World's, pt. 1
Da-dum... Da-dum... Da-dum...
Get. Some.
The time is near. This is what it's all about. The greatest stage of them all as far as we're concerned.
The World Championships...
Cuttin' Crew will be rollin' in big. Stay tuned for the latest on this sure to be adventure...
Yojimbo's rules.
So we have some cool sponsors. That's no secret. Few might realize, however, that we not only have a great shop helping us at Yojimbo's, but we also have the wisdom and guidance of a national treasure. Well known and renowned across the fixed-gear, track, road, and urban riding scene throughout this city and country, Marcus is the man when it comes to helping out his team, his scene and his community.
Recently there has been a great effort put into helping develop a juniors track racing program for kids in the city of Chicago. Track racing is a beautiful thing but intimidating and difficult to get into without proper resources and guidance. With the assistance of a wonderful group of people, including Chicago's great West Town Bikes, a new junior specific team called the Yojimbo's Track Cats has come to fruition. We are very proud of the work he is doing and we are also proud of the noteworthy effort being made by the Cuttin' Crew's own, Brean.
If you're looking for some more reasons to smile today, check out some photos from practices down at Pershing and Cottage Grove. We will provide updates intermittently. For more information on the project, check out the news bit at chicagobikeracing.com.
That there Memorial weekend
MOLLY!! MOLLY!! MOLLY DAMMIT!!! WE HAVE YOUR PHOTO!!!Our lovely li'l Lady of the Cuttin' Crew nabbed 4th place at the rather renowned "Cage Match" Quad City Crit held on Memorial Day!
Thanks to our xXx friend Brian Morrissey and our teammate Ben for the photos.
This is Snake Alley...
This is Adam eating up Snake Alley...
Adam is made of helium. Dude dropped his chain and still flew around the snake to claim 6th in the 4's. THEN he came back for 7th in the Melon City Crit! (Snake photo by Brian, Adam shot by Ben)
Max had a great weekend of performances claiming 6th in the Snake's 5's and then 4th in the Melon City Crit the next day. (photo by Brian)
Dr. Morell fared well in the Snake, nabbing a top ten slot in the 5's and bouncing back for a 5th place finish at Melon City Crit. (photo by Brian)
Chicago Bike Racing's cover boy, Mr. Fietz found himself a finish in the Snake and came back for the 8th best performance at Melon City's Criterium. (photo by Brian)
Jeff got dressed up. Then he got drunk. (both pics by Ben)
Stan was heard but never seen. Sorry Stan. The man came back from a wreck at the start of the Snake and flew in a rage up to about 15th place. That was kinda awesome.
Week in Review...
Kenosha Opening Night (Washington Park Velodrome)
Tuesday, 5/20
Photo courtesy of Half Acre's Ed White
Cuttin' Crew was aglistenin' Tuesday with Ben, Andrew, and Al
Ben ran the blocking in the Cat-4 field, helping Al get 1st Place in the Scratch Race and 2nd Place in the Miss-n-Out
Andrew hopped in the 3's Scratch and claimed 4th Place.
Northbrook Thursday Races Presented by Turin (Ed Rudolph Velodrome)
Thursday, 5/22
Photo courtesy of adam spartacus
Brynn was undefeated in her track career until the third race when she got second. At no point was she aware of what she was doing. The girl just likes to ride in circles really fast. Here's her career resume thus far:
10 Lap Tempo: First
21 Lap Points Race: First
10 Lap Scratch: Second
Phil Liggett Loves the Cuttin' Crew! Big ups to Turin and Sram for bringing him out for commentary!
Madison...Ohhh the Madison. A beautiful race. Even better if you're in the CCC jersey.
We only had two teams entered. Al and Andrew played a great game of tag to claim 1st place. Stan and Jeff played part in a "Brilliant exchange by Schultz and Perkins of the Cutting Crew" on their way to 2nd place. There's no "g" Phil, regardless, thanks for making my life.
