Chagrin River Cycling Club

Kirtland CX & NEOCX Series recap

2011-11-21T12:50:00.001-05:00

Kirtland Summary
CRC member Bob Breedlove secured a 3rd place finish along with some battle wounds in a large C Masters race while Daryl Breedlove had to abandon the race due to foot injury. Chris Nicula finished 8th in the B open race. The course had great flow to it and the conditions were excellent. Also race organizers had Umami and Touch food trucks present with both serving up excellent post-race meals!

NEOCX Series recap
CRC had 5 members actively racing in almost in all of the 12 NEOCX races. We were able to secure some podiums and overall series cash/awards:

Race podiums:
John Nichols: 1st @ Willoughby, 3rd @ Orrville, 3rd @ Chagrin River/Halloween day 1, 3rd @ Chagrin River day 2
Bob Breedlove: 2nd @ Kent Stark, 3rd @ Cascade, 3rd @ Kirtland

Series Awards:
John Nichols picked up some cash and a trophy for a 3rd place overall in the C open category.
Bob Breedlove earned some cash for a 4th place overall in the C Masters.
Chris Nicula earned some cash as well for a 4th place overall in the B Open.

Solon CX
CRC hosted its 4th CX race this year with it being hosted for the 2nd time in Solon, OH. The weather was great and we were able to host nearly 100 racers for the day. We also are proud to say we had 24 one-day license racers @ Solon. We hope they enjoyed it enough to purchase a license for next year and begin racing more often. We will again be using the profits from the race along with the Chippewa Creek 2011 race to donate to a local charity this year.

Already looking forward to competing again next year in NEOCX 2012!

NEOCX awards ceremony and CX social event

2011-11-15T17:39:00.001-05:00

See below for a message from Brett Davis regarding NEOCX activities this Sunday:

The last race of the 2011 NEOCX Series is this Sunday at Kirtland Park in Cleveland, Ohio. Thanks to the race promoters and our generous series sponsors including Raleigh America and WAS Labs over $4,500 in cash will be paid out in 10 separate categories. Immediately following the last race at Kirtland Park, an awards ceremony and social will kick off at around 4pm. The awards ceremony and social will be held at Sokol Greater Cleveland at Bohemian National Hall located at Broadway Avenue and I-77 in Cleveland, Ohio. The building is on the National Registry of Historic Buildings and is located directly adjacent to the site where Fast Track Cycling, Inc. plans to locate its outdoor 166 meter velodrome track in June 2012. It is about 4 miles from Kirtland Park and has plenty of secured parking. The address is 4939 Broadway Avenue, Cleveland OH 44127. Fast Track Cycling, Inc. is picking up the cost for the room which features a bar and accommodates up to 150 people. Sokol Greater Cleveland is picking up the cost for the beer and light snacks (chips, pretzels and such). Please feel free to bring your family, kids, friends, etc. Fast Track also will be pulling the winning ticket for the 2012 Specialized Langster complements of Spin Bike Shop. See you Sunday.

Willoughby Cross

2011-11-13T17:07:00.002-05:00

CRC had 4 members racing today at a dry and fast (relatively) course in Willoughby. CRC's John Nichols stepped to the top step of the podium with a 1st place finish on his last NEOCX race! The rest of CRC members finished middle of fields in the C and B races.

Some pictures of the B race from Willoughby can be found here.
Pictures of the Solon CX race can be found here courtesy of Gregg Brekke.

Solon CX Results

2011-11-07T19:55:00.000-05:00

Thank you to everyone who came out and raced this Sunday at the Solon 2011 CX race!

Results have been uploaded to USA Cycling and can be viewed here.
Any corrections or issues should be sent directly to chris.nicula at gmail.com.

We will post links to pictures as they come in.

Solon CX Course update

2011-11-02T20:52:00.003-04:00

The course have has roughed in and many laps were done tonight.

Updates:
1. No Le Mans style start this year. The start will be a long straight (250 yards) with a slight uphill. Much different than last year.
2. Faster than last year with less turns. Course is 1.2 miles with B race likely to be around 7:30-8 min laps.
3. New singletrack section.
4. Yes, the spiral will still be the same but it will not be involved in the start.
5. Few soft areas and some mud today but nothing significant. Should be in great shape on Sunday with the current weather forecast.

Hope to see you there!

Go green...race local this Sunday!

