weekend recap

Great weekend all around.  On Saturday, we were able to get out and, despite the nippy temps, complete our Battenkill preview ride.  It really is an epic road race course.   Can't wait for the real deal this weekend!

After the race, we had the pleasure of attending Ansel's graduation ceremony (they do it in April because the winter-term students are headed back to their regular schools).   All of the graduating seniors had to choose an adult mentor to introduce them and hand them their diploma.  I was honored that Ansel chose me.  What was really cool is that, during the ceremony, I was finally able to divulge a secret I'd been keeping for over a week, that Ansel had been chosen to attend a month-long trip to Europe in May and June to represent the US Jr. National Team at UCI Cat 2.1 Pays de Vaud Stage Race in Switzerland and the UCI Nations Cup Trofeo Karlsberg in Germany!   Needless to say, Ansel was floored! 

On Saturday, we did the first of the northeast spring "classics":  the Michael Schott Memorial Circuit Race in Marblehead, MA.   They do just two races at Mhead, the Cat 4/5 and the Pro 1-3.  We had Alden, Jonah and Noah in the 4/5's and Brendan, Ansel, Peter, Jr. and yours truly in the Pros.   In the pros, the team really worked well as we never let a break attempt get up the road without one of us in it.   When it came down to a field sprint, B and I sheltered Ansel at the front with a nice leadout down the headwind backstretch and Ansel, once again, came up with the goods taking 4th.  I'd love to see what this kid can do in a Pro field sprint without Jr. gear limitations!

But the real story of the day was Alden's breakthrough.  He rode super well the entire race, got great position in the last lap and almost won the race but for, again, Jr. gears on a downhill sprint, but I'll take an outstanding 2nd place all day long!  Here's Alden in the sprint:

If you look over Alden's left shoulder, you'll see Jonah sprinting for fourth, almost nipping the guy in red for third.  

Now on to the Hell of the Northeast this weekend:  Battenkill!

weekend recap

Hi all:

Great weekend of collegiate racing at MIT with a hillclimb TT and criterium in Princeton and Westminster on Sat and a team time trial and hilly road race in Sutton on Sunday.   We had some top results all through the team with Jonah placing 6th in the Mens B TT, TTT (with Alden and Noah) and RR, Alden 5th in the Mens B criterium and Noah placing 10th in the very tough RR.  Also, fresh from the ski slopes, our one and only girl, Turner Ramsay (KMS Cycling Team Development Team Coach, Brad Ramsay's, daughter), hopped in the Womens Intro to place 6th in the TT, 3rd in the crit and 2nd in the RR, and she's only 13!

For our Mens A guys, all weekend long they had to contend with MIT's secret weapon, former Jelly Belly Pro, Cameron Cogburn.  Brendan placed second to Cameron by 40 seconds in the hillclimb TT, which is an impressive ride since Cameron handily won both Mt. Washington Hillclimb races last summer.   Then, in the criterium, Brendan and Ansel got away in a three-man break with Cameron, but the latter proved too strong at the end and Brendan and Ansel had to settle for an impressive 2nd and 3rd.  

On Sunday morning, it was game on in the TTT, a somewhat rare event in amateur cycling that is near and dear to coach's heart.   Brendan, Ansel and Peter, Jr. put on a show in the blisteringly fast 10 mile event placing 2nd to MIT (who had 4 riders and no junior gearing!) by only 20 seconds!

Here's coach at the '85 Junior World Championships TTT in Stuttgart, Germany:

The RR was grueling for everyone as it was the last race of the weekend.  Ansel did well to mark Cameron as long as he could to finish an impressive 5th place with Will Dugan of UVM dropping everyone, including Cameron, for the win.

From here, the team takes a break from collegiate racing to do the northeast spring "Classics":  Marblehead RR this Sunday and then Battenkill the following weekend.  

Thanks!

