2004 Results

Men's Cat 4 Scott Marr 4th, Jurgen Nubelung 74th, Juniors 15+ Sean Trinque 14th

Women's Report/Rhonda Morin - Clam Festival

This will be quick! I flatted on the second lap, and since there is no wheel van or free lap, that was it. I was going along quite well too - felt good. And I was figuring out how the sprint up the hill was working. There were a few big guns in there, but the field was small and manageable. Actually, a little too small. Not sure why more women don't do this race. It has to be one of the better pay outs around. PVC teammate Jen Bailey did well - finishing top 10.

Great to start this race, but on the second lap on the corner of Leighton and Norht road 4 riders went down and I swerved way left to avoid the crash. Went onto a side road and had to jump a curve and eventually got back over the grass onto the course.  Chased to the wheel of Jason Pettingill and was able to catch back on....thanks Jason!  Then another crash on north road this time I was not as lucky and I had to come to an almost complete stop before trying to catch on.  This pretty much killed me and I was not able to catch back on after the climb up Main street.  oh well.  I did see a traffic officer being treated for an injury to his hand...some rumor has it that Mike Clauss collieded with him...but that is only a rumor. Paul Weiss

Women's Pro 1-2-3-4, Jen Bailey 7th!

Mens Pro 1-2-3 Chris Green 17th, Toby Walch 25th, Carl Hitchcock 32nd, Stuart Abramson 37th, Greg Hutchinson 38th, Ron Colavolpe 48th

Racing at Yarmouth for PVC, but did not finish/crashed/mechanical: Rhonda Morin, Graydon Stevens, David Brink, Paul Weiss,  and Mike Clauss

Working Man's Stage Race

Chris Green's results: In the TT-3rd,  RR - 7th, points race - 7th, GC - 4th way to go Chris!

45th Annual  Fitchburg Longsjo Classic, Fitchberg MA July 2-5, 2004

VeryFine Gerand Prix of Cycling, Littletown, MA 6/27/04

Men's Cat 4, Sean Teel 27th Men's Cat 5 Jurgen Nebelung 2nd Men's Cat 3 Morgan Macleod, crashed hard on final sprint (broken collar bone), Chris Green 4th, Paul Weiss 30th

The New England States Criterium Championships Ninigret Park, Charlestown, R.I. Sunday, June 06 

Cat 4 Men's Peter Stetson 9th, Charles Goldman also raced

Cyclonauts Road Race, Monson, MA 6/19/04

Men's 35 + Race report: Cyclonauts Racers Road Race went off on a sunny warm June morning as PVC was represented in several fields. In the 35+ race Stuart Abramson and I managed to stay on course the first time the field took a wrong turn, but the wrong turn at mile 20 took us both by surprise and we had to hustle back to the pack which nicely sat up and waited for all to return. I and the rest of the pack were keeping one eye on Dimitri from CCB. The course goes up a fairly hard finishing hill twice and just before our first ascent the Cat 3 riders passed us. At the base of the hill Dimitri took Stuart, Yarbrody and a couple of other guys straight through the 3's and had a gap over the top. Me and a couple of others made a short attempt to bridge before the stragglers rejoined but made little progress until the 3 pack noted that 3 of their riders had latched onto the 35+ break. The 3's then took off and closed the gap on the downhill combining the two fields with about 40 - 3's and 20 - 35+'s. The pace on the second lap was lively and a few were dropped but the spirit was gone from the 35+ group and on the final climb the 3's went to the front and the old guys stayed out of the way. There was crash just in front of Stuart that forced him into the ditch about 100 m from the uphill finish. I think some in the back started to sprint when some in the front gave up. I slowed and made sure he could ride out of trouble and we came in together at the back of the lead group.-- Mike Claus

