Flying Penguins

dreaming of the 2012 season

2012-02-01T21:06:00.000-05:00

Who is starting to think about the 2012 season!?

Two events to consider that are not part of the typical penguin schedule...

Tough Mudder - Sunday May 6th http://toughmudder.com/events/vermont-2012/

this is going to be SUPER AWESOME. i'm soooo excited. we have a team started with some folks in town and it already includes 3 penguins (Raina, Deb & John) plus 2 more considering it (Molly & Eric). any more penguins jumping on board? (Mark - I think this will be right up your alley!! are you in?)

24 Hours of Great Glen - Aug 11 & 12 http://24hoursofgreatglen.com/

I've wanted to do this the past few years and haven't for various reasons (pregnant, life with babies, etc). anyone interested?????

Also mark your calendars... to race and/or help.... the Ascutney Hill climbs are the same weekend this year
Saturday July 21 is the bike race
Sunday July 22 is the run

2 strikes and then a hit! (my 3-race cross season)

2011-11-21T23:39:00.001-05:00

Had baby Ezra at the end of August. My first time on my bike (spin bike doesn't count) was 5 minutes before my race at the Paradise Cross Frenzy. Strike #1: Entering the womens open race and placing DFL. Very humbling but a good reminder that you actually need to ride your bike before racing. This year's Paradise course was their best yet... its still a roady course but more fun than past years with the swooping turns in the banked "halfpipe", the death spiral, and finally a real run-up (for me at least)

After the race I said "there is NO WAY I'm doing Putney tomorrow"... but a little nagging voice said the only way I was going to get back into the game was to keep racing... so I went to Putney as a "training race". After my performance at Paradise I was more than happy to enter the novice race (that was my only option anyway since there was no open or 3/4 race, and I didn't renew my USAC license this year). Putney is one of my more favorite courses (love the killer run up, bike jumps and sketchy downhill... although hate the cornfield).

Strike #2: Flatting halfway through the first lap and not having any wheels in the pit This is my first race ever having a mechanical (thanks to Eric for keeping my ride tuned) so I had become pretty complacent about having wheels in the pit. (Where was the neutral support this year? I definitely missed seeing Mark Wysocki and his dog) After running over to the car and frantically trying to find a wheel (Eric was dealing with crying baby Ezra) Jesse volunteered his spare wheel. In fear of being lapped by the lead riders I jumped on my bike and took off. A few minutes later (still on my first lap!) I realized that my replacement rear wheel wasn't pumped up and was bottoming out... Another stop would put me so far behind I just couldn't muster the enthusiasm to keep going... even as a training ride.

Waffling about racing more I finally succumbed to Alix 's unwavering enthusiasm and went to Velo cross. After my last 2 performances my goal for the day was to just not strike out. I had an ok start and knew there were a handful of people behind me. Over the laps I picked off a bunch more riders so I was feeling pretty good and having fun. The Velo cx is my new favorite course. Its like a course with an identity crisis... is it a velodrome race? or a BMX "pump track" race? or a mountain bike course? or a good 'ole cx race? There was no boredom. This course had it ALL. All women (novice, master and elite) were lumped into the same race... so I had no clue where I was among the 4's. When I saw the results I was really disappointed... 3rd from last. Did I mention disappointed? But it didn't make sense... it couldn't have been all masters that I passed. I guess results were a mess because some of the elite riders lapped the novices not just once but 2 or 3 times. After several people protested the officials got everything sorted out. I had placed 3rd! After getting over feeling a little guilty about podiuming in the novice race just because I didn't want to buy a license for a 3-race season... I'm over it and... Its a hit! No striking out this year.

So my conclusions:.
-- Get on your bike at least once before entering a race
-- Remember your pit wheels
-- Anyone who skipped racing the Velo Cross missed out... BEST. COURSE. EVER.

2011 Season

2011-11-21T17:32:00.001-05:00

The Penguins have flown!

Flying Penguins 2011 from alix norris on Vimeo.

Nort-WRECK-hampton Part 2

2011-11-09T21:38:00.000-05:00

This is how Penguins fly!

