::: www.egglestown.com ::: Eric Chrabot

A PanAm Champ in the Chrabot Family

2008-04-21T21:56:00.010-04:00

Mazatlan PATCO Triathlon Pan American Championships

U.S. Sweep at PanAm Champs (April 20, 2008 )
Two relative newcomers to the Elite triathlon world pulled upset victories today at the 2008 PATCO Triathlon Pan American Championships in the resort city of Mazatlan, Mexico. Jillian Petersen and Matt Chrabot of the United States ran away with the continental titles after thrilling break aways on the bike in both competitions surprised many top veterans who were unable to close the gap. This is the first major title for both young athletes and makes it the second year in a row for the U.S. sweep of the gold medals.

In the women’s race Petersen, who’s highest finish in an ITU race was third at the 2008 Nevis Pan American Cup a month ago, crossed the line first in a time of 1 hour 56 minutes and 36 seconds. In three short years the ex-Collegiate runner has gone from competing in her first triathlon to Pan American Champion.

“It is my first time in Mazatlan and I love this kind of weather,” said Petersen of the hot and humid conditions. “It was an amazing race, the team work with Alicia [Kaye] on the bike was fundamental.”

Petersen used her strong swimming skills to exit the water in the front group and joined an efficient lead pack of two to put almost a minute on the top runners in the field. From there the former USA Age Group champion put more time into the chasers and finished almost two minutes ahead of second place and 2008 Olympian Lauren Groves of Canada. In third was hometown favourite Adriana Fabiola Corona of Mexico, a further 40 seconds back.

In the men’s race, the 24-year old Chrabot, who’s previous best result was a second at the 2007 Kelowna Pan American Cup, comfortably finished in a time of 1 hour 47 minutes and 9 seconds, over a minute ahead of 2008 Olympian and pre-race favourite Jarrod Shoemaker from the U.S. Shoemaker, who skipped this weekend’s U.S. Olympic Trials as he has already qualified for Beijing, managed to nudge out Francisco Serrano of Mexico in a final sprint for the silver.

“I live in Virginia so I am used to these kinds of aggressive waves,” said Chrabot of the 15-foot waves greeting the athletes as they started the ocean swim.

“I expect the same race in my next competition at the [Richards Bay] World Cup.”

Just as in the women’s event, Chrabot broke away early in the bike leg with only one other athlete after exiting the water in first, building his lead to insurmountable two minutes 30 seconds after the bike.

From there it was a battle for second as the young American’s proven run speed ushered him to his career’s first ITU title.

Earlier in the day the younger athletes took to the beach for the Junior Championships over the same course. At the finish it was Canadian Sarah-Anne Brault and Mexican Rodrigo Gonzalez who claimed the title of Continental Champion.

In the Under23 competition it was rising star Barbara Riveros Diaz from Chile to claim the women’s title with Jeff Symonds of Canada winning the men’s race.

Virginia Tech Wins ACCC Title

2008-04-20T12:54:00.006-04:00

Conference Championships 4/19-20

Day 1

ACCC Road Race Championships

Coming into the road race championships, the team's plan was to have Steven (2nd overall) shadow Navy's Ryan McFeely (1st overall), while Bryan tried all he could to advance his 3rd overall spot. This kind of omnium makes for interesting racing.

Flash forward to 2 laps to go, a break of 4 gets up the road with my teammate John Zaccone. I was near the front and was able to jump onto Georgetown's Sean Barrie's wheel who towed me all the way to the break. Another group of 2 bridges right behind us, followed by Bryan, who ended up dropping Wake Forest's Eric Fonville (and fellow VT alumnus) on the way.

VT now had 3 in the break of 8. Bryan attacked off the front and John countered in the final 3 Km. The break completely shut down.

John soloed for the win. Bryan took 3rd in the bunch sprint while I forgot where the finish was and ended up last in the bunch for 8th, awhoops.

