WW- 446 loop

Wednesday Worlds is on the 446 loop this evening. It'll likely be a poor turnout due to ITTs happening at the Little 500 track but those of you that ride will smash it hard I have no doubt! 5.30p at the gates and 6pm out on the course.

Note..

Whomever removed my nice 2003 Little 500 bike front wheel and replaced it with a crappy 2007 with two broken spokes- thanks a lot. I'll admit it's a nice move but I'll be stalking the area between Jordan and Myers hall in perpetuity watching for you.

ITTs

ITT list can be found here (if anyone needs it in PDF form then email me). Looks like the power 'hour' runs from 7:50 to 9:20 with the main heats between 8:15 and 8:45. Look for the mens winner to ride at 8:35 (Ellis, Young, Bailey, DRR) and the womens at either 8:20 (Brown, Metherd, Kent, Davis) or 8:30 (Half, Arnesen, Van Kooten, Balbach). Should be fun!

Marian Crit

Away from Little 500 there's a nice little race on saturday up in Indy at Marian University. It features both Collegiate and USAC races throughout the day. It's an altered course this year that loops around Major Taylor Velodrome and hopefully they won't have the apocalyptic weather conditions of previous years! Register early for cheaper and get out and race!

Quals report

IDS report

IDS video

IDS slide show

IDS Quals 'fall' slide show

You should also follow Nathan Hart on Twitter as he had some good stuff on saturday.

Quals 2010

On a day that was somewhat lacking in drama the Cutters cemented their clear favorite tag for the Mens race as they returned to the pole after a few years break. Kappa Kappa Gamma put down a marker that their program is back to relevance by taking the pole by a very slender margin over perennial Quals contenders Teter.

Full results Mens, Womens here but what did we notice during the day-

1. Awesome crash on the Cutters first attempt. Eric Young going so fast that he washed out in a loose turn 3. 'Patches' Schroeder almost lost it on the final lap of the pole attempt. Were the Cutters too fast for the track?
2. Hoosier Climber repaid Jim Kirkham's prediction and killed their exchanges to finish in the top 10.
3. SNU went last on the day on third attempt and showed no nerves to finish mid pack to push LAMP out of the race.
4. Was there a little justice in SDT missing out for the women? In 2006 knowing that a successful 3rd attempt would get them in the race they qualed with a ride over 4mins that was within the limit if not within the spirit of the rule (Pi Phi and Gamma Phi went to a 4th attempt). This year their 3m19s wasn't enough to get in and they become only the second womens team not to make it.
5. Good to see Beta back toward the top of the pile
6. Greatest celebration was the DZ scrum after being successful in their 3rd attempt!
7. Most unusual action of the day was from PIKE would only had two riders as they waited for their 3rd rider to find an ID. They proceeded to essentially practice exchanges before black flagged their first two attempts. It seems the ID wasn't found and they exited the race on time after a two person 3rd attempt.
8. The post-exchange forward roll of the first AOPi rider and the Greg Bortz (Acacia) pirouette were the best 'moves' of the day!
9. An angry Gray Goat team who didn't get their full warm-up due to an issue at registration yet managed to qual in 3rd.
10. There were 8 all rookie teams and Chi-Omega topped the lot, showing natural talent is much better than experience or coaching!

Friday ride

From Ryan Kiel- A few of us will be rolling out for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours from Sample Gates at 2:30 this afternoon. Also, it is supposed to warm up throughout the afternoon! Join if you would like.

Quals day coverage

As BVN will be in the press-box (coaching teams over the mic....slow down, slow down) for much of saturday there should be plenty of updates coming from Bill Armstrong. Follow the @bloomingtonvelo twitter feed or check out the side bar on this site. I'm sure the IDS will be there and their twitter is here.

Last Day for Fantasy L5

Sign up for the chance to win $100 in bike shop mechandise! Entries need to be in before midnight tomorrow.
http://fantasylittle500.blogspot.com/

WW

Forest loop. 5.30pm at Samples Gates. Down Beanblossom. Please lets keep it under truce until we reach the TOP of the first hill on old37 (cow/pig-farm hill) so as to make it a slightly more inclusive ride.

Quals times

http://www.iusf.indiana.edu/little500/rider_info/2010_Quals_Attempt_Times.pdf

Get there early for FIJI and DG, around lunchtime for BKB, the Cutters and Teter and at 4p for the drama of the third attempts and to see if Phi Psi can make a late run for the pole. Always the best day of the year!

