Gung Ho/Spring House Cycling

4-20-10

noreply@blogger.com (SeanM) — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 00:04:00 +0000

Thanks to all that made it out to our first Tuesday ride. There was 9 or 10 of us and we covered 26 miles at about 16 mph average. No pictures and no GPS data yet, but that will be coming soon. Tom C. won the wheelie contest hands down covering probably 15 meters-Joe O. tried but just couldn't out wheelie the old pro.

4-19-10

noreply@blogger.com (SeanM) — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 00:27:00 +0000

4-19-10
Here is our ride data for today(yes Jay click here)
Tonight we had a small but good crowd.
Ryan on his Fixxie( how does he do that?)
Mike B on his first official group ride( hope to see him back for more, you too Angie!!)
Natalie testing the waters, she just completed her first ever triathalon last weekend and is a Team in Training partner with GHSH team member Kayla Redding. Glad to have you all out and hope to see more of you next week. Next week we will be moving our start times to 6:00 PM.

On another note here is a good podcast if you have the time to listen it is worth it.

Thanks for reading and hope to see you next week!

Fair Hill

noreply@blogger.com (SeanM) — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 11:33:00 +0000

Fair Hill April 11 2010
Mark Lentz -15th Sport Master 1
Mike Nardelli-24th Sport SS open
Dave Frey-8th Sport Vet 2

Kayla's first Tri

noreply@blogger.com (SeanM) — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 02:17:00 +0000

Tri for Life Hempfield PA April 11th 2010

Kayla Redding
11th out of 74 women
4th out of 20 in age group (females 20-29) missed 3rd by 19 seconds (ouch)
62 overall out of 164 entries.

Awesome Work!!

The Beginning

noreply@blogger.com (SeanM) — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0000

We had awesome weather tonight for our first official beginner road ride. We started the evening by going over some basic road etiquette and talked about some important items to bring along in case of mechanical' s or flats. We will continue to touch base with any new faces as they become new to the group so please be patient with us, we really feel that these are some important topics to help you enjoy your rides.

Tonight's group almost instantly meshed well and reminded me of why cycling is so awesome. It brings people together and reduces any type of barriers that might inhibit socializing. I may have a biased opinion on this, but it is only formed from my experiences.

Our ride Data will be posted here every week if you are interested in seeing what we are doing .
Click Here to see tonights data.

Keep in mind that average speeds from week to week will possibly fluctaute and cater to the group as a whole. We do our best to accommodate everyone and make sure that no one gets dropped.

Thanks to all that joined us tonight and hope to see you all again soon.

Thanks to the all who showed up.

Mary

noreply@blogger.com (SeanM) — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 23:34:00 +0000

Marysville 4/3/10

GHSH sent two teams up to the Osterling Farm for a day of fast paced relay action. This is my first time on the farm and it was a super fun day. It was like a cyclocross reunion a few months early for me. I generally tend to lay back for the mountain bike season and focus only on cross.

We couldn't have asked for a better day weather wise ( sunny and temps reached the low 80's Awesome!) , and I couldn't have asked for a better group to spend it with.

We started the day meeting at the shop and instantly started giving MO a hard time. We had a little undercover T-Shirt operation and made a shirt in his honor.

Sorry MO we just Couldn't resist!! I m sure there will be plenty of payback for that one.
.
Lots to say about the race but here is the real short version.The Lemans start was delayed by about 40 minutes and everyone was anxious to get the day going. GHSH-Alien Agenda ( Dave F, Mike B, Mike N and Matt O)and GHSH- Atomic Raygun (Clark E, Greg L, Izzy M, and Sean M) . Both teams raced hard and had lots of good times and smiles. The course itself was pretty fast with a good mixture of tight twisty rooted single track with plenty of logs, and even a up and over bridge along the creek. AT the end of the day Team GHSH-Alien Agenda completed 13 laps respectively with GHSH- Atomic Raygun completing 16 laps in 4 hours. As of now the results are still not updated with corrections to our laps times.

It was a super fun day and hope to return next year.

Return from hibernation

noreply@blogger.com (SeanM) — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 20:31:00 +0000

I typically ride with no type of cycling computer or even a HR monitor. I am picking the wrong time of year to use a Garmin Edge 605 to gather some ride data.