2011-10-31T13:00:00.000-04:00

This Sunday is the 2nd annual Solon CX in Solon, Ohio. Few items about the race:

- A grill will be provided if you wish to grill out
- Weather forecast is 61 degrees and a relatively dry week leading up the race
- Course is including new areas this year
- Most importantly: a keg will be provided!

Hope to see you there.

Race flyer found here.

Halloween CX Day 1

2011-10-29T17:42:00.000-04:00

Pics here of C, B2, and A races. Write up coming shortly.

Blue Sky 2011 Cyclocross

2011-10-24T21:52:00.001-04:00

Pictures can be found here.

CRC had our typical 5 CX racers show up again this weekend in Euclid to throw down in another great venue. Long grass straight aways, technical woods, off camber slippery slopes, steps, and run only mud sections = great CX course. Hopefully the city of Euclid lets Blue Sky host a race in this park again next year.

2 days of local cross racing next weekend with costumes, kegs, great spectators, food,,,what could be better?

Orrville CX 2011

2011-10-09T19:52:00.001-04:00

Orrville/Soupcan Cycling put together an incredible course first time course today for Cyclocross. It had motocross sections, long power stretches, technical single track lined with rocks, and a run up hill. Pictures showing some of the sections of the course can be found here.

CRC's John Nichols stepped on the podium in the C Race with a 3rd place finish!

Solon Cyclocross 2011 flyer released!

2011-10-04T12:35:00.001-04:00

November 6th is the 2nd annual Solon Cyclocross presented by Chagrin River Cycles & Mountain Road Cycles. This race is the 11th race of the 2011 NEOCX series and will be held rain or shine. Flyer can be found here.

Wendy Park CX

2011-09-18T20:20:00.001-04:00

CRC had 4 members race at Wendy Park CX, the 3rd race of the NEOCX series. The turnout was great, course was changed up, temperatures in the low 70s and atmosphere was perfect. Team Spin and their volunteers did an incredible job putting together this race including loud speakers, beverages, sponsor tents, and my favorite Wendy Park course yet.

Next week is another great venue @ Stark Velo's Kent State Stark campus course. CRC will again be hosting the Solon CX race on November 6th this year.

Tour of the Valley

2011-07-12T12:23:00.000-04:00

Zack Kratche, CRC's newest member, raced strong all weekend and finished 3rd place on the GC in the TOTV CAT 5 stage race. Congrats to Zack!

TOTV race results can be found here: results

Twin Sizzler 2011

2011-07-05T20:56:00.001-04:00

CRC had 9 members racing in the Twin Sizzler in Medina this year. 5 of the 9 CRC racers finished in the top 5 of their categories including 1 of the 9 having a mechanical end his race. Chippewa Creek race director Mike Poremba is pictured below taking a gold medal home for his 1st place finish!

Chippewa Creek 2011 Results

2011-05-15T18:51:00.001-04:00

Cat 1-3
Women
Masters
Cat 4
Cat 5
Juniors

Chippewa Creek 2011 Flyer

2011-05-02T15:25:00.000-04:00

LINK

Chippewa Creek 2011 is on May 15! Mike Poremba is the race director for this year's event. We look forward to seeing everyone out there on race day!

Chippewa Creek 2011--May 15th

2011-04-08T12:57:00.000-04:00

The Chippewa Creek Road Race for 2011 will be held on May 15th at the Brecksville Reservation.

Mike Poremba will be race director for the 2011 season.

Additional details will be posted soon.

Roubaix Ride 2011

2011-04-07T15:11:00.003-04:00

Jim's Roubaix ride is coming up April 10th at 11 AM:

The 7th annual Roubaix Ride.
Meet at the feed mill in Orwell (NW corner of Rt 322 and Rt 45).
Starting at 11 (that is directed at couple of usual suspects) regardless of weather.
Hope to see you there,
Jim

WomenSafe Donation

2011-01-25T20:04:00.000-05:00

CRC donated $700 to WomenSafe.org this is the second year we've donated proceeds from our races to this worthy organization. Thanks to everyone who raced, volunteered, and officiated at our 2010 events!

Server Back Online

2011-01-25T20:02:00.002-05:00

The CRC web server was offline for about 24 hours for repairs.

Creek Cross 2010 Wrap Up

2010-10-17T19:59:00.000-04:00

Big, big thanks to Lynn Marut for officiating at the race today. I hope that everyone in the Cleveland cyclocross community takes some time to thank Lynn for all the work she does to make our lives a lot more fun.