After a great showing in the Madison, we had Brean, Daryl, Stan, Adam, Andrew, Jeff, and Al toe the line for a 10 lap tempo. Stan got his wind back to win the very hard-paced race set up by Daryl.
Not much luck in the third event of the night, the Miss-n-Out. Couldn't sneak any of the six guys in the final but it has been a long night/week...(excuses, excuses)
Big props to Stan for coming through with the best cumulative performance of the night.
Northbrook Opening Night
So last week we went up to the Ed Rudolph Velodrome in the lovely Village of Northbrook. It was a chilly 50 degrees. We were in spandex. I'm sure there's something in between but I'll let the photos and results speak for themselves. (Big thanks to our flickr friends: xxxracing, Fedo and Ring, and ewwhite).
First and foremost, I'm trying to find a picture with Molly where she is NOT smiling. Awesome.
Cuttin' Crew males included Al, Andrew, Adam, Ben, Jeff, Max, Stan.
First Race was a 10 lap scratch. First one across the line after 10 laps wins, nice and simple...
Al got 1st according to the crowd, but the people with the pen and papers deemed him 2nd one across the line.
Jeff got 3rd.
Second race was a Win-n-Out...
"The race gets underway from a rolling start (usually 2-3 neutral laps.) When the riders hear the bell, they are racing for the win. The second lap is for 2nd place and so on." - Northbrook flier.
It's kind of like trying to sucker punch Mike Tyson. You just really hope your first punch works or else you're gonna be really hurtin'.
Stan came through for 2nd place.
Third race was a 15 lap points race. You get a set amount of points for every placement you get on only certain laps. Confused? Try officiating it.
Jeff pulled 2nd place.
Al claimed 3rd.
The results of the "Omnium" were as follows:
1st Place was a tie between Henry (HENRY!!!) from Team Pegasus and Al from Cuttin' Crew.
3rd Place went to Jeff
WE DEMAND FEWER RIGHT TURNS!
Thursday night, May 15th, is opening night at Nortbrook Velodrome! Here is the flier for opening night! It's FREE for race entry!!!! (Remember you must be Category 4 or higher to race Thursday nights)
Ed Rudolph Velodrome is our closest Velodrome as it is located in the northwestern suburb of Northbrook. Despite construction and planning headaches, we'll be going out there to have a big debut for the Crew. Logistics will guarantee to be another pain but we've been waiting for this for a while.
Spectator fees are low but necessary to help things like this go. It looks like $2 gets you access but, if you can print one, you should totally grab this coupon and a friend, cause they'll get in for free. Don't have a printer? Hit us up in the comments or send us one of them electronic letters and we'll have some waiting for ya!
As long as you're not feeling shy, let's take another opportunity to plug the coolest fund-raiser since sliced pie... We'll be sure to bring some for those interested.
If you're curious what it takes to race on the velodrome, definitely check their website. Also, they have a checklist of rules and etiquette for you right here.
A little soiree
426 brand? They're a branding/clothing company that makes good stuff and always has their finger on the pulse. We didn't just ask anyone if they would help us out to get this whole race team project off the ground, we asked the cats we knew were with it and whom we would be proud to represent. Robbie came through with no questions asked. Who's Robbie? Who's 426? What exactly is a good time? Clear your calendar for the 17th and you can find out...
Hey Bonebell, I'm looking at you guys when I think about this one...
No Babies Yay!
By Jeff 5/03/2008
It took a considerable amount of last minute planning but we finally got the majority of the team together to head on down to the Village of Winona for what would be everyone's first road race (well, everyone's first road race except for Adam, Andrew and Al).
Logistics were a pain because we had 11 people going, 10 bikes and 9 jerseys. If time permitted, we could pull it off with everyone wearing jerseys and riding a bike. If you haven't figured out by now we're not the wealthiest types so we have a bit of sharing to do.