Jesse had an adjective-filled weekend, too. Saturday he had a phenomenal finish. Sunday he had a bleepin', bleep, de-bleep, bleep wreck that broke bones in his hand. He wasn't alone. I could barely take a picture of Jesse during the race without capturing people going down all around him:

Watch out Jesse!

This poor fellah got caught in the tape. Oops.

The precise place Jesse met his demise 2 laps later.

Great season, Jesse - perhaps the FALCON will make an appearance this weekend???

Get 'em Jesse!

Now this is determination, folks...

Nort-WRECK-hampton CX Part 1

2011-11-09T21:25:00.001-05:00

So there's this little cyclocross event known as Northampton. You know... you and your closest 149 fellow cyclocrossers:

Men's 3s preparing to start

This was the 21st annual Cycle-Smart International and was certainly no disappointment. The crisp, fall weather left an ever-changing course with frosty, slick grass, sticky mud, and heavy sand. As usual, many of the categories were capped (at 150) and even the Women Amateurs' class had 80-90 women competing, depending on the day. Woo, that's a lot of elbows to get throw at the start!

Both days, I started close to the back but was fortunate enough to work my way up to my "usual crew," who started about the 4th row. It was super fun to actually be RACING with a group, instead of the typical women's races where it's not much more than an individual time trial. It was a fast, intense race with just the right mix of technical cornering, balls-to-the-wall descents, train-track jumping (no crashing this time!!), and grueling, leg-, lung-, and head-pounding, out-of-the-saddle sprints from every corner. Doesn't that just sound like a ball full of FUN?

The lesser of the challenges...

Oh yay, the hill...

Lead 'em all the way to the finish line... booya!

Wicked Creepy Race Recap*

2011-10-30T16:31:00.000-04:00

Wicked. What can I say? Course and terrain make for an interesting and fun event. Location is great and family friendly. Local races are always a plus when most of them are 2+ hours away. I've been to every Wicked except for one and was super stoked for this one - with the expected snow (up to 15") it was going to be awesome.

Unfortunately, Wicked 2011 was cancelled due to weather. I didn't let that little hurdle stop me. I did learn a couple things about racing my bike in 6-8" of fresh snow: 1. it's a lot of fun! 2. it's hard due to traction issues 3. snow hides things that cause endos. I figure it's similar to a super slick mud day without the Watt-demanding mud sections and will get faster with every lap.

It was to be such a sweet day. Too bad 200 of my friends and nemeses weren't there to enjoy it. Next year, Wicked!

*Wicked was cancelled, mock race staged in honor of what was to be an awesome day of cross.

Uncle Sam Races for Donuts

2011-10-30T16:04:00.000-04:00

I like the NYCross series. Smaller fields than Verge, points tallied, quality events (for the ones I've been to) and great atmospheres. I just wish some of them weren't so far away from VT. I first sampled the Uncle Same race a couple years ago. I had a blast and the available course terrain is great. As such, it has a spot on the calendar every year.

To sweeten the deal, last year John and I found this place. It's killer and worthy of driving to Troy on it's own. Put it a mile away from the Uncle Sam venue and I'm still confused why I can never summon the motivation to do both days. The parking lot smells fantastic!

Partial selection at the decadent Cooke Factory in Troy, NY

For a multitude of reasons this ended up as my first race of the season. Late night before the race, I turn to Raina and say "Man, I haven't raced my bike in months, I hope I don't suck", to which she replies with a heavy dose of sarcasm: "I'm sure with all that training you've done, you'll be fine". Thanks honey, see if I bring you any pastries.

Staging is done by NYCross points, crossresults.com points, and then registration order. Seeing as I procrastinated, I was a day-of registrant and John beat me to the table. There were 2 guys out of the large field with higher numbers than mine. I'm happy that this race is popular, but the 60 or so starters we had was probably near a good maximum on-course number. The start was a paved straight into a 90 degree wet turn (did I mention NE got hammered with rain the night before?). I figured there'd be people sliding around and laying it down so I might as well face up that I'm not going to pass 1/5 of the guys in the first 200 yards before the turn and just coast it in. There was the inevitable feet down in the first few turns, though no heavy crashes. Of course, the effect was the classic slinky so it wouldn't have mattered too much if I were 10 guys up or not.