Peter Vollers, Head Coach

Killington Mountain School Cycling Team

www.kmscyclingteam.com

weekend recap

Despite being split between the opposite corners of the US, the team came away with some fantastic results from the weekend.  On the home front, Peter, Alden, Jonah and Noah continued with eastern conference collegiate racing with the Bard College Criterium down in Red Hook, NY.   Noah was our breakthrough rider of the weekend taking 2nd in the Mens C race winning the field sprint with an RPI rider up the road (I should note that Noah is 14!):

In the Mens B race, Jonah had a great race and survived a fast pace that ended with a field of just 6 riders with a Princeton rider away solo, but one of the riders just ahead of him crashed in the last lap taking Jonah down with him.   One broken front wheel later, Jonah as out, but luckily uninjured.   

In the Mens A, Peter, Jr. attacked strong from a disintegrating field about a third of the way through the race and forced a break of 4 riders containing Ben Grass of Dartmouth, CCB rider Billy Dugan of UVM and Spencer Gilbert of Yale and the foursome eventually lapped the field.  With all of his hard work, Peter ran out of gas with two laps to go, but still hung on for 4th:

And across the country in southern California, Brendan and Ansel capped off a week of hard training with the renowned San Dimas Stage Race and they ended up with Ansel bagging the Stage 2 race, the sprint leader's jersey for a day and 5th on GC.  B was 3rd in the KOM and 10th overall.  Not bad considering the rest of the field's been racing since early Jan!  Here's Ansel winning the RR after B's break was caught on the last lap:

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Next weekend the team is all together for the race-packed MIT weekend.   Let's hope for some warmer weather! 

Weekend recap

Despite the fact that, logistically speaking, I think it's easier to take the team to Europe than it is to navigate a van and trailer in and out of NYC, the team really came up with the goods this weekend!   The big breakthrough was Jonah (Meadvancort).  Something clicked with Jonah this weekend and, for the first time, he really started to race the other racers.   Up til now, there's been lots of talk about how "he feels" in the race and about making "solid moves", which is all very helpful, but, in the end, this is bike racing and bike racing no matter how you slice it is about crossing the finish line ahead of others and that's exactly what Jonah did all weekend long with his two 3rds on Sat and a 2nd on Sun at Stevens (below)!

The other one getting his race legs on is the little green man.   Fresh from KMS Strength Coach, Josh Bullock's excellent strength training program, Ansel's been brutally strong but a bit sluggish.  Now that the strength training is starting to really assimilate, the sluggishness is receding and we're seeing the return of his snappy speed, but now with the added benefit that he can ride in the breaks.   We've had the pleasure of having young Hincapie Sportwear Pro, Robin Carpenter (riding for Swarthmore) at the races and, while both Brendan, last week and Ansel, this week, have been runner ups to Robin, the whole Mens A peloton is benefiting by having Robin in the field.  Here's Ansel away with Robin at Grant's Tomb (Columbia) where Robin edged Ansel out for the win with a massive move on the last lap:

It should be noted that Noah grabbed an excellent 8th place at Stevens on Sunday, Alden rode super aggressively both days and Peter, Jr. very much helped set Ansel up for his break with Robin by being away himself in a three-man break most of the race at Grant's Tomb.  And thanks again to Dan and Michelle Ernst for letting us crash at their lovely home in New Canaan for the weekend!

For next weekend, Ansel and Brendan leave for sunny S. California to visit and train with a buddy and to race the Tour of San Dimas Stage Race, Jonah is going to take the weekend off to spend it with his dad, and Peter, Alden and Noah and I are will trek down to Philly for the Penn/Drexel weekend.

ps:   the little green man turns 18 today.  Happy Bday Ansel!

