The Adventures of Captain Crunch

2012 season plans

2011-11-18T20:59:00.002-05:00

Hi everyone

Big changes are in store for Captain Crunch Racing in 2012. For the past four seasons I have been racing my bike in a variety of disciplines. It started with time trials, progressed to road racing, and now finally cyclocross. I started racing when I was 20 years old and now as I head into 2012 I'll be turning 25 my life is getting busier with more important things then bike racing. It's not that I don't enjoy racing, quite the opposite - I love it - it's that more important things need to be focused on. I'll never be a pro bike racer so I rather then go out and kill myself in training for a weekend race I want to take a step back and just enjoy the ride.

So for 2012 I'll be adopting a view similar to that of the Rapha Continental boys. The point of the Rapha Continental is to simply find great, epic rides in the USA. That's my plan. I'm going to start by simply documenting some of my favorite local training loops and the sights along them. Progressively I'll expand outward to other locations. I've had a goal of trying to ride in all 50 states ( I have NC VA MD DE PA NJ NY CT VT ME WA OR and CO so far) so I'll be searching for epic rides on both the dirt and road in the states I don't have yet. I may even retrace some the actual Continental rides as all the cue sheets are published on the website.

It will certainly be a change of pace but one I welcome. As my life changes so my cycling with it. It's a new chapter in my life and I'm really looking forward to it. The bike will always be present in my life but the extent of which remains to be seen. Some of my best memories and best friends have been made while in the saddle pedaling over some amazing roads. My goal is to document these roads so in the future I can look back and remember the great times.

Thanks for reading!
CC

So It Begins

2011-09-06T19:06:00.002-04:00

Only five days remain before the beginning of the cyclocross season (well technically four but I start on Sunday) and to be honest I'm freaking out right now. I currently live with my parents but as of the Sept 21 our house is, well, no longer ours. They've sold it (it only took 8 days on the market) and are downsizing to a smaller apartment. Having just turned 24 last Friday this seemed like the perfect time to move out on my own. I was just banking on the house taking a few months to sell - just long enough to get me through the cross season.

It's not as bad as it seems. I'm moving to Albuquerque NM sometime towards the end of the year. However as of 21st of this month I need to find a new temporary home. So far I haven't found anything suitable and the clock is quickly winding down. As you can imagine this is not helping my preparation for Nittany or Charm City. Not only do I need to find something in less then two weeks I have to find the time to move my stuff. Everything is mostly packed except for my clothes and essential riding/racing clothing, bikes, and tools. I'm fortunate to have an awesome boss who is going to let me store most of my things in the basement at our facility so at least that's taken care of.

This Sunday is going to be about enjoying the beginning of the cross season and hopefully beating my nemeses from Crossresults. If you should find yourself in the Trexlertown PA at 3:45pm be sure to swing by the velodrome and watch me and 100+ guys battle it out.

Thanks for reading
CC

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

2011-08-25T19:05:00.002-04:00

That's right boys and girls. It's time for cyclocross. Central PA just had it's first skills clinic on Tuesday and the Nittany Cross weekend is only 16 days away (for me it's 17 days as I'm only racing on Sunday). That also means that I'll be clearing the cobwebs out of this space to make room for some race reports of the coming season.

I got a new race machine, new tires, and new team (Team Stomach of Anger). I am totally stoked for the coming season. It's shaping up to be the best one yet! I'm also looking forward to doing some volunteering at a few races this year as well. Since my race is the last of the day in the MAC Series I intend to help work the reg tables in the morning hours. If you're at Charm City on Sept 17 and 18 and register in the morning be sure to look for me!

Thanks for reading!
Joel

Team StomachofAnger

2011-06-03T10:12:00.005-04:00

With the season opener of the 'cross season here on the Mid-Atlantic only 3 months away I'm beginning to make preparations for the upcoming season. My training is going very well and I'm feeling stronger then ever and my training log confirms this. I'm slowly getting those last few pieces of equipment I need for the season as well.

The biggest change this year will be to a new team. For the last two seasons I've ridden under the RGM Watch Company colors. It was a great ride and I'm thankful for their support over the last two years. This year I'm making the jump to a great new grassroots project aimed at getting people out on their bikes and riding.

Team StomachofAnger has been put together by Michael Babcock and Kacha Azema of East Lansing Michigan. They run clothing company by the same name (check them out at www.stomachofanger.com). Rather then let me try to describe what the team is about let them tell you...

"What is Team StomachOfAnger?

Simply put, it's a collection of bike racers and riders from around the country -- and around the world -- who all share the same passion: pursuing our best on the bike. You don't have to be semi-pro, you don't have to ride an expensive bike, nothing like that...you just have to love to ride and share that love & enthusiasm with your teammates and the world around you. The team will consist of people who race (at all levels), as well as people who ride in local group and charity rides. The team is open to all disciplines of cycling: road, mountain, cyclocross, track, triathlon, whatever. If you're into riding your bike, Team StomachOfAnger can be your home."

Awesome I know. No pressure on getting results. Rather its all about getting out there and having fun. I'm looking forward to spreading the love at 'cross races around the Mid-Atlantic this season. By next month I should have a tentative schedule posted as the race organizers confirm their race dates.

Thanks for taking a few minutes out of your day to read this and for supporting my awesome new team this season!

Best!

Captain Crunch

In Memoriam - Wouter Weylandt

2011-05-10T16:37:00.003-04:00

Usually when a athlete or other public figure passes away in a tragic way, I'm usually not affected all that much. This sounds horrible I know, but let me try to explain. I certainly sympathize with the family, but not having a close personal connection with individual, I continue on with my life. The death of Wouter Weylandt on stage 3 of the Giro yesterday affected me more then a little.

Maybe it's because I could see myself lying there on that pavement on my favorite training loop. The descent down the Passo del Bocco was probably just like any other for Weylandt, just as another training ride is for me. As cyclists, be it professional or amateur, crashing (whether in a pack during a race or from being hit by a car) is an accepted risk of riding our bicycles. While we certainly don't like to think about crashing, it is always in the back of a cyclists mind. But we accept these risk because we love riding our bikes.

I obviously didn't know Weylandt personally. But I can say this with 100% certainty. He loved riding his bike. You don't make it to the professional ranks because you simply like riding. The road to the top is often one of low pay, under-appreciation, and hours upon hours of hard work on the bike. To make it in the sport you need to love riding.

So to all those who are unsure if they should race or ride this week because of what could happen, I say this - get on your bike and ride. Ride fast, ride slow, ride one mile, or ride one-hundred. Just go ride. This is the best way we can honor a man who loved riding his bike. You can best believe that's where I'll be.

I'm a slacker!

2011-04-23T22:34:00.002-04:00

Oh hi there!

Not racing right now has left me very unmotivated to write. That's simply because there is nothing to write about. I'm just putting in the long hard training miles into some crazy wind speeds (seriously, once this wind dies down I'll be even faster then I am now). A few changes on the schedule. The DC race fell through and I'm pushing my Northeast trip back a into July or August due to financial considerations (gas prices are killer). Overall I'm feeling good right now and wishin' it was cross season again. Just about 4 more months until it kicks off over in T-town!

Thanks for reading!
Captain Crunch

2011 Season Plans

2011-03-11T19:35:00.004-05:00

It's been a while since I last posted anything here. There really hasn't been much to talk about since the Cross at the Kiln. I rebuilt my CX bike and am really looking forward to next year. My last two races left me feeling really good about the upcoming cyclocross season (kicking off for me on Sept. 11). Again, my goal this year is to try and win a race, but I see that being difficult considering I'm in the million man "B" group. Oh well, gotta have goals, right?

My training so far this year is going great. Where I'm right now is much further ahead of where I was last year. I'm hoping this bodes well for the few crit races I'm planning on entering (my first being the Bunny Hop in Suitland MD on May 1). At 40 to 45 minutes a race these will perfectly mimic the red line effort of a cross race. Also on tap in May is a short trip up into the northeast states (MA, RI, and NH) for some nice riding, as is another double century ride to see my brother in Wallkill, NY in June.

I'm still debating on whether to enter The Nightmare this year or not. After 4 years of competing in it (grabbing 4th last year setting a new personal best and 2nd back in 09), I'm looking for a new challenge. Seeing as I got my cat 4 upgrade I may ride the Tour de Millersburg that is held the same weekend. The nice thing about this is that nothing needs to be decided right now.

Again I would like to thank everyone for their support last year. I'm looking forward to another great season this year and I know with you guys there behind me it can be the best ever.

Thanks for reading
Captain Crunch

Limestone Cross at the Kiln

2011-01-16T22:58:00.005-05:00

Cross racing - in January? Why yes I would love some - thank you! The boys and girls behind the Nittany Cross that kicks off our season here in the mid-Atlantic decided to throw one last party, I mean race, to close out the season. Held just a stones throw from the Trexlertown Velodrome, the Limestone Cross at the Kiln was held on an amazing venue.

First off, let me say the course design was very good. It made excellent use of the steep hillside that the venue had to offer, making the riders go down a steep, Euro like descent. It also worked in some great off camber corners that with mud/snow thrown in made for some challenging racing.

So to the actual racing. My training in the prior weeks to this race had gone really well. I was feeling strong and was mentally very motivated to try and do well. My goal for this race was a top 20 finish, which given how I was feeling, was in my mind an achievable goal. With the course as sloppy as it was I knew being in the top 10 through the first set of sharp 180 degree corners was going to be key to placing well.

I managed to score a front row call up. The green light lit up but I missed my pedal the first two strokes but managed to get in by the third. This wasn't a big deal at the paved starting area was rather short. As soon as we got on the grass and into the first turn I somehow managed to get myself to second wheel. By the 3rd turn, due to the leader's bobble, I found myself in the lead.

Wow, what a difference being the leader makes. Being able to pick the best line and not having to worry about that crash the comes on the first lap of the "b" race was great. What a rush to look ahead and see nothing but wide open course and no one in front of me. Everyone played it safe through the first several corners and about halfway through the first lap I was still in the lead with about 5 others guys behind me.

On the first tricky descent of each lap I decided to get a little aggressive and really push the pace. Bad idea. It was an off-camber downhill left turn which taken at too high a speed would cause the tire to slide out on the mud. You guessed it, that's what happened to me. By the time I was up and back on my bike I was in 6th place at the back of my group. But hey, that's 'cross.

Being it was only the first lap I knew I had plenty of time to work my way back up. By the middle of the race I was sitting in fourth place with fifth and sixth right behind me. I attacked hard through the barriers and the long straightaways that followed. With the top three clearly well off the front I knew I was now riding to protect my fourth place finish. I did suffer to more falls in some really slippery corners, but had enough of a gap that I was able to quickly remount both times and not lose any time.

When it was all said and done I came home in fourth place and recorded my best finish of the season. I even won a little cash - however I didn't realize cash prizes went five deep so I'll get my check in the mail later this week. If it covers the expenses of the weekend I'll be happy! Overall it was a great to end the season on such a high note. Sixth at nationals and fourth on Saturday really leaves me feeling confident that next season I may be able to start cracking the top 20 on a regular basis. For the full photo set please click here.

And with that, the 2010/2011 cyclcross season is officially officially over. The CX bike is in my shop now waiting for it's full rebuild and my road racing bike is in the stand getting a tune up for the rapidly approaching road season. I'm planning on doing a three or four road races this season just to keep the competitive juices flowing through my legs. It should be another great year. Thanks for tuning in for the last several months and I hope you will continue to do so for the 2011 season!

Thanks for reading!
Captain Crunch

Cross Nats 2010

2010-12-30T12:51:00.003-05:00

So you think I would be more excited then I am to write this post. Truth is I'm not really that motivated. It's been an amazing season capped by a 6th place at nationals. I was firmly in fourth place closing in on 3rd when I had a ill-timed mechanical at the flyover that involved the wheel pulling out of the dropout. By the time I fixed the problem I had fallen to eighth place. With only 1 lap left to go I managed to fight my way back up to sixth place missing out on the podium by just 45 seconds.

Overall it was an amazing trip. I drank some amazing coffee thanks to Stumptown Coffee roasters in PDX. Coffee will never be the same after drinking a cup of their brew. I also got to hang out with some amazing new friends and got to see some amazing scenery. The couple I was staying with invited me back in July to race the Cascade Classic road stage race. Free room and board and an airport pickup is sweet music to a poor bike racers ears! Check out all my photos here!

So as hard as it seems to believe I'm already making plans for the 2011 season. As I just said I'm going to throw in a few strategic road races to help me develop the top end power needed for cross. Most of the cat 4 road races around here are only 30 miles in length and last about 1.5 hours. This makes them perfect for cyclocross training. While I'm not planning on doing too much upgrading to the road bike this season - save for new chain, cables, and tires - the CX bike is getting a full makeover courtesy of Sram's Apex lineup and a variety of FSA goodies. With the planned upgrades I'm hoping to get the bike down from 20lbs to 19lbs. I'll post the full build specs once I hammer them down.

Thanks goes out to everyone who followed my blog and twitter feed this year. The support from you guys goes a long way ATMO! I'm already hitting the base miles to be prepared for my first road race that is just 3 months away at the beginning of April. Also on schedule is still one more CX race - the Mid-Atlantic Regional championship race out in Emmaus PA. Then it's just long slow base miles after that.

Thanks for reading!
Captain Crunch

P.S. That picture at the top is hotel room bike cleaning 101 :-). I totally destroyed the tub in my room. Don't look at me like that - you would do the same thing :-)

USGP Portland

2010-12-05T22:31:00.004-05:00

Yeah - that is Jpows (Jeremy Powers) and Timmy J (Tim Johnson). More on that photo in a minute.

Finally - after racing all season I finally got some mud to race in. It only took travelling 3000 miles to Portland OR but it was a blast. It had been raining all week in Portland but cleared up on Friday. Come Saturday morning the course was still plenty muddy. The USGP folks did a great job laying out an awesome course. On the backside of the course was an awesome section of a motocross course whoops.

Somehow I got a third row call up on Saturday. After my usual slow start on the first lap I slowly began picking guys off. I was feeling great and really moving up fast and by the middle of the second to last lap I was running around 25th. Coming out of the MX section I shifted to an easier gear to get through the mud and the chain jammed up into the spokes. Fortunately the derailleur didn't shear off ala Trebon style but I still had to stop and dislodge it. By the time I was done I had dropped to the mid 40s. I managed to make back a couple of spots and finish 38th. Oh well - that's cross.