ACCC Team Time Trial Championships - 45 Km in the rain

Unfortunately, I was not apart of the TTT team. My teammates complained that they never could get a draft off me while I'm in my TT position, so I gladly obliged to not race.

Eoin getting molested by Owen

The team takes 2nd place for the TTT, trailing Navy by 1 minute. Perhaps with aero equipment, the team may have won.

Good job guys, work together! You hear these same words of motivation whether you're in the breakaway or tailing off the back with other dropped riders.

ACCC Championships Banquet

There was an ice sculpture, a slide show, and an awards ceremony. Lots of food was eaten and good times were had by all.

Day 2

ACCC Criterium Championships

Before a big race, Owen likes to get dressed on the bike.

Because of Bryan's 3rd place the day before, Steven got bumped to third place in the overall. Now Bryan was 2nd, trailing to Navy's Ryan McFeely by 5 1/2 points. We had to get Steven as many points as possible through primes and good placings for the finish, while Bryan simply had to come in front of Ryan at the finish for VT to go 1-2 in the overall.

The criterium was really fast and really hard. I had super legs because of not doing the TTT the day before.

I was Steven's man for all of the 6 primes (ouch!). I covered alot of attacks and got into some breaks of my own. We rode a super aggressive race and Virginia Tech dominated with 7 riders in the race.

In the last 3 laps, NC State's Matt Howe attacked as we were organizing for the field sprint. He got a good gap. The leadout train was set for Steven and Bryan with Eoin McDonnell, myself, and Owen Nielsen taking charge. I pulled the last lap and pulled off before the last turn. Although we didn't catch Matt, Steven got 2nd and Bryan came in behind him. It was perfect textbook Fassa Bortolo lead out techniques. I am pleased with how well we raced considering the depth of the field and speed of the race.

ACCC Championships Awards Ceremony

Tim recieved the individual title for the Men's B category, and a really big trophy.

Steven got the overall individual title, a jersey, a really big trophy, and a photo with an old woman's grandson.

We are the champions, my friend.

Overall Results
I narrowly squeaked into the top 5 for the overall (1 point difference, schwing!) I will be looking forward to applying this good form when I return to race with the JBCA this summer.

Cool pic. April 13, 2008 - WVU Men's A Road Race finish

Photo Op

2008-04-18T13:29:00.011-04:00

One of the duties of being Top Sporter is that sometimes you are required to participate in photo shoots. It is one of the more glamorous roles because you get to clean yourself up as if you're going to the prom...or racing in France.

For this, Top Sporters make sure that they're 1. Clean shaven from head to toe 2. Bikes are flawlessly clean 3. Shoes are polished 4. Legs are baby oiled up 5. Smelling fresh with expensive cologne 6. Hair is slicked back with too much product 7. Wearing their bling bling

It is incredibly important to have the director of the shoot instruct the Sporters and Top Sporters alike how to pose in the pictures. This coaching is necessary because we are bike racers, not talented actors. Note: Because the video is being taken for the official Virginia Tech Commercial, to be aired at all home football games on the JumboTron for the next 5 years, hand gestures and the like must cleverly be used.

VeloNews Magazine cover shot

beans 'n rice

2008-04-15T21:23:00.016-04:00

My last post had begun to come to fruition when I was eating dinner about 2 weeks ago. Since then, I have failed to complete it. Let me blast you to the past for a quick recap...

Virginia Tech 4/5-4/6

I was so happy to be ready to go for the home race! After all of the trudgery of Presidential duties to the team, the race was actually happening. I was in charge of the volunteers but a BIG thanks to the VP Reid Beloni for making this whole thing happen for all of us.

A knarly course at that. I got into the break after two laps in. It was rockin'. B Mac bridged halfway through that lap. Now it was Bryan, Steven, and myself in the break. The 7 of us put 7 minutes into the peloton. OUCH! I think the peloton shattered and lots abandoned but a group of about 5 finished?

Cool beans picture. I had "promoter's legs" the whole race and never had the power. Bryan won and Steven came in right behind him. As for me...a respectable result. 7th.