Big thanks to the Bartels family for providing such a great venue for the race.

The Cleveland cycling community is awesome! There's no way we could have completed the course setup without hours of help from Brent and Todd.

Big thanks to all our volunteers who made the race happen.

We will be posting results as soon as they are available.

Last TT of the Season

2010-09-19T11:09:00.000-04:00

Thursday September 23rd is the last TT of the 2010 season. Thanks Jim for another great year! The TT starts at 6:30PM at the fire station on Leroy Center Road near Vrooman Road in Leroy Township (map).

wendy park CX is tomorrow

2010-09-11T14:05:00.000-04:00

The second event in the series is Sunday, September 12th down at Wendy Park/Whiskey Island (link). Make sure to check out the flyer for start times.

http://neocx.wordpress.com/calendar/

Westlake Update

2010-09-10T07:44:00.002-04:00

From Chris Riccardi:

Westlake Racers,

I spoke with city engineering yesterday. Resurfacing work is moving forward slower than expected. At this time I am canceling the 9/14/10 and 9/21/10 race dates. The last scheduled race date in September (9/28/10) is still tentative and I'm hoping we will be able to have a final race and EOS celebration.

Look for another update around 9/22 - 9/24 timeframe.

westlake update

2010-08-29T22:02:00.003-04:00

From Chris Riccardi:

Westlake Racers -

At this time the 8/31/10 and 9/7/10 race dates are cancelled.

The remaining dates in Sept. are tentative.

Westlake city engineering has confirmed that resurfacing of Ranney Parkway is scheduled to begin this Tues. 8/31/10. They estimate that completion will take 2-4 weeks. They will have a better idea after they look at the milled concrete surface to determine how much concrete repair has to be done. Curbs will remain concrete and be repaired as needed. New road surface will be asphalt butted against the concrete curbs. We may be able to race once the 1st rough coat of asphalt is down, depending on timing.

Look for a follow-up email around 9/9-9/10...I hope to have progress update around then.

Hill Climb TT

2010-08-23T08:22:00.000-04:00

This Thursday (8/26), the course for Jim's TT will move from Leroy to Mitchell's Mill. (map) Parking is available at Chardon Township Park on Auburn Road just south of Mentor Road.

westlake is on for 8/24

2010-08-23T08:17:00.000-04:00

The westlake training series continues this week (Tuesday, 8/24) as normal, however, road construction on the course might start soon.

power outage

2010-08-15T19:50:00.000-04:00

The CRC web server was down today (Sunday, August 15th) due to a power outage. The server is back online.

It's almost time for 'cross!

2010-07-29T15:10:00.002-04:00

CRC's Cyclocross race will be part of the new Northeast Ohio Cyclocross Series and will be October 17. Stay tuned for more information.

Victory!

2010-07-11T10:52:00.002-04:00

Chris Nicula won the Cat 4/5 final stage of the TOTV. More details later.

Medina Twin Sizzler

2010-07-05T10:33:00.002-04:00

CRC had 9 members competing at this years Medina Twin Sizzler in various races. The weather was perfect, the race was well organized as usual, and the course was unchanged. This is a local favorite due to the rolling 27 mile route with police escort and variety of races to enter. CRC ended the day with a few top 5 finishers:

In the 24-29 Citizen race, Eric Johnson was the sole CRC rider and came across the line 3rd within a bike length of 1st and 2nd.

In the 19-34 Expert race, Max Fowler (in from his home in Denver, CO) and Chris Nicula were representing CRC. The race split up a few times and mixed in with the 35+ Expert field. Chris finished 4th and Max came across in 6th.

Brian Meyer was the sole member in the 40-44 Citizen race. Brian got caught off guard but still ended with a 6-7th place finish.

Rob Myers raced in the 45-49 Citizens and finished 6th.

The 50-54 Citizens included 4 CRC riders. One of the cops escorting the race managed to slow down and thus split up this group early on for reasons still unknown. Daryl Breedlove was the top finisher with 4th or 5th followed closely by Mike Poremba a few spots back, then with Dave Walkowiak and Al Dottore finishing with the rest of the field.

Next up: Tour of the Valley.

The Twin Sizzler

2010-07-02T16:22:00.000-04:00

The Twin Sizzler is coming up on Sunday.

