ACCC a go-go, baby!

This weekend, Garrett Olsen, Rob Abramo, Carrie Rose, Jeff Yau, and Quent Dickmann are heading down to William & Mary to race against the ACCC. This will be the first race weekend for three of our development riders, and the first weekend of Garrett's swan song with Villanova Cycling. We're very excited to race down with the ACCC and see what competition this conference has to offer.

Ride Bikes. Fast.

Kav

Welcome to THE CAVE!!

Introducing the Villanova Cycling Club's new training facility...THE CAVE!!! Located in St. Mary's on West Campus, The Cave is the new home of the Main Line's collegiate cycling powerhouse, thanks to lots of intense lobbying by our club president, Garrett Olsen '08/'11. Our new space, equipped with four CycleOps trainers from High Road Cycles, allows the team to meet for indoor training sessions on the trainers on campus, as opposed to lugging bikes, trainers, etc. to somebody's off-campus house or apartment for an indoor practice.

The Cave is a big part of the future we're building for Villanova Cycling. Thank you all for your continued support.

Ride Bikes. Fast.

Kav

Official Water Bottle of Villanova Cycling!

After months of anticipation, Villanova Cycling is very pleased to present the final design of the team's new official water bottle! We partnered with Specialized to be one of the first teams with access to their new line of Purist bottles. The technology behind Purist is incredible. Each Purist water bottle features a squeeze top similar to those used on CamelBak Podium water bottles, but the real kicker is the silicon dioxide infused interior lining, which keeps any taste, odor, mold, mildew, etc. from seeping into the sidewalls of the bottle. You can put Gatorade in your bottle for a ride on Tuesday, forget to wash out your bottle and next week, if you want water in the bottle, just do a simple rinse of the Gatorade residue and your water won't taste like week-old warm Gatorade! Here's your gamechanger, folks.

Happy Holidays from VU Cycling

Wanted to wish all of our lovely fans a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy New Year, and, most importantly, Happy Festivus!

Get ready for 2011 because it's going to be a breakout year for Villanova Cycling. With a cadre of returning veterans (Garrett Olsen '11, Justin Yeash '11, Alex Cosan '11, Robby Abramo '12 and Will Kavanagh '13) leading a crack squad that includes some promising new blood (Cam Piper '14, Jeff Yau '14, Matt Kwasnik '14 and Quent Dickmann '14), the ECCC is not nearly prepared for the onslaught soon to be coming out of the Main Line.

Very excited to be working with two new sponsors, LA Fitness and High Road Cycles of Wayne!

Ride Bikes. Fast.

Kav

Army Spring Classic 4/17-4/18 (For Real)

After Blogger ate my last post, here's my rewrite.  Two drafts never hurt anyone!

ARMY SPRING CLASSIC

Up to the beautiful hills at West Point, NY, the United States Military Academy for an excellent weekend race put on by the great Cadets team.  The weather treated us pretty well and because we only had B Riders- only Garrett, Justin, and I made it out to ride for the weekend, we decided to drive up on Saturday morning.

This did not work out as planned.

Though we arrived with a decent amount of time at the race course, our warmup time was unfortunately compressed; we got back to the parking lot and a frantic F&M rider let us know that the race was starting.  Bummer!  I had to make a late bathroom break of course, which left me chasing the field.

HT: Chatura Atapattu of drexel for pics!

That may look like a smile, but it's not.  Fellow Lenape Valley Regional graduate Gina Denunzio cheered loudly as I climbed the hill by myself a few hundred meters behind the field, and I was heartened to see friend of the team Aaron Horvath jump in and join the race late... but it wasn't meant to be on Saturday.

Justin and Garrett fared much better, making it only about a hundred meters behind the race and catching the pack, working solidly through the race.

New friend of the team Stephen Wright of Hamilton won the race in spectacular fashion, staying away for the whole race because of his anger at the field!

Let's get this kid some glasses!

Garrett and Justin maneuvered their way ti 18th and 28th place finishes, respectively.  Not too shabby for a late start!

And at the end of the day, what the heck is cooler than a Hummer Pace Car.

Maybe only Garrett visiting Orange County Choppers HQ!  And also, a team dinner at the Junkins Residence.  Ray, a great friend of the team and leader of the Stevens squad, had a great dinner for us at his house near West Point.  Many Thanks!  And congrats to Kim Junkins (Ray's Sister) from Syracuse for her intro class win.

