Brookside Crit - Jeff Ryan takes 1st, and 2nd!

photo courtesy of Shutterwideopen Photography


Jeff Ryan put forth a seriously impressive effort at the Brookside Criterium. In the 4/5 race, Jeff took second place, but was not quite satisfied with that result. So, immediately after the 4/5 race was over, he was on the start line for the 3/4 race, and took the win in 3/4 race! First win of the year for STV Cycling!

As for the rest of the team? Not so good. Slattery went down in a wreck on the last lap. Romain, Yancey, and Jolivette were also caught behind the wreck. Luckily, Slattery suffered only a few scrapes and bruises, but did hit the deck pretty hard. His bike survived, which is always a good thing :-)

On a side note, the Brookside Crit was the fist of five races that are being organized and promoted by Planet Adventure Race. Team member Matthew Jordan is the driving force behind these races (PA also organizes/promotes running, inline skating, and various adventure racing events), and has made the switch from bike racer to race organizer extrodinare. Thanks to all the fine folks at Plant Adventure Race for all your hard work! Great job on your first race of the season!

Calvin's Challenge - Jeff Ryan rides 235 miles in 12hrs for 2nd place!

From Jeff Ryan: As most of you know, sanity is not a strong suit of mine. Yesterday was Calvin’s Challenge in Springfield, Ohio. This is a 12 hour road race. The concept is simple, whoever goes the farthest in 12 hours wins. About 200 people registered for the race. It started fine for me even with the rain we had for the first 65 miles. The lead group kept dwindling during the first 100 miles until there were only 4 of us left. We covered the first 100 miles in 4.5 hours. Unfortunately, that is where I got a flat tire. I should have stopped to fix it, but it was a slow leak and I wasn’t really in the mood. I kept putting air in the tire every 25 miles or so and kept going. I rode the next 100 miles by myself in 5.5 hours. At 202 miles I switched over to the short loop and got to ride with people again. With the wind we had yesterday, drafting off people again was very welcomed. I got in another 33 miles before the time expired. The 235 miles gave me 2nd place overall. The flyover at 150 miles in by the 3 fighter jets from Wright-Pat made the day.

Mygrant takes 4th at Village of Winona Criterium

Jason Mygrant was the lone St. Vincent Heart Center representative up in Warsaw for the Village at Winona Road Race & Criterium, but he wasn't going to let a lack of teammates prevent a strong showing. After finishing in the pack on Saturday's road race, Jason put in a great ride in Sunday's criterium and taking 4th place ! Great result, especially with the pack at 50 riders strong.

On a side note, STV alum Andrew Kramer, who is now living in St. Louis, MO and racing with The Hub Bicycle Company. was also racing with the 3's up in Village at Winona. Drew was on the podium at the crit an impressive 3rd place finish! Too bad we don't have him with us this year!

Race Recaps - Cerland Circuit Race / Moorsville Crit

Cerland Circuit Race - Columbus, IN: An early spring favorite, this race is held on a nice 1.4 mile loop, with a nice little 'big ring' climb at the end of each lap. Race was aggressive from the get-to, with Sustainable Energy animating most of the attacks. Team did a great job in covering nearly every move, and ensuring that we had a least one rider in nearly every breakaway attempt. With about 15 min left in the race, two riders separated themselves from the pack, and started to build a nice little gap. We decided to roll the dice, and not chase after them, assuming that they would not be strong enough to stay away for the remainder of the race. Bad gamble on our part.

Jeff Ryan digging deep to catch the break

The duo's gap quickly increased and the two were gone. Russ Reed did a nice job of getting into a second breakaway group of about 5 riders, but they were ultimately reigned in by the pack. Yancey got taken down in a last lap crash, leaving Reed, Slatte ry, Mygrant, Romain, and Ryan to duke it out in the pack sprint. Mygrant was our best placing in 12th, followed by Romain in 13th .

Mooresville Criterium - my last lap wreck at Cerland left me without a usable bike for the following days action at the Moorsville Criterium, held on a rolling one mile loop in Pioneer Park. Don't have a ton of details, but the we took nearly half of the top 10 positions! Jeff Ryan 4th, Mike Slattery 5th, Jason Romain 8th, Jason Mygant 9th. Strong showing by the Men in Black!