As it was, I was dead last and I felt I should verbally communicate this to John. He yelled back "not for long", which I took to mean that I should start pedaling and hoped it didn't mean that he was coming back to join me. I passed some folks in the first lap and realized I was probably a minute or more back from the front half-way through the lap (silly staging protocol), oh well. Lots of pedaling, off-camber, greasy, and fun turns. I tried to keep my roll as "passer" and not "passee" (not to be confused with poser and passe) and thoroughly enjoyed the course.

Post-race I decided I could have gone harder as I wasn't really sore anywhere. No worries, I'll redeem myself with NYCross at Wicked Creepy.

Stopped at the Cookie Factory which boasts fine pastries at city prices. 2 cider donuts, 2 glazed donuts, tiramisu, canoli, eclair, crazy icing and cookie sandwich, and a coffee and I still got more than $5 in change from my $20. And yes, I shared the sweets.

This is normally where I'd put a picture of me doing something awesome. Had anybody gotten a photo of me at this race, it would have been awesome.

MUD and, um, FEST

2011-09-28T21:08:00.015-04:00

Imagine it has just poured rain for 4 days straight on already-soft turf and sand... What are you picturing? Fields of mud? Large, soupy puddles? Soft sand like wet cement? Sounds like a hell of a cyclocross race!

That was exactly the conditions at the 2011 Nor'Easter CX race on the shores of Lake Champlain, Burlington, VT. The course was so delicate that it changed significantly every lap. By our last lap, the racers were running close to 25% of the entire course. While I thought it was bad at that point, imagine how it must have been three hours (and two races) later, for George and Jesse's race. Wowza!

Check out that pond I just raced through (it made my heart hurt for the Penguin...):

My mud costume in the last lap: Once you're wet, you can't get wetter!

Yeah, so that was fun. But now check out the boys:

(Side note: Ok, George, how the HECK did your left shifter end up outside of the tape and it didn't take you down in the puddle???

Let's get PUMPED up!!

2011-09-12T19:47:00.002-04:00

Hi-ohhhh Penguins,

Here we are, on the verge of another riveting cyclocross season! Let's get pumped up so those Flying Penguin jerseys really blur this year... The registration is still open for Green Mountain this weekend!

Really the best way I can think of is to repost Amber's awesome Putney video from the end of last year.

West Hill Cyclocross 2010 from Amber Davis on Vimeo.

Time to get back in the saddle Penguins!!

Vermont 50 Registration Tonight!

2011-05-25T12:51:00.000-04:00

2011 Vermont 50 registration opens tonight at 7 pm EST!

Go here for registration.

Penguin at the Derby

2011-03-03T20:17:00.008-05:00

The Stowe Derby had always been on my radar. Last year I saw Justin Cox's Derby tee shirt at a cross race and began peppering him with questions about it like I was a 13 year old girl talking to someone who had been to a Justin Bieber concert. That Derby came and went without me attending. I wasn't ready to leap into the unknown. But I spent considerable internet hours checking it out.

This season I've been helping out with the local high school nordic team. It's been a great way to get out every day on beautiful trails and exercise and get some time with the kids outside of the classroom. At one of our early February practices Les, the head coach, circled up all the coaches to see if we'd be game for a team entry into the Derby. That was the kicker I needed. Game.

We made the trek up to Stowe from Leb at 6 in the morning arriving at Stowe High School around 8. 10:29 would be our start time. We got our bibs (#293 for me) and shwag and took the bus to the mountain. Since we had some time to kill, we hung in the lodge. At 9:55 we took the chairlift up. It felt very strange to be dangling skate skis off a chairlift, a first for me. The top was blustery. I warmed up with a few uphill spurts and made my way towards the start around 10:22.

"Number 293! You missed your start!"

What!? The next wave was lined up ready to go. The starter just started yelling for me to "Go! Go! Go!". I hung a second to try and see the team. Les had actually already gone down and I hadn't seen him. Bill was still dropping his bag off and Chrissy, the final teammate, was hanging back a bit. With the starter yelling at us to go, I began the Stowe Derby rather frantically. Don't start the Stowe Derby frantically, start cautiously.

