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2020 Castelli Kit Order Update

2020 La Grange Cup Dates

February LG50 Ride

Team Camp Report By Cara Applegate

Race Reports

New Members

Castelli Kit Order Update

The original shipping date for the 2020 kit was the end of February, which has come and gone. Castelli has been providing the Board with updates on the delay. The bottom line is that some items will be ready to ship within a few days and some items will not be ready to ship by the middle of April. Castelli wanted to know if we thought members would prefer to wait to receive all of their items at the same time or y’all would prefer to receive an item as soon as it is ready to ship, which means most members will multiple shipments, at Castelli’s expense. The Board communicated to Castelli that we thought members would want to receive items as soon as they are ready so everyone will be receiving multiple shipments from Castelli.

2020 La Grange Cup Dates

The dates have been tentatively set for the 2020 La Grange Cup Series. The dates are:

20k TT: Saturday, May 30th
500 Meter Sprint: Sunday, August 2nd
Piuma Hill Climb: Saturday, Sept 26th, with the annual club picnic following at noon.

In case you think it is too early to start training, you might want to know that you are probably racing for 2nd place in the TT since one member, in particular, has been putting in some serious training with his self-tracking drone.

February LG 50 Ride

LG 50 is the name of the monthly La Grange social rides that started as the “50 for 50 rides. Marco Fantone created the route, which was ridden in reverse, through the city, up to the Griffith Park Observatory, west on Mulholland to Skirball and down Sepulveda to Santa Monica Brew Works. Thank you to Jaycee Cary for the ride leadership, to Marc Lewinstein for providing SAG, and to Geoff Lui and Emily Conant for providing the photos.

Team Camp Report by Cara Applegate

The new year is well behind us and many cyclists are deep into their carefully planned 2020 bicycle training journeys. Team Velo Club La Grange, fully aware that rubbing's racing, intervals for flat tire changes can be just as important as VOmax efforts, and nothing beats the wiley perils of the choice of not one but two post-ride apple pie shoppes, hosted a team camp in the mountain mining town of Julian, California the second weekend of January. Guys and gals of varying racing categories and backgrounds gathered together to celebrate all things bicycle, build and strengthen relationships, and learn learn learn about bike driving, road racing and each other. A successful weekend away from the hustle and bustle of the teeming city we call home would give each and every La Granger present more insight into the vastly complicated, always nuanced, and deeply woven web that is the world of cycling. Apart from being fun as all get out, a successful team camp lays the baseline for victorious team coordination in races, securing more accolades for VCLG in the future, and having way more fun doing it because you know your teammates inside and out.

Our paths for the weekend were expertly designed by Captains Tina Grant, Zach Labry, Danie Monahan, Sam Selfridge, and Steven Walter. Comfortable housing secured, delicious and healthy food coordinated, eager helpers enlisted... conversation flowed as liberally as the sparkling water, tasty meals were shared, victories both large and small celebrated, epic defeats commiserated. The custom designed team van was tested to its limits as follow car, snack hub, and heating room. Mock races, pacelining, sprints, wheel rubbing, and rider contact were amongst the many on-bike activities that occupied the intrepid riders' time. When not on the road, either on Saturday's 60 mile adventure or Sunday's skills and drills extravaganza, the team spent the vast majority of its time talking about - you guessed it - bikes.  We were even treated to a powerpoint presentation on innermost time trialing secrets - an incredible opportunity rarely shared with the general population! (hint: aero is not a myth)

El Camino Real - the Royal Way - was a road, the King's Highway, stretching from Baja Mexico to San Francisco, connecting the 21 Spanish missions, sub-missions, presidios and pueblos in California. El Camino is a coupe utility muscle car, as well as a community college in Gardena, California, and the name of a Breaking Bad movie. But for members of Velo Club La Grange, El Camino is Le Chemin, because we have french roots, bien sûr! and The Way of the Velo Club La Grange cycling team comprises myriad things like fitness, education, fraternity and camaraderie. With a solid weekend of teambuilding setting the pace for the 2020 season, the VC La Grange racing team is well-positioned to show pelotons all over the world just how incredible this "way" is!