BCSP RR

Some good results for locals over at BCSP yesterday. The results are here.
Pro/1/2 on second lap, the eventual winner is on the front of the group

Video from Pro/1/2 first lap- the winner is no-where to be seen (had an early mechanical but bridged back to the group)

Pro/1/2 3rd lap

Cat 4/5 1st lap

Lap

Apologies to everyone I've ever criticized for riding slow on the Little 500 track. It sucks.

WW

An encouraging 20+ riders showed up for the first WWs of the year and it seemed people were chomping to get the action started! Eric Hamilton was the first attacker of the year and the frustrations of the long winter seemed to be coming out in those opening salvos. After a couple of laps the constant pressure of the four Cat1s in attendance forced a split with Ryan Knapp, Mike Sherer, Hamilton, Issac Neff joined by Taylor Gaines off the front. That was it for the rest of the field although they did manage to regroup and keep working well(ish) together until the end of the 6-lap ride with Tom Cox and Matt Neibler battling it out in the sprint for the minor placings. Up front the leaders kept it rolling at 26mph+ until the final mile when first Neff then Hamilton tried to win solo. However it came as no great surprise that Mike Sherer prevailed in the sprint given the BIG watts he's been putting out in training! At the other end of the spectrum other riders extended themselves a little too much too soon (Parry, Todorow, Atwell) and had to regroup during the remainder of the ride but that's a what a TRAINING 'race' is all about, right?

BCSP RR

The brutal Brown County State Park RR takes place a little earlier than usual this coming sunday. It'll be a rude awakening for legs that haven't yet raced this year as it's basically a 5mile circuit with 1.5mile of steep up, 2 miles of flat and 1.5mile of screaming descent! However it is the close to home so I encourage you to get out and race. Online entries are open until friday night where you can save $10.

Depauw Results

Domination from IU in saturdays road race.
In Little 500 terms I'd say important markers were laid down by PDT and Theta.
Velonews report and results here

Wednesday Worlds 2010

Fast paced training rides leaving every Wednesday from the Sample Gates (Kirkwood and Indiana) at 5.30 sharp. Roll out to the designated course then anything goes! All welcome and if you get dropped don't quit but ride with others of similar ability to get in a workout! Please let's not race out of town but rather enjoy the company. All rules of the road apply. Check back here each Wed for details on the route.

Suggested Schedule (open to changes)-

3/17- 446 Circuit
3/24- Forest Loop (down BB)
3/31- 446 circuit
4/7- Forest/ NS/ SS
4/14- 446 circuit
4/21- Buskirk/ Paragon loop
4/28- Forest loop
5/5- 446 circuit
5/12- Buskirk- Fry Rd circuit- Bottom Rd
5/19- Forest-Nshore-Sshore
5/26- 446 circuit
6/2- Low Gap- Mahalasville
6/9- Buskirk/ paragon loop
6/16- 446 circuit
6/23- Forest loop (up BB)
6/30- Take the Lake (out Ramp Creek)
7/7- 446 circuit
7/14- Forest-Nshore-Sshore
7/21- Buskirk- Fry Rd circuit- Bottom Rd
7/28- Take the Lake (out Ramp Creek)
8/4- Low Gap- Mahalasville circuit
8/11- 446 circuit
8/18- Buskirk/ paragon loop
8/25- Forest Loop (down BB)
9/1- 446 circuit
9/8- Forest-Nshore-Sshore
9/15- Buskirk/ paragon loop
9/22- 446 circuit

This season they will mostly be wearing...

With the Midwest Road race season about to begin it's worth documenting which teams we need to look out for in 2010 who feature Bloomington talent-

Team Tortuga- Gary Palmer and Tom Saccone will be looking for Masters 50+ glory at Nationals in Louisville.
Morris Trucking- not much word from Morris so far in 2010 but are always a breeding ground for young talent.

DRT racing pb Revolution B+B- Don Galligher, Andy Messer, Zach Edwards and Katie Grigg amongst others will ride for this shop sponsored race squad.

Verizon Cycling Team- Cat1 Mike Sherer racing for this new Elite squad based out of Chicago

Panther pb Competitive Cyclist- Ryan Knapp features in this very strong Midwest team who'll be looking to make a national impact.

NUVO Cultural Trail- 'Cutters north' as Eric Hamilton, Eric Young and Clayton Feldman will join ex-cutters and Indy locals on a strong Midwest team.

Alderfer Bergen- Tom Cox and Ren-jay Shei continue on this Warsaw IN- based team led by recent IU grad and BKB coach Issac Neff. The Womens AB squad including Pam Loebig and Lauren Half looks to be one of the strongest in the Midwest.