Conditions were atrocious. Now that I survived I would call them thrilling. However, I remember being wide eyed and chanting "shit, shit, shit" whenever I could get my lips to move. There was a lot of fluff that had fallen and was still falling. The lines around corners were tiiiigghht. And only one line per corner because the berms were so big. I ate it a few times. Usually, when there was a camera or a crowd nearby. I figured out later that the crowds and cameras were at their respective locations because of the spills.

The downhill was done and over in an eternal 11 minutes and change. Then began the long trudge into Stowe village. The trail was "mashed potatoes" to borrow Les's term. I'd push and lift my ski and move a foot. Only 7 miles to go! I passed a fair amount of people, but got buzzed by a few serious skiers. I fell on a bridge, trying to V2 across, when a tip got caught. Of course there was a line of cars backed up right by the bridge because when I get humiliated lots of people should know. It was a long trudge. And it was awesome at the same time.

The thought I kept in my head for most of the race was how excited I would be to see my wife. She drove up later in the day to watch the race. I was prepared to tell her how much her coming up meant to me, that I understood I am not an easy husband to deal with, what with all my racing and competitive jumpiness, yet she's always supportive of me and my racing and training. I was going to tell her all of this and this is what came out:

Anyhow. I'll be back next year. 134th in the long course skate. Not quite what I was hoping for. I got beat by a certain nemesis, so it will be a long 364 days, but I will be back.

Penguins in the News!

2011-02-05T08:51:00.002-05:00

Check out the video documentation of Winter Wild at:

http://www.wmur.com/chronicle/26654684/detail.html

Highlights: Repeated glimpses of George cresting the hill, Jesse running by at 4:40, Alix & Amber running at 5:08 and the interview with Annabelle at 5:13.

Go Penguins!

Winter Wild: Whaleback

2011-02-02T11:04:00.005-05:00

Sigh. With the cyclocross season long over, my quads are starting to forget what it feels like to work. Duh du du duhhhhhhhh.... Winter Wild series to the rescue!!

If you haven't heard of it, the Winter Wild is a set of 4 races at different mountains around the area. The goal for each race is to start at the bottom, race up to the top and THEN back down! It's a simple timed race with prizes for different categories (based on weight of transportation you use: feet, skate skis, telemark/snowboard, etc) and age. It's barely competitive, though - everyone is there to just have a good time and get up to to the top of the mountain to see the sun rise. The races have to start before the ski lifts open, so they go off at 7AM. Makes for kind of a cold, dark start to a Saturday, but what could be more invigorating??

The January 15th race was at Whaleback, an adorable mountain known for it's night skiing, snow jumps and terrain park. There was a decent turnout of 40-50 people and sub-zero temperatures. The course had been altered from the previous year, making it much steeper and more intimidating, though only 2 miles in length. After an en masse start, we were off! Jesse and George were towards the front of the group, running with their snowboards. They were out of sight within a few minutes. Amber and I started towards the back, as she was just running the whole thing and I was pulling Annabelle in the Chariot. Boy, was that tough. Without Amber pushing, I'm not sure I could have pulled Annabelle the whole way. While we continued to pass other competetors, at one point it was so steep that we were continously slide-stepping to keep from slipping. With both of us there, though, we made it through and to the top as the sun was just peeking over the horizon. Gorgeous! Then, we began our lazy jog back down the mountain as the skiers we passed whizzed by.

The times coming in were fast, with the skate skiers doing the best (no surprise there). George blew away his category & age group by over a minute(!) and Jesse came in second. Good work, Penguins! I think Amber & I won the Team Push-Pull division, although we didn't get a cup for it. The WMUR tv crew got a few good shots of Annabelle, too, so I'll see if we can find that video and post. All in all, an awesome event with a fun community spirit. The next race is this weekend (Feb 5th) at Ragged. Takers?

MTB ride & trail run this sunday

2010-12-03T12:43:00.001-05:00

There is a 4.5 trail running race, mountain bike fun ride, trail walk and Kid's running race at Moody Park (in Claremont) this Sunday. it's a benefit for Adam Maki to raise funds for pancreatic cancer treatment:

http://www.whofish.org/events/Claremon/NH/All_Out_For_Adam_Benefit_Event_At_Moody_Park_December_5th/971237.aspx

Thought it could be fun... haven't mtn biked since the 50 and its still hunting season so there aren't many places to mtn bike. And haven't ever mtn biked with most of the team so let me know if you are interested! If you need to borrow a mtn bike let us know.

