Snapple Tri Team

One of the most epic things I’ve ever been a part of. A little background, then on to the good stuff:

Tour of the Catskills is a three day stage race, featuring the most ridiculous climb at the end of the last day.  Platte Cove Rd (Devil’s Kitchen) climbs over 1,100 vertical ft in about 2 miles, including 900 vertical ft at an average grade over 12% –  some sections steeper. It reminds me of that 1/2 mile section along the backside climb to the barn where those guardrails and switchbacks are. Lots of dudes walking, in fact several pro riders in the Tour de Trump a few years back ended up walking. It was raining that day, on the steeper sections traction became an issue.

The Color of Pain

On to the epicness. Players going into the last day:

* Yellow jersey (They provided the top GC guy a yellow Catskills jersey from Champion Systems. By the way, Snapple loves Champion Systems).

* Tom Blonkowski, Coppi – 2 seconds back

* Ryan Short – 4 seconds back

Bunch of other dudes, I’m in 9th 20 seconds back. I was fortunate enough to end up in a group of 10 on Saturday that finished 2 minutes ahead of the main group . The majority of time gaps among the top ten are from Friday’s prologue).

Today’s stage:

With 40 miles to go, Ryan Short (3rd GC) goes off the front w/ three others.  Wow, if he stays away he deserves the win. The group lets him + 3 go.  Gap is about 90 seconds, then team DC moves to the front and drives the train to close the gap. Includes Ben Reynolds from RTR, other Cycle Life players and Coppi. It was impressive, in an effort to give Tom Blonkowski a chance to win overall GC. Coppi guys are asking me if I have enough water/food. This is awesome, guys shelling themselves for others.

Then w/ 1k to go before the final climb, we make a right turn and yellow jersey goes DOWN! Little bit of gravel, group yells “yellow jersey,  yellow jersey!” Group slows up, then others start yelling who is he Andy Schleck?! This isn’t the Tour de France, then a few curse words. In fact, I think Ben Reynolds w/ the helmet cam caught it all on video. I’m usually sympathetic, but yellow jersey was on the front and took the turn a bit aggressive. Why would he do such a thing? What were we suppose to do? Didn’t look like he was getting up anytime soon. So we soft pedaled a little, more curse words, then the pace picked up.

Final climb hits and it’s a wall. Carnage from the start. Blonkowski and I follow the polka dot jersey, then up the pace. 3k to go. OMG it hurt. Out of the saddle, back on the saddle, I wanted to walk. Guys were zig zagging, walking, all over the road from previous races. I pushed the bottom a bit too hard and was paying for it. 2K to go, we catch Ryan Short (the guy off the front). He looks pretty good. Over the top goes Blonkowski, then Ryan Short, then 4th GC dude. They are soooo close, if I can keep the pain train quiet for a few more seconds I’ll slice my GC position in half. Make it over and latch on to the group! In a group of four w/ 10K to go, mostly downhill. One other guy catches up, so its five. But I check the list and he wasn’t part of yesterday’s break… if I stick and we keep the group away it means 4th GC!

I start doing the math – Since yellow jersey is out, Blonkowski is top dog among the group. But Ryan Short is 2 seconds back from Tom and in the group. Sprinkle in some 10-6-2 time bonuses and the stage is set for an epic finish. If Ryan edges out Tom, he’ll jump over by 2 seconds to take the GC. Shoooooooot.

Ryan Short edged Tom out by half a bike length. Ryan took first, Tom took second. BUST!

Garmin data here.

I most likely will end up 4th GC (awaiting official results). CASH MONEY! Ok, so it’s probably 25 bucks, but I’ll take it. CASH MONEY! I’m super pumped. What a weekend. Next up, Page Valley.

And a big shout out to Katie Davison, who won her Age Group, 6th Overall at the Culpepper triathlon on Sunday. BEAST! She’s tougher than she looks.

Thanks for reading.

*** UPDATE ***

Results for the General Classification here. Includes P/1/2 and other races. Way to go Nick Bax and Nate Wilson! Wow you guys are good.

Snapple Cycling headed to Mathias, WV on Saturday for the Lost River Classic. The team raced there last year and followed up with a trip to the Lost River Barn for camp earlier this year. For those looking for training camp locations, you can’t beat it.

