Team Hungry Cycling

I can’t stop thinking about cyclocross season! Devou Park Practice last night was great. We did Hot Laps (2-3-2). Everyone on the team seems to be getting really used to their new rigs, and we are already seeing improvement across the board. Our version of the practice course worked out really well, so we are probably going to stick with it until more trail building ensues.

Only one person who was not on Team Hungry showed up. Matt Bell, the brain behind the permanent park came and laid down some serious hurt on the course. Ouch! Where was everyone else? Be a pioneer!

After our first “official” practice at Devou last night, Alex and I decided to take an easy day and do some cx skills practice. We took our bikes to Mitchell Memorial Forest. This place has a mountain bike trail (a little under 4 miles) that is great for tuning up your cx skills. A cx bike can navigate through this trail without much trouble, and with long sweeping turns of varying degree, riding the trail seems to help dial in your handling abilities. The terrain of the trail gives the potential of a few pinch flats, but those can be easily avoided by tubees or by just picking the right line.

After working on our turning technique, we practiced our barrier skills. It seems like the only ay to get better at these is through repitition. Yes, it does get boring after jumping over the same set of barriers a few times, but it pays off in the long run. After all, honing in your mounts and dismounts can put you seconds above your competition.

Most of us have heard about it, some of us have worked on it,  and a few of us have actually ridden it. DEVOU PARK PERMANENT CYCLOCROSS PARK!

After the second trail building day, which takes place on the last Saturday of every month, the course is really taking shape. Park crews have mowed sections and volunteers have cleared out what is called the “northern trail.” The course still needs a lot of work to be finished, but is certainly in ride-able condition. Since the course isn’t done, we have come up with a preliminary route that incorporates the complete trail as much as possible.

Current course (our version) features: Lots of slightly uphill of cambers and fast-sweeping 180 degree turns. This courses shape and terrain make it both technically challenging and physically exhausting. Some of the sections are slightly rutted, especially the northern trail, which we road as a “neutral” section. One uphill run-up, one barrier section and several flat sections for the big ring enthusiasts.

We are so freaking excited about this course. One because it is less than three miles from downtown Cincinnati, and two because it is so awesome to ride! We are now hosting a weekly practice, every Thursday at 6:30pm. Dirt will hurt.

Although the Ohio State Championship Masters Road Race in Germantown was fun for many ( I got to stand on a podium for the fist time), it was a rough day for many, as some serious crashes put a damper on the event for many of our fellow cyclists. We wish to send our best wishes for a speedy recovery to those who suffered serious injuries:

Dr. Dave Rich (Team Dayton) 

Stephanie Hyatt (Team Dayton)

and

John “The Ambassador” Dallman (7 Hills Racing)

To all the cyclists who were involved in accidents at this weekend’s race, Team Hungry wishes you a speedy recovery. And to all cyclists on the road out there, ride safe!

Race photos by Jeffrey Jakuyk available here.

Race photos by Debbie Baker available here.

So, they call a time trial race the “race of truth.” And the truth is, I suck at time trials.

That being said, I have thoroughly enjoyed the Cleves Time Trial Series this season.  Its a great way to work on my speed and form, while having a fairly consistent (barring changes in weather, etc.) method of measuring improvement along the way.

This season has seen some great performances at the Cleves course from many THC members. The speediest of the THC crew at Cleves this summer has been James O’Loughlin, at 25:09, followed closely by Mr. Chewning with 26:10. Not too shabby, eh? Also coming out this season to give Cleves TT a shot were Zach Cahill, Kerry Nordstrom, and most recently, first-timer Alison Delgado (kicking ass this past week with a time of 29:20). Way to represent, Ali!

Ali, showing 'em how its done!

With only a little more than a month left in this series, who else will show up to show off their speed, strength and perhaps a sexy skin suit? We shall see…

It was a hot day. The weatherman said stay inside, drink plenty of liquids and hope to hell your a.c. doesn’t break. Fortunately, the clouds brought some much needed rain in the afternoon and cooled nasti off by about 10 degrees.

christa, void of expression

I got to Devou in time to watch Christa begin and finish her race! Yeh, this is a great achievement for her… Earlier in the year she’d get dropped off the back of the paddy wagon never to return. Great job Christa!

On the first corner of the race, I watched Nate go into the corner *real* hot and endo-bump over the curb AND was able to keep the rubber down! On his second time around the course, his tire was nearly flat. He ran up the hill and swapped his wheel with someone and got back in the race.

nate 3rd!

Nate returns and woops up on 3rd! Not sure if Nate’s $5 gift offset blowing up his rim during the race?!

racing for 10th?!

I’m still struggling to get my lungs and legs back from a weird 3 week summer cold… No excuses, I’m stoked to be riding. While most of Hungry sprints for the podium, here I am sprinting for 10th. Christa’s support in this pic is priceless!