Plus its a good cause. Spread the word...

Turkey Trotting

2010-11-29T20:45:00.003-05:00

Feeling left out for not partaking in any cross racing this fall, I was compelled to fly the Penguin colors at a couple of Turkey Trots! The first was the Brattleboro Turkey Trot, a 5k, which I ran on Thanksgiving Day with my mom (picture of us above) and friend Kim who we were surprised to bump into two hours south! The course was an out and back with live turkeys at a farm on the side of the road and a paper turkey that someone had made and displayed on a stool at the end of their driveway. Participants bring an item, usually baked good/other food/homemade craft, and put it in the back of a truck when they sign in. Once runners have crossed the finish line, they head to the truck and pick something out as a prize. My most memorable item from years past is a homemade slingshot - its whereabouts are completely unknown at this point!

The next was the Turkey Lane Turkey Trot, a 4.25mi race on Sunday to benefit the Hinesburg Land Trust. My mom had been trying to convince myself and my sister's boyfriend to run in this race for a few weeks, but ended up being ill and I had to go it alone as my sister's boyfriend is quite the serious runner (like he actually wanted to get there early to warm up!) and way ahead of me. I did, however, end up winning my age group since there wasn't a huge turnout and got a gift certificate for "a mug with coffee and a donut" with the mug part crossed off...such is life! Let the off season continue!!

Last Hurrah at Baystate

2010-11-28T10:31:00.010-05:00

Saturday's Baystate race didn't have to be the final race of the season, but after a gluttonous two days before the race I'm happy to begin hibernation. Who knows I may boot n' rally for the NE Championships, still it was nice to have a beer with John after the race, clink bottles and say "good season". And then extend the gluttony with a stop at Fat Frank's in Bellows Falls, VT.

I've got to hand it to John. He is the stalwart of the team, making it to 15 plus races this year. So when I talked to him midweek about going on Saturday, he was game. We cruised down in the Honda Element, the perfect race vehicle, and made it to Sterling, MA with a couple hours to spare.

The weather was nippy, 35 or so with a cold, cold wind, but plenty of sunshine that warmed up certain spots. I did my warm up on some beautiful roads around the Chocktney Jr. High, the site of the race. This was the first race I had the "what to wear" debate. I opted for knee and arm warmers, but no hat. I dropped gear and headed for the staging area. Greg Brown and John were there doing some prerace shivering.

Call ups began: third row! All thanks to the Maine pilgrimage (I scored my Verge points at Downeast). Alan Atwood even called my full name! I'm used to feeling anonymous at Verge races, just a number pinned to my body, and I usually can't remember what that number is. So I took my spot in the third row. There were openings in the second row and I should have been more aggressive and grabbed the slot. Someone beat me to it. Actually the kid who missed his call up tried weaseling in, but got rejected by AA and other riders. I do like the organization of Verge races. No scrum to the line, so less danger right?

Well, except at Baystate you have to race a lap and half around a dirt track. A "parade lap" it's called. More like a dangerous dirt crit with ruts and riders who don't necessarily have experience riding crits. Full lap around and I'm tucked behind a junior on the left side. WHAM! Next image in my view is an upside down junior (I believe) and an upside down bike elevated about three feet in the air. Rubber side up! The bike goes flying towards me as I slide right, I see the whole crash and yet a moment later I'm still riding. How did that happen? Greg Brown wasn't so lucky. He had been right behind me and went into the downed rider and took a bike off the back from the guy behind him (I learned this after, I thought I had beaten him fair and square, but as long as Greg isn't hurt I'm going to chalk up the W anyhow).