The loop is just over 10 miles, with two climbs, both about a mile long (Garmin data here). The Jenkins Hollow climb kicks up towards the end, right before the finish line, and the climb up Dispanet is more like two kickers back to back. Nothing like Brickyard steep, but just enough to hurt.

Jenkins Hollow Climb (0.85miles, 260ft ascent, 5.8% average grade, 10% max grade)

Dispanet Climb (0.93 miles, 272ft ascent, 5.5% average grade, 13% max grade)

The 3/4 race was decided by a break on the second to last climb. T Blo from Coppi tested the field a couple of times, initially over the first half then again realizing there was a gap. The group didn’t respond, and off he went. It was a great move and he kept it rolling down the descent. Nobody wanted to work all that hard on that flat section going into the last climb, until two Bike Rack Heads jumped (Dennis and I think Tony). The pace picked up along Crab Run road, with one of the Lumm brothers setting a hard tempo. The Lumm brothers are machines, they pretty much pulled the group around all day and Brandon finished 5th. Brigham won the 3/4 race at Reston earlier this year, dude got an engine.

Just as we turned on Jenkins Hollow, I started a dig and made it to those last two parts where it kicks up a bit, I’d say 200m from the finish line. Then the wheels started to come off. GamJams Paul Rades, who mastered the 35+ 3/4 race at Coppi, went around and I could see Ian Spivak making up ground fast. I was cooked. Fortunately the finish line was just up ahead and I rolled across in 3rd, absolutely spent.

Pleased with the result. Blonkowski made a great move and it paid off. He got a flat at the ToWC RR and who knows maybe he gets the win there, glad to see him on top two years in a row.

Top Ten

Men’s Category 3/4
42 miles $300/7 places
1       Thomas Blonkowski, Squadra Coppi
2       Paul Rades, GamJams/Pre-Reg.com p/b Cutaway Clothing
3       Matias Palavecino, Team Snapple
4       Ian Spivack, DCMTB-Family Bike Shop
5       Brandon Lumm, Route 1 Velo/Arrow Bicycle
6       Jordan Cross, Squadra Coppi
7       Dennis Bodewits, District Velocity Racing p/b The Bike Rack
8       Sigberto Garcia, NCVC/UnitedHealth Group
9       Zachary Rogers, 540Cycling.com
10      Bob Gillespie, All American Bicycle Club

Race Stats:

37.6 miles, 1:51:10

Splits – Last three laps

31:09 (20.3mph avg)

30:54 (20.3mph avg)

28:08 (22.5mph avg)

Average pace 20.2 mph, including roll out and first half of first lap

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Looking over the 1/2/3 results, looks like a repeat of last year

2009

1       Nick Bax, DC Velo
2       Keck Baker, Harley
3       Brian Butts, Harley

2010

1       Keck Baker, Harley
2       Chuck Hutch, Harley
3       Nick Bax, DC Velo

And looks like Bax bested the Harley gang at Coppi. Bax v Harley, maybe they’ll battle again at Page Valley.

And check it out, Floyd Landis is entered in the P/1/2 race at Catskills, unattached. Wonder if he’ll sport the Snapple kit.

Zach and I headed out to West Virginia on Saturday for the 4th Annual Tour of Tucker County CAT 4/5 Road Race. Everything we read indicated it was a must do:

* Voted top 10 hardest race courses in America by Velo News in 2009
* Mountain top finish
* 5,000ft of climbing over 34 miles
* Two climbs over 7 miles in length – the elevation profiles says it all

The last climb resulted in absolute carnage. Everyone at their limits hoping the top was near. Epic in so many ways.

I earned my first points as a CAT4 racer,  one step closer to CAT3 status.

Results posted here, photos posted here.

Footage of the 1/2/3 race here. Scroll to 6:45 for the attack on the final climb. Winner Joe Dombrowski is an absolute specimen, dude can ride a bike. check out his result and recap for the May 2nd, 2010 Wintergreen Ascent on the Haymarket Cycling Team Site.

BIG thanks to host Jay Moglia for taking the team out for an epic training weekend. Here’s a write up on the first two days of camp.

Incredibly fast times put up in Doylestown this weekend, a big congrats to everyone who raced.

2010 DOYLESTOWN DUATHLON RESULTS

Two weeks from now I’ll be in post-Boston Marathon leg trauma.  The downhill nature of the course puts a serious hurt on the quads.