Great Falls Criterium 6/6/04

Junior Men: Geoff Johnson (racing for another Team) Sean Teel 4 th, Travis Lee raced, Junior Women: Mckayla Dunfey, Cat 3 Men: Toby Walch 2 nd, Chris Green 4 th, Morgan Macleod 17 th, Paul Weiss raced Cat 4 Women: Rhonda Morin 2nd, Jennifer Bailey 5th ,Cat 4 Men: Charles Goldman 15 th, Fritz Botner Raced Masters 35+ Men Stuart Abramson 6 th, Carl Hitchcock 7th Masters 45+ Graydon Stevens and Bill Black raced Pro 1-2-3 Chris Green 19th

Crit - 2nd place. No cramping in the crit the next day. There was a break during a prime lap and I stuck to a MIT rider(and yesterday's winner) like glue and I got her at the line for the money prime. I've wanted to do that for a long time, but usually get beat by a wheel length instead of a win. There were 3 of us in the break and we held off the rest of the field to the finish.  Got beat at the line by the MIT rider I had beat in the prime. Forgot you have to be #1 coming out of the last corner in this race to win it. But hey, I got the money, so that's the sweet part. submitted by: Rhonda Morin

Lake Auburn Road Race 6/5/04

Cat 4 Women Rhonda Morin 5th, Jennifer Bailey 11th, Men's Cat 3 Chris Green 1st!, Toby Walsch 18th, Paul Weiss 27th, Cat 4 Men's Sean Teel 4th, Trevor Eide 42nd, Masters 35+ Stuart Abramson 3rd, Chris Karam 6th, Carl Hitchcock 17th. Masters 45+ Bill Black 10th, Eddie Quinn 13th Masters 55+ Jim Shafer 6th

In the Mens Cat 3 race we had a long day ahead of us with 5 laps of 11 miles and 1100 feet of climbing per lap!  What killed me was not the firetower climb but the climb after that (with the ALLEZ sign on the road).  Lost touch of the large field on that climb.  Continued on for a few laps with the Masters field.  After they finished I dod another lap alone and I think was the last placed finisher at 27th.......Paul Weiss

Women's Cat 4  Road Race: 5th place - all because of two words: leg cramps.  I was in a 5 woman break and then the leg cramps started. By lap 3 they came on hard! I had to pull back and couldn't hang with the break. I ended up riding with another in the break who dropped off too, and I couldn't even sprint at the finish. I let her take 4th. I ended up 5th. submitted.........by Rhonda Morin

We certainly had a great day to race on Saturday at the Lake Auburn Road race. I was looking forward to it for a while since the hilly course could allow me to leave behind some of those pesky sprinters that tend to go by me in the last 200 M of most races like I am standing still. My plan was to simply go with all breaks and hope something stuck. It was great to have a number of other PVC riders in the race including Chris and Jeff Karam, Carl Hitchcock and Ed Sebok who I knew would slow the pack down if I got off with a break. A few riders went up the road towards the end of the first lap and I moved up to them on the first hill of the second lap. We had a group of 6 but only 3 wanted to work and I was sure the pack would pick us up again. We then got some luck when Yarbroudy from AFD and Mckone from CCB bridged up to us. All of a sudden, the rest of the group wanted to work and the pace picked up. Both Mckone and Yarbroudy had teammates with them in the group of 8 so the rest of us kept the pace hard to try and whittle the pack down and drop the support staff. By the last lap, there were only 4 of us left. We had some confusion as we passed and then were passed by the 3s but everyone kept their heads and we headed down the hill into the sprint. I didn’t have a lot left but managed to beat one of the 4 at the line to take 3 rd. Chris Karam then won the pack sprint.

Submitted by Stuart Abramson

Kennebunk RR, Kennebunk ME 5/31/04
Marc Beauchemin 1st for Juniors!