Also on Saturday - as promised - I dropped off cupcakes from Saint Cupcake Deluxe to the Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld crew. These guys are some of the biggest supporters of north American cyclocross. The green trailer is a familiar sight all over the country. Jeremy Powers and Tim Johnson are some of the nicest guys you will ever meet. Tim is the defending national champ and Jpows took the USGP overall title by winning on both days.

Today (Sunday) was much faster. The wind really dried up the course overnight. To make it a little more challenging the course was changed to add around 15 extra corners. Again I got a third row call up and had my usual start. I had a really clean race with no issues. One of the highlights was running into one of my east coast crossresults.com victims. Matt Hennessy of C3-20/20 cycling is a class act. I've loved doing battle with him at several races and this one was no different. After 40 minutes I came home in 34th place.

Both days I managed to meet a goal I have for each race. I try to not finish lower then my call up. Saturday I was called up 38th and finished there and today I was called up 34th and finished there. If I can work on not losing so many spots on the start I really think I can do well in the B's next season.

Tomorrow I transfer to Bend for the National Championships for what I thought was my last official race. But Ray Ignosh is putting on a Mid-Atlantic championship race on Jan 14th so it's one more race after I come home. So far this trip has been amazing. Moving on to Bend and the ensuing party there is going to be awesome.

Thanks for reading!
Joel

PA State Championships

2010-12-01T19:09:00.002-05:00

Since most of my time after the state race was consumed with packing for the USGP/Nationals trip, this race report is coming a little late in the week. I'm actually writing this in the Salt Lake City Intl airport.

It was awesome seeing some of my nemeses and victims as well. Big shout outs to Ryan Dudek and Ellis Kim of Toms Shoes as well as Lancaster local Gale Hess. You three (among others as well) proved to be formidable foes this year. I consider it an honor to have raced and battled with you this year and look forward to seeing you again at the Nittany Cross in Sept 2011!

Overall I think I rode my best race tactically all season. With three laps to go I had a group of 4 guys behind me. Right near the end of the lap at the bottom of the hill I put in a huge attack and shed all but one. We traded blows through most of the next lap and by the start of the last lap he had gotten around me and built a small gap. I was beating him every time through the barriers and decided to really come in hot to try and make up the space between us.

That didn't end so well. I planted my foot but it didn't go anywhere. I went flying over the bars but was able to hop up instantly and grab my bike and with the help from the adrenaline managed to close the gap anyway. He was much stronger on the hill at the end and beat me anyway. 14th overall. I was very happy with my race as I felt it was strong tactically. Next up for me is the Portland round of the USGP series. I'm hoping to get some mud that us east coast crossers have been missing all year.

That's it. I'm keeping it short tonight.

Captain Crunch

Howard County Double Cross Weekend

2010-11-21T15:41:00.005-05:00

So I'm gonna keep this one short as I'm beat. I probably pushed myself harder on this weekend of racing than I have any other point the season - and I have two solid (for me anyways) to show for it. And best of all I felt great doing it the entire time.

Day one was a fast open course, but with enough corners thrown in to keep you honest. My warm up went really well and and felt that I had a good read on the course and that I had just the right tire pressure for the conditions. Once the race got started I started picking off other racers and bridging up to the next group in front of me. There was really one one technical uphill off-camber section but I selected the right tires and had no problem getting grip on the side of the hill. Fifty some minutes later I came in 29th by myself.

Day two was not quite as open and had some really cool single track thrown in. This certainly added another element to the race as there was no passing possible in these sections, so if you wanted to move up it had to be before hitting the woods. It took both a strong and tactical rider to do well at this course. My warm up was pretty much a repeat of the day before. I wasn't sure how my legs would feel after Saturday's effort but I actually felt really good. Again, my cornering was really good and I was able to make up a lot time on much faster riders simply because I was pushing the bike harder through the corners and willing to take some more risks. Altogether it netted me 33rd - another solid result to be proud of in the million man B's.

I'm really happy with the way I'm feeling right now. It's nice to feel like I have an extra gear to go to. I could tell in October I just didn't have it, but after this weekend I can tell it's coming back (just in time for PDX/Bend). It's also nice to see that the practice I've been putting into my cornering is really starting to show. Though racing in the B's with some of these fast cats has also pushed me to become a better rider as well.

To say I'm disappointed with the way the season has gone thus far wouldn't be true. However I didn't expect to be finishing mid-field like I am doing. But it has certainly been a learning experience that I wouldn't trade for anything. It has certainly helped to make me a better 'cross racer and that's something that will serve me quite well in the future!

It's hard to believe that the State championship race is on Saturday and Nats is only three weeks away. The season has just flown by! I've been privileged to go to awesome races but more importantly meet some even MORE awesome people! It's been a wild ride - one that I look forward to continuing well into the future!

Best!
Captain Crunch

P.S. Big shout out to Joe Mallis for providing awesome photographs of the weekend! See his whole sets by clicking on the link!

Countdown to Stumptown

2010-11-14T15:54:00.002-05:00

With no racing on my schedule this weekend I decided to get in some extra training and CX skills practice over at a local park on the mtb trails. I won't face anything like what I was riding today on any CX course so if I could ride this stuff without dabbing I'd be golden come the last races of the year.

I also used the time to finish tying up some loose ends regarding my Nationals trip. Earlier in the week I scored an huge discount and on car rental and got upgraded to a better car at the same time. Epic WIN. I also put my name down to volunteer while at Nationals as well. I'll be helping out in registration on Friday and be acting as a course marshall Thursday-Saturday as well. I'll be rocking my Richie Sachs/RGM Watches sweatshirt and ATMO hat so be sure to say hi. And if you are going to Nats, please be sure to volunteer to help out (there's free food, beer, and coffee for those that do). Contact Gina Miller at gina@freshairsports.com or click here for the Google Doc sheet and put down your name.

As it stands I have 6 official races left this season and 2 just for fun races. Next weekend takes me to Howard County MD for the Howard County CX2X weekend. Then states on Nov. 27. Five days later I'm on the big steel bird in the sky on my way to Portland for the USGP weekend and then onto Nationals the following Wednesday. All told I'll be gone two weeks.

While in Portland I will practically be living in the local Stumptown Coffee Co. cafe. If you haven't heard they have some of the best coffee in the history of ever! No lie, I'm planning on bringing about 10lbs back east with me. I'll be giving some of it away so if you're really nice to me.... :-) I also promised C-dale/CX World rider Jeremy Powers I would bring cupcakes to the USGP (what bike racer doesn't love cupcakes) so I'll be searching for a good cupcake place. If you know one leave it the comment section below. If you don't know who Jpows is, click on the link. He's one of the nicest and funniest pro CXer's you'll ever meet.

Now you can't have CX without beer. In Bend there will be plenty of awesome microbrews to go around. The town even has a "Ale Trail" that leads to the local breweries. The nats course is being held on the grounds of the Deschute Brewery, purveyor of fine food and even finer beer! Check them out here. The special events taking place in Bend in conjunction with Nats are too many to list to so click here and see what's up.

Wow, this post kinda got away from me! Thanks for sticking with me through the season. It's been a great one thus far and I can tell next year is shaping up to be even better!

Best!
Captain Crunch

2010-11-08T18:02:00.004-05:00

Last weekend took me to Elkton MD for round 9 of the MAC series for the Fair Hill Cross race. Let me start by saying this could be one of my favorite courses ever. It had the right mix of all the elements that make up a great CX course. I loved the little table top thrown in at the bottom of the one descent. And there was a perfect mix of sections where you could catch your breath and sections where you were working crazy hard (that blasted section after the barriers and the finish straight). Overall I give the course design 10 out of 10! Well done guys!

I was fortunate to have one of the days where the bike and me were totally dialed in and working as one (compared to day 2 of the Rockville Cross where I couldn't seem to do anything right). The ol' gray matter responsible for picking the right line through the corners was on its A game and I was having a blast the entire race.

I was locked in an epic battle with the guy in front of me. I had been chasing for two laps and going into the last lap I was down on him by about 15 seconds, so I put the hammer down and caught him at the log/run-up. However he proved much to powerful - I barely held his wheel after the barriers and knew I probably couldn't out-sprint him. By the time we were half way up the finish I sat up and conceded the spot (it's not the first time he's beaten me - he's my top Nemeses on crossresults) and came home in 28th.

I gotta give a big thanks to TLD (Deb Sachs) and Pookums (Matt Kraus of the RS team) for giving me some much needed encouragement. I was starting to get a little discouraged with my results after making the jump the "B" races. Both of the them told me just to enjoy the racing and simply just learn as much as I could. This couldn't have come at a better time.

I was getting myself so worked up before races that I was losing focus. At both Beacon and Fair Hill I went into the race without putting any pressure on myself. They've probably been the my best two races all year. I've showed up at the start lines relaxed and that feeling carried over throughout the entire race translating to relaxed, smooth riding. Because of this new found relaxation I haven't been afraid to really push the bike and explore the limits of what I can do with it. Every race I can feel my technical skills growing and growing. It's a great cycle and one I hope continues through to next year.

It's hard to believe the end of the season is almost over. Only 5 more weeks left until the National Champs in Bend! It usually a good sign when going into the last lap I feel like I could do another lap. It happened two weeks at Beacon as well so I can tell I'm getting ready to peak again (the last two seasons it has happened around the end of Nov.) just in time for the PA state championship and the "B" race in Bend.

That's all for now! Thanks for reading and following along so far this season!

Captain Crunch

P.S. I also need to thank @joemull (Joe Mulligan) and @hithro (Ben Kiel) for being big supporters and cheering me on during my races. Those cheers go a long way in helping ease the pain of 45 minute red line effort! You guys rule ATMO!

Beacon Cross race report

2010-11-01T18:38:00.005-04:00

It's that time of the week again. Race report time. Last weekend took me to south Jersey for the Beacon cross and its infamous beach run and "amphitheater of pain" run-up. The course was not technical at all - in fact I ran too little pressure in my tires and probably could have picked up some more speed with an extra 5psi or so. The winner averaged almost 16mph - flippin' fast for a 'cross race.

I got a good call-up at the grid by way of my early bikereg.com placing. However it was short lived when I was caught up in the first big crash. I got tossed off the bike through the tape while my bike lay in the middle of the course. Getting back to it proved to be like trying to get across route 95 at 5pm without getting hit. Didn't lose to many spots and so began the chase.

Two things beacon is known for is its UCI limit 80m beach run (more like a jog) and the "amphitheater of pain" run-up. The run-up is a brutally hard two story tall through the park amphitheater. Not easy by any stretch of the imagination. Being a strong runner this provided me with a great place to make up some time on my rivals.

The race flew by without much incident after my initial crash. The last time through the amphitheater (which was only a short distance from the finish) I saw a guy at the top as I was about half way up. Even though I didn't think I could catch him decided to sprint all out on the 200m uphill finish straight. Thinking he was alone, he didn't start his sprint until 100m were left. By this point I was going all out. Throwing our bikes at the line I beat him by about a 1/4 of a wheel length (I wish I could see the finish line photo) - 10m less I don't have enough road and 10m more and I'm out of gas.

Overall I finished 41st out of about 75 guys. While not the same results last year I'm staying consistently in the top half of the field and learning a ton each week. This coming Saturday takes me to Fair Hill MD for round 9 of the MAC series. Then it's a well deserved weekend off before starting the last third of the season including States, the Portland USGP, and Nationals in Bend OR.

Thanks for reading
Captain Crunch

The Best of Times - The Worst of Times. The Rockville CX Weekend

2010-10-24T17:53:00.006-04:00

This weekend I raced the Rockville cross. It went down only 30 mins. from my place so of course I was going to be supporting my home town race. Promoter Zach Adams did a great job both days of setting up the course and keeping it interesting for the racers. Check out his site here.

Day one started out great. I had a good start (for me anyways) and was picking some great lines through the course. However on the last lap I picked up a thorn and the rear tire was slowly losing air. Fortunately I was able to make it back to the finish without having to pit. The bike and me were really in sync (not quite like Granogue Day 2 but close enough) and we were really working well together. So it was the best of times.

Day 2 didn't start out so well. First I realized that I forgot my wallet and racing license. Not a big deal - I was able to pull my license up on the USAC website. Sunday's course was much technical and I just couldn't figure it out. On top of that the bike seemed to be fighting me all day and we were clearly not working well together. My warm-up/practice laps did not go well so before I even took the line I had resigned myself to staying in the back and just trying to gain some experience. Looking over the wounds from the weekend I discovered that I lost a chainring bolt. Not a regular one, but a single ring chainring bolt for which I now must buy set of 5 and hope they arrive by Friday for Beacon Cross on Saturday. Yes - day 2 was the worst of the times.

But enough negative. As always, the phenomenal Joe Mallis was on the scene on day 1 shooting "flippin' sweet" photos of us (The photo in this post is courtesy of him). Click here for the link to his gallery. I don't know how he does it, but he makes me look like I actually know what I'm doing :-)! Joe is a great photographer and even nicer guy to talk to when I run into him at various races around the Mid-Atlantic region. Chappeau Joe!

It's hard to believe that Beacon Cross means the end of month two of my season and only 5 weeks until I'm on the plane to Portland/Bend for some great pacific northwest racing. Now I just wish we would get some rain here on the east for some real 'cross weather. That's all for now - I got a bike to clean/fix!

Thanks for reading!
Captain Crunch

Granogue Cross review

2010-10-19T21:43:00.003-04:00

Another weekend of racing has come and come. This one was free of flat tires! The racing was made even better by the fact that the Richard Sachs team was also in attendance for the entire weekend racing in several different categories. Another highlight was breaking bread with the team on Saturday night.

As for my actual racing - 55th the first day and 57th the second day (both days had about 110 starters). Yeah, I know, not that impressive. But considering the top five finishers both days have enough points to move up to the next category (a couple should be moving up to cat 1 next year), it's easy to see that I'm racing with a much better caliber of racer.

I've had to drastically change my goals for this season. This is simply a season of learning at this point. I got some great advice from an elite rider who said if you want to get better, move up to the next cat. and get your butt kicked. That's what's happening right now. Granogue was an awesome learning experience. Sunday was the best of the two days. I really felt like I was picking good lines and my cornering showed some signs of improvement.