Plan for the week

And just like that, the road season is underway!    The eastern conference collegiate season kicked off yesterday with the Rutgers' Frozen Toe weekend down in NJ.   With a very short individual TT, a nice non-technical crit and a longer circuit race with a good hill in it, this was a great way to start the road season.  Kicking off each day was young (15) Noah Barrow riding the Mens C (Div 2) category.  This is Noah's very first road racing season, so we weren't quite sure if he'd be better off in the Mens D category, but his 8th place in the circuit race on Sun ended that inquiry.  Noah's an incredibly fast read in all forms of bike racing and road is no exception.   In the Mens B, we had Alden Suokko and Jonah Meadvancort.  While Jonah's learning the subtle art of when to spend his energy wisely, he's showing great promise.  Even with a slightly ill-timed move in the crit with 1 to go, he still managed to hold most of the field off for an excellent 10th place.   While Alden had trouble getting the engine going in the raw, damp NJ air on Sat, he fully redeemed on Sun with a fantastic 4th place in the circuit race, and that's in a downhill field sprint on Jr. gears!  And never to disappoint, our Mens A riders, Brendan, Ansel and Peter, Jr. had good rides on Sat, with B 5th in the TT and 3rd in the crit after being away pretty much the whole race, and then all three put on a clinic on Sunday with B chasing Hincapie Sportswear Development Team Pro and Swarthmore student, Robin Carpenter, down after both lapped the field (in a circuit race!) only to be bested by Carpenter's last lap efforts.  Ansel took up the slack with an excellent 6th and Peter, Jr. did some great teamwork and still finished a respectable 17th.    The team is very much looking foward to Columbia's crit at Grant's Tomb this Sat and then the Stevens Institute of Tech circuit race in Mountainview NJ on Sun.  Thanks for Dan Ernst for putting us up for the weekend in New Canaan!

As always, do check out the KMS Cycling Team Facebook page for photos of the races.

For this week:

Mon:  Rest day no training

Tues:  Strength training and sprint ride at 3:30

Wed:  Road ride on cross bikes at 3:30.

Thurs:  Rest day no training

Friday:  1/2 hr opener ride.

Plan for the weekend:   Leave Woodstock by 4 pm, stop for din on way to CT.   Staying at 52 Parade Hill Lane, New Canaan, CT Fri and Sat night.  Leave New Canaan by 5:45 am on Sat morning and 8 am (after time change) on Sun morning.  Home before dinner on Sunday.  

Thanks!

Plan for the week

Great camp last week and we even made it home just as the driving was getting really treacherous.   And, just like that, the racing season is upon us with the collegiate season opener at Rutgers this weekend.   Here's the plan for the week:

Today:  rest day. 

Tuesday:   J and N strength at school;  Woodstock crew road ride on road bikes with sprints.

Wed:  interval training on trainers as the weather looks abysmal.  AD perhaps work in a strength workout with Josh.

Thurs:  rest day

Friday:  45 min opener ride:  leave for NJ no later than 5 pm, preferable at 4 pm.    

Weekend:   Here's the race:  https://www.bikereg.com/Net/18580.   Here's where we're staying:

http://homewoodsuites3.hilton.com/en/hotels/new-jersey/homewood-suites-by-hilton-somerset-FKTHWHW/index.html

Total cost for weekend will be $200 including 2 nights hotel, dinner Fri, Sat and Sun nights.   Next week, we have a place to stay so it will be cheaper.  

VERY IMPORTANT:  Can all parents please take care of the following three housekeeping items:

1)  I'LL NEED EVERYONE TO GET ME A FULLY SIGNED VERSION OF THE ATTACHED USAC EVENT WAIVER BEFORE WE LEAVE ON FRIDAY.  WE CAN USE THESE FOR COLLEGIATE RACES, SO NO NEED TO FILL OUT THAT PACKET RECENTLY SENT AROUND (sorry, Mark B!).   Also, no need to fill it out completely.  I just need it signed by a parent and the rider and I'll fill in the rest.   PLEASE FILL THESE FORM OUT IN BLUE INK SO THEY LOOK MORE LIKE ORIGINALS AFTER I COLOR COPY THEM.   THX!

2)  Kindly complete and send or drop back to me the attached medical form.   

3)  Licenses:   Looks like Alden still needs to renew with USAC and I can't seem to log into Jonah's acct.  

Thanks!

Team having a great time at the FL spring training camp!