Michael Gray in the Mens 35+

Photo: Jan Curran

Report by Sean Pasieka

We were off at 9:17am for a 1.5 mile parade lap through the town to showcase the race.  We were neutral through this section and anticipating the pace car pulling off to signify the start of the race.  Sure enough, as soon as the pace car went, so did the front of the group.  Starting only 1 minute behind the group in front of us, we quickly caught them and were put into a neutral state for the next 2 miles.  Being in the CAT 5 race we were only doing one lap of the course while the group in front of us was doing 2 laps; their pace was considerably slower than ours.  Race official kept us in neutral to form a gap at the base of the first climb, a 2.69 mile climb with an average 10% grade.  This was brutal.  The lead of the CAT 5 race was already catching and passing the riders that were dropped from other groups.

I knew this was going to be the toughest climb of the day due to its length and it didn't disappoint.  Thankfully I put a 12-27 cassette on the day before because I used the 27 cog for the majority of the climb.  I slowly, and I mean slowly, passed riders on the way up focusing on keeping the pedals moving in circles and not redlining.  This climb seemed to drag on as we hit a couple of switchback and the road rising on the other side.  The climb took nearly 14 minutes and a lot of grinding to crest the summit.  Once we crested it was a fun and fast descent.

Coming into the second climb a small group organized to try and reel the leaders back in.  We had a group of 7 riders working together to make up time and we were successful as we began catching some of the riders that had gotten up the road from us.  As we approached the last climb we were still working together but it began to break up as 3 riders began to pull away.  I jumped to get on the wheel of the last rider because I knew that they had 2 good climbers.  I thought if I could summit with them that I would be able to get a decent result as the run to the finish was 2 miles downhill.  Well I popped with about 100m to the summit and the climbers showed their merit.  They produced a gap that I was unable to close.  I passed 2 more riders on the finishing descent but could not reach this group before the finish.  I completely buried myself over the last 2 miles and began to redline with 500m and my speed steadily decreased as I watched the group infront of me cross the line.  I was able to roll over the line, in 7th place, without being challenged.

I was exhausted.  Legs were dead.  This was a BRUTAL race.

Great job by Pawling Cycle and Sport for putting on this event.

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Report by Nick David

Warming up for this mornings race, I would get the standard question from the race promoters, "Have you seen the course yet?" My answer was, "No, I don't live close to here. Never been up this way before." This was usually followed by some sort of evil laugh from the promoters. The truth is, I definitely should have studied this course and more importantly, should have been training hard for climbing, rather than sprinting. Oh well, it was too late now.

The Cat4 race started out slowly with a field of 98. Within 1 minute, someone with nerves of pudding had already fallen. No big deal, they were back up and with the group quickly. The first 2 miles consisted of a parade lap through town. By parade lap, I mean, 3 people standing on the sidewalk clapping their hands. I felt like a Grand Tour rider.

Once the lap was over, the pace picked up mildly. I knew they were saving themselves for the brutal climbs ahead. I played it smart, sitting in mid-field, just drafting along the rolling course. After 7 or so miles, I could see the beginning of the race up ahead. From what I could tell, the road kicked up hard and then turned 90-degrees right. Here we go.

Up and around the turn, I witnessed the death of 78 cyclists (including myself). The pace was set high by nineteen, 135lb jockeys who live for climbing. At this point in my fitness, there was no way my 167lb ass was going to go this fast. Half-way up the climb, I just imagined how hard the TdF riders were going in the Alps. It helped keep my mind at ease. As I approached the imaginary top, I felt that I could reel some riders back in on the flats. Nope! This wasn't the top. It wasn't even close. It wasn't even the steepest section.

Oh My God, I thought. The sweat was pouring from my head. My legs, which normally stay dry, were soaked. I immediately pulled off my sunglasses and tossed them in my jersey pocket. Anything on the face at high intensity drives me nuts. It was hot and everyone was breathing at full throttle.

The first climb lasted about 2 miles, with dreadful kicks and misleading ends. Once we reached the summit, it leveled out for a bit and then descended for a few miles, until another long climb approached. This 1 mile, fast climb, brought you into the final climb of 1/4 mile at 10%. By now, we had picked up a few stragglers from the lead group and had a great pace going. Most of the guys were working hard, taking pulls up front and really doing their best. This included Kissena, Setana & FGX Racing. I'm probably missing some others, but thanks to you all for being true tough-men. The rest sat in like little girls and tried to save themselves for the field sprint.

I have to be honest, after that first lap, I nearly called it a day. I thought to myself, there's no way I can finish with this group. The pitches were too steep and long and I am not much of a climber. Near the end of lap 1, I was feeling better. My legs were loosening up and I could breath again. I knew it was going to happen again, but at least there was only 20 miles left.