All in all it was a great weekend! Bikes were raced, beer was shared, and good times were had by all. Next up on the schedule is the Rockville Bridge Classic weekend on the 23rd and 24th of this month.

Best!
Captain Crunch

October Unprocessed - take the challenge

2010-10-02T19:34:00.003-04:00

My sister told me about this thing she was doing. Eating no processed foods for the entire month. I decided being a healthy cyclist this was the responsible thing to do. And with Alberto Contador getting popped for "supposedly" eating tainted beef (probably processed and full of hormones and steroids) eating unprocessed should help me to avoid any unpleasant run-ins with WADA, the UCI, or USA Cycling (yeah like they're really worried about me - a lowly cat. 3). Click here to be redirected to the unprocessed challenge blog.

But seriously. When you really stop to look at what is in some of the stuff we eat and can you sick. My goal by the end of the month is to be a more conscientiousness eater, paying more attention to what is in my food and where it comes from (chances are if it doesn't come with a label it's probably fresh and unprocessed). I hope what I learn in this month I will be able to take into the coming years of my life.

Best!
Captain Crunch

September Racing Review (plus Whirlybird report)

2010-09-26T22:06:00.004-04:00

Whew, the first month the season is over. Three weekends, two states, and four races - where did it go?????? Overall on a scale of 1 to 10 on how it went I would give it a 5. I learned so much these first races (plus the training race on Wednesday with local elite Bad Andy teaching some valuable skills). My cornering improved, I learned about proper tire pressure (more on that in a moment), and I upgraded from cat 4 to cat 3. The upgrade forces me to race with guys that are much stronger and I hope that will help me to go faster.

I already knew I was going to get my butt kicked in my new category - especially these first races which were dry, dusty, grass crits. The local quadzillas came out and smashed the course leaving us more technically apt like myself in their dust (literally). The last race of September, the Whirlybird cross, did not end how I would have liked it.

Whirlybird is where I learned about the importance of tire pressure. I began my warm up laps on 35psi but thought I could get away with 28psi. Two laps in at race pace on 28psi I knew the I could face the possibility of a pinch flat as I was hitting the rim multiple times a lap. And that is exactly what happened. I managed to get it back to the pits and change the rear wheel. At this point I was almost dead last but I was determined not to DNF. However half way through the next lap I pinch flatted the rear tire again in the same spot, and with no more wheels my race was over.

The worst part about it was that I had and amazing start. I caught my pedal on the first stroke, shot up the side of the field and made up close to 10 spots before the first corner, hitting all the corners, and was settling in to a good pace. Oh well. That's early season 'cross racing. You never know what's gonna happen.

Next up is Granogue in two weeks and my shot at redemption! With the ushering in of fall means mud, mud, mud!

Thanks for reading!
Captain Crunch.

Nittany Lion and Charm City photo galleries

2010-09-21T16:16:00.002-04:00

Nittany is here.

Charm City lives here.

Charm City Cross weekend

2010-09-21T00:29:00.004-04:00

Wow is all I can say. I got my butt kicked hard. It's tough going from the top of the results sheet in the 4's to mid-pack in the B race (2/3/4s). Saturday the course was fast but gave plenty of spots to pass and I finished 37th. On Sunday the course was changed to be even faster and more flowing, but places to pass were really limited and I finished 51st - only 4 spots higher then where I started.

The result on Sunday doesn't really reflect how I felt. My legs recovered really well from Saturday but I kept getting caught in slow traffic. There were several times where I had to coast since the guys in front of me were going so slow and there was no way to get around. Fortunately there were several dismount/running/barrier sections (4 to be exact - 1 sand pit,a set of railroad ties, barriers, and run-up) that I was able to make up two or three spots a lap.

Sunday was also the cleaner of my two races. The only time I went down on Sunday could not have come at a worse time. I had just made up three spots through the railroad ties remounted and was preparing for a fast right hander on the second to last lap. Feeling confident with my cornering I really pushed the bike hard and lost it on the lose dirt on top the grass. I had enough of a cushion to not lose the spots I made and quickly remounted. It was only then that I discovered the chain had jumped off the front ring. This made me have to dismount, fix the chain, and then remount. By this time the three guys I passed went by me as did two more.

Overall I'm pleased with how the weekend went. I'm facing a much better level of rider in my new category. My goals for the season have changed with that in mind. Now I simply want to be consistent and finish in the top half of the field each race and try to cap off the season with a strong showing at Nationals.

A nice highlight of the weekend was seeing Joe Mallis again. Joe is a awesome photographer (www.joemallis.com) and all around good guy. It's always nice to run into someone like him. He's not making much money off his photos (if any at all) but he shows up to support the mid-Atlantic cross scene and see some great racing in the process. I also ran into Ben Kiel of House Industries. House is a really cool font company and is another sponsor of Richard Sach's team. Who knew there were some many different types of font available to publishing houses.

Another weekend has already passed by. This CX season is simply going by to quickly. Sunday brings the arrival of the last CX race for the month of September. It feels like just yesterday I was getting off the plane from Boulder. Speaking of Boulder, on my way home from Nationals I'm stopping back in CO for an extra 6 days. That means I'll now be gone from December 2nd to the 20th.

Thanks for reading!
Captain Crunch

Nittany Lion Cross

2010-09-11T22:11:00.003-04:00

The cyclocross season is officially here!!!!! It kicked off today at the Trexlertown Velodrome near Allentown PA. Along with the new season is my upgrade to the B races. These include cat 2/3/4 racers. A nice advantage to upgrading my license is that B races start later - no more 5am departures for me!

Due to the lack of rain here in central PA it turned out to be a fast grass crit. The grass was super sketchy in the corners from all the lose dry dirt sitting on top of it. Smooth power transfer was going to be the name of the game.

I don't remember much from the actual race but I do remember starting to fade on the last lap. Then I saw a guy I train with at the Wednesday night CX training race and dialed in on him. I dragged myself up to him and passed him the last few corners. I just missed getting one more spot at the line by about 1/2 bike length.

At the end of the day I finished 29th. Looking back at last year's results I got the same exact result but in the beginner/slow guy (no disrespect to the 4's) category so that is a lot of improvement. I would like to see what I could do in the 4's but that would be sandbagging.

Another highlight of the day was meeting Joe Mulligan. We both share a passion for good beer and cyclocross (two of the greatest things in the world ATMO). He's recommended several good brands to me over the last year so it was nice to finally meet him in person.

I'm sure there will be plenty of pictures to come as there were plenty of photogs there today. I can't wait to see how bad I looked while suffering. :-)

If you're in the area of the Baltimore Zoo next weekend stop by for some awesome racing as rounds 2 and 3 of the MAC CX Series go down.

Thanks for reading!
Captain Crunch

Boulder

2010-09-06T20:10:00.003-04:00

It was awesome. Some of the most amazing roads and mountains I've ever ridden. I'll try and write a full (but brief post - mainly pictures) later this week. Also, Nittany Lion CX race is this coming weekend! First race of the season. 'Cross rules ATMO. Until then enjoy this picture from the top of Mount Evans.

Nightmare 2010 - Veni, Vidi, Vici

2010-08-16T17:20:00.004-04:00

Hey Everyone!

My goal going into this year's Nightmare was to try and complete the ride in less then 10.5 hours. This would better last year's time by 12 minutes. My training up until this point had been perfect and I was having some really good sensations in my legs. But like any cyclist, I was still insecure about my training and hoped I had done enough.

Well, I think I did. My total time was 10 hours and 10 minutes. I shattered my old PR by almost 35 minutes! From the moment we set out I could tell it was going to be a good day. Less then five miles into the ride me and three other guys from Mason Dixon Velo (last year's winner Shawn Beeler, Andy Johnson, and Barry Klien) got a great gap on the field. I managed to hang with these cool cats until about mile 40 when they turned on the afterburners and I knew it was time to let them go. This meant I would be spending the next 137 miles on my own.

But not entirely on my own. I had my awesome support crew - Matt (@mattapperson on Twitter) and Alanna Apperson - who are my brother-in-law and sister. They kept me well supplied with the fuel I needed at all times. Without their amazing support the ride I put in would not have been possible! Gratzi you guys!

The first 100 miles rolled by in just 5 hours and 36 minutes - my fastest 100 mile time to date. After that the rest of the day just seems like a blur. All told I was stopped only three minutes (only for traffic lights and nature breaks) also making this one of the longest days I've spent on the bike without stopping. I took food while still rolling from the side of the road as needed. My longest "stop" came at a traffic light and lasted about 90 seconds.

By the end of the day I claimed fourth place. Although two spots lower than last year I still set a new PR on the Nightmare course. I want to give a major thank you to all the volunteers on the Nightmare route. Although I didn't see them hardly at all, without their tireless efforts such a great ride wouldn't be possible. Also, a big thank you goes out to Mike Ridgeway, the Nightmare director, for organizing this wonderful ride every year for the last 16 years. Be sure to check out the website at www.dreamrideprojects.org.

With Nightmare officially behind me it means that the racing season has begun for me. Next up I head out to Boulder Colorado for some altitude training to get ready for the CX season. Well technically it's for my brother's wedding but I like to think it's a training camp ;-)

After a week in Boulder I come back and less then two weeks later the CX season kicks off in Trexlertown PA at the Nittany Lion cross. If you're in the area be sure to stop by and cheer me on. I'll be once again flying the RGM Watches/Richard Sachs colors this year.

Thanks again to all the people who will make this season possible and who have already helped out thus far!

Thanks for reading!
Captain Crunch

Another July another Tour de France

2010-07-30T19:41:00.003-04:00

Wow where has the time gone? It feels like just yesterday we were awaiting the start of the Tour and now it's already finished. It certainly was a great Tour - the best in years ATMO! With the conclusion of the TdF means that cyclocross is just around the corner. It also means that the Nightmare is only 14 days away. I can tell it's gonna be another good year and that I should be peaking again soon. My goal for the Nightmare is to ride it in 10.5 hours. You can see my cyclocross goals over on the right.

The blog has been quiet all summer. As soon as September starts you can expect regular updates on a weekly basis. I'd like to take this moment and thank everyone in advance for there support this season. If t wasn't for people like you there wouldn't be a racing season! Never underestimate what you guys do for me.

Best!
Captain Crunch!

My Cyclocross setup

2010-05-24T15:37:00.004-04:00

As we creep ever nearer to the beginning of the CX season I thought I would share the setup I'll be using for this season.

The bike began life as a stock 2008 Raleigh RX1.0. After the end of last season I knew some upgrades were needed to make it a full on race worthy machine.

Frame - 2009 Raleigh RX1.0 w/ Easton EC90 Carbon fork
Wheels - Rolf Vector Comp
Tires - Challenge Grifo 32's
Rear Dérailleur - Shimano 105 9spd
Cassette - Sram PG950 12-26 9spd
Front Derailleur - None
Cranks - FSA Gossamer
Chainrings - 38tooth with a Salsa Crossing Guard and Third Eye chainwatcher
Shifters - Left Shifter - Tektro RL520; Right shifter - Campagnolo Xenon 10spd (to see how to make this work with the Shimano R/D please click here)
Cables - Gore Sealed Ride-On
Brakes - Cane Creek SCX5
Bar - Deda 40cm wide
Stem - Deda 90mm +/- 8 degree rise
Saddle - Specialized Toupe 130
Seatpost - FSA Alloy with 25mm setback
Pedals - Crank Brothers Eggbeaters

I've had the chance to test this setup on a few mountain bike rides and am really happy with it. Now to get out and prove it on the course and hopefully pilot it to a few wins!

Best
Captain Crunch

The Funniest Guys in the Peleton

2010-05-18T08:22:00.002-04:00

Hey Everyone,

So while I may not be racing racing road this year in favor of putting my focus on CX, I'm still a roadie at heart. This month is a great time for fans of pro cycling as both the Tour of Cali and Giro are currently being contested. As I've been following my favorite riders, David Zabriskie, Jens Voigt, and Ted King, it made me realize that these guys are just as much comedians as they are bike racers. I'll link to a tibit from each one.

First we have Ted King. This guys writes and awesome and very snarky blog. Check it out at www.iamtedking.com. Also check out his t-shirt line, I Am NOT Ted King. Someone hacked his Twitter account a few months back and he just took the idea and ran with it. My favorite shirt is the Giro pink one!

Next up is Jens Voigt. One of the hardest working guys in the peleton, it is pretty much universally agreed that he is one rider who is most assuredly racing clean and someone that young fans can look up to. This clip from the documentary "Overcoming" sums up Jens in a nut shell. Remember, when in doubt think "WWJD?" - What Would Jens Do?

Now, my friends, I give you who I think is the funniest guy in the field - David Zabriskie. There is simply too much to say and too many videos to post so I'll put link to the three I think best show the kind of guy he is..
Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3

Hopefully I brought a little laugh to your day. Now I'm off to go watch some Giro coverage.

Best
Captain Crunch

Six-Eleven Bicycle Co.

2010-05-12T17:00:00.003-04:00

Hey guys,

I want to introduce you to a great new up-and-coming builder that I had the chance to meet a while back at NAHBS. His name is Aaron Dykstra and he runs Six-Eleven Bicycle Co. He has an awesome story and the inspiration for his bikes is even cooler. Give his site a look. I've already decided that my next road bike and CX bike will be coming out of his workshop sometime over the course of the next two years.

Best
Captain Crunch

I hate flat tires

2010-05-01T21:41:00.002-04:00

The Chinese have the "year of the cat" but for me so far it has been the "year of the flat". Four months into the year and I've already accrued 5 flat tires. Today, less then a mile from home I double flated. That's right - two in one shot. I simply turned around coasted back home and took care of it in my driveway and didn't have to waste a CO2 canister. The rest of the ride went off without any problems, except for my paranoia of getting another flat tire. Hopefully things will be better for the rest of the season.

Best!
C C

Big Makeover For MAC’s 2010 Cyclocross Schedule

2010-04-20T07:51:00.004-04:00

You probably don't realize the warm fuzzy feeling I got from reading that headline in my twitter feed this morning. For one, it's a signal that cross season is almost here as organizers are starting to prepare their races schedules. Two, it means my favorite sub-culture of the sub-culture of cycling is growing, meaning bigger better races closer to my home. Here is the link to the article online

With that being said, the MAC series is the premier series for cyclocross riders in the mid-Atlantic seaboard area. This year they've expanded by leaps and bounds to include more races. Both the Charm City and Grangue races are full weekends and they have inclued the Whirly Bird race near Philly on the calendar this year.