I went out today with a goal of doing two hours at a "base" pace and headed east to start. The good thing about that is that I had a nice tailwind the whole way out 462 but I think we all know the bad end of this deal. I figured that I could just try to pick a route that required allot of climbing so I wouldn't notice the headwind so much. Either way it I would suffer, I just prefer suffering on climbs to flat headwind.

Needless to say I could not keep my eyes from checking my speed, exactly why I don't ride with computers of any type. This only makes me feel like I should be going much faster than I was and potentially hurting myself in the the long run.

It was still great to be out and not sitting inside on the trainer. It will be nice when warmer weather is here and rides are longer and stronger.

BYOB Party at Gung Ho Bikes

noreply@blogger.com (SeanM) — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 16:19:00 +0000

Here is a video of our Thursday "BYOB" indoor trainer workout. Come join the fun. Please call 852-9553 to reserve a trainer.

Guild of Craftsman

noreply@blogger.com (SeanM) — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 03:39:00 +0000

We are looking forward to a brand new year here at Gung Ho bikes and will be kicking it off with some indoor trainer rides(See past post for details). If the trainer rides are of no interest to you Jay has been tirelessly perfecting the art of jewelry making , and is considering offering classes.

Todd Wells cross machine

noreply@blogger.com (SeanM) — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 04:13:00 +0000

Here is a nice write up on the bike that Specialize rider Todd Wells used for nationals.

the 2010 cross season is only 10 months away!

Cheers

Gung Ho bikes indoor trainer rides!

noreply@blogger.com (SeanM) — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 03:00:00 +0000

Gung Ho Bikes will be offering indoor trainer sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays starting January 5th. Call ahead to the a trainer or bring your own(you will also need your own bike ) . Call 852-9553 for questions oor to reserve a spot.
or email to smealey3@yahoo.com.

The End

noreply@blogger.com (SeanM) — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 19:45:00 +0000

12/05/09

The Rockville Classic cyclocross race marked the end of the 2009 season for the GHSH team.

As I packed the car for one last adventure , I could not help being both a little bummed and relieved at the same time. I had an up and down year as far as results go, but was actually starting to get back into the cross groove again.

I started heading up the road and gave Greg the routine phone call and checked to see if he was planning on making it. He was feeling the effects of a cold so I tried to be sympathetic when trying to convince him to come out for the last race of 09. While talking to him I stopped to get a caffeine fix and realized that I forgot my wallet, dam. Being the nice guy that he is Greg offered to bring it up for me, this meant he was planning on racing. Awesome!! Needless to say my wallet never made it. Long story.

Back to what you really came here for . The weather man(person=pc) hit it on the nail and it snowed! The snow and a well laid out course made it a classic cyclocross racing true to the origin of cross.

When I arrived it was only snowing lightly and as I pre-rode the course I made some adjustments to my tire pressure and thought my bike was ready to go, now it was time to warm up inside the cozy Lions Club building. Kelly Cline came in and gave me a bunch of shit for warming up inside and that I would be sorry when I had to go out into the cold trusted that it would be fine and waited until 15 minutes to go to head outside, When I stepped outside to head to the start it was a whole different scene, the snow picked up and was coming down hard. Dam!!! It didn't seem to be laying on the grass so I thought that it would be fine. I saw Fatmarc doing some "start" practices and he had a big Game face on, I knew then that he would be the one to watch, along with Piccilo and Cline, but Marc seemed to be on a mission.

When we lined up for the start I was caught sleeping and started last row. Nice!! The main contenders were sitingnicely on the front row ready to blast the road start and hit the grass first. Oh what the hell! It was the last right and I was just here to have fun right? So we started up the pavement, hit the climb
and guess who I see off the front already and into the grass? Yeah "Fatmarc" wasted us on the road , hit the grass with a nice lead and never looked back. As for me I hit the grass and knew I was going to have a long race. I was unable to handle my bike well and got caught up in a small crash in the third corner. I saw the front guys up there starting to put a little gap on the rest of us, and this was only the first lap. No worries hopefully they will fade. The first lap was just no fun at all for me. I was terrible at cornering and my hands felt like they were going to fall off already. I went by Blake Bricker and told him I would rather be home on the coach, and at that point I really meant it. As the race progressed , I started making smarter moves, running what others struggled to ride. I started getting into a groove and making up some lost ground. I ended up fighting it out with C3'S Lillibridge,Kessel and Moats and ended up 6th. By the end of the
race I was having fun and but my hands were in pain from being wet and cold.I know, time to HTFU. Marc won and Kelly out sprinted Joe, wish I would have been close enough to see that one. So that was it , the last one of 09 for me, Next up was Greg.

