Plan for the week

Lots going on this week so listen up everyone!  :)

Today:  Kids/cubs ride at 4:45, riding by 5.

Tuesday:  Claremont training race (weather permitting).  We'll leave Woodstock at 4:30.   Windsor Pizza Chef for dinner.  If it's raining, I'll call it off by 3 pm.

Wed:   Ride of Silence:  http://www.rideofsilence.org/main.php.   The Start House and the club are hosting this very important easy 12 mile ride out Stage Road and back from 7 to 8 pm.   All KMS riders, including kids and cubs, are encouraged to attend. Rain or shine.  This ride will serve as our 2nd kids ride of the week.

Thursday:  Long threshold intervals on Sunrise Mt. course for KSR  4-6:30 pm.    Note, no kids ride tonight.

Friday:  1.5 hour easy ride after school.

Saturday and Sunday (both days):   Team KSR training rides.  10 am each day.    Bring money for stops, food, rain jackets and spare tube/air.   Each ride will last about 5 hours with stops.

Thanks!

weekly update

Another breakthrough race.  Although the team's been racing like crazy since late March, we really haven't had that many opportunities to race against other really good juniors.  We finally had that chance on Saturday when Hot Tubes (http://www.hottubescycling.com/), arguably the best junior racing program in the country brought four of the their riders to the Sterling Road Race down in Sterling, MA.    Ansel and Brendan would face the HT juggernaut in the Mens Cat 3 race along with the powerful Team CF riders, Peter Goguen and Austin Vincent.   Peter, Kenny, Alden and Tommy started things out racing the Cat 4 race and, if the finish line on the steep uphill homestretch were 40 meters closer, Peter would have won the race.   Notably, Kenny finished this very tough race 29th in a 100 man field.  Given that he's only been riding since April 1, that's very solid.

The big showdown came in the Cat 3 race and Brendan and Ansel were on strict orders to sit tight until at least the 2nd half of the race.  Monitor and save was the order of the day on this first warm weather race of the season.   The Hot Tubes riders were very strong and fired off attack after attack, but the huge 100 man cat 3 field worked hard to chase each move.  Then, with 3 laps to go, Brendan Rhim hit it at the bottom of the homestretch climb and only Curtis White and Brendan McCormack (son of the Frank McCormack, one of the best racers New England has ever produced) could follow.   It was two against one in the break and B had his work cut out for him as Curtis and McCormack tried to work him over.   At the finish, we saw B and Curtis round the last turn onto the climb sprinting out of the saddle trying to hold the field off.  I was standing next to Toby Stanton, the famous Hot Tubes Director, when the field caught the breakaway duo and I said, "Now watch the little gu
 y in the KMS green."   On cue, Ansel shot from the field and sprinted to the line and would have won but for one very powerful Cat 3 rider who had come stealthily up the left side and held Ansel off by about a bike length.  Amazingly, B held on for 5th in the brutal uphill sprint.   It was a great day and Toby was noticeably impressed with our team.  That means a lot to me as he has been directing and coaching his elite level junior team for a whopping 20 years and boasts more national champions and international results than any other junior program in US racing history.   Nice work boys!