3rd Annual Downtown Claremont Criterium Claremont NH 5/23/04

Masters 35+ Carl Hitchcock 12th, Men's Cat 3-4 Chris Green 3rd

Lake Sunapee Road Race - Sunapee, NH 5/22/05

Men's Pro/1/2/3 Toby Walch 8 th, Women Cat 4 Rhonda Morin 5th, Jen Bailey DNF (crashed), Men's Cat 4 Mike Claus 10 th, Peter Stetson 33 rd Juniors 17-18, Morgan Macleod 1 st, Juniors Women's: Bonnie Johnson 1st, Juniors 10-12 Robbie Johnson 4th, Mens Masters 35+ Stuart Abramson 9 th Graydon Stevens 14 th, Men's Cat 3, Chris Green 1 st , Jeff Karam (pack finish), Paul Weiss DNF (Flated) Men's Cat 5 Under 35 Jurgen Nebelung 16th

Women Cat 4 Race Report Placed 5th. But a very cold 5th. This was all work and no fun. My feet were cold within 30 minutes of the start. Soon after that my leg muscles refused to cooperate and I was on automatic pilot. Pace was too slow most of the race, and as a result, I just got colder. I pulled on several occasions just to warm up, but didn't have the muscle strength to try and break. Someone tapped my rear wheel on the first lap and took down my teammate, Jen, who was not hurt, thankfully - but did bend her wheel and had to drop out. We managed to break on one of the hills to a group of 8 of us. Despite my lack of feeling in my body (and feet that felt like hooves), I knew at the very least I had to finish in the money (it went 7 deep), so I tried so very hard and begged my legs to respond. Not much there at all and I suspect I looked quite amusing at the finish. It felt like I was climbing Mt. Washington, when in reality it was just a small hill. Better luck next time I guess. submitted by ......Rhonda Morin

Men's 4/5 Race Report For the second week in row it was Peter Stetson and I at the start of the 4/5 race.  Rain and 46 degrees greeted the riders for the coldest ride of the year by far.  Almost all of us were underdressed in thinking one of these days Sunapee will be warm.  The pack stayed together through the entire race with few breaks and many comments on frozen hands and fingers.  I had to look at my hoods when shifting as there was no feeling in my fingers.  Trying to drink was an issue as it was impossible to tell if you were squeezing your frozen water bottle.  I got to the front on the rollers on the second lap and had 4th position going around the traffic circle.  Hit the bottom of the climb in the big ring ready to jump into the lead when my legs locked up.  No Chris Green power here and I managed to grind up the hill and lost a good 10 places. All I could do was hold that position to the finish but I tip my hat to the boys who still had power after 2 hours + out in cold rain.  Peter came in behind me shaking his head and I think his legs froze too.  On the way out of the parking lot C. Green was doing his cool down ride not looking the least bit concerned on the weather.  He shrugged and said "won" when we asked about his performance.  ....submitted by Mike Claus

Men's 3 Race Report You would think it would be getting warm this late in the season. That is what everone thought. When you saw a few patched of snow still on the slopes of Mt Sunapee, you knew you were wrong. 45 degrees rain and wind made for one of the coldest races I have done in a while. We wondered down the supposed neutral start hill and this young buck takes off from the gun. Chris Green and I start to chase at the bottom the turn around and Chris seemed kind of pissed that this guy dared him. So Chris took off and I faded back to the peleton to work with Jeff Karam to slow the pack down. a Pair of riders went clear and made it about half way to Chris, who was about 1/4 mile up on the pack. THey were reeled in eventually and Jeff and I tried to work the front group to slow things down a bit, Jeff doing a lot more work than I. We did slow things a bit sometimes. Chris's lead kept growing to a point. After the back side of the lake after the big climb, I flatted out. Back wheel, my hand were so cold I could not even get the wheel off. THanks for support. Just the same I was way off the pack and half frozen, so I crawled home to try to warm an almost hypothermic state. Chris came in for a solo victory up the hill and Jeff had a very respectable pack finish. Saying that it was one of his harder days.............Submitted by Paul Weiss

