Men's Elite Team News - May 2009 Edition
The men’s elite teams just had their first team race of the year in Sterling, MA. The weather was unseasonably warm once again as well as super windy, hydration and patience were once again very important. Brian Campbell came in tops of the Cat 3s with a 4th in the field sprint, and the Cat 2s are still finding their legs after extended periods of travel and injury more detailed race reports coming soon!
Just as the season is getting started, we’ve had a slight change in our roster. John Broussard has been contemplating the idea of a military career since high school; he has heeded the advice of those close to him to go to college first and give the private sector a shot. After all of this, the Marines continued to be something that John wanted to pursue, since the end of April, John has been somewhere in North Carolina at basic training, and we wish him the best of luck in his new career path. John has raced with us since the his early Category 5 days, quickly earning the nick name “crash” over the first winter when we were doing indoor workouts in the attic of the Cycle Loft constantly falling off of Anthony’s parabolic rollers. John has always been an valuable player in the NEBC team, always the team minded and one of our most promising talents finishing last year’s GMSR Criterium in third place out of a 5 man breakaway we all wish John the best of luck and eagerly await his return!
Todd Rowell is also stepping down from the Elite Team this year, with his work commitment increasing since the early Spring, Todd felt he simply did not have the time to continue to train and race at such a high level; Todd still plans on jumping into a few masters races later in the season when he gets a chance to get out and train a bit more. Todd was the team’s staple all-rounder, he would be there at the tops of the climbs as well as in the front group for the crits, and a fantastic tactician with tons of racing experience to bestow upon the rest of us. As I’ve said many times before, Todd has been an integral part of the elite team since it’s inception helping us build the team up from it’s grassroots origins whne he was the sole Category 2 racer to what it is today; Todd, like John, will always have a place on the team.
With these departures, we also have a new member to the team: Jim Thomas, a Category 2 racer from Chattam, MA. Originally from Fitchburg, MA Jim is an incredibly strong field sprinter and crit rider, already scoring a 2nd place in the P/1/2/3 field at the Rick Newhouse Memorial Criterium in Charlestown, RI. Jim has just returned from the Tour of the Gila in Silver City, NM where he was on a 98 mile two man break away that was caught within 3k of the line, he recovered from this grueling effort and came back with a 7th place in the Criterium on the last day of the three day stage race.
In case you missed the announcement, NEBC Sponsor Charles Coaching and Nutrition Services (CCNS) has stepped up to sponsor our New England staple training series: the Charlie Baker Time Trial. CCNS has generously offered the second fastest mid-season individual man and woman and the fastest overall individual man and woman complementary wind tunnel sessions at their private wind tunnel in Middletown, CT: the CCNS Performance Center Wind Tunnel
After the shuffle, the 2009 NEBC/Cycle Loft/Devonshire Dental Elite Men’s Team now consists of: Roy Van Cleef (Cat 2 – Weston, MA), Peter Chiu* (Cat 2 – New York, NY), Peter Shaprio (Cat 2 – New York, NY), Jim Thomas (Cat 2 – Chatham, MA), Landen Wark-Acebo (Cat 2 – Waltham, 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. And to our equipment providers: Specialized, SRAM, and Tifosi Optics. Until next time, stay healthy, see you at the races, and thanks for reading.