What does this mean for me? It means that I no longer need to drive 5+ hours into the Northeast Kingdom for big races every other weekend this winter. Focusing on getting good results in the MAC series, along with the third round of the USGP, means that I shouldn't have to drive more then 2.5 hours for some high quality races with big fields of riders. However, I am still planning on going up north at least once (probably for the Providence race or the Cycle-Smart classic) so I can hang with the boy and girls of the Richard Sachs team (they'll also be at the USGP in NJ and at Natz).

Stay safe out there!
Captain Crunch

Gold Mine Rd.

2010-04-19T20:16:00.004-04:00

Yesterday me and Jim went all the way over Gold Mine Rd. for the first time in over a year and a half. That ride is never easy no matter how much training you have in. Coming off a week of recovery I was really ready to hit the road hard. On the way out we faced a nasty head/cross wind. Working together we made it to Tower City in 2.5 hours even.

That's when things started coming undone for Jim. Climbing back from Tower City on the last two climbs I was able to put about 30 seconds on him in about 5 miles (half was climbing the other half descending). We regrouped at the top and began the 35 mile journey back home. The whole way I could tell he was starting to bonk. With 10 miles left I decided I was going to put the hammer down (ala' Spartacus style) and see what kind of gap I could get on Jim.

I was able to put 4 minutes into him in less then 10 miles. I was suffering, but then I thought if I was suffering Jim must have been suffering more. Overall it was a great ride. I'm glad I got it out of the way and know I can still climb the big mountains. That first mountain ride of the year is always kind of scary as you never know how your body is going to respond. My body has been good to me so far this year and I'm hoping that carries over the the impending cyclocross season.

Thanks for reading!
Captain Crunch

Spring Training update

2010-04-12T19:34:00.003-04:00

With no road racing this year there isn't really much to talk about. I can tell you that I am riding better than ever in the spring. I laying down some of the fastest times I ever have on my usual training rides. This bodes well for the upcoming CX season which is the reason for all the riding I'm doing!

See you on the road!

Captain Crunch

Long Term Goals

2010-03-17T21:55:00.002-04:00

In my last post I discussed some of my goals on the bike regarding cyclocross. Today I'm going to write about some goals I have off the bike. If you've been following this space for the last 6 months you know that I'm engaged in a volunteer work, more specifically a Bible education work, that is very near to my heart and that I am giving up road racing to be able to spend more time in this field.

My goal regarding my volunteer work for the next year is to put as much time I can into it - even if this comes at the expense of my road training. I'm never going to be a pro cyclist, so while I love riding/racing my bike, there are bigger things in life. This doesn't mean I'm turning my back on cycling all together, but focusing my training on a discipline that doesn't require the same amount of training as road racing.

My long term goal is go to a special 6 month school, called Gilead in Patterson NY, where I will learn how to be a better teacher of the Bible. After the school concludes I would then be assigned to a foreign country to help teach others about the Bible. This won't be anytime soon, as the average age of the student is 30 and I'm not even eligible to apply yet.

The sport of bicycle riding/racing is a beautiful one (the most beautiful ATMO) and I love it. There is no replacement for the feeling of freedom being on two wheels gives you. I'm not going to lie, this month has been hard as I have watched other racers discussing their plans for the first races in the coming weekends. Though an added benefit of giving up road racing is more energy for 'cross.

But there are things in life that are bigger than us that must be focused on. I don't regret for a second my decision to give up road racing. My true career isn't in bike racing, but is in helping my fellow man.

I sincerely thank you for reading these last two years (has it really been that long?) and I hope you will continue to do so. There are big things on the horizon both on the bike and off. The Adventure is only going to get better - I promise

Thanks for reading!
Captain Crunch (aka Joel Ankeny)

2010 Cyclocross goals

2010-02-28T23:28:00.006-05:00

Hey Guys,

As you can see to the right my 2010 cyclocross racing schedule is quickly coming together. I'm trying to do as many UCI races as possible so that I can race against bigger fields and with better racers. As we get further along in the year promoters will start to release the official dates and I can finalize my schedule.

At this point I can get in two Saturday races and one full weekend (Sat and Sun) at this point. I'm arranging it so that I can do two full weekends and one Saturday race for a total of five racing days each month. My goals for this year are:

1. Win a CX race

2. Upgrade to Cat 3 before the half-way point of the season (I could now, but I want to do some more B races) and continue to get good results in that cat.

3. Continue to build my relationship with the Richard Sachs and his team (which leads to my long term goal...)

4. In two or three more seasons be racing for the Richard Sachs Cyclocross team. This isn't your ordinary team. Bike racing isn't just a job for these guys. They race because they truly love their bikes and being together as a team. I'll never be a pro, but I love racing my bike and hope to do this with Richie and the gang as an official part of the team in the near future.

Thanks for reading!
Captain Crunch

The New Season Is Upon Us

2010-02-17T20:24:00.004-05:00

Maybe it's my freshly shaved legs or the smell or new tires that has me deliriously giddy for the new cycling season. If you would have asked me even one month ago if I wanted to take a 5 hour endurance ride up to Fort Indiantown Gap, I would have told you forget about it and that I probably never want to ride that long on a bike again. That inevitably happens every year at that time. Then about every year at this time that feeling goes away and I start craving those long Saturday afternoon rides into the mountains and those blistering fast 2hr weekday rides with Jim.

With March knocking on the door already and the time change coming up in a matter of weeks, I'll soon be back to a full training load of around 200 miles a week. But my first event isn't until August this year (the Nightmare) and the real season doesn't kick off until September with the Charm City Cross double race weekend (UCI races to boot!). Looking ahead to the next 10 months of 2010 there are some big things in store, namely going to the CX Nationals in Bend in December, and a week-long trip to Boulder in August.

So sit down, strap in, and hold on, because this is going to be best year ever!

Captain Crunch!

It snows 2' and what do I do?

2010-02-06T21:01:00.004-05:00

Go riding of course! Sorry the blog has been a little quiet. Just not much to write about since the cx season ended. Today was some great training as it was just like riding in sand. And it was the first time out for my "new" Rolf Vector Comp wheelset.

My 2010 End of Season Awards (not that anyone is going to care ATMO)

2009-12-27T18:57:00.003-05:00

Best Team: Columbia-HTC would be the obvious choice, but those hidous kits rule them out. Even with the whole scandal at the tour, Garmin gets my vote. They paid their dues in the US Domestic scene and are now reaping the rewards of such. Fourth at the tour, a pair of big wins through the season with Tyler Farrar proved these guys can run with the big dogs and that 2008 wasn't a fluke.

Best Performance:
Cadel Evans at Worlds: I know it's a cliche by now, but a true champion can bounce back from adversity and not let it keep him down. The TdF and Vuelta were disasters for the Aussie rider, but he proved he's tough as nails by winning World's in convincing fashion.

Biggest Disappointment: The very public feud between Lance and Contador. On stage 17 I thought I was watching a Cat. 5 race with the way everyone seemed to be riding for themselves. Between stages it was like watching a cat fight. It makes for some good drama for the papers (and internet outlets), but that's not what we came for. At least next year they'll be able to duke it out on separate teams.

Rider to Watch in 2010: Will Dugan - Team Type 1. I've seen this kid racing cross for the last several years and seen his results on the road scene. He'll be in Europe racing for the big boys by the end of next season.

Biggest Surprise: Tom Boonen. To be honest I didn't think he had a chance of coming onto form after his little run in with the law, but the man again delivered the goods (no, not white powder) when it counted on the cobbles of France. Too bad after all the hoopla surrounding his TdF entry he did squat there.

Most Memorable Race: The last stage of the Giro. It was already a nail-biter from the beginning because of the time gap to Di Luca, but Mechov's crash made it memorable. Or was it his mechanic. He was already out of the team car while it was still moving and had the spare bike ready to go before Menchov was off the pavement (I jumped out of my chair, but not as fast as this guy).

Prelim 2010 Schedule

2009-12-25T20:56:00.003-05:00

This is really sick but I'm already looking forward to August of next year and beginning to plan my 2010 CX centered season. The only events I have official dates for are the Nightmare and the National Championship race, but most of the races listed are always run on the same weekends as the previous year, so I'm making some assumptions:

August 14 - Nightmare - 176 Miles
September 18 - Nittany Lion Cross - T-town PA
September 19 - Charm City Cross - B-more MD
October 9 - Iron Cross Lite - Carlise PA
October 16 - Grangoue CX race - Grangoue DE
October 17 - Wissahickon CX race - Wissahickon PA
November 13-14 - USGP Mercer Cup - Lake Mercer NJ
November 27 - PA State Championship CX race - Allentown PA
December 4-5 - USGP Stanley Portland Cup - Portland OR
December 9 - USA Cycling National Championship CX race - Bend OR

All told it's 12 days of racing over 8 weekends between September and December. I'll leave the results from 2009 posted up until the end of January.

Best!
Captain Crunch!

End of Season Thoughts

2009-12-16T16:24:00.004-05:00

Ugh, It's been almost 10 days since my last race on Dec 6 and I'm just now writing this. I can tell it's the end of the season. I'm going to keep this short. The cyclocross season was way too short - I'm wishing it could continue for another month or two. I had an awesome time at the Mercer Cup in NJ with the Richard Sachs team in November and closing out the year at the Capital Cross in Reston with my best friend was a great way to finish up the season. I got 9th out of 90 at the Capital Cross for those keeping score. Click here for pics from the weekends races.

I've already shared some thoughts on the entire season back in a post in October (click here to read it), but I'll briefly say them again. I had a blast, met some awesome people, made a ton of new friends, and got to see some awesome parts of the Northeast USA.

I'm already planning my season for next year. I posted back in October that I was giving up racing to pursue my full-time volunteer work more fully in a third world country. After taking a long hard look at my finances (and myself) I've decided to hold off on making such a large move in 2010 and will reconsider my options in 2011. However, even with that being said, I am still planning on giving up road racing. I don't have the time (and don't want to devote the time) to put into training to stay in competitive shape for road racing. Even though I will be here in Lancaster PA for the next 12 to 18 months, I intend to have as much of a share as I can in my volunteer work - so the training for road racing will no fit into that schedule.

However, I do intend to continue to train as much as I can for the Nightmare and the 2010 cyclocross season and run a full schedule of races in that discipline in the fall and winter (and maybe a MTB race in the summer). This is for two reasons.

First, even if the leaders drop you at a CX race you can still have fun. In a road race when you get dropped it simply becomes a training ride that you paid to be in. In CX as long as you stay on the same lap as the leaders you can still have an awesome time racing. Plus the stress level at a 'cross event is way less than the road.

The second, and most important to me, is the amount of training that goes into being ready to race 'cross - or better put the lack of training. Since the races are only 40 to 60 min. long it doesn't require the same level of training as a road race (which can be 1 to 4 hours long at 20+ mph). Simply riding all summer will put me in more than adequate shape to be able to finish any CX race I enter. This way if I miss a day or two or three of training through the summer it won't be such a big deal as if I was trying to stay in shape for the road racing season. This will allow me to put as much time as I want into my volunteer work while still having fun and having a goal to work towards in the cycling realm.

Another lesser reason is crashing. In road racing crashes can be really bad (at the Green Mountain race a guy broke his collar bone, a leg, a rib, and both arms) involving several cyclist. If you crash in a CX race (and you will - trust me) it's not a big deal because you're going much slower and falling onto grass.

Next year is going to be much more laid back. My first event will be 8 long months from the now. You guessed it - the Nightmare. A 176 "fun" (only if you're into pain) ride around Lancaster County. It's not a race but the top endurance cyclist treat it like one (I got second in 2009 in 10 hr. 42 min). Then after that it will be a full slate of CX races.

I'm going to try and race twice a month between September and December. In September I am planning on trying to get to VT for the Green Mountain CX (if money permits) and Nittany Lion Cross. October will Include the Grangoue and Wissahickon races, November the USGP weekend. The big plan for next year will be to either fly or drive Portland/Bend Oregon for the Portland Cup USGP and the National Championships in the first two weeks of December.

Well, so much for keeping it short :-) Thanks for reading all year and be sure to read into next Spring and Summer as the Adventures continue. Even though I won't be racing then, I'll still ranting on cycling related topics.

Best to all!
Captain Crunch

Capital Cross and End of Season report coming soon

2009-12-09T15:52:00.002-05:00

It's been a busy week. I promise I'll have more before the weekend (including photos from the Rockville race as well)

Best
Captain Crunch

Found some more photos of the Iron Cross Lite race

2009-12-09T15:44:00.003-05:00

Here is the link to the entire album on Picasa:

Rockville Bridge CX Classic report

2009-12-05T12:44:00.002-05:00

Despite not being one of my cleanest races I still managed a fourth place finish - but a top 5 is a top 5. I over shot a corner and ate the course tape (no really - it ended up in my mouth somehow), went down on a fast off-camber corner, and stumbled on the steps at the top of the run-up. Although the steps was due to my taking a beer hand-off. I grabbed the beer on the next lap AND managed to clear the steps.

Even without my mis-steps throughout the race I wouldn't have gotten a better finish as the top 3 were really motoring. I also must add that this was one of the best courses I've ridden all year with some great barriers and technical corners. You not only had to be a good technical rider but also had to be able to put power down on the flats. Overall it was good race - I just wish I would have ridden better (aka. less crashed).

Hopefully tomorrow I'll do better at the Capital Cross in Reston VA (again - less crashing). It's hard to believe that there is only 40 minutes of racing left in the season! Stay tuned for pictures from the entire weekend. Joe Mallis was photographing today's race and tomorrow I'm taking a long-time friend with me to shoot some video/still footage of tomorrow's race (and I'm sure Anthony Skorochod will be there as well along with Joe).

Thanks for reading!
Captain Crunch

Mercer Cup update

2009-11-19T12:36:00.004-05:00

Wow, It's Thursday and I'm just now writing this. It was an awesome weekend. The course was insanely muddy and made for some interesting riding. Saturday I placed 28th out of over 100 racers and on Sunday I place 27th out of 80. I was running a helmet cam for the race on Saturday and filmed the entire race from my perspective. Unfortunately Sunday, I was caught in a crash on the first lap and the lens was covered with mud, so there isn't much from that race.

