Category Archives: Racing

In every race I have ever done, there comes a point where I get this big surprise when I realize how uncomfortable racing my bike can be. Having to push hard and ride at the pace set by the pack can be painful.  The funny thing is that after over 25 years of racing, IContinue reading “What You Gonna Do When It Starts To Hurt?”

This past weekend, I was working with a team of riders who where preparing for an important local race. As I was writing a pep-talk e-mail, I decided to remind them of all the things that we have been learning the hard way, that we all really already knew but were not putting into practice.Continue reading “10 Simple Things To Remember When Racing As A Team”

The Smithsburg RR course is an exciting circuit with plenty of ups and downs all the way around. For the climbers, this is an opportunity to put the hurt on the rest of the field. For non climbers, conserve everything you can when the going might seem easy so that you have a full tankContinue reading “Tour Of Washington County Stage Race”

Big race for the DC Baltimore area. Pro teams are here for the NRC points and everyone else is there for the festival and fast fast racing. The course:The course for Bike Jam is a big circle with only 2 real turns. The first is just after the start finish after you go around aContinue reading “BikeJam / Kelly Cup”

The Carl Dolan Circuit Race at the Columbia Gateway Center has been going on so long it’s become a MABRA classic. We originally raced the other direction on this course, but only for one year and the race was called something else back then. This race is not run on the most selective course around.Continue reading “Carl Dolan Memorial Circuit Race”

This article was first published in 2007 It may sound like a broken record, but the warm up for this race is super important. With an uphill start leading into a fast descent before tackling the climb of the finishing stretch, if you are not warm and ready to rock from the gun the gapsContinue reading “Tyson’s Corner Circuit Race”

Delayed but not forgotten. The Giro road race is a great and selective course. There are enough tough rollers and hard little pitches to ensure a deserving winner. The thing about bike racing is that the strongest and fastest riders are not always the ones that win the races and on this course, the deservingContinue reading “Giro Di Coppi Road Race”

This is a super easy course. That is good and bad. Good if you are not technically skilled and want to finish. Bad if you hope to reduce the size of the field with some hard riding. There is no hill and the corners are wide open and you can usually pedal through all ofContinue reading “The Hunny Bop”

This is a great neighborhood course with fast front and back stretches and some challenging bits on the ends. The course starts easy enough with a drag race to the first left hand turn which leads into a bit of a rise. The flyer says a slight uphill, but this starts to feel more thanContinue reading “Hagerstown Challenge Criterium”

This is one of my favorite events of the calendar, even though I have never done well at this race. The course has always been the story with this race with the six corners and that killer fifth corner that has been the site of more than one crash every year. This year the courseContinue reading “Reston Town Center Grand Prix”