OVCX is coming

Bigger and better than ever!!

Wednesday Worlds- 446 circuit

Come on out and show everyone how the summer has treated you! 6pm at the gates and 6.30 out at the circuit. Expect 6 laps.
Womens WW also meet at the Gates at 6pm.
Cross Worlds meets at the Tailgate fields at the same time

Gateway Cup

It's pretty much the final throw-down in the Midwest Road season before people take it to the dirt and the Gateway Cup in St Louis offers some great racing. With pretty boring four corner crits and limited $ on offer the racing goes way above those expectations with good atmosphere and big fields in all events. Racing the Tour de Lafayette under the lights is a fun experience and the enthusiasm of the Italian crowds on 'The Hill' is well worth the trip. If you have some time this weekend you should go race as it's a long time until the Collegiate or Spring Series RRs!

Support for IU Track Team from Scholars Inn

I'm pleased to report that the Scholars Inn is helping out the IU Track Team with their entries for Nationals this year! It's a crazy $45 per rider for the Team Pursuit and the Team Sprint so having some support will enable IU to enter teams for these events. The team is coming together nicely and they'll hope to challenge the Marian juggernaut to the best of their abilities. BTW the Collegiate team sprint is a unique event where 2 girls and 4 guys take the track and riders pull one lap each and then drop out (6 laps total). The usual strategy is girls to pull the first two laps before the guys take over. This would mean that 1 girl would have to pay $45 for 1 lap....the pain of which will be greatly helped out by support from Scholars.

If you want to get breakfast or lunch head over to the Scholars Inn Bakehouse on the square and if you're looking for very nice evening with fantastic food and great service head up the hill to the Scholars Inn resturant and wine bar. You can order the tasty Scholars Granola on the BVN sidebar!

'Final' call out for IU Track Team

The growing IU track team is meeting at 4pm in 'The Commons' today to discuss events, organization and training for upcoming track nationals. If you're interested in participating then come along to see what's happening. There is another track clinic at Major Taylor scheduled for tomorrow if you haven't ridden on the track before. Contact Linda Fink about the clinic at Linda.Fink@indy.gov
The first entry deadline is next thursday after which the price to entr rises from a ridiculous $45/event to a bonkers $55/event.

Boltinghouse Buffet

The BBC are putting on their annual 'Battle of Boltinghouse' NEXT thursday on Sept 2nd. It'll be the ideal 'warm-up' for the Monroe County HC!

From Carl Field- "Boltinghouse Buffet" will be held Thur, Sept 2. It's a 1-hr "time trial" to see who can make the most repeated climb/descent loops of Boltinghouse Hill in an hour. Last year's winner (Kevin Hays) did it 16 times .... unbelievable.

Sign up will be at the bottom of the hill at 6:15pm, the gun will go off for the mass start at 6:30 sharp. Fun will be had by ..... the spectators. For the climbers, it'll be a suffer-fest to say the least.

More Racing

This saturday there is a double dip of long road race and time trial just over the border in Marshall Illinois at Lincoln Trail State Park. Early sign up ends today. Sounds as though it'll be a great race for those people with late season form who are revving up for the big Gateway Weekend over labor day.


Results here

...and sometimes you're the nail

Watch the 7m00s mark. You'll see Boonen in a full sprint unable to get back to Cancellara's wheel. That was me this evening when Guy East put the pressure on at the front on the group going through the Forest. Unfortunately all the local Cat4/5s cruised by me without too much trouble. Poor show.

Early Warning- Monroe County Hill Climb Sept 14th 2010

A change of venue this year as too many TT bikes are did well in 2009! In 2010 it'll be a short sharp shock on Lentz Road. Start at the bottom, finish at the top, less than half a mile of pain! First rider at 6.30pm. Trophies for 1st male, 1st female, 1st over 30 and 1st Frat-boy and hopefully some other prizes as well. Reports from 2009 here.