The women's race went first and we all obnoxiously shouted Molly and Brynn on their way for what would be quite an interesting experience. The course was set up as 4 laps on an 8.8 mile route with 30-40 mph headwinds and nasty crosswinds. It took what would seem a modest 30 or so minutes for lap one to complete but everyone was together as they rolled by. You could see a break develop with two Get-A-Grip ladies and one other woman I can't remember but they were all blazing by with our ladies right in tow. Bradley and I were working on a plan to nab the jersey off of Molly and Brynn's backs right when they finished when we noticed them coming around for lap two. I saw Molly pull off to the side. I ran up to see what was wrong and she gave a "you don't want to know" expression and left all 9 of us guys a little bit wiser as to the ways of a woman.
I'll never forget how urgent all of us were about "Molly?! What's wrong?!" "What can we do to help?!"
"I just got my period."
You could see every guy's expression, "Ohhh…um…Brynn? Brynn's gone? Oh, right, there's a race going on. Ummm. Do your tires have enough pressure? Gears working all right? Yeah? Okay. Well. Um. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help out there kiddo."
Eventually the Get-A-Grip woman came back for the win (Yeah Chi-town!) and then the other came back from a flat for third. Bradley grabbed Molly's jersey and Brynn was still wearing mine while we both waited anxiously for her bike. I felt bad knowing Brynn would have to finish and pull right over so I could take my jersey back and Bradley could grab Brynn's (actually it was Brean's) bike, but our race was already lining up and we had to get going! Brynn finished after riding a solo tour through hellacious winds for about 25 miles, she claimed 5th place for the Crew and you could tell she was glad to get done.
"Really? That sucks!!" was her response to Molly's, um, situation.
Adam, Andrew, Al, Bradley, Daryl, Ben, Mike, Max, and I were standing in front of the pack as we got the rundown and let out on the course. A bunch of guys were up front and Max shrugged his shoulders, "just go," he said to Bradley and me so we turned up the pace and, my god, it never let up. Bradley was having a tough time with his chain rubbing and I remember being bummed out at having to hear that the whole race. We turned out of the tailwind to a real nasty gust of head/crosswinds. After about a mile our guys let the group catch up and Al went on a counter-attack. I was hung out in the crosswind so I got no break but the pack had to respond. Al was a horse for about 3/4s of the first lap and once the pack caught Bradley and I went after it again.
This was the recipe for us through most of the race: go out and don't let the group get a break. It was gassing me big time and everyone around seemed to be so strong. In reality, Andrew jumping out followed by Adam jumping out and then Daryl jumping out and then Al jumping out was just beating the pack to a pulp. I was getting tired just staying in the group let alone switching leadouts. Eventually Andrew told me to just relax and take it easy for a sprint. I thought he was crazy for thinking that so early in the race but, as it turned out, Andrew was my guardian angel.
Such scattered attacks paid their toll on us too, however, because we were not anywhere near each other throughout the majority of the race. In hindsight, the "Car Up!" shouts stopped coming after lap 3 and that should have been a sign everyone was hurting. Regardless, I was panicking because I felt so ragged and the Crew wasn't really sticking together. Turns out road races are a LOT longer than any other races and we had plenty of time to assemble when it mattered.
On the last lap, Adam stayed up top three making sure the pace was hard and Andrew rolled up next to me "I'll lead you out, make sure we're by each other." I made sure I could stick close and Max came in to my side as we situated ourselves next to Al. It's amazing how much of a wind I gained back to see more CCC jerseys around me. I started to feel a little pressured and turned to Andrew, "Dude, I feel like shit"
"Everyone else feels worse, don't worry about that and just keep thinking about the win!" he replied without even looking at me. Damn, this is getting serious. I looked over my shoulder to see Bradley, Ben and Daryl were in the mix.
So here we were, eight strong and in good position, all eyes are turning on me. Daryl comes up right before a turn into a wide open gust of headwind, "Expect an attack here!"