I didn't get to stick around for Greg's race but I got the low down from him later. He raced the 1,2,s . He had a hard fought battle with Zach trading positions throughout the race, bettering him in the technical sections only to be out powered on the back "power" section of the course. He ended up 3rd. Nice work and super end to his season.

Bay Watch

noreply@blogger.com (SeanM) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:37:00 +0000

Greg took a lonely stroll to the Beaches of Beacon to do more sand running than David Haselhoff.

Another day of bad start and missing his pedals led him chase hard on the long road to the wooded section. He entered the woods in the top 10 and raced hard to finish right in 10th place.

This Saturday is Fair Hill sponsored in part by Springhouse brewing company!

See you there!

DCCX 10-25-09

noreply@blogger.com (SeanM) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 02:35:00 +0000

Tough day at the office on this one. Weather was completely different from the previous weekend, but we all decided we like mud much better.

I blew my start and tried to make up for it by going 100% for the first lap. I made some tactical mistakes as well as gearing fudgery, and suffered the consequences. I have to chalk this one up as a learning experience, even though I know better.Hind sight is always 20/20.

Amy had another good day and ended up on the podium for the cat 4 woman race. Nice work as she begins to taper for the Philly marathon.

We also discovered 2 things.
1. The Subaru can hold at least a dozen wheel sets .
2. Don't use a GPS in DC to find a Chipolte.

Reults:

3/4 Men
51-Izzy M
67-Clark E

4 woman
5th- Amy M

1/2/3 Masters
15- Sean M

1/2/3/Men
16th-Greg L

3/4 Helmet Cam Video

noreply@blogger.com (SeanM) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 13:54:00 +0000

Clear shot of Clark's start thanks to the guys at http://www.cxhairs.com/

Falling Up

noreply@blogger.com (SeanM) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 02:35:00 +0000

Saturday Oct 17-Granogue MAC

This was one of those days that seem to make you walk away knowing why you continue to do this. The day was full of epic racing and more importantly, it was about being surrounded by a ton of people that love this sport. Riders of all levels pouring their hearts into racing in conditions that most would call just crazy or nonsense. I never saw so many smiles and happy attitudes,accepting the hand that was handed to them. The promoters of the race were the absolute best at brushing this off as just another race day and a big fat "eff you mother,what else have you got" attitude. The cross community is pretty glue like and it showed in huge way. It one of those "you had to be there" days, that can not be re-fabricated. Enough with my rant and roll here are some highlights and results of the day.

Highlights: (no particular order)
three days of rain= classic cross conditions.
new and improved course for 09.
heckling with Skip.
being Heckled by Skip, Izzy, Clark and Greg, Mike, etc.
seeing Justin B and watching him tear it up on the course.
watching Clark and Izzy race their asses off and getting good results.
pitting with Skip beside the one and only Richard Sachs.
hanging with the the GHSH crew.
Cant say that I had fun watching Gregs sprint finish but everything prior was on the edge of your seat, bad ass racing!!

Results:
Cat 4 Men
Izzy-17th
Mike H-45th

2/3/4 Masters
Clark-14th

2/3/4 men
Greg-4th

1/2/3 Masters
Sean-27th

I chose to only leave links for the copious amounts of photos (far too many to choose from) but here is an one of my favorites.

http://www.mlkimages.com/2009-Sports/Granogue-Cyclocross-2009
http://www.pbase.com/dens/cyclocross_09
http://www.cyclingcaptured.com/2009-Cycling-Season/Cyclocross

Granogue part 1

noreply@blogger.com (SeanM) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 01:21:00 +0000

Kelly Acres 3/4 Masters "helmet cam " video

noreply@blogger.com (SeanM) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 02:32:00 +0000

You can see Clark in this one. Awesome video from the guys at http://www.inthecrosshairs.com

Ed Sanders Memorial CX 1/2/3Masters Video

noreply@blogger.com (SeanM) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 02:20:00 +0000

The team gets a little plug closer to the end!!

"They are outta here ,like kids at a fire drill in a Brooklyn elementry school "

noreply@blogger.com (SeanM) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 13:19:00 +0000

A few of us hit the "Kelly Acres" race on Sunday.It was a mountain bikers course with lots of challenging corners, descents , climbs and logged barriers for hopping(that's right, NO dismounting required) They even had "fly over that added some excitement to the day.