And finally we start racing cyclocross. I love this course (except for the scary beginning). Early on I went hard, trying to glue myself to some nemeses. But the gluttonous two days or the end of the season caught up to me. I died a few little deaths and started going backwards after two laps. I tried to be tactical and for the most part I was after that. My handling skills give me an advantage, but my power does not. So each time we went around the "parade lap" I tried to tuck in behind someone. Still that was tough. I usually gained ground on people through the circuitous stuff and there was just enough chicanes and off camber stuff to get me moving forward again. Someone was letting us know where we were placed on the run/ride up chicane thingy. This was very helpful. I like this motivation more than my wife screaming at me to "move up" and "get your ass up there George!". Instead of thinking of divorce proceedings I just thought about getting some spots back. He let me know I was 34th. Okay, not horrible, but time to move it.

I returned to smart racing. Spinning every chance I could and hitting the brakes the least I could. By the last lap and a half I was with a Cl Noonan rider and a Rockstar rider. A Colavita guy was just up the road. The Cl Noonan rider attacked and got a little gap, he was thinking of getting up to Colavita, but that was a long lonely trek on the back stretch, the windiest and straightest section. I gained ground on Cl Noonan on the off camber rollers. I caught him before the left hand turn at the edge of the field on the last lap. He hadn't caught Colavita. He slowed way down on the straight before entering the dirt track. But I didn't take the bait. This was my race. I just loped along behind him. Then the turn came onto the finishing straight. I hit it hard. The cramps came. But a thought flashed through me: only I know I'm cramping. Break the will of others, not my own. It was a longish sprint since starting from 6mph, maybe 100m. It wasn't looking good, but then a gap came and I had it. I rolled over the line alone. Small victories. 29th place out of 81 starters.

I watched Greg and John finish up. John caught several people towards the end of the race. We rolled back to the Element, got dressed and opened the beer. We drove back north, stopping for dogs at Fat Frank's. John went with the chili sausage, he'll need some space the next couple days.. I had sweet Italian. When we got back up to the Ascutney park and ride my car was covered in snow. A symbolic note to the end of the bike season.

Northeast Velo

2010-11-22T09:11:00.006-05:00

The day in Londonderry, NH was crisp and cool but adrenaline kept the assembled cyclists warm. At a glance, the course looked interesting. It included a giant outdoor velodrome and BMX track with tabletops and loopty-loops. Amber and I quickly suited up so we could preview the course before our 10AM start time. As our camera died after one picture, I had to get creative with the graphics:

1.) Start/finish on the slanted track of the velodrome.

2.) The first barrier section, after a winding loop in the infield.

3.) The second barrier section came up after a few muddy turns. Then, a sharp turn up over the pavement.

4.) After leaving the pavement, there was a quick muddy hill that could jump up to bite you if you weren't careful. Then onto a gravel road up a graded incline into the woods.

5.) After a hairpin turn, it was down a sharp incline into a few inches of mud. Woooo keep that front tire straight! Then hammer on the brakes to make the sharp right hand turn instead of colliding with some rather large trees.

6.) Snake around the trees and roots and roll down and over a wooden bridge over the stream. Then up a short steep section (start the heart-rate climbing!) and a few paces of continued climbing before dropping quickly down to a really loose, sketchy hairpin turn.

7.) Come out of that hairpin turn with as much momentum as you can, cause then you hit a medium uphill section with a rock marking the middle. If you can ride past the rock, you're golden. Otherwise, you're runnin'. Heart-rate skyrocketed at this point. Oy.

8.) Try to control your breathing as you snake your way between rocks and roots on the cruising single-track. Then pop out of the woods while navigating another sketchy downhill turn.

9.) Try to keep your momentum while staying vertical through the deep pellets and around the PortiPoty (a fantastic scent just when you need full breath of oxygen).

10.) Then roll into the BMX part. AWESOME. All packed sand. There were 2 banked corners, 4 or 5 tabletops and a loopty-loop section. If you knew how to ride these and throw your weight around, this was a blast!!!

11.) Then drop back down the steep slant of the velodrome corner to start another lap. This was where you could really put the hammer down -- and it was good if you had glasses here because all of that mud and dirt was flung off the tires at supersonic speeds.

In summary, this course was a perfect blend of fast roadie sections and tricky handling sections. It was a shorter loop than other courses, so you could do it 7 or 8 times in your race, but it was continuously changing so you had to keep on your toes to find the best line. The BMX area was a blast every time.