Rolling through the hills on the 2nd lap was much slower (due to the smaller field), but we were working relatively well together to make up time. In fact, within 6 miles, we made up 30 seconds. Unfortunately, our catch pace ended abruptly when most of the guys decided to save their legs for the climbs.

As we entered the final climbs of the day, I felt better about this pace and was one of the stronger climbers (certainly not the strongest). We had dropped about 40 other riders who came unprepared as well.

Up and over the final 3 climbs, I was up front the entire time and tried to set a pace that I could sustain. On the final descent, I tried to pick up the pace and really bomb down the sketchy road. The field strung out and only 2 guys would take their pull up front. As stated above, the rest were saving it for a sprint. With less than 1 k to go, I sat 3rd and waited. Sure, were were now sprinting for 20th place, but a sprint is a sprint. It's a cyclist way of saying,"I don't give up."

Off they went and so did I. You couldn't see the finish, because the road jumped up a bit, but I knew it was there. Digging deep, I managed to come around the riders and inch past the leader, winning the field sprint and taking 20th place.

My goal going into this race was to take top 20, so I was happy when I did. A huge thanks to Pawling Cycle & Sport for creating a brutal course. I hope to see this again next year.

Preparation

I lived in Princeton for several years and started riding with a very close knit group of friends. Jim Sumner, Bob Stover, Rich and Pam Toft, Mike Chordas and Mike Smith all became my daily riding buddies and through them I discovered they were riding for this charity called Anchor House. The charity supports families and children in crisis in the Trenton Area. I figured, I get to ride my bike and raise money for a great cause. What could be better? I gave it a go 4 years ago and have been hooked since.

The ride itself is relatively simple. The Anchor House Ride Committee chooses a location 500 miles away from Trenton NJ and roughly 200 riders raise money and ride their bicycles back over 7 days. Year after year we manage to raise over half a million dollars for this wonderful charity. This year will be no different. We are starting from the south in Virginia and will be riding our way north through Maryland, Pennsylvania and back home to New Jersey.
My bike is cleaned and lubed. My clothes and riding gear are packed. My funds are raised and my riding buddies are ready. Saturday morning my wife Katy will drop me off in Trenton were all of us will be bused down to Charlottesville Virginia to begin our journey.

See you on the road!

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Day 1

Out of bed today at 5am. For those that know me that is sleeping in. Coffee made, luggage already packed, showered, woke Katy (and the dogs) and out the door. The drive down to Trenton is roughly an hour for us and I always like to be early. Unlike most other participants, my bike and luggage ride in 1st class. I am fortunate enough to ride down with Pete Garnich of Knapp's Cyclery. All 200 other riders are crammed in 4 buses. Not me!  I certainly feel special.

Today is just travel. We are on our way to Charlottesville Virginia. It rained like hell a good portion of drive. Cracker Barrel for lunch. Trying to be Paleo even on my adventure. I don't want to upset coach Ken Lundgren

We arrive in Charlottesville at 4:30pm and Bob, Jim, Mark and I decide to go for 15 mile ride to stretch our legs. We stumbled across a beautiful lake at the end of a dead end road a picture moment. Afterwards we go back to hotel, shower up and meet our friends in the hotel bar to catch up on the TDF. Good times.  Just 1 beer coach I promise
Our Ace Mechanic Pete chauffeurs us to dinner in the Knapp's Cyclery Team Van. Tonight we chose to eat at the Baja Bean Co. Fajitas and a Sol beer for dinner tonight. Yummy.

Well I'm off to bed.  See you all on the road.

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Day 2

6am the alarm woke me up. My roommate Pete is already set up outside the hotel. Working on bikes. I meet my friends for breakfast at the local gas station (there are not many options down here in rural Virginia. I must say my eggs and coffee were tasty.

By 7:30 we are on the road. My group includes the usual suspects: Jim, Bob, Rich & Pam (on their tandem), Mike, Mark, Laura and I.  In all of my years doing this ride, today's stage was by far the best I've ever experienced. All day, country rollers! It was awesome! By the time our day was over we finished with 17.7 mph average for 75.5 miles. We climbed 3450ft and were in the saddle for 4:15 hours. We had 3 SAG stops along the route as well. Me, being very Paleo, had limited options at the rest stops. Just fruit for me. No cookies, peanut butter or crackers. Boo-hoo.

Right now we are chilling' by Pete watching him fix bikes and I am having a nice River horse Summer Blonde. Hmmm!

Great ride, great route & great friends! Good times!!! See you all tomorrow.

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Day 3

I always found day 2 the hardest. Its not quite hump day but typically after you do 75 miles, you recover the next day. Not today.