Turtle Pond Circuit Race East Concord, NH May 16/04

Pro 1/2/3, Morgan Macleod 16 th Cat 3/4, Toby Walch 1 st, Chris Green 6th, Jeff Karam 11 th, Cat 4/5, Peter Stetson 3 rd, Michael Claus 8 th, Women 3/4 Rhonda Morin 6 th

Women's 3/4, 6th place. Race started out kind of easily and I had thoughts it would be like Palmer -- too easy until the last 5K. But, alas, surges began and the pace picked up. I mistakenly thought the 3/4s had QOMs and went for one on the second lap. No wonder I wasn't being challenged. Duh. Oh well, it primed me for the next lap in which a Dartmouth rider stood up and shot up the climb like a bullet. I tried like heck to catch her - me and one other rider, but after some serious efforts, we were rejoined by about 6 or 7 other riders who had broken from the pack. I was mistakenly under the impression that had been our last lap after getting some erroneous information at the start. A classic example of not knowing the course. My bad. Learned my lesson. So my efforts to chase were all out, but thankfully the rest of yet another lap was manageable, though painful at times. Final time up that hill and to the finish saw leg cramps and shifting problems. I took 5 seconds too long trying to get in my big ring just 30 or so feet from the finish line and that's all the story. By the time I realized it just wasn't going to shift, it was too late to fully sprint. So I missed a better finish than I had anticipated. Lessons learned: Ask more questions about new courses, give up on shifting within 2 seconds if it doesn't work and pop electrolytes into my drink. This leg cramping is a new thing for me - I will overcome it! The results say a Cycleloft rider won, but the solo break was a Dartmouth rider and I don't think it was Amy Wallace because there were two Dartmouth riders. Anyone know what the story is?........submitted by Rhonda Morin

Men's 4/5 Peter Stetson and I lined up for the 4/5 Turtle Pond Circuit Race on a nice rolling course near Concord, NH.  Rain and 60 degrees may have dampened some but Peter and I were both in a feisty mood as I went on the first lap and was away for a few minutes.  A couple of other attacks were reeled in and we went up the finish hill at tempo pace for the first two laps.  After the downhill on lap 3 I jumped againand was away for half a lap.  On the catch a Dartmouth rider jumped and got a good gap.  Peter tried to bridge and was shadowed by another Dartmouth rider who would not help.  My guess is that the three of them could have had the winning break but the pack got antsy and went hard at the front till all was back together.  Boys at the front slowed on the way to the finishing hill and no one could improve position until the road went full width at the finishing climb.  Peter went hard on the inside while I swung wide as we all watched each other at the start of the climb. Finally two riders jumped and Peter broke clear in third place.  I paced myself next to the Darmouth Rider trying get up to Peter and had 3rd lined up when I couple of riders went flying by on my left.  Peter held on to 3rd at the sprint and I got 8th..........submitted by Mike Claus

NH International Speedway Criterium 5-15-04

Men's Cat 4, Peter Stetson 8th

Camden Maine Time Trial 5/9/04

Camden: This was a much better course for the climbers and the flashes of Blue flying down the road liked the hills. The course was 15 miles, 7.5 out and back with some short gradual climbs. Nothing too serious, but just enough for PVC riders to take massive chunks of time off of everyone else. It was a little chilly and cloudy, but that didn't keep PVC from shining. submitted by Peter Stetson

Peter Stetson 5th overall. 3rd, 18-34M
Henry Bradley 18th overall. 2nd 35-44M
Jim Shafer 19th overall. 4th 55-64M
Carol Nale 41st overall, 3rd 45-54F

Sterling Road Race, Sterling, MA 5/08/04

Men's Cat 3/4: Toby Walch 2 nd, Chris Green 8 th, Jeff Karam Finished but place not recorded, Peter Stetson Finished but place not recorded, Cat 4: Fritz Boettner Finished but place not recorded, Mike Claus Finished but place not recorded, Charles Goldman Finished but place not recorded, Jayson Lobozzo Finished but place not recorded, Kevin Hays Finished but place not recorded, Masters 35+ Stuart Abramson 15 th, Carl Hitchcock Finished but place not recorded