The field turns and no attack. I'm thinking everyone's saving for the sprint, but it was probably because everyone was running ragged after 30+ rough miles. We get a tailwind and the finish is little over a mile away, the crew is filling up spots 7-15, we're looking damn fine. I'm getting some wind and loosening up for a sprint. We reach the .5 mile mark and Daryl flies to the outside of the pack and the leaders take the mob left to get on his wheel. Andrew sneaks to the right with me on his wheel and we start really pushing it.
"UP! UP! UP!" I'm shouting as if I know what the hell I'm talking about.
Andrew ramped it up and we create separation as we approach the final turn (a nasty 90 degree turn with some gravel on the inside). He goes a bit wider and looks for me when I grab his wheel to shout again.
"UP!" I shout and then I feel it start to pour on. This is it! Time to pass my escort put my head down and hammer to the finish. I figured someone had to be on my wheel, the line was getting so close I check back and see a bogey about 4 bike lengths back.
Should I pose? That would be kind of bogus, especially if I get caught. I look back and I'm still safe. Fuck it. The hands fly up and I'm smilin' ear to ear with the scissors out. I guess everyone in a Cuttin' Crew jersey threw their hands up in celebration as well and hearing that made me feel so damn good. Of course I was giddy to win but hot-damn this team is so incredible and I love being a part of it. Daryl snipped in there for third to be another on our list of podium finishers. Bradley caught up after being dropped and rode 25+ miles with a loose saddle. Ben caught back on too, but Mike wasn't so lucky. He lost the pace at the wrong turns and was left out to dry by the wind but of course stuck with it for the finish.
This first place finish definitely doesn't belong to me, it was completely the Cuttin' Crew's. There's no way this would have happened so well had it not been for the team. True to form, we all collected our prize money and went to the bar to blow it all on beer and food. We all had a laugh at Molly's expense (she's such a sport) and I sat back amidst smiles and cheer to feel the love. Cuttin' Crew came through for yet another big day.
Road Trip!
4/30/2008 By Brean
It was my nephew's 7th birthday (Happy Birthday Justin!), so I combined visiting my family with racing on my old velodrome in New York. Racing there is a little different than racing at Northbrook. The racing is paced differently since there are no lights and they have to get as many races in as possible. The fields are smaller, but the riders seem stronger. It only costs $8 a week to race, and if you are a girl or old like me, that means you can race Mondays (masters and women) and Wednesdays (the twilight series). $4 per night of racing is right up my alley.
Monday night was rained out, so I took the opportunity to head out to Montauk, which is on the end of Long Island, and help my father with some things around the house. I got some really wonderful riding in, as well. On Wednesday, it was time to head into the city, but since the riding had been so nice, I couldn't help getting on the horse and riding 50 or so miles in the direction of the track. Long story short, I just made it in time to race after stuffing some pizza down my gullet. Didn't have time to drink water all day either. Not good.
First race was a scratch. I think I've gotten too used to the pace of criteriums lately because these guys jumped at the whistle and I barely caught the last wheel. After that, I just couldn't work my way around to the front and I finished just out of the money. It was hard.
Second race was a tempo. Again, this thing went off at the whistle and I was happy to not get dropped by the pack. At this point, I didn't even plan on racing the last race of the omnium. I was tired from riding too much that day and my legs were unresponsive due to dehydration. I felt yucky.
Third and final race was a points race with three sprints. Sick of my suckage, I decided to take the bull by the balls and be the one going at the whistle. Somehow, I held off the pack for three laps and took the first sprint. After that I just stuck with the pack and made sure my points stuck.
Then, the best part of racing at Kissena -- the group ride to Brooklyn. Which for me meant two more hours riding to Staten Island because my nephew was staying up late to see me. Sweet.
Somehow, that one sprint was enough to get me 4th place for the omnium, and my first upgrade point of the season. I'll take it.