As I said, the course was really muddy - (my bike after the race on Sunday). It was super tough (it felt like doing leg presses) but I had a great time playing in the mud. Even more fun was hanging out and working the pits with the Richard Sachs Team. They got some great results. Richard Sachs got 1st on both days, Matt Kraus got 2nd and 3rd, and Dan Timmerman got 8th in the Elite race on Sunday. I'm proud to say I had a small role in helping keep the bikes clean and good running order during all the races.

Click here for my photos from the weekend, click here for Richard's photos, and for some of the video I shot (although I do not have the helmet cam video yet) click here.

Thanks for reading!
Captain Crunch

USGP Mercer Cup

2009-11-16T16:21:00.003-05:00

Wow, what a weekend. The racing was great (got 28th on Saturday and 27th on Sunday) and hanging with the coolest team ever (Richard Sachs/RGM Watches)and working the pits with them was even cooler. I'll post up a full report later but here is a pic from the weekend.

Wissahickon Pics

2009-10-22T11:29:00.003-04:00

I'm heading for retirement

2009-10-19T15:15:00.003-04:00

You read that right. I'm retiring from the world of competitive bike racing after the Captial Cross race on December 7. This doesn't mean that I won't be riding anymore, just that I won't be racing. Now you're probably asking why after such a great year I would be doing this. For some of you reading this the dream is to become a professional rider, getting paid to race. While I love racing my bike that just isn't my dream.

The reason is I want to pursue my real dream job. I'm currently involved in a volunteer work in the U.S. and I am beginning to make plans to move to third world country (where I'm not quiet sure yet) to be more fully involved with this work sometime late next year.

When I go to race I go to win. With the preparation and planning that is going to go into a move of this magnitude I just won't have the time to train to be competitive. I still plan on riding, but am going to focus more on high speed long distance touring.

It was a great year, I met some awesome people and I learned a lot about myself in the process too. While the Adventures of Captain Crunch blog will continue past December, there will be a shift in the focus. Starting in 2010 it will be chronicling my preparation for moving.

I want to thank my sponsers that helped out so much this year - the RGM Watch Co. and Thome Insurance Agency. Also, thank you to everyone for reading the last two years and I hope that you will continue to do so in the future as my new adventure begins!

Best Regards
Captain Crunch

Wissahickon Cross

2009-10-19T14:06:00.003-04:00

It didn't go well. I had some major mechanical issues. The rear skewer wouldn't hold the wheel in the dropout. I was running top 10 when the wheel pulled out and sent me over the bars. By the time I got back on the whole field was long gone. It happened two more times throughout the race. Oh well that's bike racing. I finished 52 out of 81 racers who finished.

The course was a muddy mess. With all the rain we had on Friday and Saturday the course was super slick. As soon as I have the pictures I will post them up here for everyone to see. The worst part is that I was feeling really good and confident in my bike handling skills despite the conditions.

My goal was for top 20 but that will have to wait until the USGP Mercer Cup on Nov. 14 and 15. That is going to be an awesome weekend as the entire Richard Sachs team will be there too!

Thanks for reading!
Captain Crunch

Iron Cross Lite update

2009-10-13T08:28:00.004-04:00

On Saturday I contested my second cross race ever. I learned a whole bunch. One - when your tired it's hard to dismount/remount smoothly and cleanly. Two, pushing a bike uphill after jumping a barrier is harder than it looks! Three I need to work on my standing start to full bore race speed. I got a great place on the grid but lost some positions in the ensuing sprint.

The course was awesome, with a little bit of everything. It had nice singletrack section with a log barrier, a nice long fireroad, and a nice runup with a manmade barrier in the middle. If you had MTB skills you were primed to do well with this course.

I followed the stratgy I've gone with all year. I start out at my pace and work my way up from there. Again it worked for me. I moved up to 6th by the end of the race. Another lap and I probably could have gotten 5th, as that rider was starting to fade after such a long hard effort working on the front with the leaders.

I wasn't sure if I was going to like 'cross racing, but after two races I'm hooked. The vibe before and after is awesome (imagine a giant party - but with bikes, mud, and freezing temps:-). The races are just the right length to inflict pain, but not too long where your sick of racing. Overall it has been and awesome experience and I still have 4 more left!

Next up on the schedule is the Wissahickon cross on Sunday out near Philly. Then comes a big one - the USGP Mercer Cup in NJ. Also, just added will be the PA State Cross race at the end of next month!

Thanks for reading
Captain Crunch

What is cyclocross?

2009-10-10T13:13:00.001-04:00

This should help clear things up... click here

BikeMS NYC

2009-10-08T16:38:00.002-04:00

It was great weather this year. No rain thankfully. However I forgot my camera so no pictures. But it was probably better. I won't bore you with the details but I rode my fastest century ever. Just over 5 hours at an average speed 18.3mph. Not bad for this late in the year and logging over 4000 miles. If I keep riding maybe I can hit 5000 before December 31. Iron Cross in Carlise is in two days! It's hard to believe the CX races 2 and 3 are all ready here and the Mercer Cup USGP race is a month away!

Best!
Captain Crunch

And now a word from our sponsors

2009-09-22T12:28:00.007-04:00

Hi everyone!

I just wanted to give a quick shout out to my sponsors Without these people Captain Crunch racing wouldn't exist. They've made this whole season possible. So feel free to click on the links and see what they're up to (you may even find something you like.

Thome Insurance

RGM Watch Co.

Both of these companies have provided financial support, moral support, and other bike related items through out the year. I am thankful that in this economic climate that they were able to step up to the plate and help me out.

Thanks for reading!

Captain Crunch

Nittany Lion Cross

2009-09-22T12:22:00.003-04:00

Hey Everyone,

The first cyclocross race of the season was awesome. Cross racing is different from most other races. It's only 40 minutes long on a twisty 2km course in a small area (makes for great spectating). I won't bore you with the details but I finished 29th out of 79 guys. I got a great start going into the first turn, but got caught up in an early crash in which I lost around 15 or 20 spots. I spent the rest of the race making them back up.

I'm bummed that the race wasn't longer as I was really getting the hang of the course and could have climbed into the top 20. Oh well, that's bike racing. Next up is the BikeMS NYC ride in about 10 days! Click here for a link to all the pictures of the race.
Best!
Captain Crunch

GMSR Update

2009-09-17T00:27:00.008-04:00

This late in the season I'm not going to bore you with a full blown race report. The people that wanted to know what happened already know. But I will tell you this. It was some of the hardest four days I've spent on a bike this year. But they were also some of the most fun and I got to see some friends that I met back in June (they finished 10th and 14th overall). It was an amazing experience - one that I intend to repeat next year.

I didn't do as well as I hoped given my results this year. But I did finish 23rd overall so I met my original goal that I set at the beginning of the season (top 25 overall - click here for the full results under Men 4/5). As the road season winds down I have some great memories of races ridden (and won) and some great new friends made along the way. I've come a long way from being scared out of mind at my first road race (ever!) back in March to sitting at the front of a pack ripping along at 25mph+ mixing it up for the win. With the BikeMS NYC officially signaling the close of the road calendar it's time to start thinking about the upcoming cyclocross season (which, incidentally, starts this Saturday up in Trexlertown PA).

Up until 1 month ago I had no idea that I would be taking on a full schedule of 5 'cross races this winter (it will certainly help pass those cold months quicker). It's only thanks to my generous sponsor - the RGM Watch Co. - that I've been given this awesome opportunity. It just goes to show that if you work hard and are a nice guy you can finish first without drugs (okay shameless anti-doping plug there-sorry). To everyone that has bothered to read this far, thanks for reading at all and keeping up with me over this season. I promise there will be even better stories over the next three months of 'cross racing and next years road season.

Best!

Captain Crunch

GMSR Pic (more from where this came from)

2009-09-10T20:43:00.001-04:00

What happens when bikes are crashed at high rates of speed

GMSR Race Report - Pt.1

2009-09-09T17:18:00.003-04:00

Just rolled back into PA after a great weekend of racing. I'm hoping to have a full race report up by Saturday. Overall I finished 23 on GC and my best placement in a race was 25th.

Best
Captain Crunch

Nightmare Pictures

2009-08-31T15:12:00.007-04:00

Hey Everyone,

I finally got the pictures from the Nightmare off the camera and onto Picasa so give 'em a look. Here a few of my favorites.

A big thanks goes out to this guy - my dad - for documenting the entire day!

For the full set of pictures click here.

GMSR Support needed

2009-08-28T15:52:00.002-04:00

If anyone is free from September 3 to the 8th (Labor day weekend) and wants to take a ride to VT to run support that would be awesome. It would be nice not to have to spend 9 hours in the car by myself. Also, having someone at the feedzones on Sat. and Sun. would take a lot of stress off me. I have lodging and transportation covered, you just need to be able to go along and ride support. PLEASE HELP!

Extra incentive - Ben and Jerry's Factory Tour Friday morning!

Nigthmare

2009-08-16T09:33:00.006-04:00

Wow,

It's taken me over a week to write this - I'm a total slacker. I'll start from the beginning but try to keep it short. The weekend didn't start out well - as I discovered I had a severely cracked seatpost on Thursday evening. Fortunately I had another post on hand and was able to fix the problem - but that did not leave me confident for the ride ahead.

Saturday morning came and I woke up feeling great - both the mind and legs felt sharp and ready to go. My plan for the ride was to try and finish in less than 12 hours. The gun went off at 6:11am and we were rolling (it starts in Marietta PA)

The ride doesn't start out easy - Chickes hill is about 2 miles in. The group took it's time up and over that hill and down through Turkey Hill. Shenks Ferry Rd is where everything changed. This particular road includes a nasty rise for about .5 miles. I simply accelerated to keep the same speed and found no one was able to go with me. I quickly caught the leader who broke away earlier and we were off and racing.

By the time we reached Holtwood Dam the other rider was obviously much stronger than I, so I felt it was best to ride my own pace and let him go (although I kept him between 8 and 15 minutes almost all day). So this meant that I would be riding the next 140 or so miles on my own if I wasn't caught. Before I knew it I was already rolling down Kirks Mill Rd (sight of my infamous breakdown last year) and arriving at the first Food Stop at the Octarora Reservoir.

At this point I was in total race mode. My rest stops consisted of rolling up to the van, exchanging my old bottles for two new ones, grabbing a quick bite to eat, and then hitting the road. Up until the last food stop at the Tree Top golf course 40 miles from the finish, the ride was relatively uneventful. This is where things started to come undone in the race for first.

After 135 miles on the bike and a total of about 20 minutes rest I was starting to hurt. I was told that I was 8 minutes out of first place (down 7 minutes from the last time check) so It was another quick stop and back on the road. But the effort was beginning to take its toll on my body.

By the time I got to the top of Old Hershey road I needed to stop and actually sit down for a little bit. This was my longest stop at 10 minutes. Being only 21 miles from the finish I knew I would make it, even if I had to craw into the school parking lot where we started. Once back on the bike I pretty much went to auto-pilot as I knew every road between me and the finish. To be honest I don't really remember much from the last miles as I was just focused on getting to the finish line.

After 10 hours and 42 minutes (of which only about 30 was due to stopping to rest) I rolled back into the school parking lot where I started, claimed second place, and happy to be finished. My expectations for this ride we to try and finish strong - not be locked in a battle for first place all day. So you can imagine how happy I am with this great result. I also need to give a shout out to my awesome support crew (Mom and Dad) - without their help I would never been able to put in the time I did.

Nightmare was one of my primary goals for the season and I'm glad that I was able to perform well. The next big goal is the Green Mountain Race in VT which is only about 3 weeks away. I am confident that I can keep this great form that I have right now until that time.

Also, the racing schedule just had a bunch of new additions by way of cyclocross races. I will be running 5 races in in four months starting September 19th (a few races will come as an official part the Richard Sachs team!!!!). As that time gets closer I will explain a little more about what cyclocross is and where the races are at!

Thanks for reading!

Captain Crunch

Nightmare Teaser shot...

2009-08-09T23:34:00.004-04:00

Quick Result update

Overall - 2nd place (45 min behind first)

Total time - 10 hours 45 min.

Actual ride time - 10 hours 15 mins.

Avg speed - 17mph

Over the next few days I will write a full report and have plenty more pictures to share!

Best

Captain Crunch

I'm on Twitter

2009-07-31T22:50:00.004-04:00

As you can see to the right I am now on Twitter under the name cptcrnch. Since my tech guy got a better offer for the weekend of Nightmare my idea of having a live GPS update of where I was on the road got put in the can. So I will be posting updates through out the day of Nightmare as to where I am, how I am feeling, and other random thoughts that may pop into my head.

I will be using the next 7 days to get both me and the bike ready. I have one more good training

ride planned for tomorrow back in PA and then several easy 20 mile rides on tap to keep the legs loose. On Wednesday I am planning on cleaning my bike and going over it from top to bottom to make sure we don't have another problem like last year. But just in case we do I am bringing a second bike and extra wheel set - nothing is going to stop me this year.

Ride Safe!

Captain Crunch

P.S. The picture above is from the 2007 Nightmare

There's a story behind this photo

2009-07-27T22:41:00.006-04:00

The above photo was taken on July 25th just above Ellenville NY. Jim came up to do a great 90 mile ride through the Catskills with me and afterward we met up with a bunch of other guys to watch the TdF declare the victor on Mount Ventoux.

July 25th is a day that I will remember as long as I live. I finally dropped Jim on a climb (Ulster Heights Rd). I have been riding with Jim for three years and consider him my mentor when it comes to the bike. To finally beat him on a climb is something I have been trying to do for quite some time now

The house we rode to (where the above picture was taken) was on top of a rather steep climb. It gains 700 feet in around 4 miles before leveling off for the last 1 mile. Granted he ran out of gas, but I was also running on emtpy on the climb. At the very bottom there was a very steep ramp and I acclerated just to keep the current pace. About a 1/4 of way up the road ramped up again and 90 degrees to the left. I looked back to see if Jim was still with me, only to my surprise to see that he was well off my wheel.

From there on I was going 110% trying to widen the gap. I have never been in so much pain on a climb - a combination of the distance, lack of fuel in the tank, and the climb itself. But I knew if I was suffering Jim was suffering more. By the end I had put somewhere around 3 to 4 mintues on him in a

Of course he will get his rematch on Gold Mine Rd. coming up sometime in August or September and I'm sure he will school me as he usually does. But for one day in July I was king of the mountain - the man being chased and not the one doing the chasing.

