Annual Member Meeting, February 29, 2012

Please join the Portland Velo Club at Rivalries at 6PM on February 29 as we kick off another great year of racing and riding.

Supported rides and races will be announced.

New PVC kits/clothing will be on hand for pick up for those that pre-ordered and additional PVC clothing is available for purchase that evening.

Hors d’oeuvres will be provided, and there will be a cash bar.

Come socialize with your friends and find out more about what PVC has to offer. Members and non-members alike are welcome. An event like this only happens once every four years! Be there.

If you’d like to renew your membership today, that would be great!

Master Worlds Cyclocross Race Report – Louisville, KY – January 2012

Click on the link below for a race report from Paul Weiss about his experience at the Master Worlds Cyclocross Race in Louisville, KY:

Master Worlds Cyclocross Race Report

PVC Helmets!

Cyclemania in conjunction with Bontrager Helmets is offering special pricing on these incredible helmets. Price is regularly $100 but Portland Velo Members can purchase these helmets at the incredible price of $65.00.

Women’s Helmet is black/blue and offered in two sizes – small and medium:

Men’s Helmet is white and offered in three sizes – small, medium and large:

Please submit your orders with Cyclemania by December 17th. Cash, check and credit is accepted for payment.

New Gloucester Cat 4 race report

Submitted by Chris Darling

New Gloucester proved to be a true test of bike handling skills  with the amount of mud and grass accumulation on the bike. Equipment failure seemed to be standard for the day with close to 25% of the cat 4 field DNF with broken dérailleur and hanger combination. The weight of most bikes was 10-12 pounds heavier than when the race began. Even after a post-race wash there was still 1/2 pound of grass in my drive train.

Anyway, the weather was typical fall condition, a tad on the warm side (55 degrees) but very wet in the field sections. The cat 4 race began up the paved hill into a right hand turn. I had started the day with close to 40 psi in both tires, not thinking the early grass sections would be slippery. This hypothesis proved incorrect as I was first into the turn onto grass and proceeded to crash into the first off-camber hill. Reacting quickly I was able to get back on the bike without losing my position. After a brief exchange of positions with a rider from Colby/Kissena Cycling club, I took the lead again and tried to open a gap.

I was able to put 30 seconds between myself and Chris Syer from Bikeman.com for the next few laps. As I was coming around for another lap I saw that the officials were in the process of changing lap cards and I was unsure where we were in the race. I heard the bell lap over my shoulder and tried to focus on not “fading” on the last lap.
It was really encouraging to hear all the OA riders behind the tape cheering and encouraging their teammates. Paul Weiss was offering some great advice as I was passing by “only critical shifts, only when necessary”. Seeing the amount of bike attrition that day, this was definitely important. I was able to spin the remainder of the last lap with minimal shifting and was able to enjoy the gap I created and coasted home in first place. My first place finish yet this year. After taking two second places at Gloucester and CascoBay races, this was a much enjoyed bonus.

I hope this qualifies for an upgrade so that I can join the ranks of the Masters 35+ field. Thanks again OA folks for coming and watching and cheering for the “early race”.

2012 Club Membership and Kit Order

It’s time to renew your Portland Velo Club  Membership for 2012 and place your order for the newly designed PVC kits.

Here are the new kits for 2012:

2012 PVC Men's Kit

2012 PVC Women's Kit

You can download/print the order forms for the Men’s kit HERE and the Women’s kit HERE. Payment by cash and check accepted, sorry no credit cards. Make checks payable to Portland Velo Club for the full amount or a minimum of 50% down with your clothing order along with 2012 club dues ($30.00) paid in full by November 15, 2011. Checks and order forms can be mailed to Portland Velo Club, PO Box 15093, Portland, ME 04112 or dropped off at the kiosk at Cyclemania.

We anticipate the orders to arrive after the first of the year.

Happy shopping!

Women’s order form

Men’s Order Form

Grand Prix of Gloucester Oct 1, 2011 – Cat 4 Masters 35+ – Race Report

Submitted by Chris Darling

Hey all ‘cross fans,

The Cat 4 Masters 35+ race at the GP of Gloucester yesterday ended up a tad on the “wet” side, rather different than last years course. But this is cross season and is to be expected. The rain did let up for the race , but the corners ,and the really interesting run-ups , were greasy.