Andrew “doc” Suchocki was flying around with the cat 3′s as he normally does. Then I didn’t see him anymore. The next picture explains why.

water bottle and spokes don't mix

hopefully doc’s signing bonus on grey’s anatomy will more than cover his wheels and zipps for the entire team. thanks doc!

BSM SAM

Sam Klontz, from our other favorite Cincinnati Team BSM (Boy Scouts of Michigan) smoking the field!

Once again, Thanks to Jeffrey Jakucyk for the PHOTOS

oh yeh, is anybody really, really excited about cross season? I’m waiting on cross, like a kid waits for Christmas… Very poorly.

So the Pur Tour in Mason, Ohio saw two Hungarians – James O’Loughlin and myself, representing THC on a perfect, 75 degree race morning.

With the second race of the day being the Womens Cat4/Citizen race (coinciding with the Juniors race), I had the new mohawk up (eventually smushed in under a helmet, of course) and was ready to go – even after Big Dave welcomed me to the registration table with “Hey Chicken Legs!”.  

As a newbie, my goal was to simply FINISH, after failed attempts to do so at both Ault Park and the Masters race (see earlier race report).  So I lined up, the pack started off and I was in what I thought was a good spot — close to the front. Started with a solid lap on this smooth course, including a slightly more-than-annoying hill toward the end of the loop. Second lap, I was still in there. YES! Third lap, I started to lose my grip a little, and looked over to see Team Dayton ladies in a perfect, tight pace line… I was off to their right side, and not too happy about churning away with my face in the wind. So I tried to worm my way in there. I even turned my head at one point and tried to give them that sweet, pathetic look that I give to truckers in the lane I need to get into on the road while stuck at a light in my car. Apparently these Dayton girls were immune to my charms. No dice. They would not let me in. So I tried to get behind them, as an add-on to the back of their line. They knew what was up and wouldn’t let this beginner on board – they seemed to speed up every time I tried to get in on the action.  Or maybe that was just in my head? Either way, they dropped my ass like a bad habit.

Spending the rest of the race alone was a little confusing – I had no idea where I was in terms of the rest of the riders – even though one of the my cheerleaders at the start/finish yelled out “You’re in the top ten!” . I had to seriously think about how many women I saw lined up at the start of the race, because I was not sure if this was a good thing or simply my friend’s  euphemistic way of telling me I was in last place. All I could see was a handful of girls up ahead that I just couldn’t catch.

So after cursing myself for spending 15 of my 34 years smoking and ruining my lungs, I managed to survive to the final lap — and then… there on the backside of the course —  there they were: GEESE. Yes, a pack of GEESE. Did I mention that I am deathly afraid of birds? 

 The damn geese must’ve been placed there by the lead girls because they marched across the road and blocked half of it off just as myself and one other lady were trying to muster the energy to get our butts up the hill one more time. After swerving a bit and navigating out to the farthest edge of the road (I am not making this up, I swear) I foiled the feathered bastards and then decided to let the aforementioned rider pull me up said hill, only to pull around and thank her by passing her across the finish line. I know, not very nice. But seriously, I thought I was in last place, and I just wanted to finish, well, not in last place.

Little did I know (and did not know until the race results were posted two days later), I actually finished 6^th out of 15, which may not sound like much to you faster, more experienced folks, but hell, this was better than I thought I would do, and I’ll take it!

Unfortunately, I did not get to see my fellow ginger-haired THC-er James O’Loughlin take the fixed gear race by storm. But James did Team Hungry proud by placing third, I took the liberty of adding a likeness of James in the podium pic:

In addition to James’s race, his son and future Team Hungry member, Ian, made his debut on the race scene by participating in the Kids on Bikes time trial – and did a fine job, only to be afflicted with a mechanical failure, which dad James repaired for him but not before accidentally popping the toddler in the face with his own handlebars while flipping the bike for repair.

Good job, dad. Luckily no one called 241-KIDS.  Check out a great video of young Ian’s skills here.

Photos compliments of Jeffrey Jakucyk. jjakucyk.exposuremanager.com

Nobody died as far as of last report, despite the ruthless heat and climby course that made up the Southwest Ohio Master’s road race, held June 20, 2010. Yup, for you yunguns, that’s a race for those 30+ sinewy crusty riders, that took place on a hilly course akin to the Bond Rd course of Spring Series, but a helluva lot hotter! But to put it in perspective, the fastest dudes in Cincinnati are over 30, wait, they’re over 40 years old! Something to look forward too, huh? Well, if you’ve been paying attention, its no surprise the Huntington boys blew the barn doors off with some good ‘ol bait and switch tactics, then one (John Gatch) just plain powered to a solo flight win in the 40-49 group. But as you might be thinking, “Masters race, what the?”, fellow teamsters James O’Laughlin and Christa Zielke showed up to show out.  Christa bailed early after revisiting breakfast on Flick, while James lost two pantsizes and finished well and in good spirits.