Best!

Captain Crunch

Nightmare

2009-07-27T22:34:00.003-04:00

T-12 days until the biggest event of the season. The Deodate road race was canceled due to a lack of racers - but I will be picking up the Strasburg road race on Aug 29. One final tune up before GMSR.

See you on the road!

Captain Crunch

Union Vale Road Race

2009-07-12T20:34:00.003-04:00

Things didn't quite go like I was hoping today. For starters a much stronger field showed up for the Cat. 4/5 race than the Housatonic Hills. Most of these guys come from NYC since it was only 1.5 hours away. Also, Kissena and NYVelocity each brought huge teams (looking at the confirmed list shows that NYVelocity brought 10 men), making it harder for us little guys who are a team of one.

The second problem was I ran too much drink mix in my water. By the middle of the second lap I was starting to get some mean stomach cramps. Fortunately there were neutral water bottles in the feed zone. I was able to grab one and by the end of the third lap I was starting to feel better. Another lesson learned. I won't be repeating that mistake again on the Nightmare.

Now for the actual race. It was 44 miles along a circuit of about 14 miles and 900 feet of climbing per lap. On the last lap we had a finishing climb that gained 600 feet in 1.5 miles at an average of around 18%.

The first lap was at a nice pace, as I thought it would be with the distance to be covered. From the beginning of the second it was game on. A flurry of doomed attacks went of the front. Most of the time though it was Kissena or NYVelocity guys, so their teams (understandably) were not helping in pulling the breaks back. We averaged a brutal pace of 21mph over the course of entire race until we hit the bottom of the final climb. On a course like this, that pace hurts - A LOT.

Since I knew I was having trouble sticking with the strong men up the climbs I would go to the front at the very beginning and slowly slide back so that by the top I was in the middle of the main group of 40 riders. The tactic worked well as I was able to stay between 5th and 10th wheel most of the race. I used the knowledge gained from Housatonic and hardly did any work on the front and this probably saved my race. By the finishing climb I was well positioned at the front of the group.

I knew I wouldn't be able to hang with the top guys on the climb. I simply rode my pace up the hill. It was hard as guys were going around me with the lead group but I knew if I played my cards right I would be able to catch most of them as they burned out further up the climb. The tactic worked and I was able to climb a good 15 or 20 places up between the halfway point of the climb and the top/finish line.

It just wasn't my day today with the field that showed up. I managed to get 17th out of 75. Not bad, but not a top ten. Although it wasn't what I was hoping for I am still happy with it. The field that showed up was really strong so simply the fact that I was able to stay up front all day until the very end makes me feel good. My first race of the season I was getting shelled at mile 10, but now I can stick with the big boys until the very end.

After today's race I still have high hopes of doing well at the Green Mountain race. Even though it's a 4/5 race, most of the fast 4's will probably be doing the cat. 4 only race leaving us a newbies to fight it out in the cat. 4/5.

By the way, Nightmare is less than 30 days away!

Best!

Captain Crunch

Furnace Hill

2009-07-07T20:02:00.000-04:00

Still hard, but I'm getting faster on it!

HHRR results link

2009-06-28T23:13:00.001-04:00

Here is the link to the official results of the HHRR (click here). The next two weeks begins a big block of training for me. While it won't be many long rides, it is going to be comprised of many short but super intense short rides. With only one additional weekend before the race in Union Vale NY, I am heading back to my old stomping grounds in Lancaster PA to tackle Furnace Hill for the first time this year.

Over the next two weeks I expect to log about 320 miles (including racing). I plan to spend some time in the mountains I that live near, while throwing in the additional flat workout as well. I hope this rainy weather we have had breaks soon (though the forecast for this week says t-showers every day through Friday). I just read a news report saying the enitre east coast has gotten double to triple the normal amount of rain that it normally does by this time in the year.

The worst part is that it only seems to rain after five o'clock when I can ride during the week. It will be sunny all day and five rolls around and so does the rain and lightening. It is really messing with my training. I don't mind rain (although I hate having to relube every part on my bike four times a week), but I won't go out in lightening storms.

Ride safe and sleep well!

Captain Crunch

2009 BikeMSNYC fundraising page

Housatonic Hills Road Race

2009-06-22T20:23:00.000-04:00

Finally!!!!!!! 1ST PLACE!!! It was an amazing race. The course was beautiful and played right to my strong points (aka climbing - course map here). I can't believe that I almost decided not to go the night before on account of the torrential rain we had. But the skies cleared long enough to go racing on almost dry roads.

First off I must say the competition was fierce. Of all the cat. 5 races so far this year, this was by far the best cat. 5 group. The race started out with a bang with a huge climb up to the top of the ridge we would be crossing several times that morning. Fortunately that first climb was neutralized so that the race wouldn't end in the first mile. But from the top of the climb it was game on.

Looking back I realize that I spent way too much time on the front and not at front. There is a difference. Being on the front means you are doing most of the work and pushing through the wind. At the front means sitting in someone else's draft. This led to several other riders marking my wheel and tagging me as a strong rider not to be let way. I plan on taking this new found knowledge and using it at the Union Vale RR in July to try and repeat my win (more on that race later).

A large group stayed together for the first 2/3 of the race. But on the Davenport Rd. Climb is where things started to break up, and on the final KOM climb up Good Hill Rd. is where the final selection was made.

Here's the blow by blow as I remember from Good Hill on (granted I was pushing redline so things are a bit fuzzy). Going up good hill one guy made an attack for the KOM. He got a gap on the field. At this point I was on the front and no one was coming around, so I knew I must have been setting a good pace. About 500m from the top I accelerated and caught the first rider and passed him only to be passed 200m from the KOM line.

Only two other guys had the power to go with me to the top. On the decent two other racers latched on to our group. This was the final selection. We could no longer see the main field, as it was strung out on the climb. The group worked amazingly well together and this no doubt led to our success. We all took 20 to 30 second pulls at the front allowing us to average well over 20mph plus all the way back to the line.

Now for the finish. The finish included on sharp right hand turn and then a little rise before flattening off at the line. I went through the last turn in second place. The rider in front of me jumped right at the bottom of the hill. I was able to use his draft to sling-shot me around him and open up a gap on the other racers. I'm still not sure how big it was because I was not looking back. I laid it all on the line right there and went all out. I do know I had enough of a gap to take both arms off the bars and give a victory salute (I've been dreaming of that moment for a long time:-).

I couldn't have asked for a better race. The only thing that would have made it better is if I would have gotten time to warm up. I went to the start line cold and did not like the way I felt the entire race. My legs felt stiff and dull on all the climbs - though that could be due to the 19.1 avg. speed we had - and not their usual snappy, mountain goat-like selves (yes I am referring to my legs like they are different person:-).

Again, I learned so much from this race. The importance of a good warm-up and not working at the front too early or too much. The next race on the schedule is the Union Vale RR. It is a long race for a cat. 5 at 44 miles. Having never raced this distance before it should be interesting to see how the early miles shape up. Most cat. 5 races are around 25 miles - meaning it's 100 effort the whole time, almost like a TT. But 44 miles will dictate a slower start I would imagine. It will be great to experience as the longest stage of the Green Mountain Stage Race is 60 miles!

Many of the same cat. 5 riders will also be at Union Vale, which is a good or bad thing depending on how you look at it. It will be good to get a rematch when my legs are feeling good - or bad because now they have more time to think about how to win the next time.

I still can't believe I won a race this year. I was simply hoping to finish well in the ones I started, not win. Hopefully I can continue my success at Union Vale, then move on to Deodate back in PA, and then try to do well at the GMSR.

Thanks for reading!

Captain Crunch

Houstonic Hills Road Race

2009-06-21T21:32:00.001-04:00

I came, I saw, I conquered! FIRST PLACE!!!!!!!!!! I scored my very first racing win (and $80 too). It's late now and I am super tired from the days efforts. But I promise a full update tomorrow evening when I have the time to really write out a full race report!

Captain Crunch

Racing Schedule Changes

2009-06-04T22:36:00.001-04:00

Sorry it has been so long since my last post. I have been crazy busy between work and training. The training is progressing as planned. If all goes well I should hit my peak around August (for the Nightmare) and hopefully hold it until September 4-7 for the Green Mountain Stage Race.

You will notice that the schedule now reflects the change in living location. This month I am competing in the Houstonic Hills road race in Southbury CT, and next month plan to compete in a 96 mile road race in Saratoga Springs NY called the Saratoga Triple Lap Challenge. My race is part of a longer weekend of 12 and 24 hour races.

Also on tap for this month is a special training ride on June 13th with some guys from VT that are also competing in Green Mountain race in my category. This will give me a chance to size up some of the competition :-) and see if I can crash their couch for the weekend so I don't have to get a hotel room.

Also added to the schedule is the Deodate road race back in lancaster county. Since I need to return home that weekend it only made sense. Even better, the start/finish is only 5 miles from my parents house so I may just ride from there for my warmup and skip the trainer all together. Since those are my old training roads I will have a great advantage over the other cat. 5 racers, but I still plan to go out Friday night and preview the course one last time just to be on the safe side.

It's hard to believe the season is already half over. But it is still plenty busy with lots of big goals still left. Another race I hope to do well in is the PA State TT at the end of September.

Thanks for Reading!

Captain Crunch

Housatonic Hills is a go

2009-05-07T23:46:00.000-04:00

My stay in NY as been extended through August 11. That means that the Housatonic Hills road race is a go. I will be trying to find some more races up this way instead of having to drive back to PA - though Nightmare is still on the schedule. Also still on the schedule is the Green Mountain stage race - regardless of where I am living at.

Ride Safe!

Captain Crunch

Turkey Hill Country Classic

2009-05-03T10:37:00.001-04:00

Another great race in the books. The Turkey Hill Country Classic was amazing and I learned so much about racing. A full field of 50 riders showed up despite the threat of rain. The course was an awesome rolling 6 mile loop with all but one road shut down for us - meaning we could use both lanes! This meant that we could take some fast lines through the corners, starting wide, swinging all the way down through the apex, and coming back out wide into the left lane.

Only on River Road did we only have the use of one lane (click here for the course map). But even then, we were in a rolling enclosure meaning that while on River road our lane would be completely shut down to traffic!

Two days before the race I went out for a hard training ride up in the mountains to get ready and felt great. My strategy was to stay at the front for the entire race and try to be there if the break went up the road or if it came down to a field

sprint.

I made sure to get to the start staging area early so that I could line up in the first 4 or 5 rows. Because we ha

d use of both lanes I wasn't worried about getting in the front row. The race quickly settled into a nice manageable pace on the first lap. It quickly became apparent who was going to be doing the work at the front. Myself and 4 or 5 other guys pulled the peleton the entire race. We covered all the breaks and pulled up all the short/steep rollers. The one advantage of this is that you can control the speed, and the 4 others I was with wanted to keep the peleton at about 20mph.

An interesting phenomena occurs at this point. Other riders who may be stronger and faster do not want to come up front and pull. They may make remarks to leaders about lifting the pace, but do not want to do the work themselves. Therefore a select number of riders get to set the pace.

Once it became clear that no breakaways were going to be forming since (a) other racers were lacking the motivation to go and (b) the course just was not suited to a break - I started trying to save energy by not chasing down every rider that got a gap. By the time the last kilometer (.6 miles) came around I knew that it was going to be a bunch sprint.

One guy came flying up the left lane and immediately 5 guys went with him. Having pulled the entire race I wasn't able to bridge the gap like I would have liked. Fortunately another rider I had been working with was coming across the gap, offered me his wheel, and pulled me across. But by this point I had slipped from third wheel to twelfth. But because we had both lanes I had some room to move back up, drafting off the other riders in front of me to save energy while doing so. However, at one point I got boxed in but just enough of gap opened for me to slide through and get some open road.

By the time I could see the line I knew one of the top four spots was out of the question as the riders there were pure sprinters. I was racing for fifth. Out of the corner of my eye I could see the rider on the my left coming up quick and I threw my bike at the line, grabbing 5th by about a half a wheel.

It was an awesome feeling riding in the front of such a large group of riders. At one point during

the race I was completely surrounded by other

guys. This is where staying calm if you bump into someone is so important. There were many times during the race where I would feel someone bump into me or I would touch someone else's bars. But everyone knows how to react and stay upright. It truly is amazing to watch/be part of. There was one minor crash but everyone got back up quickly and regained their positions.

So the spring campaign a has come to a close. It was great two months and I learned so much about racing and tactics. Up next is some long, steady, distance training for the next 6 weeks. I am hoping to log around 1,200 miles in that time to help get ready for the Nightmare at the beginning of August. The next race I have scheduled is the Housatonic Hills road race in Southbury CT. if I am still living up in NY.

Thanks for Reading!
Captain Crunch

Carlise TT

2009-04-26T11:39:00.000-04:00

Nuking legs, flaming crotch, and passing out at the finish - yup it's a Time Trial. It was a great day for a Time Trial, sunny and 75. The did not start off very well though. When I woke up first thing this morning I could immediately tell that my body did not feel right. I wasn't hungry at all and I felt a slight ache in my legs. This did not bode well for the trauma that I was going to be putting my body through later in the morning.

The feeling was only reinforced when I got on the trainer for my warm up. The legs felt super tight and my head wasn't in the game. I slowly went through the 45 min. warm up and tried my best to tell myself that I was fine and was going to do well. Being the the first TT of the year I was hoping to turn a 1 hour 8 min. ride or less. This would be about what I was doing this time last year.

The course is slight uphill on the way out for the first 12.4 miles. It didn't help that there a headwind either. The whole way I felt miserable and swore to myself that I would never do another TT again (this happens every TT and I still keep going back). For the first leg I turned a 37 minute 20K.

The return trip, however, was blazing fast. The headwind became a tailwind and this course turned downhill so I floored it the whole way home. It felt great flying back hitting and holding 25-30mph+. By the time the finish line hit I was done, I had left everything out on that road and timed my glorious meltdown just right - one more kilometer I and would have collapsed in a heap of useless bone and muscle.

Considering how I was feeling you can imagine the surprise on my face when I looked down at my computer and saw 1 hour 3 minutes and 40 seconds - 9 seconds faster than my previous PR! Although I finished 5 out of 10 in my cat. I was still elated by the performance I was able to put down this early in the year. By the last TT of the year I just may be able to crack the hour barrier that has proved so elusive to my palmares.