The Chapel Crit: July 8, 15, 22

2010-06-26T20:17:00.000-04:00

The Chapel Series kicks off on July 8th. The "B" race starts at 6:30pm at the Chapel in Green, Ohio. The entry fee is $10. The course is a fun, fast, technical loop around the parking lots of the church. It is closed to traffic.

spring wrap-up

2010-06-10T14:49:00.000-04:00

CRC had a solid spring season with riders placing in races in Ohio and PA: Daryl Breedlove, Dave Bartels, and Eric Johnson landed podium spots.

We also hosted our third race, and our first road race ever--Chippewa Creek. Lots of people worked hard to organize and host this event. Al Dottore was the driving force behind getting this race on the calendar again. Our officials, Lynn Marut and Don Cernanec did a great job keeping the races moving along on time, and Mountain Road Cycles and Pyro Apparel provided great sponsorship. Additionally, Charles Howe provided his expertise and PDQ Cleveland provided a generous contribution to help offset the expense of the race.

Now, we're moving into the heart of the road racing season. The Tour of the Valley is a key event for several riders on the team and CRC is looking to have a good showing this year.

Leroy TT Starts May 13

2010-04-28T19:22:00.001-04:00

From Jim:

The TT is Thursday evenings and starts at 6:30 promptly. We wait for no one. If you need a long warm up, make sure you allow yourself time.

The course is approx. 7.8 miles and is an out and back. Start and finish and parking are at the Leroy fire station on Leroy Center Rd. (map)

From Cleveland: Take I-90 to the Vrooman Rd exit. Turn right (south) and go to the first stop sign. That is Leroy Center Rd. Turn left and the fire station is about 1/4 mile away on the right.

Tour of the Valley

2010-04-25T17:50:00.003-04:00

Carbon Racing has announced here that the Tour of the Valley prologue will once again be at the Mastropietro Winery this year. This was a perfect venue for last year's race and CRC is looking forward to visit at least 1 more time again this year.

Westlake Starts Tuesday, April 20

2010-04-19T16:41:00.000-04:00

Racing is confirmed to start 4/20/2010. Parking lot available starting at 5:30 p.m. Registration from 5:45 - 6:20 p.m. B race off at 6:27 p.m. A race off at6:30 p.m. Entry is $12.00 again this season. Weather looks like it will be partly sunny and in the upper 50's with light winds from the North at start time. Restrooms at Roman Park are supposed to be already open for the season.

Westlake 2010 Announcement

2010-04-10T09:12:00.001-04:00

Season start tentatively scheduled for April, 20.

There WILL be road construction this season, so we will have to take a 3-4 week summer vacation while Ranney Pkwy. and Westchester Pkwy. surfaces get milled, overlayed, and fresh asphalt. There is a chance that Clemens Rd. up to Bassett Rd. will also be included.

Dates of road work are unknown at this time....so look for email updates, check Westlake results page at http://carbonracing.org/westlake/index.php , or become a fan of Facebook Westlake Training Race Series for the latest information.

Sperry Road Closed North of Arboretum

2010-04-03T16:56:00.000-04:00

I just noticed today that Sperry Road, a popular road for cyclists, is closed 3.1 miles North of Kirtland Chardon Road. From the Lake County Engineer:

Lake County Engineer, James R. Gills, announced today that the Sperry & Booth Road Bridge Replacements and Intersection Improvement Project in the Village of Kirtland Hills will begin Monday, March 29, 2010. Cleveland based firm, Perk Company Inc, will perform the $1,457,777.00 project replacing the structurally deficient bridges over Pierson Creek and the East Branch of the Chagrin River including the intersection of these roadways with new structures, asphalt pavement, and drainage improvements. The project is significantly funded by federal monies and the Ohio Public Works Commission funds under grants, and is expected to be complete by December 3, 2010.

Jim's Montville Roubaix Ride

2010-03-30T20:20:00.001-04:00

This years Roubaix Ride will be based around lovely Rock Creek, Ohio in Ashtabula County. Rock Creek is the intersection of Rt 45 and Rt 166. The date will be 4/11 and the time will be 10 am. If you know me, we are prompt about getting started. Meeting place will be the Rock Creek Elementary school just north of town on the east side of Rt 45. There is a sign for the school.

The route comes out right at 30 miles of which 13.8 are not paved.

More details: here

Google Bike Paths

2010-03-10T07:48:00.000-05:00

Pretty interesting: http://gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/09/google-maps-adds-directions-for-cylists/

Google maps added "biking routes in 150 American cities in Google Maps".

