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EPIC RACE SUMMER: Jaycee & Nick Attack Mt. Evans
RECAP: The 2022 LG Cup Time Trial
RECAP: 2022 LG Santa Barbara Century & LG50 Ride
The LG Cup 500m Sprint is next Sunday, August 7th.
SAVE THE DATE: The 2022 La Grange Club Photo
EPIC RIDE SUMMER: Rich’s Unplanned European Cycling Vacation
Tour de France Femmes:
Women’s Sports Triumph Long in the Making
TRIFIT-LA: Bike Fit and Performance Testing Specials in August!
Do you know about your Member Benefits?
RACING NEWS
July Racing in Pictures
The Manhattan Beach Grand Prix took place last weekend. Touting its 59th edition, the MBGP is arguably one of the oldest and most prominent races in Southern California. Velo Club La Grange was well represented with the team in full force while Ft. La Grange offered prime team bonding and race-watching vibes. Congrats, Team!!
Notable Results:
Claire Sterling — 1st Cat 5 women
Renee Hagen — 2nd Cat 4 women
Dan Funk — 4th 60+ Cat 1-3
Peter Do — 6th 35+ Cat 3/4 Men
photos: Cara Applegate, Tina Grant, Jeff Urban, Island Cyclist
Another LG Cup Time Trial in the Books!
We had another great LG Time Trial this year with over 30 racers. Some racers had a good day, others had a less good day, but everyone gave their best and had fun. Huge thanks to Marco Fantone for organizing and our wonderful volunteers: Jan Datomi, Marc Thomas, Colin Rasor, Ellen Shinogle, Frank Whitelock, and Dan Chapman. We couldn’t do it without you!
Notable Facts:
Fastest Woman: Renee Hagen (34:44)
Fastest Man: Peter Dorantes (26:52)
Youngest Racer: Anika Sjoquist (13)
Oldest Racer: Edgar Burcksen (75)
See all photos here… photos: Dan Chapman & Jan Datomi
EPIC “RACE” SUMMER!!
Jaycee and Nick Attack Mt. Evans!
By Jaycee Cary
(TL;DR - Winning ain’t everything when you’re having a blast!)
Since I “retired” from active mass start racing, I have started looking for new adventures on the bike. Until I get a gravel bike, I have to find my next challenge on the road. This came along when Nick Gillock suggested we do the Mt. Evans Hill Climb. Mt. Evans is outside Idaho Springs, CO., and is the highest paved road in the US, towering to a height of 14, 130 ft. The race starts at 7500 ft above sea level and races up 27 miles with an average gradient of 4.6%. Now I love to climb but I have never done anything of this height. Hell, I have never even BEEN this high, much less riding a bike. What could go wrong? Let’s do it!
Nick and I signed up for the 50+ 1-3 category with our friend Andrew Nuckles from E-Voke Racing. Andrew was kind enough to drive our bikes out there while Nick and I flew into Denver. We had all trained and done whatever we could to ready ourselves for racing at this altitude. We really had no idea how our bodies would respond so we kept our expectations low and our enthusiasm high. We had no time to acclimate so we flew in on Friday and raced on Saturday.
Everyone in our category was from Colorado except us so we knew we were at a disadvantage but we didn’t care. We were there to do our best and have some fun! The race started and our lungs and legs were tested. I lasted about 30 minutes before getting dropped. Nick lasted a little longer and Andrew a little less. This race can be described as a 2-3 hour uphill time trial. We all found our climbing rhythm and churned to the top.
Nick finished 7th at about 2:40, I finished 12th at about 3 hours, and Andrew at about 3:18. For comparison, Lachlan Morton from EF Education won the Pro race at 1:52! The biggest surprise of the day is that we could all breathe all the way up. I figured I would be gasping for breath but it wasn’t that bad. Andrew suffered some dizziness but we all fared remarkably well. The descent was upper sections of lumpy asphalt with holes and cracks while the bottom was near-perfect tarmac with fast, sweeping turns. All in all, this is a fantastic, well-run event. If you like to climb, enjoy beautiful scenery, and are up for a challenge, the Mt. Evans Hill Climb is highly recommended. Thanks for reading.
CLUB NEWS
July’s LG50 Santa Barbara Ride + LG50 Ride
July brought La Grange’s annual Santa Barbara ride. We had our largest participation ever (38) PLUS we were joined by the monthly LG50 ride for a great day on the bike. Thanks to Craig White for driving SAG and setting up the rest stops. Also big props to Rich Hirschinger and Jaycee Cary for the planning and execution.
We took a ton of pictures! Check out all the fun.
Pictures 1 Pictures 2 Pictures 3
The LG Cup 500m Sprint is next Sunday!
Registration is open for the 2022 La Grange Cup: the 500M Sprint. This is your opportunity to ride laps with your road bike on an actual banked velodrome, capped off with two timed flying laps. Looking forward to seeing you all out there!
SAVE THE DATE!
More details coming soon!
EPIC RIDE SUMMER!!
An Unplanned European Cycling Vacation
By Rich Hirschinger
(TL;DR - When traveling, take a chance. The rewards can be surprising. - Ed.)