Smiling because I will be drinking Chinese bubble tea later that night.

Day 2
Enter Mountain Lake. Interestingly, it is where Dirty Dancing was filmed. This day was filled with pain. I ended up covering an attack at the base and the legs wouldn't go the rest of the way. I ended up 1:18 seconds behind Bryan and placed 5th.

My man B Mac and Cheese with one of the most epic wins on record. Steven took 3rd. It was super foggy at the top.

West Virginia University 4/12-13
This is the New River Gorge Bridge. It is the 2nd highest bridge in the world at 867ft! My brother Matt whitewater rafted under this back in the day with Venture Crew.

This is really funny because B Mac found this scratch and win lotto ticket on the bathroom floor of a truck stop. I didn't pick it up because it had hepatitis on it.

Day 1
This was perhaps one of the strangest days on a time trial bike for me. Due to only having ridden once that week (Wednesday for 4.5 hrs) and having had no openers, I was absolute garbage. Third from last and something like 4 minutes down on the winning time. How did I still end up beating people? Aye carumba! I guess it didn't help that I was stuck in the 53x15 the whole time. Reality check: Make sure your bike is functioning properly.

Day 2
Sunday was a breath of fresh air. I gladly got 2nd behind my teammate, Steven Gordon (bike racer)after getting into the break of 4 during the 2nd lap. The climbs were tough but I was feeling probably the best other than Ryan McFeely from Navy, as I was pacing Steven up the climbs and over the crests. The ending was somewhat anti-climatic. Ryan is really strong but needs to work on his tactical sense. The sprint was won with whomever jumped first. Steven went and I followed. The ride of the day award however goes to Owen Nielsen for getting into the break of 3, 1 mile in, then finishing 5th. Please note that it was extremely messy that day. I think it sleeted on us going up the 1st climb on the 2nd lap.

"Sponsor Me." My cycling cap needs another paper clip.

4/3 wetsuit

2008-04-03T21:37:00.003-04:00

Today rivals one of the coldest, wettest periods of sporting that I've ever experienced.

In high school my sophomore year, my friends and I got the bright idea to go surfing in January. The waves we not good but we felt like getting out and being bad asses. Needless to say, 1 hour after getting in we were shivering on the boardwalk, unsuccessful in our quest to get any kind of good wave catching in. The lobster gloves and booties designed to keep out extremities warm failed after about 15 minutes, or just as the water was beginning to soak through the lyrca. The wetsuits we had were 3/2, meaning 3cm on the chest, and 2cm thickness on the arms and legs. In January, you definitely would've needed a 4/3. The painful part of the whole experience was when you had to duck dive under the waves while paddling out so as to avoid getting reamed by the white wash from the previous wave. This involves dipping your board under water and following through as if you were swam diving under the wave. The frequent duck diving in January is usually followed by the famed "ice cream headache." This is where you eat ice cream too fast you and get a weird pain in the frontal lobe region of your brain. The pain subsides after a few minutes, but the initial shock really isn't pleasant. If you are lucky/smart you do in fact have gloves and perhaps a hood even; this happens to make surfing in the winter all the more enjoyable.

Riding bikes for 3 hrs in the rain while its 45 degrees is roughly the same kind of pain, only you can't just turn around when you're halfway through. The option of stopping at a gas station is also impossible when you decided to leave your apartment at 4:30 and it gets dark at 7:30. Throw in soaking wet gloves and inability to wear them longer than the first 45 minutes of the ride makes things a bit more interesting. Shifting when you can't feel your hands or feet and standing up to pedal for longer than 15 minutes at a time due to the inability to shift into an easier gear hurts the legs a bit more than normal.

Needless to say, the whole experience was probably as epic as they get and it brought me back to the good 'ol days of high school wave riding tomfoolery and ice cream headaches.

Thanks for reading,

-E

Why did Peter Rabbit cross the road?

2008-04-01T23:01:00.007-04:00

I was riding today on 311 near New Castle when I was exposed to DEATH!