Chippewa Creek Road Race 2010

2010-03-09T10:47:00.001-05:00

CRC is hosting the Chippewa Creek Road Race on May 16th 2010 at the Brecksville Reservation.

Registration opens at 7AM! The Cat 5, Juniors, and Women's fields get underway at 8AM. The Cat 4 race is at 9:15AM, and the 1-3 and Masters races will start at 10:30AM.

Here's the link to the web site: http://crcycling.org/index.php/Chippewa_Creek_Road_Race_2010

We look forward to seeing you there!

Saturday 1PM Ride: Beartown Lakes Park

2010-03-04T09:04:00.000-05:00

CRC will be doing some pre-season training rides out of Beartown Lakes Reservation. This weekend, the ride will include about an hour of warm up and cooldown, and 45-60 minutes of higher intensity efforts. We will be riding around a short loop and regrouping regularly. The rides are open to anyone who would like to participate.

Update from Brad Hansen about Valley Series (aka Covered Bridge)

2010-03-04T06:47:00.002-05:00

The roads by the covered bridge are a mess. To go along with that, Summit County is widening Everett Rd. from Riverview to Revere Rd. effectively taking out 25% of the course. The work won't be done until Summer and they won't patch the pot holes for obvious reasons.

With that said, I have met with Blossom Music Center. The meeting was positive with the local mgt. So it is a possiblity we will race in there but I have not heard back from their corporate offices yet.

Cuyahoga Valley Circuit Race Series

2010-03-03T09:57:00.000-05:00

Here's a link to the 331 Promotions site. The dates are: Sundays April 11 , April 18, April 25, May 2.

Daylight Savings Time: March 14th!

2010-03-02T07:59:00.000-05:00

With all the snow on the ground, it's hard to believe that DST is less than two weeks away. Before you know it we'll be riding in shorts.

Maple Highlands Trail Groomed for Skiing

2010-01-30T12:48:00.000-05:00

There's a thin groomed layer of snow down on the Maple Highlands trail. It's down to the pavement in a couple of spots, though.

2010 Ohio Cycling Calendar

2010-01-25T12:46:00.000-05:00

Is posted here: http://ohiocycling.org/2010-ohio-road-schedule-and-results/

As always, make sure to check with the promoter prior to making the trip since events are frequently cancelled, or important details change.

Note that the Chippewa Creek Road Race is scheduled for May 16th!

Reminder: Tackle the Tower

2010-01-03T18:58:00.000-05:00

Tackle the Tower is coming up soon! (Saturday February 6) It's possibly the most horrible event you'll ever do.

2010 CRC Membership Forms

2009-12-23T13:34:00.002-05:00

CRC is accepting applications for membership for the 2010 season.

To apply online: Request a membership form or more information by sending an email to Chagrin.Cycling@gmail.com

The apply the old fashioned way: Print a copy of the form (Link) and send it to: CRC, 234 East King Street, Chardon, OH 44024

Bike Path Grooming for Cycling and Skiing

2009-12-22T11:15:00.000-05:00

The Geauga Parks might be doing more trail grooming this season. At the tail end of ski season last year the Parks groomed the bike path trail from the Chardon Windsor parking area out to the first cross road--about 2.5 miles one way. Hopefully additional trails will be groomed for skiing.

USA Cycling Continues to Grow

2009-12-22T11:12:00.000-05:00

I think we see evidence of this first hand in Cleveland.

From: Link

It was another extraordinary year for American cycling as membership in USA Cycling increased more than 6.0% compared to 2008, marking our seventh consecutive year of growth. Additionally, our number of affiliated clubs increased by nearly 10% while our number of competitive event sanctions increased by nearly 4%. Overall, in 2009 USA Cycling grew to just over 66,800 licensees who belonged to more than 2,250 clubs and participated in 2,640 sanctioned events! Thank you for helping sustain this amazing decade of growth in American cycling!

Chardon Bike Path Delays

2009-12-22T11:10:00.001-05:00

From the Geauga Courier (Link):

Chardon City Council held up approval of plans last week for pedestrian-bicycle paths through the city over concerns that private lands would be taken for them.

Club News Feed

2009-12-22T10:55:00.002-05:00

The club website has been overhauled to use Google's blogger software for the main news feed. The blogger editor is easier to work with than the wiki and it will be easier for us to keep up to date with the latest northeast Ohio cycling news.

Our web site is optimized for use with Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, and other web standards compliant browsers. Older versions of IE just don't work very well.