My plans to lecture and then vacation in Europe changed a few days before I left since my girlfriend’s son got a part in a TV show, which necessitated my girlfriend being on set, so I would be traveling alone to Europe instead of with her. After lecturing in Italy, where I was staying for four days, I had an additional ten days blocked out on my schedule, so I decided to go cycling in Europe. I joined a Mallorca cycling group on Facebook asking for recommendations, and I ended up chatting with Paul from Cycling Tours Mallorca. He could pick me up, drive me to Cala Millor, which is about an hour’s drive from the airport, book the hotel, which included breakfast and dinner, and arrange for a bike to ride with his group. Sounded good to me but I braced for the cost. The hotel was 75€ a day, the cycling, which included the bike rental, was 60€ per day, and the transportation from the airport was 70€.
I had not cycled much before the trip, so I suffered a little bit but the cycling in Mallorca was really nice. A flat ride for them is 2,500 feet of climbing since Mallorca is hilly. On day 2, we did some small climbs, and then we took a boat ride that dropped up off at Sa Calobra, Mallorca’s version of Alpe d’Huez. The name of the climb is Coll dels Reis, which is 10km long and 2,267 feet climb with major switchbacks. It is beautiful. I did a total of 5 rides in Mallorca and began to think of Alpe d’Huez but the weather in the Alps was forecast for rain. After Mallorca, I traveled to Barcelona, where I walked the city for two days, and then decided to take the chance to climb Alpe d’Huez. This required a bus from Barcelona, then two trains, then a bus to Le Bourg-d’Oisans, the small town at the base of Alpe d’Huez. I arrived on Monday in the late afternoon and rented a Colnago for 90€ with DI2, disc brakes, and a compact with a 34-rear cog.
It was raining early the next morning, but it cleared up, so I departed my hotel just after 8 am and started the climb of the 21 corners, which count down from 21. The climb starts at 11% and the corners feel flat since they are only 4 or 5%. It was everything I thought it would be; Challenging, Beautiful, Difficult, Epic. The weather cooperated, and it took me about 1:30 to do the climb. I say “about” since I made a wrong turn in the village at the top but eventually I found the official finish and just smiled. I was very surprised since I thought I was in the 34 cog from the start but I did not realize until I dismounted that I was never in the 34. At the finish of the climb, I met a group of three British riders and had coffee with them in the village before the descent. One of them knew a different route down so I followed them, and we ended up near the start of the Col de la Croix de Fer, which they were going to be riding tomorrow, weather permitting. When I woke up the next day, it was raining so I decided to leave on the early bus to Grenoble to begin my journey home. If you ever have the chance to ride a bike away from home, take it. This was my first time cycling outside the US and I can’t wait to do it again. Thanks for reading.
IN THE NEWS
The Tour De France Femmes:
Women’s Sports Triumph Long in the Making
Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images
By the time you read this, the long-awaited Women’s Tour de France will be over. Hopefully, you were able to watch and follow this amazing event. Up against the sport’s long, male-dominated history and its masculinity-driven marquee event, the women of cycling secured the first official women’s Tour de France stage race in 33 years.
The Tour De France Femmes avec Zwift was a fantastic event. The racing was fierce, the speeds high, and the climbs steep. It’s about time that our cycling women warriors were able to test their mettle in the world’s greatest bike race.
BONUS: Ex-La Granger Coryn Labecki (neé Rivera) is interviewed.
TRIFIT LA: Member’s Only Special Offer on Bike Fits and Performance Testing during August!
For La Grange Members Only: TRIFIT is offering 20% off of all testing and bike fitting during the months of July and August. Show your membership card to receive your discount. Make an appointment today.
HEY!!!!! What are my Member Benefits?
La Grange is incredibly lucky to have such awesome partners! With our partners, you can satisfy virtually every aspect of cycling: Apparel, Accessories, Bikes, Repair, and training. We also have partners to assist you when you have to live your non-bike life: Legal, Real Estate, and Engineering. Log into the La Grange website and check out your member-only benefits.
Support Our Sponsors
Caffe Luxxe
Caffe Luxxe brews some of the best coffee in town. And with their 7 locations, great coffee is always within reach. Show your membership card to receive your 15% discount on your next visit.
About Caffe Luxxe…
VeloFix
Jaycee just had an incredible experience with VeloFix. Harley did a killer job in getting his bike primed and race-ready. Get your La Grange deal from Velofix at your home or office today. ***** Highly recommended!
Get your deal here…
New and Returning Members
Please say hello to our new members who joined in July 2022!
New members: C. Irving, A. Quiceno, W. Tugurian, P. Farr, G. Gomez (Junior), A. Dwornik, and A. Salem
And a hearty welcome back to returning members G. Roman, L. Goodman, E. Monnier, and S. Stahl.
Welcome, Everyone! We are thrilled to have you.
LG Event Calendar for August
This calendar is where you’ll find all of our upcoming events IN ONE PLACE. You’ll find both LG On-Bike and Off-Bike events as well as non-LG events. Check it out and bookmark it! Here is the schedule for August. Bold events are LG Team Targeted Events.
August 6 – Tour de Big Bear
August 7 – LG Cup 500m Sprint (club event; All Members Welcome)
August 10 – LG Board of Directors Meeting (All Members Welcome)
August 17 – La Verne Grand Prix
August 27 – August LG50 Ride
Have an event you would like to add? Send a request to Jaycee at jaycee.cary@lagrange.org