Izzy started his day bright and early and this course suited him well. He worked his way through the pack and ended up finishing a strong 18th place. He seems to be getting his cross legs on and sounds excited for whats to come.

Next up was Clark in the 3/4 Master's. I think Jay rubbed his "riding Funk"(no not junk) on both Clark and I this week because we both had no desire to race. Clark started mid pack and yoyo'd back and forth for most of the race and ended up 31st. The winner in his race was driving it hard every lap and ended up with a 45second advantage by the end, so everyone behind him pushed the red line. I wanted to label this guy a sandbagger but when I realized he did it single speed I changed my tune. I think Clark can be proud for finishing strong on an "off" day.

I went next and had that same "Jay Funk". I started really slow and then blew up because I was unknowingly in the big ring for things I shouldn't have been. I had lots of moments of feeling pukeish and just plain hurt, I had no gas when I needed it, no desire to chase someone that just passed me. I finally settled in with two guys that ultimately passed and beat me, but fought not to loose anymore than that. BAck to the Sublime Athletic drawing board.

Amy was next after debating racing. She started out mid pack , but got into a groove and started picking them off every lap. She used her running fitness and mountain bike skills to overcome all but two competitors ending up third. Its a good thing that she did a nice easy day on Saturday with a 20 mile run.

Less than two weeks until Granogue!!! stop back for some more photos.

noreply@blogger.com (SeanM) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 02:55:00 +0000

Here are two weeks worth of results and photos( sorry I have been slacking on the posting.

Last weekend Greg and Mike Hoffman made the trip to " Nittany Cross"for Saturdays race . Greg overcame a large group of starters in the 2/3/4 race and worked his way up to a solid 7th place finish. He is right where he left off before his sabbatical leave in 08. Mike lined up with the 80 or so cat 4 men and ended up 56th.

Clark and I made the Charm City race on Sunday and all I can say is WOW!! This course was always one that I liked, but after this year it ha become one of my top two (Granogue usually wins ) . It is now a UCI event which forced them to reformat a section that once contained barriers. I have to admit I was no big fan of the old section , but what they did with it was pretty creative and made the course flow much better. A "Belgian style" set of dirt stairs added a nice, but pain full touch.

Mikes race went off first and he started with 125 other cat 4 men, and ended up 56th place after a little mishap with the barriers. Clark raced with 125 other guys in the 3/4 Masters, and started in the second to last row. He worked his way up through the field and settled in a little around mid 30's, but with one to go he fought hard and finished a respectable 31st place. He has been working his ass off and is set to have a year of good results.

I raced later in the day in the 1/2/3 Masters. My start was not so bad considering I was lined up close to the back . The problem is that when we reached the first corner everyone hit the breaks and the first 30 or so guys were up the road ( or should I say grass) . I worked hard the first two laps and settled in a little trying not to go backwards. With three laps to go I cramped really bad on the stair section . I hoped that I could work through that for the remainder of the race, and tried to maintain my spot. With a little over a lap to go Dave Weaver catches me after what must have been a bad mechanical followed by a furious chase. Dave is a former pro Mtn biker and I just tried to latch on and go his strong pace. We caught and passed at least 3 guys and I started to fade after the barrier section, but somehow I caught back up to Dave before the finishing road section, and we had a nice little sprint. I ended up 29th on the day and felt ok with that. The MAC series is no joke and makes a tough rider out of anyone that does one.

9/26/09

Greg took the trip to north Philthy area to do the " Whirly bird" cross . He races the 1/2/3 race and raced in no mans land chasing some of the regions finest racers around to end up 9th place.

9/27/09

Izzy and I made it down to the muddy Lilly ponds for the " Ed Sanders memorial race" . I got there just in time to see Izzy start behind the 90+ cat 4 guys. He used his Mountain bike skills and worked his way through the mess to end up 47th. He said that he wants to back down to score some "fried Twinkies".

I did the 1/2/3 Masters and had a descent start position, but chose a bad gear to start in , I used the wide sweeping prologue to get back up to the top 10 area. We hit the barriers and I could hear someone hit the deck behind me ( sorry Marc) When we got to a rideable mud section I picked a good line and worked up to 3rd. When we entered the actual Lilly pond area, I came around the corner and then to a dead stop as guys like Chris Auer were off the bike running(shit, it wasn't like this when I pre-road it 1.5 hours before) I tried to limit my losses and maintained a top ten position most the race. I ended up with 8th place but more importantly happy that the work that I am doing seems to be on track.

photo courtesy of Kevin Dillard www.demoncats.com

thanks and see you next week!!