Bethel Maine Time Trial 5/2/04

Bethel: a great course: 13 miles. 6.5 out and back. It was relatively flat and there was a slight headwind on the way out. Beautiful day for a time trial. Submitted by Peter Stetson.
Peter Stetson 5th, overall. 3rd, 18-34M age group
Jim Shafer 23rd overall. 4th, 55-64M age group
Henry Bradley 28th overall. 10th 35-44M age group
Marc Beauchemin 50th overall. 2nd 17 & under

Rock and Road Race, Raymond, NH 5/2/04

Men Cat 3-4, Toby Walch 2 nd, Chris Green 6th, Fritz Boettner 21st

Whitcomb Hill RR, Florida, MA 5/2/04

  Whitcomb Hill RR was called the most difficult course in New England by the USCF official.  Fortunately the 4/5 field only had to do one lap. The course is very similar to Hilltowns with Monroe Hill being the equal to Hawley Hill if you have ridden that course.  I took the pace on Monroe and we went over the top with a 3 man break.  We seemed to have quite a gap when about 15 riders came charging down the hill and caught us.  For once the 4/5 field actually organized a chase.  With about 5 miles to the finishing climb a Bates rider jumped clear and the group made no effort to chase.  He had a huge gap at the start of Whitcomb Hill (Go to the top of Route 2 just before North Adams and look down if you want an idea of this climb) and was able to hold off 4 of us who tried to chase him down.  On the last pitch a UNH rider jumped with another rider and I could not go, I nipped a Dartmouth rider at the line for 4th again.  I would point out that all these college kids had skipped Jiminy the day before.  

Jiminy Peak Road Race, Hancock, MA 5/1/04

Mens Cat 4/5 , Mike Clauss 4th, Sean Teel 8th, Mens Cat 3 Paul Weiss 66th

Warm and sunny day with a full 4/5 field at the start line greeted Sean Teel and I at Jiminy Peak.  The story of the day was a steady 20 mph southerly wind that hammered the breaks on Route 7 uphill and kept the field flying on the Route 43 downhill.  Sean and I stayed tucked in the pack for the whole race and had good position into the finish climb. Sean went into the corner a couple of riders ahead of me and went inside while I took an outside lane.  On the first steep pitch of the final climb a group of 3 got a gap.  On the false flat over the pitch I stayed near the front and when we hit the 2nd steep pitch I jumped across.  I caught the leaders just as we crested the steep part of the climb at the start of the feed zone and made the mistake of sitting in rather than going by.  By the time we sprinted for the line they had recovered and outsprinted me without too much difficulty and I took 4th.  Sean picked off riders on the hill by attrition and took 8th.

On the Mens cat 3 race the field stayed togother for the 3 laps. I got off the back of the group on the crest of the second climb and chased for the whole back stretch until the upwind section made that pointless. Worked with a Harvard Riders until the last climb. Finished 66th. Still working on the early season fitness. Great course and is now a classic!

Monson Road Race, Monson, MA 4/25/04

Mens 3/4, Chris Green 2 nd, Morgan Macleod 43, Women's Cat 4 Rhonda Morin 2nd, Cat 4/5 > 30 Mike Claus 2nd, Men's 4/5 < 35 Peter Stetson 7 th, Charles Goldman 14 th, Fritz Boettner 19 th, Jason Lobozzo 22 nd, Master's 35+ Staurt Abramson 12 th, Carl Hitchcock 30th

