Sam Abt reports on rumors that the decision in the Landis case will be announced tomorrow, just in time for the London prologue start of le Tour de France.
Category: Cycling Page 30 of 34
There may have been two pro races in the Arlington/DC area this past weekend, with an impressive undercard of am races, but this race featured the real action – the 2007 Crystal Rides Celebrity Trike Race.
Joe Witte, the Channel 7 meteorologist, appears to be a little confused by the concept . . .
“Look, Barb, I’ve got this locked up.” – Walter Tejada talks trash to fellow Arlington County Board member Barbara Favola
Putting some fear into the competition, DC Divas linebacker Donna “Animal” Wilkinson is maybe a little too pumped. Mitchell Schear, to her right, wonders if perhaps this wasn’t such a good idea after all.
It would all be decided on this stretch of asphalt in gleaming downtown Crystal City.
Birds of Prey – Barbara Favola seems unaware that the mascots of the Washington Wizards and Capitals are eyeing her.
Joe Witte, “avid cyclist” that he is, shows us how it’s not done. (Howard Bernstein, his cross town weatherman rival, does seem suspiciously happy, though.)
And they’re off. (You really need to view it here to get a sense of the competitive glory.)
Arlington County Board member Chris Zimmerman finds his form early (and is desperately trying not to get girled by Donna Wilkinson . . .).
Arlington County Board member Barbara Favola testing out the “slow and steady wins the race” saying. Didn’t really work out so well . . .
Gets ugly, as Mix 106.7 personality Jimmy Alexander eats pavement.
Race winner Walter Tejada enjoying his moment in the sun. This man’s ambition knows no bounds. I understand that he was later heard yelling “In your FACE, Zimmerman! I’m the NEW Arlington, you’re the OLD Arlington!”
I think.
For the sake of the children, I’m not going to talk about what happened next.
A good time had by all. From Left to Right:
Maurisa Turner Potts (Crystal City BID), Mitchell Schear (President, Vornado/Charles E. Smith), Barbara Favola (Arlington County Board Member), Chris Zimmerman (Arlington County Board Member), Walter Tejada (Vice-Chairman, Arlington County Board), Donna “Animal” Wilkinson (Linebacker, DC Divas), Howard Bernstein (Reporter & Meteorologist, Channel 9 News), Joe Witte (Meteorologist, Channel 7 News), G-Wiz (Washington Wizards Mascot), Slapshot Mascot, (Washington Capitals), Major General Robert L. Smolen (Commander, Air Force District of Washington), and half of Jimmy Alexander (MIX 107.3).
For once, the most interesting race in Richmond doesn’t have anything to do with politics. This weekend, Richmond will play host to the XTERRA East Championships, where athletes will swim, run, and ride a mostly off-road course (1000m swim / 29k mountain bike / 11k trail run). This race will determine eligibility for the national championships in Lake Tahoe this September, as well as world championships in Maui this October. If you’re interested in going to watch, check this map out.
Would you rather ride than watch, this weekend? The XTERRA main event is closed, but you can still hit interesting parts of the course on Saturday. How? Check out Richmond Sports Backers’ MTB Urban Assault:
Competitors will choose between an 8 mile or 15 mile loop of the XTERRA Mountain Bike Course, which is considered the most technically challenging on the XTERRA Tour. The mountain bike course includes steep up hill and down hill single track trails, stairs over railroad tracks, tunnels, bridges, creek crossings and lots of natural obstacles.
There are plenty of classes (beginners through pro), so there’s something for everyone. You can register online until 9pm today, or you can register in person at Brown’s Island. Registration is $35 today, and $45 on race day. (Wish I could do this one myself, but I’ve already got another race scheduled this weekend.)
Not quite up to an “urban assault”, but still want to be part of the vibe this weekend? Try the “Cruise for a Cause” the same day, at 2pm.  You still get to be part of the action, but no worries about how to make it down a rock staircase on your bike. As an added plus, all of your registration fee will go to support the Richmond chapter of the best MTB advocacy organization in the area – the Mid Atlantic Off Road Enthusiasts.
Hailing from the DC area, I’ve got a well-supported bias against Richmond, but events like this keep impressing me. Keep it up.
I spent a fair amount of time shooting the CSC Invitational this weekend (as evidenced by the sunburn on my face). Some of the better shots are below. I didn’t cover the Men’s 1/2/3 as well as I would have liked to, but if you’re a local rider who’d like to see if he or she was looking good this Saturday, drop me a line and I’ll sort through what I’ve got. Clicking on the smaller photos will take you flickr, where I’ve got them at a higher resolution.