James offered the following abbreviated account (I had to clean up a lot of shit for our children readers) :  ”I stuck with the lead 40-49 geezer group for 2 times up f Li ck. While charging up Flick for the second I saw Christa on the side. Apparently she was fertilizing and watering the plants with stomach fluids.  The second trip up Flick I was shat out the back like an old man dealing with White Castle. I survived 6 more laps on one of the most brutal circuits I’ve ever experienced.”

Here’s what Christa had to say: “Nerves + unbearable heat + nasty hills = bye bye breakfast! ”

“But they’re just pussies,” you say. Nope, that race was rough, just the way David Riemenschneider likes it. You had to be tough to survive this race, tougher than the leathery skin on the 50+ riders. I know cause my knee was all salt and sass just from doin’ water handups and making photos on the Flick Rd climb. Anyway, me and Thea ran H2O and I took a few snaps (shot of Christa comes from Jeffrey Jakucyk and exploited by David R. for our endless enjoyment), check it out.

What, you don't stretch after a race? Christa does.

Christa during upright portion of race.

James nearing top of Flick, nice smooth stroke, too.

I talked with Mr. Ed about hill climbing tactics, but he's a doper so I disregarded everything he said.

View from the race course. Unlikely any racers looked.

Word has it that Huntington uses motor assist on their bikes, but while there's no reason not to believe that, the button on the handlebars more likely releases a Carbocaffeine suppository from within the saddle.

The TRRG is a three day Omnium ( cumulative points race) held yearly in and around the beautiful and challenging Red River Gorge in Kentucky. This year, the Saturday road race served as Kentucky’s CAT4/5 state championship race. THC represented as Andrew Suchocki, Alex Steinker, and Zach Cahill to race Saturday’s CAT4/5 road race, Brendan Kiefer racing Saturday CAT3, Zach Cahill racing Sunday’s CAT4/5, and Scott Pardi on the injured list offering support, drunken slurs, and coffee bumps. The boys reported an amazing course(s) with excellent race organization and course support.

The highlight of the weekend goes to Andrew Suchocki who, in top form, toasted the front group by riding away from the bunch sprint!! Andrew has been on fire since St. Leon, racking up points in the Ault Park Crit Series, and this powerful finish in the Kentucky State Championship race shows it. Check out the photos showing him pulling away from the field for the last few hundred meters.

Hats off to Zach Cahill for finishing well on Saturday’s hilly course and then going back for a heavy dose of the Red River Gorge Battle on the Byway epic stage. Much fun was had by all. Scott and Alex set the tone on the Sky Bridge climb on Sunday, cheering on the winded racers, while wearing only bibs and  our new THC arm warmers. This race is so well run, and the course is awesome; next year expect alot more Hungry color in the peloton and on the sidelines. Enough talk, check some photos…

Suchocki Powers Off Front In Sprint

Suchocki Holds Em Off

Suchocki Wins Definitively

Alex, Before the Hills

Brendan in the Pack

4/5's head out

Nada Tunnel, Sunday's Entrance to the Climbs

Inside Nada Tunnel - Lit for the Race Only

4/5 race climbing through "The Red"

Zach in the lead group 4/5 race at Sky Bridge Climb

Passing riders headed to Sky Bridge Switchback

Keep Going!! At Sky Bridge Area of Climb

Alex and Scott reppin' THC in bibs and arm warmers

Zach makin' flap jacks, Scott grinding coffee

Andrew's Rocket Fuel Fit for Team HUNGRY!!

The Spring Road Race Series ended with the epic St. Leon course near Brookville, Indiana. Alex, Zach, Scott, Andrew, Nathan Kemphues, and new member Brendan Keifer (CAT3), were Hungry for action (but ended up very thirsty for water). The day was hot, the course was an 18 mile loop, country roller coaster, featuring a Paris-Roubaix sandy, wooded, wet, knarly climb, lots of rollers, wind, rough pavement, fast twisty decent, and a false flat finish. The 5′s did two laps, the 4′s did three, and the 1,2,3′s roughed it for 4 laps. The race was very challenging, but THC vet, Andrew Suchocki layed waste to any challengers for the sprint in the CAT4 race. Drews acceleration up the last set of hills before the finish broke the break group of ten including a shredded Scotty P who scraped in to 8th. Congrats to rookie Nate Kemphues who gave a solid challenge to finish 4th in the CAT5 race, HOOT HOOT!! Here are some snaps…

That is Suchocki Destroying the Break Before the Line

This is How to Finish a Race

The Nate Train Going into Last Lap

Alex Cruisin Euro Style

Zach is Done for the Day

Scott Finished, Quite Finished