Route here (it's pretty simple)

Forest TT- 8/24/10

A few new faces graced the penultimate Forest TT in the coolest temperatures we'd had since April. Fred Rose took advantage of Ryan S going Merckx to win with an impressive 21.22. Ren-jay knocked a big chuck of time off his previous efforts and nudged under 22mins for the first time. Another great ride came from Melinda Balchan with a 26.58, she anchored AGD to 2nd in L5 last year and expect much more of the same next year. The final TT is in two weeks and it will be getting dark early so either drive out or ride with lights!
Name, Time
Fred Rose 21.22
Ren-jay Shei 21.55
Jonathan Atwell 22.36
Ryan Shanahan 23.02
Chris Beck 23.26
Bob Costello 23.56
Tom Cox 24.22
Clayton Feldman 24.25
Team Alderfer Coxdrum 25.56
Bobby Lite 25.59
Ashton Wischmeier 26.16
Geraint Parry 26.23
IU Team Pursuit 26.24
Carey Wagoner 26.56
Bruski 26.56
Melinda Balchan 26.58
Chris Bonham 27.56
Team Pansen 28.02
Ken Berglund 28.42
Austin Nielsen 28.52
Claire Troutman 29.18
Chelsea Merta 29.41
David Shirley (missed turn) 30.26
Luke Momper 30.32

Hummel Park Crit

Road season is winding down but there is plenty racing to be had out there. There's another Planet Adventure crit on Saturday at Hummel Park out on the west side of Indy in Plainfield. Information here and Registration here.


Results here

Worlds

Calling all students to come on out and show that summer form at WW- 6pm at the Sample Gates. The Forest Loop is on the schedule so no-one should get lost! WWW also meets at 6pm at the gates as well. For those already taking it off road then CXW meets at the tailgate fields at 6pm.

Mt Gilead road closed

From Adam- John Atwell thought it would be worth mentioning that Mt Gilead road is VERY closed for a while. He was trying to get across it on foot (while running) and had difficulty. It would be a shame to go down that hill to have to just turn around and climb it!

MMSF TT- Tuesday

TT starts at 7pm junction of Forest Road and Old37. Ride out from the back of BGI at 6pm if you wish.
From Sarah-
Come out and ride the MMSF TT!
There are two more time trials left for the season with the final TT on Sept 7th having a little extra incentive for attendance! Bloomington Bagel Company, Laughing Planet/Soma, and The Village Deli have pitched in to support the series by donating some goodies for the cyclists who come out to ride. Per usual, Most Improved Male and Female will be awarded for the riders that dropped the most time this year (Note: You obviously need two times for comparison and they must be in the same bike category. For example, you can't go cruise out a time on a road bike then show up the next weekend on a TT rig and blow it out of the water. And if you're a repeat cyclist, we'll know if you loaf it this week and go fast the next---I've got times all the way back to 2008!) There will also be a few raffles drawn at random, so come one come all!

Indy Crit

This saturday downtown Indy. Will be a great event. Come race and hang around to see if the Kenda P-R-Os can stop the NUVO winning run. Jason Fowler is getting married on the start- finish line before the Cat5 race....or something..
Sign up here before 10am friday!


Results from Indy Crit. Great day of racing in the inaugural event. Some IU girls were riding well in the Cat4 race with Hannah Calvert winning a couple of primes and finishing 2nd. Eric Young, Erik Hamilton, Isaiah Newkirk and Ryan Knapp made the break in the feisty Pro/1/2/3 race with Young getting pipped for the win by Colton Barrett of Texas Roadhouse and Marian U.

Check out the photos from John Bennett including this of Chris West.

WW, WWW, CXW

Worlds and Womens Worlds at 6pm Gates for Buskirk/ Paragon. It'll be Cat3/4 worlds from now on it seems given the beginning of....

Cross Worlds starts this week- 6pm at the shelter on the tailgate fields if you like that kind of thing.

Track Champ

Shoutout to Wes Harris who unbeknownst to me became 2010 ABR/FIAC Masters 40+ Track omnium champion recently!

Big Win

Mike Sherer may have moved out of Bloomington for the time being but we'll still flag up his BIG win at the Glencoe GP yesterday. In the prelude to the Pro Crit champs he took a win out of a 6 man break ahead of Andy Crater and did he chances of getting a 'contract' no harm at all. Photo from Carolyn Golz.