37 days

noreply@blogger.com (SeanM) — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 15:46:00 +0000

The count down to the first race begins ladies and gents. Time to turn up the heat at Cross practice.

This week we had the same cast of characters minus one. We worked on some cornering and hit the barriers over and over . Then it was on to barrel racing and everyone agreed that it was a tough, but good drill.

We ended the night with some more "grass track" and then scoped out next weeks plan of the run up. Four more weeks to make ourselves crave the pain that cross brings. I for one wait all year for this pain,but hard to say what my body feels. We shall see.

thanks for stopping

SM

Pirate

noreply@blogger.com (SeanM) — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 02:19:00 +0000

Had our very 1st "cross Clinic" tonight at a secret location known to only a few. It was great to be back on the cross bike again .

Greg L, Mike H, Clark E, and myself set up a nice small track on the soccer field only to be chased off after a whole 10 minutes of getting into a nice flow. We gathered up the gear and moved elsewhere. You might be able to slow this train down, but you cant stop it.

We found another section of on the "grounds" and started flowing again. We did some barrier work also worked on some run ups. It has me even more excited for cross , but I am far from ready. I felt good on the grass and run ups were fine. I need a little fine tuning on barriers also. Only 6 weeks to go.

Gung Ho / Spring House should have a small yet strong showing when the action starts. Mike H is gearing up for his first serious season of cross and is on the right track. CLark seems more focused than I have seen him and was awesome to see him getting punchy. Greg L is coming back to cross after a year off . This is a guy who won his first ever cross race in 2005 and has been hooked ever since. He is a fierce competitor , but a hell of a guy. Its good to have him back and I look forward to chasing him around at practice.

See you next week.

Cyclocross schedule for 2009

noreply@blogger.com (SeanM) — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 22:07:00 +0000

Fall is rapidly approaching . Its time to get ready for mud,barriers , and Belgian waffles( or beer)

here are the 2 prominent schedules for the mid-atlantic region.

9/27 - Ed Sander Cross - MABRAcross #1
10/3 - BCA Cross - MABRAcross #2
10/4 - Kelley Acres Cross - MABRAcross #3
10/25 - DCCX - MABRAcross #4
11/8 - Tacchino Cross - MABRAcross #5
11/15 - Urban Cross - MABRAcross #6
11/21 - Howard County Double Cross (Schooley Mill) - MABRAcross #7
11/22 - Howard COunty Double Cross (Rockburn) - MABRAcross #8
11/29 - MABRAchamps - MABRAcross #9

MAC cross 09 schedule

9/19 Nittany Cross
9/20 Charm City Cross
10/17 Granogue Cross
10/18 Wissahickon Cross
10/31 Beacon Cross
11/1 Highland Park Cross
11/7 Fair Hill Cross
11/21 Long Island Cross
11/22 Long Island Cross
12/6 Capital Cross Classic

Michaux Curse of Dark Hollow

noreply@blogger.com (Gung Ho Bikes) — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 22:23:00 +0000

Yesterday's Michaux race had beautiful weather, low humidity, highs in the 80's - racers had 3 options, a 10, 20 and 40 mile loop. I did the 40 miler, and other GHSH'ers did the 20. I rode my only currently assembled mountain bike, a 2003 Kona Unit 26" single speed with rigid surly 1x1 fork. After this race, I've decided that Michaux is definitely not the place I want to be racing rigid- and based on the bone rattling, I think I'll change to a suspension for the Wilderness 101 (August 1st).

The race went well with me endoing while trying to find a place to pass a couple of people in the first 45 minutes, I bent-or-jammed-or-broke my right index finger and then slowed things down for a little bit. I caught back up to a handfull of single speeders before we got to the lake and I started to feel better and pick up the pace. By the end of the race I was dragging, but when I reallized I was at the end, I actually had a lot of juice to race it to the finish. My time was 5 hrs 19 minutes. Overall I was very pleased with the day as this was the first endurance race I've done where I didn't have a period where I was basically misserable and I didn't cramp! I think being on the single speed had a lot to do with that as I went from sitting to standing a lot and the hike-a-bike sections gwave me a chance to give my back a rest. All-in-all a great day and make me less nervous and more excited for the 101.

MK