Race Report by Peter Stetson:   here's the rundown of the 4's u35 race for the site:   If there was any doubt before saturdays race, as to the not-so-secret identity of the boys in blue at the front of the peleton, there isn't anymore. The Blue Train was in fine form for the cat 4/5u35 race in Monson. We arrived late to the starting line, after a warm up lap and started at the back of the pack. We noticed 8 Quad Cycle riders at the front, and decided  our first mission for the day was to get to the front of the race. That we did, and very quickly Charles Goldman, Fritz Boettner, Jayson Lobozzo, and Pete Stetson were at the front of the pack. At first we chased down some small breaks. Then we decided to pick up the pace and Fritz, Jason, and Charles put some pressure on that split the pack. This left only 3 quad cycle riders and PVC was not only dominating by force, we had the advantage in numbers as well.       Unfortunately, the other riders hadn't woken up yet, or must have driven up that morning from new jersey, because none of them seemed particularly inclined to keep up a good pace. We changed that. Jayson and Fritz excited the pace considerably with several attacks.      We were so fast, that at one point, Fritz jumped off the front and Charles saw only a blue streak go by and his cyclist instinct had him chasing before he realized it was Fritz.      There was a break of 4 riders that took advantage of one of the few moments, PVC wasn't at the front. Fritz had just powered up the hill making the pack work hard and we were preparing our next move. Well, our next move was quickly decided and as Peter went off the front with a future PVC rider from Bar Harbor, Jayson, Charles, and Fritz brought the blue train and picked up Peter on the downhill.     In the second to last lap, Peter attacked and the boys in blue sat on the front. One rider bridged the gap, but refused to work. Peter, not wanting to pull the other rider into the wind to victory slowed for the pack.     In the last lap, with a break off the front, Jayson pulled Fritz up to the chase group, and they proceeded to catch the break. Charles then took the hill early with force. Going into the finish Charles was ready for third, but the hill proved quite long. Charles' attack proved wise though, for Peter had saved something at the bottom of the hill and used Charles for a lead-out and passed several riders to take 7th. Charles was next with 14th. Then Fritz and Jayson with 19th and 22nd respectively.     No cash to take home, but one helluva race. As one fellow rider said after the race "PVC definitely get's the workhorse award for that one."   Indeed. The Blue Train is starting to work it's magic. The results are already up, so i'm just sending the race rundown.

Race Report by Rhonda Morin........Placed 2nd at the Monson Race in a sprint finish. It was 1-2-3-4 up the first hill at the finish. I was totally focused on the riders in front of me. Nothing else. Took the first part of the hill hard, but not so hard I'd blow. Had toyed around with the big and little ring in previous laps, not sure which one would work best. 2nd time around it was a Dansko woman and me in the front. She was in her little ring, spinning. This was a harbinger, I decided. Sure enough, the last lap through she was in the lead and in her little ring and I was on her tail. So I shifted down and decided I'd have enough gearing in the little one. The sprint began and I just hung on a wheel in front of me. Thighs-a-burnin' we reached the second flat portion, I shifted down -- it was 1-2-3 at this point and it was resigned to what I thought most likely would be third cause my legs seemed to be at their limit. But then a miracle occurred! #2 cracked!!! And she just fell off immediately. A second wind rushed through me and I shifted once more and topped it off for second--just about 10 feet away from the Dansko winner (who btw, Emily had warned me about. Thanks Emily!). So it was a sweet 2nd place. I'll take that for the first official race of the season.

Palmer Road Race, Palmer, MA 4/24/04

Women Cat 3/4 Rhonda Morin 7 th, Men 3/4 Toby Walch 5 th, Chris Green 17th, Jeff Karam 30 th, Cat 4/5 <30 Fritz Boettner 8 th, Cat 4/5 >30 Josh Cushman 57 th, Masters 40+ Carl Hitchcock 36th

Race Report by Rhonda Morin.......Onto Palmer for the 7th place finish. 3/4 race. Expected bigger things. Harder tempo. It was a times. Surges were more frequent and intense, but they didn't last very long. I bridged gaps a few times and yelled at that those who seemed content with watching women attack off the front without responding. The hardest part came with 5k to go. Suddenly, it seemed we were in a race and there were multiple attacks. Cramps started to take hold of my legs. But I was still able to respond to the attacks. The last one was just before the finish (imagine that!), and though I didn't have it to surge to the front, I crept up the right side (where there was amazingly lots of room!) and sprinted. I ended up 7th!! Wow. Thought I had been further back, but apparently not. Just one out from the money. If I only had realized.