I missed last weeks Vermont race so this was my season opener and I made the usual careless preparation mistakes that one encounters at the beginning of any seasonal transition. I was so focused on making sure I made the correct equipment choices: tire pressure, MTB shoes, kit, rain jacket, etc, that I did not fill my water bottle for the trip down. I got there and realized that all I had to drink was my cup of coffee. Not the best way to start a race  being under-hydrated.  The warm up was great though with no rain, stayed dry, but for some reason was chilled (probably due to my hydration level).
I assume , based on my Crossworld results from last year,  I got a front line start. Real nice!

The start was also uneventful as well, barring the usual poor line choices by a few riders unsure of the “friction coefficient” of cross tires and wet pavement. Shortly we entered the start of the tape maze with a nicely constructed run-up stairs section. This was followed by some off-camber switch backs. Making this section required skilled riding or hike-a-bike technique. The only barrier sectioned followed, flat and fast section, just as I was hoping. I had been working on my cross mounts and dismounts this week.

A sand section and more tape followed. The last technical section were the run-ups on the north side of the course. The new run up appeared to be a bridge that had stairs on one side and a ramp on the other side. Really cool.

As I was making my way through these obstacles, I noticed that I was picking off the few riders that were in front of me. A rider from Alpine Clinic was exchanging lines with me for a few laps. We eventually put a 30 second gap on the field. I had led most of the race but a last lap slide-out on a grass corner ate up some of my time. I started feeling some tension in my right hip and the Alpine Clinic rider passed me , no worries, I felt good and I had been riding the last technical sections well. Unfortunately, he was able to get a 10 second gap and I heard the announcer shouting words of encouragement. It ended up being a sprint finish, and I had the disadvantage coming up the hill in second place and just couldn’t close the gap.

Second Place. My best result in cross yet. Really great race and I look forward to JamesTown and CascoBay next week!

TD Bank Mayor’s Cup Professional Criterium – September 25, 2011

Submitted by Joe Reis

I registered for the TD Bank Mayor’s Cup Professional Criterium in mid-August before I knew it was going to be the USA Crits series championship. I had heard a great deal about the race from friends and thought it would be a fun way to end the road season. The race was certainly fun and it was very neat to be competing in the middle of a city like Boston, but it was definitely not an easy race to end the season on.

I arrived at the Government Center in Boston with about 30 minutes to spare. I quickly kitted up and picked up my number only to find that they were calling riders to the staging area. With no warmup, I knew my legs would not be happy. To top it off, I was starting in the back of the 100+ rider field. I had been told that I really had to start at the front for this race, but I didn’t think much of it until I actually saw the course.

When we took off, things immediately stretched out. We made our way down past the first two turns and took off on the backstretch. Just as predicted, the legs were screaming. All I could do was sit in and hold on for dear life. After about 15 minutes of this, I managed to start working my way through the field. I always felt like I was making good progress until we hit the back stretch and I could see how big the field actually was and how many riders were in front of me. No matter how many people I passed, it felt like I was still sitting in the back. Luckily, the pack seemed to balloon mid-race after the start/finish line. I was able to shoot up into good position and stay there for a lap. I got my confidence up and wanted more so I tried to get even further up by passing on the inside of the 2nd corner. This turned out to be a big mistake though as I lost all momentum after getting cut off and having to brake. It took a lot energy to get back up to speed and I burnt a big match. I had to spend the next 5 or so laps sitting in and recovering. Definitely learned a lesson from that one.

With 7 laps to go there was a crash in between turns 1 and 2. The legs were back now, but I was also sitting pretty far back so I was forced to slow again as I made my way around the downed riders. Once again, I found myself burning another big match as I sprinted to catch back on. This was where the race really got fast as teams started queueing up at the front. There was little I could do at this point but sit and hang on. The rest of the race was really just surge and recover since things were so strung out in the back. On the last lap, there was another crash on the 3rd corner. Lots of riders went down in this and I had to slam the brakes. There was no way that I could do anything and I just had to roll in with the rest of the riders for 62nd place.

This was definitely a tough race tactically for me. I learned a lot of valuable lessons though and I am eager to learn from my mistakes. Overall, this was a great experience. It was such a neat feeling to be competing among so many big names and in Boston. Such a great way to end the road season.

Time for some CX now.