For the women's race, we had a decent gathering (25-30) because it was Cat 4, 35+ and the older Juniors all together, which meant there was always someone to chase or stay away from. It was my best race of the season (of course -- the downside of racing into shape is that you're just coming around as the season ENDS!), finishing 6th out of 16 Cat 4's. Amber worked on her bike handling skills and started planning her assault for next year... (watch out ladies!)... The boys had a great 3/4 race and looked strong throughout.

As always, the Penguin team kits and bikes were bangin' and making us all look good. Go Flying Penguins!!!

A compilation of 2010

2010-11-21T22:25:00.004-05:00

Amber, you inspired me. I threw together a mix of pictures and video from the Flying Penguins 2010 CX adventures.

Flying Penguins CX 2010 from alix norris on Vimeo.

P.S. Here's a shout-out to Raina for bagging the 2010 30-35 Women's Vermont State Champion title! Congrats!!!

Friendzied Tactician

2010-11-20T00:35:00.000-05:00

Okay internet, I'm going to let you in on a little secret: I've got an arch rival.

Some people like to use the term nemesis, which has a bit more negativity and less respect than I would like to invoke. I'm sure anybody that races a fair amount here in New England, or probably anywhere, has 'that guy' or 'those guys' [gals] they always seem to end up racing against. Usually these arch rivals are people whom you're evenly matched with and your relative finish position is never a given from the start. Crossresults will help you find 'those guys' if you're having trouble, but you probably already have a pretty good idea. If you're racing well, the arch rivals are behind you. Racing poorly? well...you know how it goes.

For the sake of discussion, let's just call my rival Greg Brown. Greg and I have been racing eachother for a few years now. It all started at the Tuesday night races held at the auto track in Claremont (highly recommended). They run a points race with sprints every 5 laps, primes are mixed in as well. Thus on an approximate weekly basis we can throw down 12 or more times. We definitely go back and forth. If I had to categorize us, I'd say he's got a slightly bigger engine but I've got a little more punch to my sprint and possibly an edge in the handling department. We're pretty well matched. Racing on the road in this region, our paths have crossed more than a few times in crits, road races, and in cross too. Typically Greg has his way with me in crits, I think I may have the edge in road races, and I've pretty much dominated in cross. Greg has had some notable success on the road this year. I have not.

Where am I going with this? Honestly not sure, let's see how it turns out!

As you know, dear reader, the Flying Penguins co-promoted the second annual Paradise Cross Phrenzy on 11/13 with our friends down at Paradise Sports. It's held on the grounds around the Harpoon Brewery, Paradise Sports, and Simon Pierce (yes, a little something for everyone). I recommend you mark it down in your race planner for next year due to the venue and atmosphere.

After a full day of socializing, cheering, and standing around, it was time for the men's 3/4 race. Because I was socializing and generally not warming up, I managed to make it into the last (3rd) row for the start. Sure, as a promoting team I could have weaseled my way to the front, but we were represented there and I needed to work on my starts. Whistle goes off and I kill the start. Actually, it was pretty good - 6th wheel by the time the course narrows up before dropping into the halfpipe section. We were still pretty well bunched up by the off-camber up-down. Greg was running 3rd or 4th wheel at that point, lost traction and hit the dirt. He had a fast recovery and was running. Being rivals, I thought it was a good time to offer [shout] some encouragement to the tune of "Get on your bike, Greg!". He remounted but we were gapping to the guys out front. George squeaked by, and then after 5 or 10 seconds I took my rightful spot in front of Greg. Of course the gap was growing and now I had to close it down. I'll be honest, I burned a few matches, but we were taking time out of the gap little by little so it seemed like a good move.

First lap ends and we're dangling at about 6 seconds or so. I pulled over to let Greg take a pull and he gapped me like a spectator. The benefit of working hard for one lap was that we had a sizable cushion to the guys behind us, now I just had to focus on riding good lines and reeling him back in. It was going well until we hit the first barriers on lap 2 - he was much faster than I through the high-speed barriers and I was hemorrhaging time to him there. Sadly, the course favored more power and less of my skill areas. Couple that to the matches I'd burned, and oh, did I mention that my "training" this year hasn't really left me with many matches to start with? no, well, I have now. Either way, Greg was slowly putting more distance between us. I figured there was really only one good thing left to do: a little mid-race arch rival banter. So, sitting at a 15 second deficit with 3 or 4 laps to go in a section where the course doubles back on itself, I mustered my most ominous voice, sat up, pointed at him and yelled "I'm coming for you!"*.

