Recently in Team Results Category

The team concluded its long 2010 racing season in Rhode Island this past weekend at the NBX Grand Prix of Cross.  NBX GP are the last two races in the VERGE Cyclocross series.  The course was not much different than in years past, which made for a fast and not too technical race.  The long open start allowed for good position jockeying leading into the first turn.  The open field section kept speeds fast with a few sharp S turns.  The single track to the beach was fast with tree roots thrown in to make it interesting.  The beach run was a killer and just zapped your legs every time (to give you some perspective it's like running with a 15 pound weights on each leg..yeah it's that good).  To add to the fun, there was a blustery cold wind that blew in off the ocean slapping you in the face as you entered the beach.  Just when you think you had enough, there was a small run up at the end of the beach.  The bright side was that there was a root beer hand up at this point.  Then it was back on the bike and into the trees for some more fast winding single track.  Sunday's race had similar course features except with not just one beach run but two (you got your money's worth in the pain department this day).  Oh yes and that same cold wind smack down. 

Day 1 Results:

Day 2 Results:

Jena Greaser recently joined the Colavita New England Racing Team.  She wasted no time taking the top spot on the podium.  Jena placed 1st at the Winding Trails Off Road Triathlon.  The off road triathlon is similar to the standard triathlon event.  The event starts with a ½ mile swim, 5 mile mountain bike and a 3.1 mile cross country run.  Jena  had an outstanding race even beating two time Olympic Mountain Biker Jimena Dolzadelli.

You can be sure to see more great results from Jena this season.

Great Job Jena!!!

Race Report Provided by Jena Greaser:

I participated in my first off-road triathlon of the summer on Tuesday. The Winding Trails Series is a ½ mile swim in a lake, 5 mile mountain bike loop, and a 3.1 mile cross country run loop. I finished as the FIRST female out of 50 starters and placed 17th overall out of 163 starters (men and women combined). I even beat a 2 time Olympian mountain. biker (Jimena Dolzadelli, ). She was a minute a head of me on the bike portion, so next Tuesday I will make sure to ride even harder! I started in the first wave with the men and few of us brave women. I inhaled at least a gallon of water on the swim portion and even had to stop to do the breast stroke to calm down a few times. I forgot how intense the swim part is with people kicking you in the face and pulling at your legs from behind you. I plan to get on the front row next week! Once out of the water we had to run on a hard packed, rough, stone filled dirt trail for a couple hundred yards to the transition area. This was not too much fun without shoes on...and the transition area was all sand. I made the mistake of not putting my socks on for the mountain bike or the run and paid the price in bloody blisters. Despite the side cramps from a gallon of pond water in my gut and the stinging pain from the blisters on the inside of my feet, I had a blast! The mountain bike loop is sweet single track zig-zagging back and forth, and I always love a run in the woods over pavement any day. I was impressed that I was even able to complete the race at the pace that I did considering this was my first triathlon since 2 summers ago. I blew out my acl, mcl, and meniscus in February 2009 and was barely even able to walk by the end of last summer, non the less run or ride my bikes. My swimming and biking are fine, but the running will need some more work. I am just being patient with the knee and I know that over the summer it will continue to improve and perform better for me. It is hard to not be able to run how I use to prior to the knee injury. Before I ever got into bikes I was an elite runner, acquiring many D1 scholarship offers to run in college. A repetitive IT-Band injury put me in the pool a lot and on the bike. I entered my first triathlon at the age of 18 and won for female overall. I was hooked. After getting a job at a bike shop, all I wanted to do was start racing bikes. Thanks to the sport of triathlons I am where I am today with bike racing. I look forward to competing in more of these off road series races this summer since the series is every Tuesday until August 17^th. Therefore it does not interfere with the regular USA cycling races on weekends.