Adelphia Race, Myles Standish State Forest/Park, MA, 4/18/04

In the Jr. pack, Morgan MacLeod took 17th and sean teel took 19th. Both raced strongly and were with the pack until the final lap, and then they only lost around 20 seconds on the leader in the last lap. In the 5's, Kevin Hayes of Brookline, MA took 27th. In the 4's: Just before the start of the cat 4 race the 3's had a huge crash at the finish, where two people were taken away in ambulances. So the 4's were quite wary as they waited on the line, circling in the lot, as their start time was delayed. Because the reputation of Portland Velo preceded us, the four PVC riders racing in the 4's were approached by an ECV rider, who proposed that we as well as ECV, and another team each put two racers in a break, and have the rest of each team sit. That way a safe finish could be assured. Good plan, but it never came to fruition. The race was filled with breaks and Fritz and Peter chased many of them down. Unfortunately, Charles' chain dropped on the hill, and because the circuit was officially a road race, no free lap was granted. Sean, in his second race of the day, after several hours of in-between time, hung on despite tired legs, and never let the pack get too far away.     Coming into the line, just after passing the women's pack, Fritz and Peter were well placed around 15 people back from the front. (The eventual winner, in what some might call poor taste, attacked as the pack moved to one side of the road to pass the women.) All the same, Fritz let it rip coming into the last turn, and Peter was right there and jumped off his wheel to take 7th in the bunch sprint. Fritz took 10th and Sean took 49th. The 20 mile race was done 46 minutes after it began. (that's an average speed of almost 27 miles per hour) The Blue Train showed New England were ready to Rock. --submitted by Peter Stetson

Overall Results: Junior race: Morgan Macleod 17th, Sean Teel 19th, Cat 4 race Peter Stetson 7, Fritz Boettner 10, Sean Teel 49th, Charles Goldman Mechanical

Here are some stories of our PVC team member down in PA.....Karl Henry:

Lower Providence Criterium, Valley Forge, PA 4/25/04 3rd place, Cat. 5 The only thing of interest in this Cat. 5 criterium was the complete lack of crashes......no, really! 

Lancaster County Time Trial Series, Millersville, PA.  Early season event sponsored by Red Rose Races in Lancaster County, PA uses 11 miles of rolling terrain that includes a couple of steeper bumps and one "put your foot on the ground or get a 20 second penalty" stop sign.  To be honest, this comes at the foot of a terraced uphill section and I truly wondered if it would have been worth the 20 second penalty to avoid losing all of the momentum going into it.  Not the best course for someone who stopped bothering with the Tuesday night rides because they got tired of getting dropped by Graydon, Bob, etc. and obviously has not improved on their climbing skills! 3/27/2004 (55 degrees with showers):  9th, Cat. 5 4/3/2004 (44 degrees and damp):  9th, Cat. 5

Fantastic Farmersville Challenge, Brownstown, PA.   4/17/2004 (80 degrees and sunny!):  15th, Cat. 5 Also sponsored by Red Rose Races, this one is located in the boyhood stomping grounds of Floyd Landis and makes use of all the "quaint" Lancaster County road hazards {horse drawn buggies, fresh manure (helpful advice from another rider at the start: "If you see it in the road ahead, try not to have your mouth open when the rider in front of you goes through it."), pock-marked roads, wooden-planked covered bridges, etc.}.  The racing started with the first turn on this 10 kilometer, 12 turn circuit.  While it was "mostly flat," there were enough bumps throughout the course to thin out the 50 person group.  In the second of three laps, someone in the middle of the group could not negotiate the wooden bridge-asphalt transition and went down two riders in front of me.  This created a small split that some of us were able to bridge but I had used a good deal of energy in the process.  With a final kilometer that goes up until the last 300 or so meters, I was happy to finish spinn ing out on the downhill finish in my 53X12 and place in the middle of the first group.