It worked! After that, man did he start to put the time on me. It got so bad I couldn't even heckle him since our paths weren't crossing any more. Anyway, this is how I prefer to remember it...giving him a lesson on how to suitcase the bike (elbow in).

Eric leading Greg over second barriers

*or something to that effect

Late photos from Paradise Cross

2010-11-17T19:55:00.001-05:00

It was great to get to meet some of the Penguin team and to enjoy a beautiful day of exciting racing! Here are a whole bunch of photos of Penguins...some of them appear to be going at warp(ed) speed.

continued...

2010-11-17T19:48:00.003-05:00

More photos...I apparently can't post a whole bunch of them at once or at least I am not aware of how to do it!

Photos from Paradise Cross continued

2010-11-17T19:36:00.003-05:00

Photos continued....check out the traffic cone cheering in the photo below.

2010-11-16T16:05:00.007-05:00

The Southernmost Flying Penguins have been staying close to the nest this 'cross season with the September hatching of Baby Hannah, but we've been able to get out to a few of our favorite Mid-Atlantic races with the little one in tow.

Preparing for fatherhood, namely running to the store for chocolate ice cream, left Vinnie with little training time, but he was able to go out and give it his all at two races in the weeks following Hannah's arrival. Including Charm City Cross, Day 2 in Baltimore, MD and Whirlybird in Bryn Athen, PA.

Jess and Hannah watch as Vinnie races at Whirybird...

Hannah rides a Penguin for the first time at Charm City Cross...

Hannah's six week birthday corresponded with Granouge, one of our favorite courses here in the MAC circuit. We loaded up the car for the short ride to Delaware so I could test my new aerodynamic muffin top. Let's just say I had a lot of fun and was not DFL.

It felt great to be out on the bike again. The weather was perfect for racing; a crisp fall morning with race temperatures in the mid 60's. The course was dialed in: a great combination of off camber turns, a steep run up, and sections to cater to both the roadies and the mtb'ers. Because of timing and a long line at the portapotty, I neglected to do a warm-up lap, which would have brought to attention an under inflation issue in my front tire. I really think that it cost me several places in the end, as my handling was seriously compromised.

When fitting into your kit is a victory unto itself...

Negotiating the wooded sandpit area.

Our latest race (thanks for posting the photos, Raina!!) was StatenCx 3.0 over this past weekend. It is held at a park along the water on Staten Island, a short 30 minutes from our home in NJ. The course reminds me some of the Warwick, RI race, with a long beach section, wooded track and grass sections. Unlike RI, however, it was a glorious 70 degrees in the sun and the is a cart selling Belgium Waffles, Waffles and Dinges http://www.wafelsanddinges.com/index.html. I like Strawberries, Nutella and Banana on mine). We've weathered each year of this race (previously, snow and freezing temperatures were prominent course features) and I actually won the 3/4 race last year, so it was great to have a day where we could bring Hannah out for the fun. Again, he victory was in fitting into the kit, but the technical features of the course, along with proper tire pressure, suited me well, and I finished 12th.

That will be our las trace of this season, but I'm looking forward to getting back in the gym over the winter and be ready for Mountain bike and 'cross in 2011.

Racing in the wrong place

2010-11-15T23:53:00.001-05:00

Us VT penguins are freezing up north and NJ penguins have this as their racing backdrop...

Jess and Vinnie got cross racing figured out... on the beach, blue sky, ocean in the background. (Staten CX)

Paradise Cross Frenzy

2010-11-15T13:31:00.000-05:00

Hey Team - Thanks for all your help on Saturday. Big thanks to Andrea for helping with the results so I could race. It was great to have (almost) the entire team together! Also congrats to Deb and Marc on their first cross races with the team. Gotta run now... (maybe) more later.