We're still here!

Despite the lack of recent activity on this blog, I'm here to assure you that the Blue Ride Design Cycling team is alive and well in 2013! No great results to brag about (yet!), but the team has been in action at the Eagle Creek Grand Prix, JWD Ceraland Criterium, Mooresville Crit, Winona Lake Road Race, and the Fort4Fitness Twilight Criterium. June looks to be a pretty slow month for racing here in central Indiana, but the action picks up in July & August, with some of Indy's premier events. Expect to see the team in action at the following races:

• Indy Crit Cycling Race & Festival  - Downtown Indy - July 13
• 2013 Indiana State Road Race - Fishers - July 20 (tentative)
• Mass Ave Criterium - Downtown Indy - August 10
• Rollfast Gran Fondo - Indianapolis - August 17th

Zionsville Criterium

The Zionsville Criterium represented the end of the 2011 road season here in Indiana. Judging by the rather sparse turnouts in all the races (we only had about 20 guys in the 3's race), most guys seemed to have 'called it a season' after the Mass Ave Crit. Nevertheless, those of is in attendance had a good time racing on the bricks of downtown Zionsville.

Yancey on the front

With the exception of Sustainable Energy/Upland Brewing, no team had more then two riders in the field. About 12 laps into the 36 lap race (this crit is the only race I've done where we race for X number of laps, as opposed to the more traditional time-based approach), Kyle Perry (Sustainable Energy/Upland Brewing) and John Schmitz (Team Indiebike) established a 20 sec lead on the field.

Riding the bricks

For the next 24 laps, Upland had a total stranglehold on the field (they had at least 4 guys left in the pack). They did a nice job of setting tempo, and responding to any attempts the field made to close the ever-widening gap of the break. Kyle and John took full advantage of the short course (just over a half mile in length), and with 8 or so laps to go the duo lapped the pack. Yancey ended up somewhere around 10th place.

Mass Ave Crit (Indiana State Crit Championship)

Great downtown atmosphere, midwest summer heat & humidity, tough racing - that pretty much sums up this year's New Belgium Brewing Mass Ave Criterium.

We had somewhere between 40-50 starters in the CAT 3, with Yancey, Mygrant, and Ryan representing Blue Ridge Design (Jolivette was hard @ work as a race volunteer). 45 minutes into the 60 min race, the pack completely shattered - the constant accelerations coming out of the >90 degree turns that this triangle-shaped course is famous for was taking it's toll on the field. With about 10 minutes to go, the lead pack had been whittled down to about 17 riders.

Yancey exiting turn 2 (photo by Scott Brooks)

Jeff Ryan in turn 1

With 1.5 laps to go, Yancey lost contact with the pack, got passed by three riders right before the finish, and ended up in 20th. Mygrant was 25th, followed by Ryan in 26th.

Video of Bloomington Crash

Here is a video of the last 5 min or so of the 3/4 crit in Bloomington. Fast forward to a the 4 minute mark, and you'll get a great view of the last lap crash from a racers perspective. Looks like the two lead riders took the turn a little too hot, resulting in at least the top 5 riders going down. Bad luck for the two hometown teams (Sustainable Cycling b/p Upland Brewing & Scholars Inn Bakehouse/Team Tortuga) who both lost riders to the crash.

HMBA Century

No racing this weekend, so instead Yancey, Jolivette, Reed, Ryan, and team sponsor John Meade (Leeuw Oberlies & Campbell, P.C) supplemented with a hilly 100+ mile ride through south central Indiana, thanks to the fine folks at the Hoosier Mountain Bike Association. The HMBA have been putting on this grueling late summer century for the past couple of years, slightly tweaking the course each year to help keep things interesting. This year we hit nearly all the infamous climbs of the region, including Bear Wallow, Greasy Creek, Owl Creek, and the nastiest of them all, Boltinghouse Rd. We also rode the 'roller coaster like ride' around Lake Sweetwater, and the rollers along the southern edge of Lake Lemon. Being a road century put on by mountain bikers, the organizers couldn't resist putting in one hard packed gravel road climb, up S. Haasetown Rd. We hit a majority of the hard climbs in the first 50 miles, had a quick stop at Revolution Bike & Bean in Bloomington for some fluids and grub, and headed back north for the final 57 miles back to our starting point in Franklin. Big thanks to HMBA on a fantastic job of designing/marking the course, providing 7 SAGs - all free of charge :-).

Map of first half of the ride http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/42770636 & second half of the ride http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/42768018

Indy Crit

The 2nd annual Indy Crit has quickly become one of the 'must do' races in Indiana. I mean, how many other times to you get to race on wide, closed off streets in downtown Indy? This year featured a sweet new figure-8 course (which still retained the bricked section of Market Street & the NW quadrant of the circle from last year's course), and a great festival-like atmosphere with vendor booths, Flat 12 beer garden, misting tents for the racers, a decked out Mini Countryman pace car courtesy of Dryer Reinbold, and a pro-like start/finish line sandwiched between University Park and the Federal US Court House.

The pack hitting turn 1 early in the race.

There were 90 racers that lined up for the 3/4 race, including Yancey, Reed, Ryan, Mygrant and Romain. The fast pace, crashes, and 90+ degree temps resulting in just under 50 racers finishing the race, with Mygrant being our top finisher in 17th place. Yancey slid into the top 5 with 3 laps to go, but feel victim to cramps that had him barely hanging on, to finish at the back of the main field. Romain also finished safely with the pack. Ryan and Reed both had their day cut short as a result of being caught behind multiple crashes. A big thanks to Team Nebo Ridge for all their hard work in making this race such a great event - can't wait to come back next year!

Yancey

Reed

Romain & Mygrant

Mygrant working with a Team IndieBike rider to chase down a mid-race break.

The Scholars Inn Bakehouse Cycling Festival

The Scholars Inn Bakehouse Cycling Festival (formerly know as the 'Bloomington Grand Prix'), a criterium held in the shadows of Indiana University, has traditionally not been a kind race to our team. It seems that we've always had nothing but bad luck, mostly in the form of crashes. Last year alone, we had three of our four riders hit pavement. The combination of large fields and a rather tight, technical course has a tendency to lead to much skin being donated to the asphalt.

The pack entering turn 1 on the first lap.

This year, Jason Mygrant finally broke our jinx, by missing massive carnage in turn two of the final lap and squeezing into the top 10 with a solid 8th place finish!

Mygrant giving us a nice demonstration on cornering. Yes, his inside pedal is down (technically incorrect), but let's assume he's laying down the hammer and pedaling through the turns!