Thanks for Reading!

Captain Crunch

Trainig update and Carlise TT Weekend

2009-04-22T17:31:00.001-04:00

It is almost time for the first TT of the year. The Carlise TT is run on a great rolling course - big ring the entire way. The training has been going very well so far. Last week I suffered a small set back when I crashed hard through a corner and bruised my shoulder quite badly. I needed to take some time to let heal. But by last Saturday it was healed and I went out for my first endurance ride of the year.

What should have been a 70 mile ride to into a 85 mile epic and ended with me on the verge of bonking. I missed a important turn for the road that would take me over the mountain and back to the valley I live in. Only after riding for three miles further did a realize that I passed it. I made the decision to continue down to the next road (hoping it would be shorter to that road) that would take me over the mountain. Bad idea. It turned out to be another 5 miles down the road. Once I got to the intersection I was already at 70 miles and still had to climb the mountain.

The worst part was that I had enough food for a 70 mile journey, and to be safe I tucked a $5 bill into my jersey pocket - however, somewhere along the way when pulling out one of my powerbars it must have slipped out. So now I am stranded with 3/4 of a bottle of Clifshot and nothing else and one mountain left to climb and 15 more miles to go.

The ride over the mountain was one of my slowest. I had to talk myself through the whole thing, telling myself to not go into the red. It's amazing how the body can react and push through something like that. I cleared the top knowing it was only another 12 miles home on a mostly down hill stretch of road. By the time I got home I had been on the bike 5 hours and 85 miles. It was a great loop and I can't wait to do it again, this time with the right amount of food and my rescue money tucked into my saddle bag. Click here for the map of the loop I did.

I have one more high intensity ride planned for tomorrow (Thursday) over Clove Valley Rd. to get ready for Sunday's TT and on Saturday I will be heading out for some easy miles with Jim to keep the legs loose and ready to race.

A full race report will follow Sunday...

Keep the rubber side down

Fawn Grove Roubaix

2009-04-07T17:29:00.000-04:00

What a crazy race! Ten miles of loose gravel roads, some on downhill corners, guys flatting all over the place, and riders going down by the dozen. It was an instant classic. The day could not have been better for racing - sunny and 70 degrees. The race started off at a crazy pace with everyone racing to get to the front before the first gravel section. Once everything settled down I was able to start moving up through the field

The course really suited my riding style. It was a nice rolling course with some short but very steep climbs, including one coming on the gravel section, for a total climb of 1000 feet per 13 mile lap. The only problem was that every other catagory was on the road at the same time, so I was passing guys not knowing if they were in my cat. or not.

I rode the race perfectly. I left everything on the course and ran out of gas just at the line (this is a good thing meaning that I rode as hard as I could for the required distance). I also picked the right equipment which helped my final result. I ran heavy wheels and tires, deciding the extra puncture protection would overcome the extra weight. It was the right call, as the race caravan went through 50 tubes and 50 more wheel/tire combos. The guy that parked in front of me before the start was running the same tires as my racing wheels and he flatted 3 times!

In the end my final position came down to a sprint between me and another cat. 4/5 racer, with me just holding on to take it by half a wheel - and only because I threw the bike at the end. At this point I did not know where I had placed. After waiting around for about 45 minutes the cat. 4/5 results were posted. I started at the bottom of the list looking for my name (where it usually is) and kept working my way up until I saw my name listed as THIRD PLACE. I couldn't belive it! I had to double check the sheet to make sure it was right! Results are here.

Overall the entire day was awesome, with a podium spot the perfect way to cap it off. The next race up is the Carlise TT on April 26th. I have been hitting the gym hard to help build up the power in my legs, hoping to break the 40k/hour barrier this year.

Best!
Captain Crunch

Millport part duex

2009-03-29T19:04:00.000-04:00

My first road race was a success. It is such a rush being in a race flying along at 25mph and hardly doing any work. I finished 34th out of 55 riders in my race (results here - scroll to the men 4/5). The winner finished the race in 1 hour 2 min. and I finished 5 min. behind - not bad considering it was my first race of the year and first road race ever.

I purposely started the race at the back of the field, as I am still gaining experience riding in a large peloton. Once the really fast guys went off the race splintered in several smaller groups our 5 to 10 riders. On lap four of nine of the 2.8 circuit, I got into a group of about 8 guys and we rode the rest of the race together. This was extremely helpful as there was a headwind on the climbing part of the course. Working together we were able to catch other riders who went to hard from the start and had been shelled off the back of the main peloton because of the wind.

The road conditions could have been better, but they could have been worse as well. The rain the day before washed quite a bit of fertilizer (aka cow manure) from the fields onto the road. By time we raced the roads weren't wet but still a little damp. As the wheels rolled over the "fertilizer" it would spray up on the rider behind. By the end of the race I had a nice little coating on me. But, that is early season bike racing!

Overall it was a great experience and I learned a lot - like how to work in a pace line, how long of a pull (working at the front) to take, and race tactics. I can't wait to do it again so it's good I have less than 7 days until the next race! The Fawn Grove Roubaix starts at the Fawn Grove High School.

The Fawn Grove race will be a great opportunity to come out see some great racing for all you southern based fans (aka Maryland) - part of the course actually dips into MD. Another feature of the course is the 4.2 miles of dirt/stone roads we will be racing on (course map here) Also, the race doesn't start until 1:00pm so you don't have to be up a the crack of dawn to see the race. I hope to see all of you there.

Until the then!

Captain Crunch!

Millport Road Race

2009-03-28T15:22:00.000-04:00

I didn't come in last - but I didn't win either. I finished 34th out of about 60 riders. Not bad for my first road race. I will post a more detailed update later!

Captain Crunch

Pre-race update

2009-03-22T16:05:00.001-04:00

I am settling in nicely into my new home in NY state. I'm right outside the Catskill mountains - in fact my window looks right onto the first ridge of the mountain chain. They have made for some great riding so far. I haven't gone deep into the park yet since it is still early in the season. I have done a few 50/60 mile rides over the first ridge. Next month I intend to start putting in some serious 70 mile weekend rides and by May be hitting the century mark at least once or twice a month.

There is a great group of guys that ride up here. We probably have at least 6 on average each ride. Friday we went out for 20 mile loop ride. Sounds like it wouldn't be that hard, but from the gun guys were taking flyers off the front. The group would crawl back to him and then another would go. It went like this for the entire ride and we averaged around 18.5. It is was short, but super intense. This is one area that I really need to work on. I know I can climb and ride 100 plus miles, but the short, intense accelerations needed to reel in an attack and then counter attack is where I am weakest. A few more weeks of this and I will be flying at the races.

Speaking of races, the first one is less than a week away. So far the training has been going as planned. I feel way faster than I did this time last year and am really motivated to get racing. I should get some pictures while there. I also will get the cable I need for my camera (I forget to get last time I was back in PA) so I can post them here.

Keep the rubber side down...

Captain Crunch

Schedule Change

2009-02-28T11:45:00.000-05:00

Due to arrangments at my new home I will not be able to make it back for the Farmersville road race on the 14th. However, I am entering the Millport road race on march 28 and then Fawn Grove Roubaix on April 5th.

Stay Warm!

Captain Crunch

The Countdown Begins

2009-02-22T18:10:00.001-05:00

Less than three weeks until the first race of the season (Notice the countdown clock to the Farmersville Road Race on the right). It is a nice rolling loop of two laps and about 25 miles long. I have been hitting the training extra hard in preparation for the season. This time last year I had barely 100 miles on the odometer. Currently I'm already at 200 and change. Being the first race of the season everyone will probably be at the same level (unless that is they have been cyclocross racing all winter, but I don't think I have to worry about that in my category).

Because this is my first year with a racing license (and first year road racing period) I am in cat. 5. This is the beginner class. Packs are kept smaller to reduce the risk as most rider in this category (including me) don't have a lot of experience riding in a tight group. I can ride comfortably bumping shoulders with Jim, but doing that in a pack where you have other racers all the way around you is a different story.

This week is going to be cram packed as I am moving to my new new home away from home and HQ in Wallkill NY (for three months). Stay tuned for lots of pictures of my new (but small) living quarters and the surrounding area!

Ride Safe!

Captain Crunch

Here's looking at you Ricardo Ricco...

2009-01-28T20:47:00.000-05:00

2009 Schedule and some big changes!

2009-01-23T01:17:00.000-05:00

My 2009 racing schedule is just about complete. It is listed on the right. The busiest month is going to be August with my first two-day stage race and the Nightmare. June and September are still open, but I am trying to plan another double century for June.

A big difference from last year is I am only entering two TT's (plus one in the August stage race) as I am trying my hand at road racing (I have around 5 this year). As usual the Nightmare is back for the third year and I am heading up to NYC again for the BikeMS NYC ride.

One more piece of big news! Captain Crunch racing is relocating for three months starting Feb. 26. From that date through June 3 Captain Crunch racing will be setting up shop in Wallkill NY, though my racing schedule back here in central PA still stands. I will post lots of pictures - promise :-).

What a season it is going to be - new races, new gear, and new home for 3 months (maybe longer)! Between my first race on March 14th and BikeMS NYC in October the 2009 season is going to fly by. If you want to come out and cheer me on during any race, please leave a comment below and I can get you more information on race locations!

Keep the rubber side down!

Captain Crunch

Prelim France plans

2008-12-21T23:25:00.000-05:00

Be sure to explore the links I have as well!

Saturday July 18

Depart Newark airport for Geneva, Switzerland (CH)

Sunday 19

Morning - Land in Geneva CH

Transfer to Grenoble, France by TGV (French Rail Service)

Afternoon - Meet with Cycling Classics guides, transfer to hotel on Les Duex Alpe, assemble bike, go for a spin ride

Monday 20

Ride the Alpe D'Huez, Croix de Fer, Col du Glandon, Les Duex Alpe.

Tuesday 21

Ride from Les Duex Alpe to Duingt France at southern end of Lake Annecy to hotel - 112 Miles total riding. Includes the Col du Galibier, Col Du Lautaret, and the Col du Telegraphe

Wednesday 22

Ride to Grand Bornand to watch the Tour de France (TdF) stage finish.

Thursday 23

Ride to Annecy to watch the riders warm up and depart for the TdF TT (Time Trial). This is going to be a very important stage depending which riders are where on GC (General Classification or standings).

Friday 24

Morning - Transfer to Vacqueyras at the foot of Mount Ventoux

Afternoon - Ride up Mount Ventoux

Saturday 25

THE BIG DAY. The tour arrives at Mount Ventoux and the mountain will most likely crown the final victor for the final ride into Paris tomorrow afternoon. I will be perched on the side of the mountain with millions of other fans (seriously, it's going to be that many) and I have something special up my sleeve to get on international TV (more on that in a later post).

Sunday 26

Morning - Transfer to Paris via TGV

Afternoon - Watch the big finish of the TdF and see the final victor crowned on the Champs-Elysées.

Monday 27

Morning - Mid-afternoon - Visit the Louvre art muesum (for a history click here)

Late Afternoon - Bike tour of Paris

Evening - Night bike tour of Paris. This promises to be an awesome experience and includes an one hour boat ride on the Siene River, and see the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Louvre, Hotel de Ville, the Musée D'Orsay, and other Paris landmarks fully lit at night.

Tuesday 28

Depart Paris for Newark/Home

B2B ride/France

2008-12-06T22:12:00.000-05:00

After much thought it looks like the Harpoon Brewery to Brewery ride 2009 isn't going to happen for me. With my trip to France being moved up from September to July, my schedule, but more importantly finances, will not allow it to work out. I am already planning on making it a priority ride in 2010 to help with my 50 states challenge. I want to ride in all 50 states and I'm currently at 7 (NY, NJ, NC, VA, PA, ME, MD). Jim and myself are kicking around the idea of riding to Wallkill again - so I would still get the valuable training miles.

My France plans are slowly coming together. I will be leaving for Grenoble via Geneva on the 18th of July and be returning to Newark, NJ via Paris on the 28th. I am planning on spending Sunday afternoon and all day Monday in Paris seeing some the sights. Regarding my comments about the tour in my last post check out this video from the Alpe De Huez TT from 2004.

Best!

Captain Crunch

Tour de France bound!!!!!

2008-11-26T15:31:00.000-05:00

I am officially headed to France next year! I have booked this trip. I had to scale back the size of the trip due to financial reasons. A week of following the Tour de France is going to be amazing. I will get to see three stages in the final week (and maybe the finish in Paris). The stage finish in Grand Bornand, the TT in Annecy, and the most decisive stage of all - the climb up Mount Ventoux. I will actually be on Ventoux for the stage. I hear it is one giant party! For a cycling fan the TdF is the Super Bowl, World Series, and Soccer World Cup rolled into one. The best part is you can literally run right next to the riders as they ascend the mountains.

I also will be climbing several of the famous mountains of the tour while there as well. They include the Alpe d'Huez, Galiber, Telegraph, Les Duex Alpe, Croix de Fer, Glandon, Mount Ventoux (the day before the real racers climb it) and several other "smaller" climbs. It is going to be a truly epic week.

At this point I am not sure if I am going to Paris for the finish or not. The stage on Mount Ventoux is the day before so I will be very close to Paris. The company I'm travelling with is putting together a Paris package for those that are interested in staying a few extra days. I would love to go to the finish on Sunday, and then Monday go to the Louvre and see some of the other famous sites of Paris.

Now the countdown begins... only 8 months left!

Captain Crunch

2009 Schedule posted

2008-11-14T09:52:00.000-05:00

The beginning of the 2009 schedule are now up - look to the right of the screen. It's short right now as I only have confirmed those two dates, but as I get more I will post them. Also, I will leave the results from 2008 up until Jan. 1st.

Thanks for reading!
Captain Crunch

End of Season thoughts

2008-11-04T21:34:00.000-05:00

Wow, it's the end of season already. What a year it was. I made some of the biggest improvements ever over the course of the season. The time trials helped me to make the biggest gains. I completed my first double century, rode through Manhattan traffic free, conquered 15,000 feet of climbing in one day, and turned my fastest century time ever. However, the year was not without disappointment. I didn't break an hour in the time trial discipline and a mechanical failure forced an early exit from the Nightmare.