This is the second year for the CT stage Race taking place in the hills of western Connecticut.  The two day three event challenging stage is known for it's climbs and it's killer 91 Mile final stage.  The weather this year was uncooperative, with the heavy threat of thunder storms each day.  Saturday the weather held out for most of the day.  The team relaxed in the team tent between stages and enjoyed a chicken BBQ for lunch.  Sunday was less pleasant with heavy rains.  Despite these challenging conditions the team raced on while many pulled the plug on the race all together.  Great Jobs Guys!!!  

We had a full team present at the race. 

Due to a major crash & field getting lost there are no results for the Pro 1-2 Race for stage 3

Dave Maynard got the 3^rd at the Fat Tire Mountain Bike Race.  Dave has had a very successful mountain bike season last year.  He is starting out the 2010 season on the podium.   Dave has been racing on the team for two years now.  In addition to mountain bike races he does several road races.  We look forward to seeing more great results from Dave this season.

Tour of Battenkill 2010- Dirt Roads, Killer Climbs and Tons of Wind.

On Sat April 10^th the team headed out to race the Tour of Battenkill.  The race is a spring classic in the Northeast attracting racers from all over the US & Canada.  The race has a bad reputation for its killer climbs and rough dirt roads.  Although the sun was out, there were persistent winds that slammed the racers making for a tough day of racing.  Despite these conditions the NE Team had two Top 10 Finishes. 

Making his Colavita NE début Jake Bobrow (Cat 2) finished 8^th in the men's Cat 2 field.    Derek Harnden (Cat 2)  suffered a crash during the race.  Both Jake and Derek race for UVM during the collegiate season.  We are very happy to have them racing for the Colavita NE Team!!! You can look for great things to come from these guys.

Eliot McLellan (Cat 3)  Had an outstanding race in the Men's 3 field.  Eliot finished strong placing 10^th.  Eliot is a very strong racer who knows how to tough it out and get great results at races.  You can be sure to see more great finishes from Eliot this season.     

A special congratulations goes out to Seth Haskell (Cat 3).  Following the Tour of Battenkill Seth will be getting married to his longtime girlfriend Sarah.  We wish Seth and Sarah all the best in their new lives together. 

The day began cool and bright with a brisk wind.
 
I was determined to give a full effort for the whole race, so I zoomed
to the front in the first few miles and hoped to keep a top speed. At
the first dirt section I rode over a succession of horrible pot holes,
first I lost a water bottle, then my chain popped off. I remounted the
chain and excruciatingly sprinted to catch up to the peloton. After
that I was certain to give myself a visual buffer zone on the dirt
sections, and keep my chain on the largest rings! I was not nervous
about being in back at this point because the wind could dismantle any
break and the peloton appeared cohesive.
 
Eventually, without any of my own effort, I filtered toward the front.
With the initiative of staying competitive and riding a strong race, I
speedily took off up a hill and soon discovered I was on a one man
break, that I sustained for several miles. Though I knew the break was
probably doomed! This break occurred somewhere around the halfway
point, and over the longest climb on the course, and across a flat.
 
The frequent steep hills were a surprise and I figure those hills
tired much of the racers.

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Race report Provided by: Glen Gollrad (Cat 3)

Launching out of Cambridge, NY with 95 of my closest CAT3 'Black Group' road racing buddies - the sound of tires on pavement, the buzz of 8 dozen freewheels, and the bright sun were all welcome sounds and sights. This race is nuts as it covers a lot of ground on dirt roads - making it very similar to traditional European "Spring Classics". Thank god it was not cold or rainy - but cool and sunny. Great start to the 2010 season. The first 10 miles were typically twitchy in the pack - but not too demanding. When we veered off to the left, away from the safety of the first big smooth highway stretch - down a narrow country road to dive bomb an even narrower covered bridge, all hell broke loose.

As we funneled through the dark bumpy bridge, it was like a rifle shot coming out the other side - except we had to make a hard right turn. Accelerations abounded - but still no definitive attacks. We were on dirt soon, and it got a little more wily at that point. The challenge was always in the transitions; turns, dirt-to-pavement, pavement-to-dirt, pavement-to-dirt-on-screaming-descent-to-hard-left, and so on. After 45-50 minutes of twitchy mid-pack braking, stuttering, accelerating, braking - I got tired of it and wove my way over to the right side of the road - aka "the gutter" - along a mild dirt road climb, and started accelerating towards the front. As we took a sharp right turn down this same dirt road (where a dog chased me a few weeks ago!), I was in good position as a powerful surge started building at the front. Good timing for me!