The Men’s 1/2/3 field.
David Bozak (Clean Currents) in first, Peter Cannell (Immediate Mortage/Artemis) in second, and Todd Hipp (Battley Harley) in third.
Team Clean Currents enjoying having one of their own on the podium’s top spot.
This NCVC rider shows what team support is all about . . . (assuming that what it’s all about is a cooler full of food from 7-11).
Laura Van Gilder at the start line.
Liz Hatch, who has quite an online fan club, shows the substance behind the form.
The women’s pro/1/2/3 field.
This is what 90% of the race looked like. Just Van Gilder and (a very smart, but ultimately outmatched) Larson.
Laura Van Gilder is a machine. This is her third win at the CSC Invitational (previous wins in 2005 and 2003).
Kelly Benjamin (Cheerwine) reacts to the young man declining to give her a podium kiss. Arlington County Board Member Walter Tejada (second from right) stepped in as an able replacement. He later told me that it was all in the spirit of public service . . .
In the end, it was Laura Van Gilder (Cheerwine) in first, Rebecca Larson (Aaron’s Corp. Furnishings) in second, and Sarah Uhl (Cheerwine) in third.
This guy, Oscar Sanchez, is aiming for Beijing in 2008. Whether the gets there or not, someone should snap him up for an endorsement deal – he doesn’t stop smiling.
The start of the U.S. Handcycling Criterium Championship – a race that Seth Arseneau would win.
Toyota-United has apparently decided to forgo the women’s demographic and has had these girls (or ones that look just like them – just add peroxide and tan) at most races. I think they collect contact information for marketing. In this photo, one fellow seems to want his wife to see where his hands are, in case I’m taking pictures for the paper.
Who brings an Escalade to a bike race? I share the same view as my comrades over at Racing Union on the matter of Rock Racing (the idea, not the riders).
This poor kid got lost, and went up on stage to find his parents. And then the announcer suggested making him a third lap premium. He was not amused. That’ll the teach the kid to trust adults . . .
Train CSC didn’t quite get it done . . .
Just sitting on someone else’s wheel all day . . .
There’s a rise between the last turn and the line that requires some real power to turn it into a sprint.
The 2007 CSC Invitational Podium
Ivan Stevic talking to Velonews about the end of the race.
Perhaps the only second between his crossing the line and falling asleep when he didn’t have a huge smile on his face.
More about the CSC Invitational on the web:
- In Rahsaan Bahati’s own words.
- Purple Motes gives us a view of the Men’s 1/2/3 race.
- And Tour ’03 of Triple Crankset wonders why the Washington Post wasn’t there. Maybe all the Washington Times banners?
- Velonews’ story here, and I assume that you’ll soon be able to find something at Pez and Cyclingnews, as they were both there.
My recap (and favorite shot of the race) are here.
This is the picture of a very happy man. Rock Racing’s Rahsaan Bahati surprised the crowd, the peloton, and himself with a win at the 10th CSC Invitational, beating out a field full of strong challengers. Ivan Stevic of Toyota-United takes second, with Hilton Clarke of Navigators in third.
The race, which bills itself as the “hardest crit in America”, was 100 laps of a tight 1km course in hot and sunny weather. While this race has historically started hard, many were surprised to see Victor Rapkinski make an early breakaway which came within 15 or so seconds of lapping the field before the teams were ordered to drop the hammer and shut down his chances of rejoining the peloton from behind.
The remainder of the race was a series of small battles for some of the higher value premiums (JJ Haedo found a pair of Dura Ace wheels worth his effort), with Navigators generally setting the pace of the peloton.
Approaching the last few laps, CSC train started looking like it was working to launch Haedo, while a Toyota-United team (without Ivan Dominguez) made it clear that they weren’t giving the race away to anyone.
It was Rahsaan Bahati, though, that had the winning legs in the sprint finish. Bahati, who spent more than a few laps barely hanging on to the back of the peloton, had moved up with a couple of team mates in the last stretch, and battled it out with Ivan Stevic and Hilton Clarke in the final 20 meters.
Bahati called this his “biggest win” since winning the Junior National Road Racing and National Criterium Championships in 2000.
More pictures, including of Laura VanGuilder’s third win of the CSC Invitational, later.