Speedway Wheelmen- Adam Rodkey and Wes Harris represent this team from Indy.

Mission Berry Farms Cycling- Fred Rose leads this new Masters team for the road season.
MOB squad- Karim Abdelkader will find form in mid summer

Cycling and Fitness Warehouse- Rumor has it that ex-lead Tortugan Chris Kroll is getting back into competition with this team from Richmond IN and is joined by Kaleb Naegeli.

Wolverine Cycling Team- New Cat 2 and up and coming talent Scott Catanzaro will be riding for his home town squad of tough Northerners!

Sorry if I missed anyone but be sure to flag up your team in the comments section...

Spring Break Challenge

This should be a lot of fun and an interesting primer for Fantasy Little 500!

From Jim Kirkham-
'2010 Little 500 Spring Break Challenge

Attention all riders, there will be some racing at the Little 500 track on Thursday March 18th. There will be some organized races to help get you ready for the big race. We will be putting on a:

10 lap scratch race
20 lap madison (bike-to-bike exchange)
7 mile points race with sprints every 4 laps
3 lap Keirin

Racing will be in the afternoon track session. Rain date is Friday'

I wonder who'll be riding the Derny?

Wing-It riding the Ventoux!

In case anyone missed this article last week in the IDS. Wing-it are taking it to the next level with indoor training! The coach sounds a little more enthused about it than the rider- no surprise there!

Season Start

The Midwest road season kicks off for non-students this weekend with the Long Run Circuit Race in Louisville. Register before midnight this evening for the cheaper price. Also there is collegiate racing at Depauw both Saturday and Sunday. The Heritage Lake Circuit race on saturday is great to spectate whilst riding your bike in the opposite direction on the course so head over there to give the IU riders a cheer!

Bike Polo Riding High

IDS article

Wednesday Worlds- suggestions?

Wednesday Worlds, the weekly training ride/ race is scheduled to begin next week after the clocks change. In the past few years I've put a loose schedule together that seems to have helped keep things more organized. Some of the roads in the area such as Bottom Road and Low Gap are in pretty poor shape and therefore not ideal for a big group to ride fast over. We should still use those roads occasional but I'm looking for suggestions for other routes that might be used. Put your comments below or email me. Bare in mind that crossing SR37 to the West at 5.30pm with a big group is not very safe/ car friendly which somewhat rules out routes to the west.

Slowly finding their way

IUCC has taken a little criticism over the past weeks due to the seemingly poor state of 'A' racing at the collegiate level. A few years ago IU was a decent Mens TTT away from winning a national title in an era that coincided with the attendance at IU of Rashaan Bahati, Jenn Wangerin and Mike Kehrberg. This year there are no riders of such proven quality but these things can go in cycles (pardon the pun). Only Ren-jay Shei has any real experience of racing at this higher level so the team will take some time to find it's feet. Racing this weekend is at Lindsey Wilson College in southern KY and the twittersphere suggests that IU are putting in a better performance. Scott Cantanzaro and Matt Kiel both finished in the top twenty of a highly competitive Mens A race whilst Dave Richardson-Rossbach again gave IU a win in the Mens B, after Chris West was solo off the front for over 35 miles earlier in the race.
Racing moves to Depauw next weekend so the IU representation will likely increase, particularly in the Womens categories. Small steps...

Chuck Taylor

Nice Video.

Fantasy Little 5 is Live!

Now accepting entries for Fantasy Little 500 with the chance to win $50 gift certificate from Revolution Bike and Bean or $25 from Bikesmiths.

What you need to do-
1. Read the Fantasy Little 500 Rules
2. Pick up to 6 riders from the Final Rider List (3 guys, 3 girls). Use no more than 36 pts, all UNLISTED riders are worth 1pt. All eligible L5 riders are eligible for the game.
3 (optional). Think of a non-offensive team name.
4. Submit entry to geraintparry75@gmail.com before 11.59pm on Thursday March 25th.
5. Hope to win.
6. Enjoy the real Little 500 season!

Murray State Results

All of places, VeloNews is seemingly the first with the results from Murray State. Some of the typos are as usual comically bad. I'm sure the results will appear on the MWCCC website sometime this week. Seemingly a tough start for the 'A' racers but in the B's and C'c DaveRR, Baxter Burnworth and Stephen Quay represented IU well. On the Womens side the Army L5 team was successfully racing in the Bs in what must be considered a statement of intent for the upcoming L5 season! Lindsey Wilson is up next weekend for those who wish to make the trip into southern KY for the second consecutive weekend.