Was it some type of flesh eating disease that can only be cured by vomitting popcorn flavored jelly beans onto a blowtorch and scooping ice cream onto the wound then calling for some Gumby's Pokie Stix to soak it up? No.

This was real DEATH!

A large furry bunny rabbit, whom I cleverly named Peter Rabbit, had been chilling in his foxhole that he had cleverly dug to hide from birds of prey on the side of the road when suddenly a TOP SPORTER swished past him! ZOOM! Peter Rabbit wondered what kind of excitement could be stirring outside his nest. Was it perhaps the Tour of Flanders? No, he thought; too early and unfortunately the wrong country. Rabbits are smart.

Peter Rabbit dashed out of his hole and began to cheer on the cyclist along the busy, dangerous 2 lane road. ALLEZ!

Suddenly Peter Rabbit crossed in front of the TOP SPORTER to tell his friends when fate stepped in! A large truck had swerved and almost hit Peter Rabbit! Good thing Peter Rabbit had the reflexes of a real rabbit so that he could offer the rider a chocolate version of himself in a late celebration of Easter! YAY PETER RABBIT!

APRIL FOOLS! He actually wasn't so lucky...Poor Peter Rabbit

In other news, I found a cool road.

The long and windy road

2008-03-30T22:50:00.006-04:00

ASU - 7th, 1st, 20thish
The last two weekends the racing turned up, literally. Last weekend, we raced at App State Univ in Boone, NC. Sat was a 54 mile RR with a 3 mi climb each lap. We did 6 laps. The first lap B-King lit it up and shattered the field. I was able to hold wheels and crest with a group of 3 other guys just behind the lead group. I wasn't feeling spectalcular considering the 5 min warmup and the climb hitting us within 5 min of the race. We rolled it pretty good, dropping a rider, then picking up Scott Jackson from LMC/DLP about 1 lap later. We ended up almost getting caught the last lap so I pulled with Scott up the hill really hard. We came into the finish 7 and 8. Props to Scott for letting get some conference points, as he was out of conference from the SEC...Always a class act! Ben racked in the win and B-Mac took 4th. Schwing.

At 4pm the TTT was set for 1 lap on the RR course. My team and I put in the fastest time by 40 seconds. Booyakashawigwam.

The next day was the crit in a mall parking lot. It was hard. It was fast. I did some work and got Bryan into the break. He did well and finished 1st after 25 laps off the front. I might have gotten 20 something. Shattered? Yes. No good legs? Maybe. Able to drive hard? Always.

JMU - 3rd
Yesterday was the uphill TT at Reddish Knob outside Harrisonburg, VA; the road was 6 miles flattish/rolling, 6 miles straight up a mountain. I put in a good effort and got 3rd. My man Ryan McFeely, from Navy, scorched it and put 2 min. into me...in season for him? Yes. 2nd place was 15 sec faster than me (I think I was 49:08). I had a sweet skid into my start time and barely made it by 5 sec. Unfortunately I was in the 53x11 after warming up and it took some time to realize this before shifting and getting up to speed. The course didn't seem impossible, and I think I may have given the only woman on our team a push! Foul? Yes and extremely not allowed while sporting. Nonetheless a pleasing result.

Today...err UVA - 2nd
60 mi course during Jeff Cup race: We started at 9am in the snow...basically. I was really warm, I had some super hot flaming sports balm on...everything?I put some on my legs and arms and down where I should'nt have (on accident!). I was hurting and wanting to get into the weather and race. Luckily I had a rain jacket b/c the roll-out soaked everyone. I ended up ditching my rain slick 3 laps in right before my man Reid was getting towed in after a stupendous breakaway effort with a NAVY compadre. We rode hard and I "attacked" on the first hill of the 5th lap. It shattered guys then the attacks began to fly. I ended up rolling off the front with a UNC rider and a UMD rider. We rolled it pretty good. I was bonking by the middle of the last lap and got dropped with 800m to go. Bummer? Yes. 2nd place was nice though because my parents were able to see me race today and fun was had by all. (Back to back podiums? Fun also.)

