2011 Ride the Ridge

Five of us headed out to the Blue Ridge School for the 5th annual Ride the Ridge.  As you can see, the four racers and myself (to document and ride w/Mason).  With the weather forecast, we were definitely expecting some epic conditions on course. 

The drive west was pertty white as we were coming through Louisa.  The snow was coming down and it was starting to cover everything. 

We stopped for some breakfast at Bodos - although it ended slowing up Jeff a little bit during the race.  Tom picked up a dozen bagels to go.  He told us they were for his wife, but he ended up eating at least half of them after the race!



Getting ready for an 11am start.





Mason checking her time as she crosses the line.



After the pre-ride on friday and having Tom & Todd pass her on the backside of the course, Mason decided that she needed to beat them to the finish on race day.  Sure they rode twice the distance, but you have to set some goals.  She did end up beating them back to the finish, but Jeff was close behind us and I missed him coming across the line...  It was great to hear that both Todd & Tom were a little worried about Mason because they had not caught her on the second lap.  They thought she might have dropped out, but she just applied a little more pressure to the pedals and did some power walking through all the rocks.  So Jeff was a minute or two behind us and then came Todd followed by Tom.  I think we ended up with a 3-4-5 finish.  Whit rocked it out again back on his home turf putting 10 minutes on second place - great ride.



Toddy G had a pain filled day.



Tom coming in shortly after Todd.



All smiles after a great day of racing.



Our sweet setup with coffee & hot cocoa.



Getting ready to roll.



How can it not be a great day when it ends like this - Tom with his pants down not even looking at the road, a bag of mixed vegetables and Todd steering???  Yeah, it was a great day!







TEAM FIESTA

Last night a great time was had by all.  We gathered at Craig & Nolan's office here at Rocketts Landing.  The event was catered by none other than our favorite restaurant COMFORT.   Everyone was crowding the table once we busted open the meat loaf, mash potatoes, mac & cheese and green beans.  It was rocking.  I think our team collectively got slower by the time the party was over.

As you can see, Tom was not shy about loading up his plate.  We had people throwing away their plates just so they would not go back for thirds.  The food really was ridiculous.  A big shout out to Jason Alley and his staff for hooking us up with a silly amount of food.

The real reason for the party was to pass out the new kits, courtesy of VOMAX.  We also handed out POWER BALANCE bracelets to everyone - a nice new sponsor pickup this year.  PROBAR is also one of our new sponsors and we had a variety of bars cut up for the team to try.  BYEKYLE also threw in red straps for everyone.  After three hours of good times, the last of the crowd made their way out the door and we called it a night.  I think that had to be the best team party yet. 

Race Results for 2011

I'm going to try and keep the race results current for 2011. Check out what I have so far.

As always, if you do anything outside of VORS please let me know about it. I will try to monitor who has attended the VORS events and keep those up to date.

One last step before paint!

The only thing left are the braze-ons!

The painter is picking them up on Monday (keep your fingers crossed)

Shootout on Anglers Ridge

What a great way to kick off the season!! With perfect weather, and huge attendance, it was without a doubt an awesome time.

Four members of the team made the 3 hour drive down to Danville. Tom H. decided to head down the night before while Joe, Jeff and myself decided to head down in the morning. I think Tom had the right idea as it made for a very long day.

Starting in the dark just like we ended the day.

The boys at SVMBA put on an incredible event just like last year. The course is very well marked and littered with volunteers. Not that I would think anybody would cheat, but it is refreshing to see racer numbers being documented as you ride the trail just to make sure you don't cut the trail. Many encouraging and enthusiastic volunteers made the experience even more enjoyable.



Joe and Jeff both race XC, expert and sport respectively. Both fields were some of the largest we will see all year. Joe said he started with 70 people (pro and expert combined) while the sport class here is always large. Tom and I raced enduro along with 30 or so others.



Tom rocking out the start









This was my first enduro race so I wasn't sure
what I would need. As you can see, I erred on the side of caution and brought everything. Tons of food, water, and some tools. Of course Tom and I were one of the few enduro competitors that didn't have an easy up tent. We will know better next time (we need to get a team tent).