Photos by Mark Blacknell
Don’t forget, your best chance to see pro cycling in the DC area will come tomorrow at the CSC Invitational. 
Racing starts at 8am, but if you just want to see the men’s pro races, show up around noon. If you’re taking Metro, you can emerge in the center of the circuit at the Clarendon Metro stop. It’s pretty easy to move around the circuit as the race progresses, but my two favorite spots are on the western-most edge of the course (standing in the middle of the Wilson/Clarendon/Washington Blvds. intersection (it will all be closed to traffic)), and the corner of Washington Boulevard and North Highland St. (stay back from the edge, though – it’s a common place for crashes, and there are no crowd barriers to protect you). The most recent pro start list is here. Come check it out.
This last weekend found me in Stokesville, Virginia for the Virginia IMBA Mountain Biking Festival. I’d never had a chance to ride any of the trails out there, and I figured that it would be an excellent way to assess the advisability of me actually competing in the Shenandoah Mountain 100 this year. A number of the group rides would follow the SM100 course, and the plan was to take advantage of those rides to see as much of the course as possible. All the while having a grand time.
Well, something like that.
WABA (and lots of co-sponsors) will be holding the Arlington/Alexandria Community Bike Ride this Sunday, offering a couple of options for recreational cyclists:
FAMILY RIDE: (7-mile loop)
Less experienced riders and families will enjoy this ride along popular Community trails like the W&OD, Mt. Vernon and Four Mile Run. Don’t worry, these trails are flat!COMMUNITY RIDE: (23-mile loop)
More experienced riders will love this route, with on-street bike lanes in several neighborhoods as well as scenic trails like the W&OD, Custis, Four Mile Run and Mount Vernon- into historic Old Town Alexandria.Rest stops at Bluemont Park, Rosslyn, Crystal City and Alexandria will be stocked with water, refreshments and restrooms and will provide basic mechanical assistance.
I’d been planning to hit Roseryville that morning, but a combination of wanting to put action behind recent words about organized rides and a genuine hope that people discover and get excited about the local trails has me volunteering as a ride marshal this weekend. Come check it out and say hi.
Prompted by a posting to the Bike Washington listserv, I decided to try Atlantic Cycling’s Blackwater Tour this last week, making it my first metric century of the season. I’d never heard of this ride or Atlantic Cycling, but I’ve an affinity for riding in the very rural Eastern Shore, and I didn’t have anything in particular planned for that Sunday morning.
It starts at the Visitor’s Center of the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, which reminded me much of the marshes around Savannah (one of my favorite places on the planet). This was an absolutely beautiful area – a flat road inches above the water, and no cars to be seen (or heard). You can tell you’ve exited the park when you start noticing all of the duck blinds (Seems a bit cruel, no? Offer them a refuge, but only if they can make it through a hail of bullets. This is not a ride I’d be making in the fall.). It then loops down through Dorchester County before heading to an out-and-back segment to Hooper Island. All in all a beautiful route, and on a Sunday morning there were only a few miles (out of 65) where I saw more than a car or two at a time). I’ll definitely be heading back there when the schedule calls for some all day road work.
The riders were your typical touring assortment – a fair smattering of club riders, a good number of older touring couples, and a few groups of friends who had coalesced around a more experienced rider friend. I decided to make it a tempo training ride myself, and when the wind really picked up, I connected with a couple of other solo strangers and we shared the work of a three-man pace line for the rest of the ride. People were friendly, but not in your way. Just as I like it.
Atlantic Cycling, for its troubles in organizing and supporting the ride, wants you to sign up as a club member ($10 per season, getting you a nice grey on red t-shirt) and pay $10 for each ride. Registration was quick, and I received a cue sheet and a wish for good luck. I don’t think there is any on-course support beyond the (well-stocked) rest-stops. My only point of complaint was that there weren’t any restroom facilities available at the stops. This wasn’t an issue for me, but it wasn’t good news for a number of riders (esp. women). I’m almost embarrassed to say that I probably ate more than my registration dollars’ worth of food at the stop. I’d gotten in late the night before, and was operating on just a few hours of sleep. Apparently my body thought a good way to make up for that was by ingesting way too many peanut butter and banana sandwiches.
Depending on my calendar, I’d be quite happy to join another Atlantic Cycling ride this season. The route was clear (both on the cue sheet and as marked), and the company was pleasant. It’s not an ideal ride for those who are unsure of their abilities, but I’d recommend it to everyone else.