BAM!!!

I hit one of the thousands of dirt road potholes that are part of the race, but hit it really hard. Everything seemed fine - water bottles in place, helmet still on - albeit down on my head a little lower, stem not snapped off... so I started pushing the pace. Being closer to the front of such a huge field is intimidating on the one hand, but thrilling and energizing on the other. As we hit the next stretch of stair stepping paved hills - I settled into a good groove and felt strong. The main peloton started re-forming but was now much less twitchy.

Shortly thereafter, I felt like I was slowing down... and sure enough my rear tire was slowly deflating. Ugh. So did my morale!

Gently weaving my way to the right shoulder and to the back, ALL the way to the back, I waited for the wheel car to roll up. After an agonizing minute or two - I was back on the road but could not even see the back of our field! Not panicking - and realizing I may be doing a 2 hour time trial to finish the nearly 50 miles to go - I started riding as hard as I could without totally blowing up. Digging, digging, digging - hoping to see SOMEONE to work with, I realized I was burning through all my matches awfully quick. I eased up a bit - but then caught a glimpse of a guy in orange with the same bib number series I had - so he was also a CAT3 chump off the back and out in no mans land too! I turned up the gas a bit - but every time the road went up, I ceased closing the gap and was over-revving trying to make contact.

This went on until I caught him - but I was now cooked. Fried. Well-done. Tenderized. Oh! Just in time for the 40+ Masters Peloton to start creeping up on us... their lead car came up and said they were on our tails - and I noted I'd be sure to let them pass cleanly and not interfere (hoping to tag onto the back of THEIR group!) with them.

And so it went - riding at the back of this group - then losing contact, then picking up the odd assortment of blown racers like myself; the co-flatters and otherwise despondent and thrashed peers. Eventually I found 2-3 guys Colavita Compatriots to rejoin, and we rode together for a while... Laurent had serious calf cramping issues, Todd (aka the Jackal) was hanging tough - and I tried to help his skinny ass out in the long rolling open highway sections that had a relentless cross/head wind. When the hills kicked up again, Todd pedaled away and Laurent seemed to explode - leaving part of his right leg on the road with its red bootie still attached.

After some screaming descents and more climbs - and a cheering family section - the mother of all ass-kicker climbs was all that was left. Stage Hill Road is a mean old gal - but was at least smooth this day. A few weeks ago they had just re-graded it and there was loose gravel everywhere. Now it was just long and steep and cruel - but not so hard to not fall over on, or spin out.

Made it up to the top with just enough gas in the tank to pedal the last 6-7 km to the finish. As I was spinning these last km's - the CAT4 lead group of 10 guys or so went by and made me feel like I was going backwards. By the time I finished the race I had the full on cold clammy shakes and my stomach was queasy. I was more wrecked than I'd been in a long, long time. All that wasted effort at the beginning, after flatting - punished me in that awful, lovely way road racing / riding can.

It took longer to "race" the course this past weekend than it did to "ride" the course a few weeks ago... which means there is only one way to go - to the bar! Or, while on the bike and racing - up! I look forward to more events to work with you guys - and congrats to my fellow survivors - both groups - those that fared MUCH better than I, and those who suffered as I did - or worse.

That which does not kill you...

So I decided to jump into the fray and do the A race (Cat 1-4) after racing in the B's (Cat4-5) last year. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be but it is a flat race so well suited for me.

The weather was glorious for early April and being Easter Sunday seemed to keep people a little more relaxed that what I expected. Seth Haskell and Liam Somers were also flying the Colavita Colors.

Seth did a bunch of work early, I did some work in the middle and late and Liam took a short flier to the front to see what was going on so good exposure for Colavita New England.

