), Alex Dossin* (Cat 3 – Durango, CO), 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.