Because the sky is blue

2008-03-21T12:16:00.002-04:00

::I feel that ice is slowly melting::

OFF and ON

2008-03-19T23:19:00.013-04:00

Yesterday was an OFF day so I went and saw the New York Yankees beat up on our baseball team. I'm not going to mention the score but it was quite the butt-whooping. I think we might have gotten 2 hits off their pitcher during the 7 innings. The scoreboard changed immediately back to the default setting after the game, awhoops. And when I got home, I was greeted with a 20 lb box full of Nature's Path Organic Food!

Today however was an ON day. Back to training; I rode in the rain. I got really wet, really fast. I rode up Harding Ave (2.5 mi climb, avg 6%) in 10:32 after the 2 1/2 hrs. This is pretty solid considering my PR is 9:45 (near the end of April 2 years ago during a race ride.) I felt really good. I wish I could've measured the watts because they would've been up the wazoo, only while I was installing the mounting kit on the bike today, I accidentally cut the wire! I guess I could've gotten to this sooner; I would have liked to measure my TSS during the first 10 days in January. Did I really put in 46 hours on the bike then? It also rained tonight...really hard.

Good Sensations

2008-03-18T10:09:00.011-04:00

Most of the time when I say that I am feeling good before a race, I am feeling 'just okay'. On Friday after being asked how I felt about the weekend, I responded by saying that I had 'good sensations' in the legs. My friend laughed and that was that. It wasn't until my pre-race warmup that I unlocked the secret to going fast again. In Belgium, we use a pre-sports bronzing oil called Quoleum. I applied some before my warmup and then I made sure to apply a little extra after the leg warmers came off. I'm not sure what is in this stuff, but all the amateur Belgian riders love it.Typically, riders will show up to the start line with their legs dripping with this stuff. I'm certainly intimidated whenever I come across these kinds of Top Sporters because they can drive it really hard.

This past weekend I did in fact have good legs. We travelled to College Park, MD to race the University of Maryland Criterium (1hr + 2 laps). The race started at 12:10pm and we were off. The race was pretty controlled from the gun. My teammate Owen Nielsen laid down the hammer for 2 laps before drifting back only for my other teammate Reid Beloni to take over and pull full-bore for another 2 laps. We decided that since we only had 4 guys in the race, we would need at least 2 in every break away. Words are words and sometimes the pre-race plan rarely comes to fruition during the race, so what happened next was really incredible.

I was sitting 4th wheel when an ASU rider attacked. My teammate John Zaccone got onto his wheel and I followed with Matt Howe from NC State. The ASU rider blew up (I think?) and John was left out front with myself and Matt trailing by 20 m. I looked behind and saw the gap was growing. I immediately got in front of Matt and laid down the throttle; 53x12 in the tail wind. Whooosh! We blazed past John and dove into the corner. John got on our wheels and VT had 2 guys in the break. I was super happy. The field shut down for a couple laps thereafter and we rolled it pretty hard.
The gap grew to over a minute, I thought we were going to lap the field. I was doing the pulls up the hill and down the back stretch, pulling for about 3/5 per lap. The break was working well together and Reid and Owen were doing a superb job covering attacks behind us. With 8 to go I attacked just as Matt was finishing his pull. It was a good attack up the hill and I got 30 m immediately. I was pulled in two laps later and sort of got dropped from the break after Matt accelerated past me. Luckily John was sitting on not working until I was able to get back on. With 4 laps to go, John did the same exact attack and stayed away the rest of the race. Kudos to John. Here is a video of the finish:

The jokers on the right are getting lapped while you can see Matt and I sprinting for 2nd. Virginia Tech ended up 1, 3, 4, and 12? Owen took the field sprint. All in all a very strong race for the team.