SUNDAY, HILL CLIMB AND CRITERIUM

Expanding our Northeast Diner Tour at the Neptune Diner near Newburgh, NY.  Kudos to Ali, Garrett's girlfriend, for sticking it out with us this weekend!

A beautiful day at West Point for a climb up Stoney Lonesome.  Justin and I rocked out on the Hill Climb Time Trial.  In much pain, I finished 7th in the trial; not so bad.  Justin (and season leader Max Korus) pulled a James Miceli and took a wrong turn on the way up, oh well.  Of course, good friend Aaron Horvath won the time trial; that man is a glutton for pain.

B Criterium

After saving himself from the HCTT, Garrett had a spectacular performance in the criterium.  The Army course is one of the best for viewing; from a spot on the hill a spectator can see the entire course.  With the train in the background and wide turns, the course made for great racing

Garrett and Justin worked well together to net a Villanova presence in every single prime, like myself and Garrett at Yale- a solid effort.

I jumped into a breakaway that tried so hard to stick, but it just didn't happen.  I was extremely burnt up from that hill climb, and I have something weird going on with that course; after being whistled in a driving rain storm in my first D race there four years ago, I think the West Point crit got into my head.

A great race by Justin, for sure; hard work net great finishes- 11th place!

Garrett jumped into a remarkably well formed Army train right at the end of the race for a stunning second place finish, maintaining his lead in the Division 2 B class ECCC rankings.  Very Well Done!

And last, Kudos to friend of Villanova Nick Garcia of West Point, who rode a great leadout train to victory.  A great weekend put on by the West Point squad shows why it's the longest running collegiate race in the country.

Thanks for making this post work, blogger!

Army Spring Classic 4/17-4/18

Blogger exploded my post!  Something about "double editing."  Just as I finished it.  Argh!

Yale University, 4/10-4/11

RACE THE ROCK

There it is, the site of so many emotions for Villanova Cycling this weekend.  Yale University set up a great race at East Rock Park in scenic New Haven, CT.  And Romeo and Ceseare's market runs a great deli in New Haven.  Villanova Cycling collectively dropped about a hundred bucks on the most delicious subs and fine Italian confections and lusted after a 5kg ($60) jar of Nutella on numerous occasions this weekend.

Hill Climb ITT


The weekend began well for Villanova Cycling.  Look at this guy trucking up the rock!

Those long intervals on the trainer this winter added up to a win for Rob.  The course was moderately un-hilly for the first two thirds, and then a grinding but quick ascent to the top of the rock.  Beautiful views up top!  I was a quick five seconds behind Rob, leading to a personal best fifth place finish for me.  Garrett and Justin did well also, finishing 21st and 27th respectively in a field of 49.  Joe finished 25th in a monster field of 95, and Will Kavanagh worked hard to finish 13th in his second intro experience.  Villanova made a strong showing as usual in the time trial!  

Circuit Race

Joe led off the day on the intense Yale Circuit course.  Racing around the grounds of East Rock Park, it seemed that the roads had taken a beating with the winter snows.  The weather was wonderful Saturday, a stark contrast from the rainy madness of a year ago.

(HT to Chatura Atapattu)

Joe maintained good position throughout the race, netting a 9th place finish and a point for Villanova Cycling.  

Will Kav had another solid effort in the intro field.  Unfortunately, a bum ankle kept him from finishing the race, but with some key stretching, Will should be able to take intro (and beyond!) in the future.

"What's the Gap!?"  Unfortunately Rob got a flat tire on Lap 1 of the B mens' circuit, so we couldn't send him to the front for the climb up the Rock to the KOM jersey.  Justin, Garrett, and I navigated our way through the race, its potholed course causing us (and our bikes) much pain.  Garrett and Justin caused the field a great deal of pain by taking monster pulls off the front.

The course diverted from its normal loop on the last lap to a climb up to the top of the rock, same as the time trial.  We raced up its curvy course, pounding our way up to the line, me leading the pack.  Near the top of the hill, with less than a hundred meters to go, a group of fans stood in front of the sign directing the field to the right.  As I led, I had no idea which way to go.  No marshal from Yale was present to direct me.  As such, I veered left instead of right to the finish line, and picked up a flat tire among some grass at the finish, leading me to a disappointing 19th place finish.  I saw that KOM jersey slip by... but that is racing, unfortunately.  Garrett and Justin finished 33rd and 43rd respectively.  The efforts of Villanova Cycling were not commensurate with finishes on Saturday... but Sunday is a new day.

STAY TUNED FOR SUNDAY'S POSTING!