Marblehead Circuit Race Marblehead, MA 4/04/04

A fantastic race down at the season opener in Marblehead MA today.  A large turnout for PVC included: Stuart Abramson in the Masters Race, Mike Clauss in the 4-5 race, Morgan Macleod, Toby Walsh, Chris Green, Peter Stetson, Sean Teel (our newset Junior racer)  in the 3-4 race, I raced the 1-2-3 race.       It was the 3-4 race that had all the action, with tremendous work by Morgan, Toby, Sean and Peter to control the race.  The PVC squad was so dominant that no breaks escaped.  In the last lap all worked to an eventual lead-out for Chris, who got on a final wheel and won the race!       Stuart lead the masters field for several laps and worked well with the pack.  Mike Clauss also had a good race.  My race was fast and fun with Mark Macormack taking the final lap. Here is at least on picture of the new PVC in the new uniforms with the new race strategy....to win!

Cat 3-4 race story: MARBLEHEAD, MA- A chilly Sunday morning in early April set the stage for the first PVC outing of 2004. Five members of the 3/4 squad rolled up to the starting line of the traditional New England season opener, the Marblehead Circuit Race, renamed the year as the Michael Schott Memorial Circuit Race.

The first lap found PVC members Chris “where is that noise coming from” Green, Morgan “I’m so fast I don’t even need matching wheels” Macleod, and Toby “that’s Walch with a ‘C’” Walch setting a spicy pace, while Peter “what do you mean I can’t race in my jeans” Stetson and Sean “tough as steel” Teel holding the pack at bay.

The pace quickly settled down, and for the next 11 laps, riders from various teams went off the front, while Green, Macleod and Walch (as well as one or two guys from other teams) chasing the breaks. After a tremendous pull by Teel to bring the pack together in the next to last lap, Macleod and Walch moved to the front, trading short quick pulls, and keeping the pace fast enough to discourage any last minute breakaways, while Green sat right behind them, confident in their ability to lead him out.

Walch lead the charge through the final corner and down the straightaway with Green in tow shouting encouragement (among other things). Just as two members of NHCC were attempting take over, Green took off like the midnight train to hell, quickly passing the interlopers, and won the first victory for PVC in the 2004 racing season. anonymous writer..........Walch person..........

Results (sent by Stuart) Pro-1/2/3-Paul Weiss 60 th, 3/4 -Chris Green 1 st, Sean Teel 38 th, Peter Stetson 39 th, Toby Walch 41 st, Morgan MacLeod 49 th, 4/5 Mike Claus 8 th, 35+ Stuart Abramson 21st

Tufts Criterium 4/3/04
(several PVC racers also race the collegiate circuit)

Early risers to the Tufts "internationally acclaimed" 4/5 race were ready to go at 8:00 as the USCF officials warned the 53 starters of the dangerous turn 2.  We took off and right away PVC rider, Peter Stetson, was in the front with 4 or 5 other riders making tracks as the pack followed. There were several crashes in the first of the 30 laps, but PVC stayed at the front and clear. That was until, around lap 15, as and ECV rider and friend tried to jump off the front and two ECV riders blocked, an audacious rider jumped in front of the ECV riders and Pete Stetson right before the hazardous turn 2. The rider paid a price for his bold move, as did the rest of us in the lead group, second behind the break. He went down and took us with him toward the Haybales. Jumping off the ground with a few words that sounded like italian, Peter hopped back onto the bike and began the chase. Over the next 15 laps much ground was covered and in the final straightaway, Peter let it rip and passed five riders, and barley missed 5th place by a wheel on the line.

6th place finish. down 55 seconds from the  2 leaders.