IN crit Champs

So I have been accused of homerism toward Eric Young in recent weeks. Well that might be true but it's also true he won the State Crit Champs yesterday at Mass Ave by 5+ bike lengths. A quality eleven riders lapped the field in a group that included Uberti, Albers, Knapp, Strock, Leibovitz, Eisenger, Jacob. Once the lap was taken the group started to attack itself but no-one was able to get away until Greg Strock had a small gap with 2 laps to go. On the final lap Declan Doyle pulled Young back to Strock at which point he attacked early and kept/ extended the gap all the way through the final couple of corners to the finish where he was ahead of the Team Panther trio of Uberti, Albers and Knapp (who was very very proud of his IN state bronze medal ;).
Elsewhere Sinead Miller and Bri Kovac dominated the womens race with the youngster almost lapping the field twice. After riding the Giro Donne for the US national team it was like having a TdF finisher at the mens race and that difference in quality was obvious.
Other Bloomington interest was found in the Womens Cat 4 race and the Mens 4 where Liz Cobb and Miles Johnson both won their respective State Champs. Miles Johnson was in his first ever cat 4 race and offers some promise for the Phi Psi L5 team in coming years.

Gladiator meets Roubaix

Check out the new film on the Rapha Website about Mueesuew and Roubaix (thanks to AH for flagging it up, clearly very easily distracted at work).
http://www.rapha.cc/

And it's only on today (I think).

Farewell...

Always bittersweet to say good-bye to members of the bike community so it's a fond farewell to Katie Grigg and Stephen Quay who have been riding/ racing in town whilst working at Rev Bike and Bean for the past few years. Good luck out in Colorado!

Mass Ave Preview

The NUVO.net Mass Ave preview is out and Ryan Knapp is talking a good game with regard to 'crushing hopes and dreams'! Lets hope Eric Young doesn't give everyone else continually recurring nightmares! It should be a great battle so go ride or grab a beer and watch the action.
http://www.nuvo.net/indianapolis/mass-ave-criterium-brings-out-the-best-indiana-cyclists/Content?oid=1539669

Track Nats Call Out meeting

For anyone wishing to ride Collegiate Track Nationals we are having a meeting on friday at Noon in the Market at the IMU (M067). The plan is to briefly discuss who's in, which events, equipment available etc. It shouldn't take longer than 30minutes so come along if you're interested.

Forest TT- 08/10/10

On a hot, nasty day in the Forest it was Jordan Bailey who was fastest amongst the brave souls who tackled the conditions. Ren-jay Shei continued his comeback to form with a solid second place whilst Jon Atwell rode to his usual 22.50 in 3rd. Sarah Sanders rode a great TT and dipped under 25mins for the first time! There were a few newbies out there with Aaron Pilling, Zach Lusk and Hannah Calvert putting in solid inaugural efforts! There'll be two more TTs this year, August 24th and Sept 14th.

Name, Time
Jordan Bailey 22.19
Ren-Jay Shei 22.41
Jonathan Atwell 22.50
Scott Catanzaro 23.37
Aaron Pilling 24.29
Colin Allen 24.51
Sarah Sanders 24.57
Chris Arvin 25.43
Chris West 25.44
Zach Lusk 25.51
Jason Urbanski 26.38
Team BK 26.56
Lyle Feignbaum 27.00
Todd Davidson 27.31
Amy Dickman 28.04
Hannah Calvert 28.04
Chris Bonham 28.21
Jeff Yoder 28.28
Ashley Pilipiszyn 29.42
Claire Troutman 30.16

WW- 446 circuit

For those of us that get smashed out the back on the hills it will be a welcome return to the 446 circuit for Wednesday Worlds. 6pm at the Sample Gates and around 6.30pm out at the circuit. Come and hone that form in time for the State champs on saturday!

Forest TT

Tuesday evening at 7pm. 10miles out and back on Forest Road. We had 35+ riders two weeks ago so lets try to beat that! Ride out from the rear of BGI at 6pm if you wish. I can time the event for those looking for an excuse NOT to the ride!