The schedule has us traveling from Culpeper VA to Winchester VA. Weather was really nice today, lower humidity and just 67 degrees at departure. Luckily the sun barely came out and the day remained cool and breezy.  Country rollers all day again. Never get tired of it. Well to be honest more like small climbs than rollers but still fun. . 3 SAG's today so every 20 miles we are stopping for food and drink.

Always staying on diet but am getting sick of bananas and watermelon. I am cheating with Clif Bars (sorry Ken).

Been feeling really strong these first 2 days. I hope it lasts. When it was all over we rode 80.81 miles at a pace of 17.7mph. We climbed 4485 ft as well.  Great stuff. See you soon!

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Day 4

Getting ready for day 3.  But let me take a step back. Last night our group went to Big Daddy's BBQ in Stephens City Virginia. It was just a 10 minute drive from Winchester and well worth it. Big Daddy himself tells us that "No ones meat is as sweet as Big Daddy's meat!". Well he was right. I ate a so many ribs I got "meat sweats"!  Great food and great service - thanks Big Daddy!

Today has us traveling from Winchester Virginia to Fredericks Maryland. Just 70 miles today. The last 2 days I felt really strong. Doing long pulls and pushing the pace. We rolled out of Winchester at 7am hit the road. Another great route. Unfortunately we received word the Joe Boise, a fellow ride, crashed yesterday pretty seriously and will not be continuing. Our thoughts are with you Joe. We also received word George Steinbrenner died. I guess the end of an era for Yankee fans. We road past the historic area of Antietem. So many lives were lost. Just incredible. Then we crested a difficult climb that brought us over the appalachian trial. Met some hard core hikers en route from Georgia to Maine. They started their trek in April. Wow!

By the time we reached Fredericks Maryland, on the other side of the Potomac, we had logged another 72 miles and climbed 3070ft. Jim Sumner and I pushed each other today and finished with an 18.1 mph avg for the day. See you in Kulpsville tomorrow!

Congrats to Andy Schleck - 2 in a row!

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Day 5

Today's day was a very historic ride from Winchester Maryland to Gettysburg Pennsylvania. It was a 72 mile route entirely uphill. A gentle grade but still uphill nonetheless. On top of the topography, it rained the entire day with wind of 25 mph.  Just miserable.

However, we made the best of it.  We struggled to maintain a 17 mph average through the first 2 SAG stops. Once we left the last SAG our route navigated us through Gettysburg Battlefield National Park and Memorial.  I was really overwhelmed once the reality of what happened there became apparent. I am a history major and studied US history extensively but nothing prepared me for the things we saw. It puts a lot of things in perspective once you realize what the North and South went though for this country.  Over 51k soldiers died in this battle!  What an incredible loss of life.
We are now back at the hotel. 72 miles complete, 3450 miles of climbing and I am exhausted. Looking forward to sleep. See you tomorrow.

The charity ride will last 7 days and cover roughly 500 miles. We wish Rob and Pete a safe and successful trip! Please see below for more information on the ride.

The Ride for Runaways is an annual, 7 day, 500 mile charity bicycle ride that exists to support Anchor House. In 1979, a group of concerned citizens founded Anchor House, a shelter for runaway and/or abused teenagers.  The Anchor House founders used the analogy of a ship dropping its anchor to keep it safe in the storm to visualize the mission of the agency.  The anchor is supported by links of its chain, which in turn keep the anchor tied to the ship.  The founders understood that life’s circumstances can cause the links of a family’s chain to break down. They created Anchor House as a stabilizing place for runaway, homeless, and abused youth. It is a safe place to rest, wait through the storm while in crisis and a way to move on when the crisis is calmed.   Today, Anchor House has grown into "The Houses Where Healing Begins" with programs that meet the needs of babies, teens and young adults.  Visit http://www.anchorhousenj.org to learn more about Anchor House and it's programs. That same year a small group of young bicyclists created "The Ride for Runaways" with a goal of raising funds to keep the doors of Anchor House open.   The first riders rode from Florida to Trenton to earn the pledges promised by their sponsors. Today, The Ride for Runaways continues as an annual event with nearly 180 bicyclists and over 20 support volunteers participating.  Our riders represent all walks of life and all ability levels. If you think you might like to join us and would like to know more about the ride, click here: http://www.anchorhouseride.org/theride/

The first plan, was an early attack by Sean, with Kurt holding his wheel. Sean was to go with roughly 1/2 mile left, giving a solid leadout for Kurt. Unfortunately, both Sean & Kurt were unable to get past the 75 rider field and found it impossible to get up front.

Fortunately, our backup plan was in full effect. Aleksey did a fantastic job of hammering the pace, which strung out the pack. Grinding away, he took a course-wide group and strung them along into a single-file line. With a 1/2 mile to go, Aleksey was reaching his end, but Rob was fresh and bringing Nick to the front.