Sometimes it works out that the first attack doesn't always stick and the second will. It is just a matter of chance. The scenario that played out in the race was practically picture perfect, textbook tactics. This was the first race this season where I had been given the opportunity to really show how well I can go. I hope to have many more opportunities like this for the season. Thanks for reading.

Out,

-E

Here comes the sun

2008-03-14T11:34:00.016-04:00

Hello loyal readers! My apologies for the lack of updates in the last few weeks. School, training, and racing have been keeping me busy. Here is a brief update on everything that has happened since I last posted (in reader friendly list form):

USNA
- VT riders get into the break to finish 1st and 3rd. (Steven and Owen Nielsen)
- JZ and I get into the chase break and finish 6th and 9th, respectively. The familia is present and have a good time.
- Day 2 is the TT (17 miles on a rolling course). My time is 29:35 (9th place, again. Coincidence?)

Spring Break '08 in Chapel Hill, NC at my man Eoin's casa
- Complete 13 hrs of solid riding in the first 3 days
- Complete 4 games of PIG in the last day
- Team has smashing good time downtown. Did I get a helicopter ride?

ECC/ACC joint conference weekend in Philadelphia, PA
- Soaking wet criterium where Bryan finishes 8th. Grouppo explodo in the Virginia Tech camp.
- TTT the next day, 8 miles. Due to the lack of draft I give off, I am not selected for the main TTT team (4 riders). I end up having a "better warmup" and pull my team (3 riders) around before dropping them, unwillingly. Individual time is 21:30, but clock stops at the last rider so 26:36... The TT practice was fun (despite it starting at 8:30 AM in 20 degrees F). The other TTT team finishes 4th overall (without any aero wheels and only 1 TT bike), booya!
- Circuit race of 30 miles in the afternoon: Esteban gets into the break, B Mac and Cheese leads out the field sprint. After looking back during the final 300m I lose his wheel and get passed on the line by 5 guys. Steven gets 6th, Bryan 11th, and myself 17th? - Virginia Tech finishes the weekend omnium as the best ACC school (Fist Pump!)

Community Service

- Owen and I ride with the youth of Blacksburg in an effort to educate, inspire, and give back to the community.
- 39x25 at 130 RPMS for last 30 minutes
- Owen gets dropped later in the ride by an 8th grade girl.

Collegiate Times Article

2008-02-27T14:38:00.019-05:00

Yesterday I had an interview with Collegiate Times reporter Kerry O'Connor about bicycles in Blacksburg. We spoke of the team, riders, racing, and the nature of the sport. Most people don't realize it, but Blacksburg, Virginia is a premier haven for cycling; there are group rides every weekend along winding quiet roads with current pros, ex-pros, soon to be pros, and everything in between. The Virginia Tech Cycling Team proudly boasts its grassroots heritage from this cycling mecca and strives to continue growing its legacy.

Today this was on the front page of our campus newspaper:

Unfortunately, the team was not the highlight of the article. I made sure, however, that we were well represented within the mix. Here is the online version, Biking becoming big in Blacksburg. I decided to get my jollys in for the day by using a picture that Ryan Harne had taken of me 2 weeks ago at NC State. I also gave the reporter the quote of the year, "Blacksburg is a petri dish for cycling." Take that Cycling News!

Top Supporter

2008-02-25T11:58:00.004-05:00

Top Sporter - 1. one who competes in the highest level in sport 2. professional sportsman who lives, eats, and trains with the intention of being the best 3. Most elite pro cyclists in Le Belge. 4. Tom Boonen

Top Supporter - 1. one who supports the highest level in sport 2. sportsman who gets stuck in the trunk 3. an academic who has the mind of an encyclopedia for games like celebrity, moviebomb, and the name game but guesses Yuri Gagarin for every round 4. old school cyclist who uses bubble wrap as insulation under a skinsuit 5. Tim C

I don't think I'm any of these, but if I had to choose, I'd probably want to be the latter. Why? Because as a top supporter, you have a way better chance of winning. The point of playing games in the van on the way to races is not to pass the time or share brainpower among your teammates; it is to divide and conquer your enemies and humiliate them with subjects such as Pikachu, Martin Scorcese, and Steven Hawking.