I’ll be joining big brother Dave Orton, who’s Project BQ earned him a spot down at Virginia Beach last year.  Dave’s been kind enough to share a neat little spreadsheet to help strategize the race down to each mile.

Boston Marathon Pacing & Info

The Snapple Triathlon Team is pleased to announce this year’s training camp schedule. For more information check out Snapple Camp 2010

Check out what Angela Kidd did at Oceanside this morning.

AWESOME BIKE SPLIT! Right up there with the best pros of the day. Great way to kick off the 2010 race season.

6:30am Wake up, eat breakfast: half a cantaloupe, cottage cheese and a blueberry-walnut scone
7am Walk Aspen, my chocolate Lab, for about two miles
8am Andrew, my husband, stretches me on the massage table and gets me prepared for practice.
8:30am Meet my teammates for practice
9am Warm up and drills, then a 10-mile tempo run [a fast-paced run that acclimates the body to a speedier clip] with a cooldown
10:30am Drink a Cake Batter Muscle Milk, my favorite postrun beverage!
11am Home for an ice bath
11:30am Eat lunch: Asian dish with last night’s leftover rice (I add two scrambled eggs, sesame oil, spinach, peas, tamari and top with toasted sesame seeds)
Noon Massage from Andrew
12:30pm Drink a homemade smoothie with banana, frozen wild blueberries, yogurt and flax seed
12:45pm Nap for a couple of hours with Aspen
2:45pm Eat a goat-cheese and fig-jam sandwich on rosemary bread
3pm Take a Spanish lesson for one hour
4pm Drive to lake and let Aspen fetch sticks in the water while I sneak in a cold foot bath
5pm Meet my teammates at the gym for hurdles, weights, medicine-ball throws and plyometrics [jumping and skipping drills that strengthen leg muscles and improve running form]
5:30pm Run five miles
6pm Eat a before-dinner snack of apple with almond butter
7pm Dinner at Restaurant Skadi: bread with olive oil, mixed green salad and soft-shell crab. Andrew and I catch up on our day.
8pm Answer a couple of e-mails
8:30pm In bed

It’s fair to say that Deena’s life is just a little bit different from our crew’s day-to-day life (when was the last time you were in bed before 8:30?)

Let’s face it – to most roadies triathletes are chopped liver, just another pair of legs to shred. They salivate when Joe Tri Athlete shows up in his P3 pimped with zipps & carbon fiber down to the bar ends.

But if you’re serious about triathlons, the most efficient way to make improvements on the bike is to ride with roadies. Sure, it’ll hurt and yes you will get dropped, but eventually you’ll develop the strength to take a few pulls and maybe (just maybe) be strong enough to hang around for the final sprint.

So here’s a list of roadie rides in and around DC. Warning: these rides can be sufferfests. In fact, I strongly recommend showing up in a  road bike, at a minimum leave the bento box and fancy aero drink bottle at home, and keep an eye on your rear seat bottles… they quickly become roadie souvenirs. Better yet leave those home too. And absolutely no riding in aero. When entering Planet Roadie, there are certain rules to follow, and showing off your new aeroness among a peleton of roadies is a definite no no.

Saturday 7AM DC Velo Ride

View DC Velo Saturday 7AM Ride in a larger map and details

Saturday 10AM Rock Creek Park Ride

View Rock Creek Park Ride – Saturday 10am in a larger map and details

Sunday 8:30AM Bicycle Place Ride

View Bicycle Place Ride – Sunday 8:30am in a larger map and details

Hains Point World Championships – M-F noon

View Hains Point World Championships in a larger map and details

In an effort to give athletes a chance to represent Snapple at road, mountain, and cyclo-cross races, we are pleased to announce Snapple’s inaugural year with USA Cycling.

“We’ve had a wonderfully successful run in our first four years, and we’re looking forward to representing Snapple at USA Cycling events,” said Bart Forsyth, director of Team Snapple. “Our athletes train hard, race hard, and embody the sport’s best characteristics – all of which is made possible by the support of our sponsors.”

“We want to show those roadies triathletes can hang with the best of them,” says Matias Palavecino, VP of Snapple Cycling Team. “To be accepted on the Planet of Roadiness, you have to dish it out a bit and we welcome the challenge.”

As Snapple ambassadors, the squad promotes the sports of triathlon and duathlon, the healthy lifestyles that come with them, and encourages friends and competitors alike to get outside and race.

Club information can be found here.