With a little vocal encouragement from Nick, Rob was finally at the front, reaching  a lead-out speed of nearly 35mph. At the right moment, Nick launched from the saddle and sprinted to the final corner. After a quick glance back, he saw a solid lead on the 2nd place rider. Gritting his teeth, he hammered down the final straight and 1st across the finish line. It was excellent to see a plan put into action and come through. Great job by Alex, Rob, Kurt, Sean and Nick.

Propeller wishes everyone who was involved in crashes a speedy recovery and a huge thanks to the Heart House/CADV/CC Evesham Elite Cycling Team for putting on a great event.

Pictures to come, but watch the highlights and post-race interviews below.

You can now follow Propeller on facebook. We will be posting news, website updates, group rides and information about upcoming events regularly.

This morning, Aleksey and Sean gave their best at the Upper Freehold Time Trial. Due to the rolling course, most guys opted for their road bikes, rather than their super-sleek aero bikes.

Alex finally brought out his shiny new Giant TCR Advanced and crushed the hills with a time good enough for 2nd place at 27:14. Sean, who is still new to racing, did an incredible job of placing 6th with a time of 28:40. We are really looking forward to more performances like these

Upper Freehold is a 11 mile circuit with 5 turns and some rollers serious enough to make you use small ring. The pavement is mostly in good condition which makes it even more fun. The course starts off flat so the key is to remember that the rollers are coming.

Due to gearing of my TT bike I have decided to try the Eddy style and ride the road bike.

It was hot and humid with overcast and to warmup on the trainer was a torture. Regardless we did it for about 40 minutes and then rode to the start area and around it. Last sips of sport drink and Seany was off. I had 2.5 minutes so I looked around. The guy behind me didn't look dangerous. The 30 second men I knew and I knew he will be a good pace maker. After the start I needed to remember that I am on the road bike and the speed won't be in 27ish. Paced myself thru the flats not really gaining much on the guy in front. The rollers came and I started slowly bring him in finally passing him on about 8 miles in.

Shortly after that it was mostly downhill to the finish. I haven't seen Seany and was glad we is going to have a good time. Comparing power files showed the same power as the last year on the TT bike and
2 minutes slower.

All photos are thanks to Jan Curran. Please check out her website.

Today, Rob Donovan and Nick David, raced the infamous Skyscraper Harlem Classic and made it out in one piece. The temperature soared at 95 degrees and the humidity made you soaked in sweat instantly. The race started off very fast and within the first lap, someone already crashed into the steel barricades.

Rob and Nick planned to play it smart by sitting in, reserving energy and staying cool, but weren't able to always stick to the plan. We were forced to chase down breaks made by larger teams, sprint to avoid crashes and work hard to finish up front. In the end, there was a solo attack, which Nick pointed out. Unfortunately, he was boxed in and unable to chase. The winner soloed to the finish with no chase. Rob and Nick made it around the block and sprinted the entire straight for the line, finishing with Nick in 9th and Rob at 27th.

Due to the heat, the famous Waffles & Dinges truck didn't sound very inviting. Instead, we slowly limped to the car for ice cold water.

The race started at a very moderate pace due to relatively strong wind.  There was an early break of 4 riders but the field was content to let them go.  There wasn't much action on the first lap as no groups or teams were willing to do the work needed to start reeling in the break.

We were quickly behind by 90 seconds after the first lap.  I spent the entire race toward the front of the field even taking pulls and at times trying to force a faster pace by jumping off the front.  I tried this 3 times, but each time nobody was willing to pick up the pace, so I slowly drifted back into the pack.  We hammered through the finish area and made the 2 quick right turns to get onto the front stretch of the second lap and the pace continued to be slow but we were able to reel in most of the break as it had split up.

The pace began to pick up coming over the small hill on the back side of the course, stretching the field out a bit.  We came down into the sharp right hand turn on the back stretch and a few riders attacked.  It was uphill so I was sure that we would be able to catch them after cresting the hill.  I was wrong.  I was still near the front as we started to push the pace in the last 7 miles.  3 riders from the same team were doing all the pace making and I quickly remembered that 2 of their teammates had attacked up the hill.

I got vocal and let the group know that they had guys up the road.  But to no luck.  The field seemed fine with this again so I made a jump out front with about 5 miles to go and finally got the field  moving.  It was a constant cat and mouse game for the last few miles as people would put in false attacks.  We were all together with about 500yds to go and the hammer got dropped.  All hell broke loose as guys were going as hard as they could up the final roller to the finish line.  I was able to match for the most part peaking at about 30mph on the uphill sprint.  Crossed the line 9th.  Found out later that the 3 riders that attacked up the hill had crossed the line already placing me in 12th.