On Thursday, April 15th,  a friend, Ivan, mentioned that he had been training for 10 weeks with a local biking group and Endorphin Fitness with the goal of entering the Wintergreen Ascent on May 1st.  He was going to give it a test ride on April 17th, and invited me to join him.  Since I enjoy his company, was available that day, and he offered to pick me up and take me there, I took him upon his offer.

The next morning I called “Coach Felix” and advised him of my plans. Upon hearing this, he’d advised me that I had to drop everything and train that day for the next day’s ride.  Otherwise, there was no way I’d make it to the top.  I thought this response was a little bit of an over reaction, but agreed. Read the rest of this entry »

From I-95 take the Temple Exit, turn right at the light onto Temple Ave Head South on Temple, to hwy 36, turn RIGHT on to Hwy 36 / Oaklawn blvd. Head West on hwy 36 ~ 1 mile turn Left at first light on to Lee Ave and through the Main visitors entrance. Once through the entrance turn Right onto A Ave go about ~1 turn Right at first light onto Mahone Ave go about 200 meters, turn Left at first light onto Jessup street, parking for the race is immediately to your right.

From I-295 follow South until Exit 9B, which is Hwy 36, turn Right onto HWY 36, follow 36 to the Main visitors exit, then follow directions above once through the visitors gate.

From 460, follow 460 north toward Richmond.  Turn right on the Hickory Hill Road, follow Hickory Hill Road, enter base through the Mahone gate, once through the gate, turn Right at first light onto Jessup street, parking immediately on the right

This past Friday the 7th, Tom Doyle of Team Rostello presented by Fiorucci/CyCor competed in the Virginia Senior Games two cycling events and placed 1st in the 20K Road Race and 2nd in the  5K Time Trial.

The Road Race win was special to Tom because it came down to a sprint finish. His fantastic sprint win, he contributed to having participated in the South Side Speedway – Track Races last year and attending Jeff Lockwood’s cycling skills camp this past December.

On May 2nd Brent Williamson of Team Rostello presented by Fiorucci/CyCor won the at Douthat State Park 40+ Expert MTB race . The race was 21 miles with 3 sustained climbs in the Mountains of Western Virginia. Brent attacked on the first climb then soloed to victory!

At Camp Hilbert 2 MTB race on May 8th in the 35+ Expert. A 25.5 miles race, within the first 1/4 mile I flatted and the field left Brent behind as he jumped off his bike to quickly fix a flat.  He lost about 1.5 minutes fixing my rear tire.  He proceded to pick off each rider one by one making his way to the front.  At the end of the 1st lap, Brent had already made his way to 3rd place, a minute off of the leader.  He turned myself inside out to catch 2nd place and to finally take the lead.  It was in the last 2-3 miles that he gained the lead and then came across the line in first place, beating 2nd Place by 25 seconds!

Tom Doyle placed 11th at the National Duathlon (5K run, 35K bike, 5K
run) Sunday April 25th in downtown Richmond, which qualifies him for the World Duathon in Scotland.
Tom does not have a TT bike these days, so he rode his 15 year old Specialized Epic with clip on bars and tubular Tri Spokes. This  old road bike made for an interesting comparison against the high  end TT  bikes. 25 of the 34 in Tom’s age division had nice TT bikes and most had Zip 404 or comperable wheels. With the roads still wet from the nights rain, Tom was more comfortable at speed and cornering than 15  of the 25 guys on TT bikes – thus averaging 0.5 – 2.0 MPH faster  than 15 of the fastest 25.

Way to go Tom!

XX

April 10 – 11 saw the Rostello Team color’s flying over hill, over dale, over everywhere. On the pavement and dirt of Battenkill, on the trails of Camp Hilbert, at Langley Speedway and Conquering the Canal racing was had by one and all. James and Hugh made the trip North to Battenkill where Hugh is finding his form and is racing very well . Hugh was off the front for about 20 miles with a small group. The peloton caught the break just before dirt section 7 of 8. Hugh got cramps in both legs shortly thereafter and lost contact with the group, he rode a great race. Just to make it through the first 3 sections of dirt with the main field is an accomplishment. The one thing that is always a factor at Battenkill is the wind and it was a major factor on Saturday. For more than 2/3 of the race it was blowing across the road and it was hard to find shelter in small groups. James claims is race not all that great. BUT, he enjoyed the experience so much that he is already planning next year trip.  Read the rest of this entry »