I helped chase down one break, sort of bridged another one with just over a lap to go  (got almost there when some help showed up) and finished in the pack sprint. I was 14th out of 35 people. Liam was 12th and Seth was just behind us.

I am pretty happy with how I felt and based on how I fared in a Cat 1-4 race clearly my early season training strategy is paying off.

Based on today I feel like I can try to get in some breaks this season and perhaps challenge for top 8 finishes which is where the points are. Liam, Seth and I were not really sure what to expect so we hadn't created a race strategy prior to the race but for the rest of the season we will pick one person per race to support and ensure sure the team colors are flying out front.
On a side note we told Dan Vaillancourt (former Colavita Pro Racer who is now racing for a local race team named Base36 as a 1) that he looked much better and faster in Colavita colors.

Off to Battenkill!!

Seth Haskell (Cat 3) raced charge pond this past weekend ang got the first podium finish for the 2010 season for the team.  The wind and cold did not stop him from laying down the hurt on the others in the field finishing strong and taking 3^rd. 

Great Job Seth.

Race report Provided by: Seth Haskell (Cat 3)

I like to think that when the temperature drops below that comfort zone I have established, or someone suggests a ride on one of the back roads of Maine, I adopt the same attitude that the Belgian "hardmen" of the pro ranks have, and head out for the adventure, laughing at the road conditions and weather.

That's what I like to THINK...but in reality, it's not always the case.....

On Saturday the 27th, I found myself huddled in my Pontiac Vibe with the heat on full power, desperately yanking on another pair of socks in a futile attempt to keep my toes warm, then frantically applying embrocation to spots I believe they recommend right on the tube to avoid. Under my breath I swore at the winds for winding so hard, at the sun for sunning so weak, and a bit at myself for deciding to race in Plymouth, Mass, rather than further south. At this point, I would have driven an addition 5 hours to get another 5 degrees on the thermometer. Before I pull on my gloves, I check my new HTC droid's weather AP one last time, hoping for a new number.

28 degrees, 10:10 am. Lineup for the B race is called.

At least, I think to myself, everyone is cold, and not just me.

Cold races mean if you are up front, taking a pull, you are not only loosing fuel, but edging closer to hypothermia faster than those behind you. At some point, however, instinct kicks in, or desperation, and the thought process of "alright, let's get this over with" forces you out front. Of course, Charge Pond Training Races are timed at an hour, so no matter how fast you go, you are out there for an hour. Extreme exposure to below freezing temperatures can cloud the though process too, I believe...

The format of the race is a tight circuit, so close to a criterium, that one might morph the words together and come up with a circuiterium, or something clever..there was no climbs to speak of, a few little rollers that helped sort the pack out as the race progressed, and a fast fun downhill left turn leading into the last 200 meters that tested your skills to time your sprint without hitting your inside pedal on the ground. The road is closed to traffic, and the pavement is nice. A few potholes here and there, but all easily visible and avoidable. The field was a modest 15 - 20, great group of riders and excellent organization by the officials. Great spot, great people, great race. Cold weather.

In it's 5^th year the Portsmouth criterium has quickly grown in popularity.  The race takes place on the historic streets of  down town Portsmouth New Hampshire.  Several members of the New England Team were present: 

Seth Haskell (Cat 3)

Bryon Lewis (Cat 4)

Chris Jordan (Cat 4)

Liam Somers (Cat 4)

Bryon Lewis (Cat 4) had a terrific showing taking first place.  There is no better way to end the road season than on the podium.  Bryon has been doing quite well in many of the crits throughout New England and is considered to be a Crit specialist on the team.  Bryon was a former Pro BMX racer and is accustom to close contact in races (which is common in crit races).  This explains Bryon's fearless approach to crit racing. Chris Jordan (Cat 4)  had a great finish placing 18^th.  Liam Somers (Cat 4) had a strong race clipping on the heals of Chris rounding out the 20^th slot.  Seth Haskell (Cat 3) who recently upgraded to the 3's had a good performance placing 34^th

Great job guys!!!