Next year has some great events already lined up. I will once again be riding the Dreamride, the Nightmare, and BikeMS NYC Traffic Free. I will also be doing the time trials next year as well. I will be trying my hand at road racing next year, running a few races. Also on the schedule (possibly) is the Harpoon Brewery to Brewery ride. This rides starts in Boston, MA goes through NH, and ends in Windsor VT 140 miles and 8,000 feet of climbing later. It should be a great ride.

The biggest goal for next season without a doubt is France. Currently I am planning on 9 days in the Alps, Pyrenees, and Mount Ventoux. Hopefully I will be going late August early September when the crowds are not as big. This trip will go over Alpe De Huez, Galiber, Tourmalet, Ventoux, and Hautacom to name a few. It is on these mountains that the greatest champions of the Tour De France have been forged.

Thanks for reading all season and stay tuned for more great updates!

Captain Crunch

BikeMS NYC Part 2

2008-10-14T21:55:00.000-04:00

So off we go from the rest stop at mile 30 something. By this time the rain had stopped and it was warm enough to lose the rain jacket. From this point on we would be riding along the Palisades in NJ. The ride was beautiful once we got out of Hoboken NJ. The rolling park road made for great riding, providing enough climbing to make a bit of challenge. It was so quiet that you would have never have known you were right across the Hudson from the biggest city on the east coast.

Around mile 45 another rider started riding together. We were both going the same speed when alone, so once we started trading pulls (one rider pushes through the air so the rider behind saves energy) This allowed both of us to go faster than if we were alone. When one of us started getting tired the other would move in front to pull for a few miles. We rode together until mile 85 when he had to stop at a rest stop. Together we averaged around 18mph.

Right at that point however, a club ride of 6 riders went past me. I managed to hang onto their wheels and draft them the last 10 miles to the GW bridge. I think we averaged 20mph+ for those few miles. Coming across the GW was awesome. It provided a great view of downtown Manhattan.

The greatest part of the ride was coming back to the Start/Finish. We got to ride street level through Manhattan with traffic. It was awesome for a few minutes to get to ride like a NYC bike messenger. I won't say what I was doing however (watch this video for an idea). Once back at the finish I enjoyed my free massage and beer (both are always good after a ride)

Thus concludes the season. It was an amazing ride and in my next post I will share my thoughts on the entire season and what my plans are for next year!

Thanks for reading!

Captain Crunch

BikeMS NYC Part 1

2008-10-06T10:17:00.000-04:00

EPIC. That's the word that best describes this ride that went throught the heart of NYC. There is so much to tell that I will start from first thing in the morning work my way through the day. I will break the posts up to make for easier reading.

The weather on Saturday night called for mostly clear skies all day in Sunday. Five AM Sunday morning we awoke to the sound of a steady rain outside. Oh well, that's cycling.

Nehimiah and myself loaded up the car and headed across the Bronx and down into Manhattan to the start line.

The start line was right by

a NYC landmark, the USS Intrepid. We got a great spot at the start line - the second row! But in order to do so we had to arrive at 6:45 and wait around until the 7:30 start time. The entire time we stood there it kept raining. Riding in the rain is one thing (riding helps keep you warm) but standing and doing nothing to keep warm is brutal.

Finally (and thankfully) 7:30 rolled around and off we went. The first 5 miles were horrible. Since I was already soaked the air moving past me made it feel colder than it really was. I was ready to pull over right there and quit and go take a hot shower.

But, I didn't. We continued down the West Side Highway right past the WTC site and through the FDR Dr. tunnel (that was an awesome experience). That provided a few moments of much need dryness and heat that made the rain bearable.

Once out the tunnel we continued back uptown on the FDR. It was the coolest thing to look to my right and see Brooklyn and then to my left and see the iconic NYC/Manhattan skyline. On top of that, to be riding up a (usually jammed) NYC freeway topped it off. At this point the entire group was still moving pretty slow as the rain made it difficult to spot potholes, and because more caution is needed in such conditions.

Eventually we got to the top of the island and Innwood park. By this point the rain had stopped and the sun even made a brief appearence. Everyone had to stop here until the NYPD cleared the West Side Highway for us to ride on. While we were there I had another cyclist take a picture of me and Nehimiah.

After that point it was only another 15 miles until we completed our loop of Manhattan Island. Once we arrived back the start/finish we headed out to New Jersey through the Lincoln Tunnel. The NYPD shut down a tube for the cyclist to go through. That was an amazing experience - descending into the tunnel and then climbing out with the other cyclist is something that will stay with me for the rest of my life. It was while were waiting to go through that I grabbed a photo that's rarely seen from the bike.

Once we cleared the Lincoln Tunnel and stopped to fuel up, we began the next 70 miles through New Jersey and the Palisades. In Part 2 I will tell the rest of the story and share some more photos.

Click here for the route map

Click here for all the pictures

Captain Crunch

Blue Ridge Picture

2008-09-19T19:12:00.000-04:00

Just a picture from the BRP trip that I wanted to share with everyone.

Clarks Valley and Carlise TT

2008-09-08T22:38:00.000-04:00

The racing season has finally come to a close. After a long season of training I came close to the hour but was stil about 4 mins. away. In both TT's I went as hard as a could. At Clarks Valley I just had a bad day and didn't finish well, but that's bike riding. At Carlise I did the best ride I think I could do. There was a headwind on the way out and I turned a 35 min 20k, on the way back I turned a 28 or 29 min.

Next year I am going to break an hour. I will be coming back with new, better, lighter, and more aerodynamic equipment. I know it's not the bike, but having the right equipment sure does help. My last event of the season is on Oct. 5 in NYC for the BikeMS ride.

I made some great gains in my speed and fitness competing in the TT's. They have helped me to improve my pedal stroke, pain threshold, and position on the bike. All the events I have competed have helped me to make great gains in my skills and fitness. It has also been awesome sharing my thoughts with you since March! I'm already looking forward to the winter as I begin my cross training routine and plan my trip to France!

Thanks for Reading!
Captain Crunch

Carlise TT

2008-09-07T22:20:00.000-04:00

1 hour 3 min. 52 seconds. Next year I'll break the hour. More photos to follow. I will update on both TT's this week. I was so busy last week I didn't geet time.

Best
Capt. Crunch

Clark's Valley TT

2008-08-31T22:59:00.001-04:00

1 hour 7 min. 36 sec. Not the result I was hoping for (1 hr. 4 min) but still okay nonetheless. I plan on putting the full post up on Tuesday, along with the pictures that the photographer took (same as Carlise). Also coming up this Saturday, the 6th, I have my last chance to break 1 hour at Carlise and I will also compete in the South Mountain Hill Climb TT.

Best!
Captain Crunch.

P.S. Don't forget to go to my BikeMS website and donate to a good cause!

Nightmare -

2008-08-16T14:59:00.001-04:00

There's a lot to talk about in this post so it's kind of long - sorry...

DNF - Mechanical Failure

At 9:30am I officially withdrew from the 2008 Nightmare due to the jockey wheel on my derailluer breaking loose. The jockey wheels are the small geared wheels on the derailluer (click for a picture).

Crunch friend Brian R. (of Blue Ridge Parkway fame) was kind enough to pick me up from the food stop I was at. The bummer was that I was at the most southern point in the ride (Kirk's Mill Rd.) only 50 miles in. I also want to give a huge thanks to Steve Mazeski and his support crew. His support car took me the 8 miles up the road to the food stop where I waited for Brian. Later in the day I met up with Jim and Brian L. who were also on the ride and rode the last 41 miles back to the start/finish with them on a borrowed bike and finished the day with 91 total miles.

The offending jockey wheel that ejected itself from my derailleur cannot be replaced. Both the screw that holds it in and the derailleur cage are stripped out. Considering it has 10,000 plus miles on it, I can't be to angry - parts wear out. It is a small consolation that even if I had the right parts on the course, I could not have continued anyway.

It is especially frustrating because I had based my entire season around Nightmare. I prepared so I would be on perfect form. When I got on the bike this morning I could tell my body was going to respond well. The 50 miles that I completed are probably the hardest and I felt very strong over them. But mechanicals happen - even to the pros (his chain broke in a stage he where he was clearly the strongest).

Now I have even more motivation for next year to complete Nightmare for the second time. A big motivation this year was completing the BRP past Bear Pen Gap where I abandoned. This year's Bear Pen Gap is Kirk's Mill Rd. However, the season is not over yet. I still have two TT's to try and break the hour, and I have the BikeMS charity ride in October, plus several training rides I haven't done in a while (i.e. Gold Mine Rd.). I also get to start planning my France vacation over the winter as well

Overall it was a good day - both Jim and Brian L. finished in 13 hours 20 mins. Remember, a bad day on the bike is better than a good day at the office. While I am disappointed, I know I tried my best and I'm in the best/fastest shape of my life.

Thanks to everyone for following along with me this year. Even though the main part of the season will be over in less than 3 weeks, stay tuned through the winter. I will be blogging my France vacation preparations (planning on riding the big Tour mountains) and continuing to share my random thoughts while cycling and running (sometimes it's just too cold to ride).

Best To All

Captain Crunch

Carlise TT

2008-08-10T22:04:00.000-04:00

Hello Crunch fans,

I came so close the hour. 1 hour 3 min. 49 seconds. I think I turned a 33:30 out and a 30:19 back. I pushed myself to the absolute edge. I have never gone that hard before. I was literally seeing stars at the finish line.

If I continue to progress at my current pace I should break an hour at the next Carlise TT. I did 1 hour 8 min in May, 1 hour 6 min in July, and now 1 hour 3 min (almost four though). So that means I hit 1 hour 2 min on the 31st @ Clarks Valley and hopefully less than an hour on Sept. 6 back on the Carlise course.

I got kudos from several other riders for putting in the time I did with the bike I have. It is an older aero steel frame with 650c front wheel, no aero wheels, and the thing weighs a ton. It was really cool to have guys racing $5k bikes admiring not only my time, but also the bike for its old-school look.

I have decided that I need an real TT bike if I am going to continue competing in the TT. I won't be spending $5k like the hardcore guys, but will probably a newer aluminum/carbon frame with some aero wheels (maybe even a rear disc). Here is an idea of what I want to build (Blue Bicycles T-14)

Next up, only 6 days from now is the biggest single event of the season - Nightmare circumference ride of Lancaster County. Stay tuned for a update next week on the result of that ride.

Until next time!
Captain Crunch!

NYC BikeMS ride

2008-08-06T23:54:00.000-04:00

Don't forget to check out my fundraising page for the NYC BikeMS ride.

Thanks for your support!
Captain Crunch

Dreamride!

2008-07-28T22:07:00.000-04:00

Dreamride was a relative success. If viewed from the terms of Nightmare training everything went perfectly. Hopefully I got all the bugs out of the bike. At mile 20 my rear wheel decided to throw a spoke. Fortunately I was close enough to Roland's house that I was able to limp my bike back and swap out my wheel for one of his. If that would have happened on the Nightmare my ride would have been over.

The weather was perfect for a ride. Sunny and around high 80's with little or no humidity. Ride time was around 5 hours 55 min. (although 20 min. of that was spent riding to and from Roland's) and total time was just about 6 hours 50 min. Jim and me averaged 17.6 mph. So far that is my fastest century yet.

Nightmare is less than three weeks away (August 16th) and Dreamride provided some much needed training. Our goal for Nightmare is to ride unsupported. Therefore we will not be trying to break any speed records on it - we will simply be trying to survive the day. The week before Nightmare I will be competing in the Carlise 40k TT and hopefully break and hour for the first time. Let's hope the legs aren't to stiff :-).

Thanks for reading,
Captain Crunch
http://msnyc.kintera.org/bikems/captaincrunch

Clarks Valley Full Update

2008-07-22T21:29:00.000-04:00

Hello fans of Captain Crunch racing!

So far it has been a successful 2008 campaign! The Clarks' Valley went very well. I am very happy with the results that I posted. The course is much more rolling and difficult than Carlise (that course is flat flat flat). That being said however I still posted my fastest 40k TT time ever - 1 hour 6 minutes and 24 seconds. It was good enough for 34th out of 49 overall riders and 4th out of 7 riders in my category. (Click here for the official results.)

I didn't break an hour like I wanted, but the course did not fit my riding style. Because of the constant up/down rolling nature, I never really got into a good rhythm. Carlise is a much faster course and more suited to my style of riding. After Sunday I feel confident that 1 hour or less is possible before the last TT in Carlise on Sept. 6th.

If I feel and ride the way I rode Sunday I may even be able to break an hour on the August 10th Carlise TT. Mark your calendar now for that date. It should be another great day of bike racing. If you want to come out please let me know! The gun goes off at 7:30am.

Thanks for reading
Captain Crunch

Clarks Valley TT

2008-07-21T10:54:00.000-04:00

I came close to an hour, but not close enough. I did take two minutes off my previous fastest 40K time.

I finished Clarks Valley in 1 hour 6 mins. 24 secs. That is good enough to 4th in my catagory (out of 6) and 34th overall (out of 49). A full update should follow tomorrow.

Keep the rubber side down!
Captain Crunch

Wallkill Photos!!!!!

2008-07-14T23:30:00.000-04:00

Here they are: http://picasaweb.google.com/JoelAnkeny/WallkillRide62108

For those that don't know sign, the mouth shape PAH is used when signing the word succeed or success, hence my using it in my caption. And yes, that is me passed out in hallway 50 feet from my hotel room door. I can ride 200 miles, but couldn't walk the last 50 feet HAHA!

Feel free to leave a comment about them or any of my pictures or drop me a line via email.

Best!

Captain Crunch

Bike MS link

2008-07-14T23:21:00.001-04:00

Hi everyone!

Here is the link to my fundraising page for the Bike MS Tour NYC as promised:

http://msnyc.kintera.org/bikems/captaincrunch.

It will also be on the side bar to between now and October.

Best!

Captain Crunch

July 20 Clarks Valley TT / Bike MS NYC

2008-07-11T11:33:00.000-04:00

Next Sunday on July 20th I will be competing in the Clarks Valley TT. It starts at the corner of routes 325 and 225 outside of the town of Dauphin in Dauphin county. If you are interested in coming out to watch leave a comment below and I will get back to you with more info.

Also, I am now officially doing the Bike MS NYC tour. Nehemiah and myself will be participating. It is a 100 mile bike ride through a traffic free NYC - truly a once in a lifetime experience! This is a fundraising ride for the MS Society. I will have the link up to the donation page sometime late next week.

Best!
Captain Crunch