Race Report - Santa Barbara

I began to win, why the hell not. 461. Over the “hill” we went two times - the hill we’d chalked still said LG LG LG LG and SHARK ATTACK and b! That last one was for me, I raced invisibly detached into the second lap. Then on really fast shit Bang! SSSSSSS! a pinch-flat blowout shouting around me FLATT!!! racing the aluminum rim to a narrow asphalt edge. My fault for too-low tire pressure and riding a bit blindly on the badly broken road.
David Newcombe

First race of the season and not long after team camp, the Santa Barbara Road Race was an exciting start to the new year. There were other firsts; team tent with the LG van, David racing with the team, driving out early to preview the course, chalking the road for our teammates like pro race fans, new teammates, learning techniques for bottle hand ups at the feed zone, my first crash in a race...
Renee Fox

The first attack presented a textbook case of the shock-and-awe subtype in which two Big Girl Cat 1s explode effortlessly from the pack in the steep middle of the climb. These two were going to stay away. The pack was all set to ignore them gracefully. I knew this, I did. The correct answer is for me to (a) stay put and, optionally, nod in grim respect such superior power and preparation. The incorrect answer is to (b) tow the pack up, over, and all the way down all while giving an excellent impression of a Labrador chasing a stick. At least we dropped all the sprinters.
Danie Monahan

CBR #2 Men’s Cat 4

I'm still recovering from a back injury, but I've been on a few NOW rides with reasonable success. I expected to hang in the front 1/3 of the pack, and was physiologically capable of doing so yesterday. After about six or seven laps, I was right behind a crash and had to pull off. This caused me to lose the group, and I couldn't sustain the necessary 27 ish MPH needed to catch them. Regarding the crash, a young racer started wide, and then cut into the corner. Meanwhile, a rider in the middle of the pack was swinging out wide in preparation for the turn (instead of starting wide, or just staying in his lane.) They collided, which caused the crash. I was fine, but it demonstrates the importance of picking a line and holding it. People were also not really staying on the line of the wheel directly in front of them, making cornering unpredictable. Also, races are safer when the pace is faster; this one had periods of slowing to ~24 mph in which the field would widen to six to eight riders, making a very unsafe cornering situation. When that happens, I think the only decent place to be is right at the front, even if it costs energy.

I think at the next criterium I race, I will work to be in the front 5 to 10 riders until I can no longer sustain that pace. I would rather be at the front, taking a good line through the corner, than behind folks who are going to crash and effectively take me out of the race. There were two other crashes in this race.

A buddy of mine stayed up front at this race, and was well positioned. But on CBR west going clockwise, the real sprint starts at the second to last corner. He hadn't worked his way to the front yet, expecting to use the bump to do so, and ended up taking 11th. 

Cheers to being upright!

PS I'm told with new upgrade rules, riders can now opt into cat4 without doing their 6-10 races or BRP. So we should all be on the lookout for potentially unsafe riders, and should probably try to go to races with fewer than 60 people. I would still encourage new racers to take their time in Cat 5 - it's a great opportunity to make mistakes, learn, and eventually get some hardware!
Mike daSilva

CBR #2 Women’s 4-5

Result: 3rd of 21 🔥

Report: My goal was to do as little as possible work until the final lap, and I managed it until the last half a lap and took it home in the sprint, having positioned myself reasonably well on that final corner. Definitely some wobbly riders who would pinch right in at corners, so opted to ride further out knowing I would need to pedal further (but you know, staying upright is job number 1). The neutralising with the W P123 field was actually totally fine. Told my legs to drop the hammer on the final sprint and it seemed to work and no one could pass me, woo hooo. Jasmyn from Sisterhood was better positioned than me on final stretch though so couldn’t catch her...next time I plan to!
Sarah Jones

Rock Cobbler

Valley of the Sun

New Members

Welcome to the following 8 new members who joined in February 2020.

Alipasha, Andy, Garnett, John, Kevin, Kory, Monika, Renee.