The race started out fairly slow. I could tell there was some tension as I witnessed a wreck not even a mile into the enduro race. I was right behind it, but luckily escaped without any issues. Tom and I rode most of the first lap together at about mid pack. I felt very strong for the first 3 laps, but the fourth made me really start to feel the steep, short climbs that was the real backbone of these trails. Of course these climbs were quickly rewarded with some very sweet downhills! There was some technical sections thrown in here and there but the majority of the course was some very smooth and flowy singletrack. Nice for sure.

My goal was to complete 5 laps so I was pretty stoked to look at the clock after lap 4 and realize that I had plenty of time for 2 more laps. I took a nice long break after lap 4 to make sure I was hydrated and eat a bit in preparation for lap 5 and 6. Was able to get down 12 oz of water, 1/2 a ProBar and a Stinger Waffle. I'm glad I took this time as it really paid off with no cramping and enough energy to actually pass somebody on my final lap. Tom finished strong as well with 5 laps complete.














Quick pick rolling transition and starting new laps.


In the end, Joe and Jeff both got 3rd in their respective classes. Strong for both of these guys for sure as we have come to expect. I finished 9th and Tom finished 13th in enduro. Lots of strong racers at this event for sure. We will only get stronger from here. Looks like the off season training is starting to pay off already.
















Yeah, it was muddy...and I was tired. Big thanks to our pit crew as well.

Pays to Play (P2P #1)

BTS #1 might have been winner take all, but the prizes do not stop there.  P2P #1 is in full effect.

I asked Joni to pick a number between 1 & 9 and asked Mason to pick a number between 10 & 19.  The number correlated to your position in the BTS standings after ditching Toddy G.  It looks like:

Tom Richeson can thank Joni next time he sees her.

Jennie Belt can thank Mason.

What will you be thanking them for?  You will be thanking them for free pain and suffering!  Your entries have just been covered for Ride the Ridge.  Just show up and race. 

Contact Jason for the fine print - entries cannot be transferred - there is no cash value - must be racing to redeem - must finish the race - cannot finish in last place -  must beat Mason's lap time - wheelie across finish line mandatory

...thanks for playing!

Once again do not forget to thank Haines Construction & Design Physics for sponsoring P2P #1

Winner Winner COMFORT Dinner!

We have a winner!

TODDY G rocked out the most BTS points and will be taking home a free team jacket and dinner for two at our favorite restaurant Comfort.

First of all I would like to thank everyone for participating in the first Bag the Schwag.  We had 20 team members come out for at least one of the group rides.  The turn out was great and the riding was even better.  The top of my list would have to be the Superbowl Ride - that one was a lot of fun.  We hit close to ten different locations in our twenty rides.  There were a few surprises thrown in along the way but we knew once he had the lead (and after promising to take his wife to dinner) Toddy G was not going to relinquish it.  I hope everyone had a good time, look for the next BTS Series coming soon.

Please take some time to thank our sponsors for this event:

Stop in and grab a bite to eat, the food is great and they are awesome in their support of the team.

Also thank Haines Construction & Design Physics for ponying up the free jacket.

Good Job Todd, I think you might be a marked man next time around!

West Creek Is Getting Old...

Can't wait for daylight savings time. Jeff and I hit West Creek tonight and man, it is getting boring! We did a couple of extended loops out Patterson, then looping back in to Capital One using an obscure side road (with the guidance of Frank Yeager), but even that just isn't doing it. The pace was quite high as we got into a group of roadies once we got back to West Creek. Just what I was looking for with the first race coming up this weekend (register now if you haven't already). Good thing I ate a Pro Bar before the ride as my lunch was a bit light.

Bring on daylight savings so we can hit up some of those sweet country roads in Goochland. Maybe sneak in some singletrack after work.

And what is this...Jeff showed up with another new ride?? About time you got a road bike Jeff. And for the rest of you boys, no more dropping Jeff. Watch out, its hammer time and Jeff is now a roadie!!
So what do you think Jeff will show up with next week? Cross bike?? Think he will go hipster and get a single speed with Velocity rims or something?