It's the State Crit Champs this weekend with many ability categories decided at Mass Avenue on Saturday and the Masters/ Juniors at West Clay on Sunday. Saturday looks to be a long day or racing with all sorts of other stuff going on as well as the bike racing including Roller Girl races, Couriers races. They are still looking for volunteers to help out and thos that do will get some free swag I think. Contact Sarah Myer at volunteer@nuvo.net.
As for the riders to watch- There is only one favorite for the Pro/1/2 race as Eric Young has been smashing it recently including two race wins this past weekend at Warsaw and Southeasyway Park. In the Cat1/2 Womens race expect the Alderfer Bergen ladies to be out in force and expecting to dominant. In the Cat3s Team Sustainable Cycling have been riding very strongely in recent weeks so look for those guys to set up one of their own for the W.

Crits

As the build up to the State Champs at Mass Ave next saturday continues there are a couple of crits to keep people happy.

Saturday- Downtown Warsaw Crit. Good atmosphere and good payout in this event

Sunday- Southeastway Park Crit. New race with next to no $. 61 riders needed to get $300 on the line in the 4/5 or 3/4 races. However $ seems to play a small role in why we race so get after it.

more mike sherer..

Superweek: Day 16 - The Downer Classic from Verizon Wireless u25 Cycling on Vimeo.

I think in half these videos Mike has a beer in hand! Good life, race bike, drink a beer ;)

Masters Nationals

A few Bloomington riders are taking advantage of the proximity of Masters nationals to battle it out with the best 'mature' riders in the US The TTs were yesterday where Ryan Shanahan finished a creditable 10th in his age group and Martinsvilles Greg Strock finished 2nd! The RRs start today so good luck to Gary Palmer, Chris Kroll, Tom Cox, Ryan(?) and anyone else who might be riding.

WW- Low Gap- Mahalasville

WW is the Low Gap- Mahalasville circuit. 6pm at the Sample Gates. Out old37 to Anderson Rd where the action starts, to Low gap, do a loop through Malahalasville and then back low gap- anderson. As the heat index is reported to be over 110F I'm not sure how many people will want to ride hard. Apparently i'll be hotter than yesterday and the one effort I did then put me in the tank all day!

Collegiate Track Champs- Sept 23rd- 25th.

Collegiate Track Champs are in Indy this year and the Schedule and registration details have appeared on USA Cycling website. I know a few IU students have been racing at the track so hopefully there'll be a good group to represent IU and have me to 'big-up' on the mic. Some of the team events may require some planning so I'm sure Eric Young won't mind organizing any group training that needs to be done. Contact him at egy@indiana.edu

Bike for Sale

Katie Grigg at Revolution Bike and Bean is sadly leaving town and has a bike to sell-

- 2010 52cm Tarmac Expert
Fact10 Carbon with full Shimano Ultegra (6700)
Brand new chain, and if seriously interested in bike will install all new cables and housing
Only 4 months old! If interested, contact Katie Grigg at kgrigg@umail.iu.edu or (425) 503-2863
Asking $2,500

ToEG Day 2

Basically cut and paste from Day1 except that Eric Young took the biggest W of his career with a major effort to take the Elk Grove Cat1/2 crit. His form has been steadily growing since Tour of Americas Dairyland (ToAD) but this is the best win to date. Ryan Knapp finished 7th using his amazing sneaky power in the last few laps as, by his own admission, he does lack a real sprint! Mike Sherer is probably a little over the top of his best form which came at ToAD but was still good enough for a decent payday in 9th.

Eric Young also won all the track races at Major Taylor on friday and I was asked today what I thought the chances are that he could take the Collegiate Triple Crown- winning a national title on velodrome and road as well as winning Little500. Given the unpredictable nature of all events (but mostly the crit) I'd set his odds at 12-1 (+12000).

Elk Grove Day1

Some nice results for the up and coming talents of Bloomington in the $7000 Cat1/2 race at Elk Grove on Saturday. Eric Young was 3rd, Mike Sherer was 6th and Ryan Knapp on 9th. Pam Loebig finished 12th in the Womens Pro/1/2 race to make some $ as well. Expect more of the same today.
Latest from Verizon Wireless Cycling with a somewhat introspective look at the final day of Superweek.

Superweek: The Final Stage - Whitefish Bay Classic from Verizon Wireless u25 Cycling on Vimeo.