Did I mention the cool factor that top supporters face when getting trapped in a trunk and not having a means of getting out? Immediately the top supporter-signal is flashed into the sky and other fellow top supporters rush to the aid of the entrapped top supporter. Top supporters support other top supporters; it is the unspoken rule.

I did some sporting of my own this weekend. Racing at William & Mary there was some time trialing (12.5 miles) and some road racing action (67.5 miles). The team did well both days. The goal for me was a sub-30 min and top 15 placing in the tt; this was met with a 29:35 time and a 12th place. I don't have specific goals like this normally for time trials, however due to last years unacceptable 2nd to last finish, I had to make this a point to improve on. Booya. The team went 3rd, 6th, 7th, 12th...pretty solid. The road race was equally enjoyable with my man JZ getting into the break 1 mile in and staying away with 2 other compadres till the bell lap. Lots of work was done for him and other teammates as well. The impossibility of trying to get away, as VT has become the #1 marked team, has been taken to a whole new level. I think our best rider was 5th. All in all a fun filled weekend complete with birthday cakes, new tt rigs, and poppin' bubble wrap. Time to drag a comb across my head...

out,

-E

Are the bottle cages red or pink?

2008-02-19T19:07:00.019-05:00

Where is Waldo?

Off we go! 60 minutes of averaging about 27mph/43.2kph

...going through the chicane at snails pace, but holding the bars white knuckled because I was scared for my life

Why was I in the drops the whole race?

Up close

Shannanigans as usual

"Hey Jeff, thanks for the bloody nose!"

Getting into the break

Working hard to get the gap

Felt good

...ahhh that's bike racing

All photos compliments of Ryan Harne

bok racin'

2008-02-18T09:35:00.008-05:00

This past weekend the Virginia Tech Cycling Team went to race bicycles down in Raleigh, NC for its season opener at NC State University. The Men's A race was 75 miles long, so from the gun nothing exciting was really happening. After a long yawn session, I settled in and took in the sweet 50 degree Saturday morning air. I got to talking with one of my teammates from Cycling Center , a certain Scott Jackson, about being top sporter and wearing leg warmers while racing when some jokers from App Army began to attack.

After a flurry of riders going up the road, a breakaway from 5 got about 2 min on the field, near the end of the first lap. I signaled to Matt Howe from NC State that I was going to bridge and we attacked together. We put in a strong effort for 20 minutes but then we were chased down and we got back in the bunch. Strangely I noticed that my own team brought me back. I did some thinking and realized what was going on. The VT train lined up all 8 guys (Owen Nielsen, Ben King, John Zaccone, Steven Gordon, Eoin McDonnell, Bryan McVey, Reid Beloni, and myself) on the front and began to drive hard to reel in the break. After coming back from trying to bridge, I was motioned to be the gatekeeper for the pace line and made sure that no teams got in the mix to interrupt the rotation. We were really nailing it. Eoin's dad was in the wheel truck and had said that we were putting the whole field into the gutter and popping riders off the back. Eoin's dad timed the second lap at 41 minutes, while the rest of the laps averaged 46 minutes. Way to go team!

Eventually we caught the breakaway and the attacks began to fly, again as is expected. Being somewhat "fresh" from sitting behind the pain train I decided to attack with the seperation that was going on. Steven and I got into a move with like 6 other riders. We were going pretty well but then I began to hurt. Ben and Jeff Buckles bridged and I went backwards. I got into a chase group with some other riders but really couldn't put in any power. I felt kind of empty.

I ended up flatting going on the way back to the peloton. BONUS: I got to watch the finish! The break at the end was 6 riders with about 2 minutes on the field. Congrats to Steven for pinning down the win and for Ben following for 2nd. We also cleaned up the field sprint for 7th (Owen) and 8th (Reid). Our Women's A riders went 2nd (Lesley Golenor) and 5th (Sarah Hanson). Not a bad show of force for the first race of the season.

