East Canyon

We certainly had numbers for both the 4's and 5's. 

The weather looked menacing but it cooperated during the whole race and waited until we were back at the cars before snowing.

Most of the 4's were content to parade out to the turn around and back to the climb before letting the fireworks begin. Matt wasn't about to let that happen. After setting a good pace up the first climb and then sending attack after attack on the way out, we knew not much would stick but wanting to soften the legs of a few of the good sprinters that like to go to the front and bring back the attacks. Besides, who really wants to ride for 2.5 hours in z 3 just to sprint it out? 

 On the way back, we attacked some more and even got a little help from the Spin boys to help animate the race, but in the end it came down to the final climb. A few got off the front and Tyler brought some of them back, but not all. We had 3 in the top 10 in the 4's and 3 in the top 10 in the 5's with Luper taking a strong 2nd.

Last day for Reorder

Order forms or new applications are due today. We won't be doing any other orders this year, so if you want to get something else, or know someone who wants to join the club/team, make sure you get the applications and checks dropped off to revolution today.

Last call for 2nd order and saturday rides

Deadline for the 2nd order of kits, vests, etc. is Monday, April 20th. This is the last order we will do this year, so if you have any other friends, relatives, etc. who want to get on board make sure they leave an application and check at Revolution by monday. Likewise, if you love your kit so much you want another one, or you didn't get a vest or long sleeve jersey on the first order and now you want one, Monday is the deadline. We must have checks and order forms in hand. If you're a new club member we need the whole application. If you are reordering, we just need an order form. Both are available here on the blog.

And a quick reminder that we now have over 80 members of the club. Skull Candy generously donated 75 earbuds to us, but these have all been distributed to the first 75 members of the club, so any orders from here on out will not come with headphones.

If you or someone you know wants to reorder but there's no way you'll make it to Revolution by monday, contact seth or I (matt) at skullcandyracing@gmail.com.

Also, there are quite a few saturday ride options for tomorrow. Some of us are meeting at 7:00 am at revolution for a 3-4 hr. ride. Some are going to be pre-riding the East Canyon RR course, and there's another group meeting for a afternoon ride. There should be enough options for you to get out and ride around your kids' soccer schedule, and best of all, it's supposed to be warm(er) and sunny. A nice break from the rain and sleet.

Best way to connect with others and figure out ride times, meeting places, etc. is on the facebook group.


See you out there.

matt

Tour of the Depot report

Congrats to Dave C. and Kevin P. who both had podium finishes in Saturday's circuit race. Kevin took 3rd in the cat 5 division and DC redeemed his TT dropped-chain time with a 2nd place finish in the Cat 4s. We had a good-sized group racing the cat 5s with Brandon J. putting in a good circuit race finish as well, and John P., Don B., and Mike R. also racing.


In the cat 4s we decided to race an aggressive race and try to get a break or soften-up the field since none of us are too strong in the sprint. From the first lap of the circuit race we attacked on the short climb and kept it up on the 2nd and 3rd laps as well. Seeing that nothing was going to stick we put ourselves in good position for laps 4 & 5 and tried to be in place for the final, downhill sprint. It paid off for Dave who found a good line right into 2nd place.



For Sunday's road race we decided on a similar strategy: attack, attack, and counterattack and hope something sticks. Matt got off the front with a couple of other guys going up the slight ascent on the back side of the lap back into G-ville, and they held it off for a while, but eventually the main group reeled in the leaders and despite our best efforts we couldn't get an attack to stick. The sprint finish at the end of sunday's race was similar to saturday's circuit race: downhill and fast. Unfortunately neither dave nor matt had it to pull in a podium, but we both felt good about our efforts and we're looking forward to east canyon with a little more climbing.

Lotoja and East Canyon RR registration

Registration for Lotoja 2009 (Sept. 12) opened today.


Registration is also open for East Canyon Road Race (April 25). For East Canyon you have to mail in your registration form available from the sports am website, or stop by canyon bicycles in Olympus Hills Mall.

Both of these races sell out (and Lotoja actually uses a lottery system now, with preference given to past riders), so if you plan on riding them, register now.

A couple quick updates

We just created a facebook group for Skullcandy/JSA Architects Cycling. We figured this was a better way for people to control how much they participate, converse, organize for races, rides, etc. than blasting your inboxes all the time. If you're on facebook join the group (just do a search for skullcandy/JSA and it should come up), post your photos, get in touch with others to set up rides, and have fun on those bikes.


If you didn't get a chance to pick up your kit last saturday they are still at Revolution. You can stop by anytime during regular business hours and pick it up.

And based on some demand, we are going to do one more order. Application and order form are here:

http://skullcandyracing.blogspot.com/2009/02/application-forms.html

If you have already signed up for the team/club, you just need to fill out the order form (3rd page). If someone you know is interested in signing up and didn't get a chance yet, they will need to fill out all three pages. Unfortunately we have already gone through the original 75 headphones that Skullcandy so generously gave the team, so any subsequent orders will not receive headphones.

Send application or order from and check to the address listed on the application or drop them off to Revolution.

Absolute deadline is Monday, April 20th.

Enjoy the warmer, drier weather.

Hell fo the North Race

The race lived up to it's name.
With snow coming down at the start of the 4 and 5 race, it was going to be an epic race of attrition.
Many of the racers opted to ride cyclocross rigs due to the mud and gravel conditions on the west section.
Our team controlled the 4 race which started with around 35 guys. After repeated attacks and driving the tempo, the Skull Candy team whittled it down to about a dozen riders in the final of 5 laps.
Unfortunately with many of our team going with cyclocross bikes, the gearing did not lend itself well to a bunch sprint.
We did have 4 of the top 10 spots but missed the top three by 1.
In the cat 5 race we had a 4th, a 7th and one who was just happy to finish.
We are Looking forward to the tour of the depot stage race next weekend and controlling the race and doing some damage. We should be out in full force in the 4's and 5's and getting some upgrade points.
after a bold move and attacking and being off for half of the last lap, Mike Luper built up 150 meter gap on the gravel section, but got caught by the chasing peleton with 100 meters to go and came in 4th.

the kits look great even covered in mud

Kits are in!!

The kits are in and they look sharp!

We are sorting everything out tonight and will have the kits ready at Revolution saturday afternoon between 2-5 pm for you to stop by and pick up. If you can't make it during that time, we will leave them there and you can stop by later at your convenience (or some of you have made other arrangements for drop off).

If you are racing this saturday (april 4), get in touch with us and we will make arrangements for you to get your kit tomorrow (friday) at skullcandyracing@gmail.com.


And, online registration for Lotoja opens next tuesday, April 7:

http://www.lotojaclassic.com