On August 15^th five members of the NE team went to do battle on the Mt Washington.  The non-sanctioned race is considered to be the hardest hill climbing race in the world.  The race is a 7.4 mile climb to the summit of Mt Washington.  The average climb is 12% with sections that exceed 18%.  The final section nearing the finish maxes out at 22%.  This year the weather was sunny and warm with nominal wind (very unusual for Mt Washington).  Members of the team made the cut off to race in the Elite category lining up with some of the notable pro riders like Phil Gaimon and Ned Overand  aka. "Deadly Nedly"

Chris Hillier (Cat 2) had an exceptional race placing 15^th overall.  Chris's performance gave him the earned title as the fastest hill climber in New Hampshire.  Chris has been showing is power as a hill climber at many of the climbing races throughout New England.   

Kristen Gohr (Cat 1) placed 3^rd overall for the women.  Kristen also broke a longstanding course record for the women's 35-39 category.  Kristen has worked very hard this season and it is shows in her outstanding races results. (read Kristen's race report below) Next Kristen heads off to race the Burke Mt Race in Vermont. 

Jason Moriarty (Cat 3) and Bryon Lewis (Cat 4) had strong performances.

Great Job Guys!!!

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Race Report: Provided by Kristen Gohr (Cat 1)

The bike was ready with new super lite tires and new climbing gearing but I was really nervous about the 7.6 miles on "The Rock". I had checked out the competition and realized with 3 Pro Women in the field my goal of a podium finish would be out of reach. I took the advise of my coach and decided to "race my own race."

I was fortunate enough to be in the "Top Notch" start wave so it was fun to be jockeying with some really great climbers. I focused on my heart rate and didn't let the other riders distract me. I settled in and let my heart rate hover around 183.  At the 5 mile mark I hit a bit of a wall but did a quick calculation and realized I was on pace to beat my previous time.  I had waited a long time for this race and I knew it would come down to a test of my own will and here it was - so I just kept pedaling. 

As I approached the summit the cheers and cow bells were amazing! I had fallen on my first attempt at the final 22% grade to the finish line.  This time I was determined to finish upright. My husband, my sister, and my dad were at the final approach and seeing them there to cheer my through felt like a hand pushing me on the back. I crossed the line and Greg told me "you got third!" I had reached my goal of a podium finish and later at the awards ceremony I was told I set a new course record for my age group!

It was a great day of bike racing!

On Sunday August 9^th several members of the New England and New Jersey team headed to East Hartland, CT to participate in the Tokeneke Road Race which is part of the New England Road Race Championship. The course is a challenging 22 mile loop with substantial climbing.  The culminates in a two mile 7% climb. The KOM / QOM was held on the first lap causing repeated attacks off the front from the start. 

Kristen Gohr (Cat 1) in an amazing show of climbing strength won the top honour in the women's field (see race report below).  Brian Roberts (Cat 3) hammered home the 10^th slot in the Men's 3 field.  Great job Kristen and Brian we are very proud of you!!! 

Chris Hillier (Cat2), Jason Moriarty (Cat 3), Justin Henderson (Cat 4) and Chris Rago (aka Ragu) making his Colavita NE team debut had solid finishes on this challenging course. 

A special thanks goes out to the feed zone team.  Josie, Lauren and Shannon who  waited in the rain for several hours during the race keeping the team hydrated and fueled up.  We could not have done it without your help and support.  Thank you ladies!!!

Race Report: Provided by Kristen Gohr (Cat 1)

It was a large field of 40 to start.  The course starts off with several miles of easy rollers with a significant down hill.  The field stayed together through the fast descent but was quickly separated into a smaller group of 10 after the first steep climb.  The lead pack drove a hard pace breaking free from the rest of the field several times.  The main group would eventually be brought back at the base of the 2 ½  mile climb.  On the final lap seven riders broke away on the last climb, but the blistering pace forced the final separation in the race.  Clara Kelly, Beth Miller and I fought it out on the final approach to the finish line.  I was happy to finally cross the line first!!