That night the team had some rockin' burritos from the Armadillo Grill.

Note: Although the burritos can be extremely good, do not be fooled by the free chips that fail to come with your meal.

The next day was a 60 minute crit on the NC State Centennial Campus. I got to speak with a number of the good 'ol boys before the race; famous creator of the Doody Bar,Chris Judy (DLP Pro), and C-Do, Craig Dodson (Team Nature's Path Pro/Am). As we lined up, I noticed we were missing 3 of our riders. Steevo had gone out for a training ride with Reid and Ben and had gotten lost on the way (Our newly appointed Officer of Integrated Cultural Experiences, Reid, did however manage to find Lilly's Pizza Restaurant, a really good joint that we stopped at on the way home).

Anyways, we had to race with 3 less Hokies and ended up having to change the race plan on the start line. The plan was to contain moves, then lead Owen out for a 5th consecutive win on the course, but it was now impossible to do with because of the depth in the field and the lack of numbers on our part.

It was criterium shannigans as usual. Attacks were flying off left and right. I stayed near the front and reeled in a few moves with Owen. I also picked up a points prime, BLING! Towards the end of the race I was on Jeff Buckles' wheel (VCU) and he began attacking the hell out of the field. I stayed on his wheel even though it hurt like hell. A group ended up countering at the end of his flurry with 10 laps to go. B Mac got into the winning move with Ryan McFeely (USNA) and some other guys. Towards 5 to go I attacked and along came Shawn Kane (NCSU) and a LMC rider. We were going pretty well. I was feeling good and conserving in case the field came charging, but was working well also. Bryan ended up getting 3rd, with Ryan (USNA) winning. They finished about 30 seconds off the front of the field with my chase group 15 seconds behind. I think I may have gotten 9th or something.

Definitely a better day for the legs than Saturday. Maybe it was the coffee that morning, interestingly enough brewed from a beheamoth such as one like this (but not necessarily)
Owen ended up taking the field sprint for 10th. 3 in the top 10, was not bad. Oh yeah and I noticed that at the end of the race, I was bleeding like a stuck pig. I must have popped a blood vessel in my nose. It was either from yelling my arse off in the breakaway or it was from putting out 800 watts/minute trying to stay on Buckle's wheel. Judges ruling?

out,

-E

Zbest

2008-02-13T13:07:00.013-05:00

Booyackasha. Packages from the nice UPS man are fun. Mother dearest sent me a Mr. Coffee grinder

and a bag of Zbest Coffee Company, LLC. Sumatra Super Fancy. Any one know where Sumatra is? I thought it was somewhere in South America; apparently I missed that question in high school geography class.

My coffee portfolio has grown three fold in the last 18 hours. Now I have the Sumatra Super Fancy, Brazilian Pilao from my bro, 4 bags of assorted organic coffee from The Heritage, all free trade of course, and a empty bin with Folger coffee crumbs sitting in the freezer. Fear not! I know better than to freeze good coffee. All of the bags are sitting nicely in the cabinet over the oven. From the looks of it though I might have enough coffee to last me into the next decade...

Since we're on the the topic of taking coffee to the extreme, I'll leave you with a picture of John Wayne on a tumbler.

Pretty Prince of Parties

2008-02-13T11:23:00.016-05:00

I go where the party takes me!

I'm a funky monkey junky :: you're a flunky bunky donkey

Inaugural Blog

2008-02-13T00:28:00.008-05:00

Hey-
So this is the inaugural blog for egglestown.com. It took me less than 5 minutes to set this whole shingdig up and it will be my new wire to the world. The blog will keep you updated on all the sweetness that bike racing offers as well as the downlow on what is going on in everything non-bicycle.

Today I took some initiative and rolled into the coffee shop to pick up one of these french press coffee makers.

SCHWING! We're in business to sex it up.

out,

-E