Busy Weekend Ahead

March 31 is the Conquer the Canal TT. Once again, this is in our own backyard so we should have a good showing. We're pretty lucky to have this many races locally and not having to say, "We drive xx hours to race for :30 minutes." This should be a fast TT as most of the course is protected from the wind.

April 1 is the Townbank Crit in Hampton. For those that have done the Langley Crit before you know it's a fast and fun race on an oval shaped track that is slightly banked (Langley Speedway). Just watch out for the rumble strips if you go too far inside and the beer cans in the parking lot from the previous night's stockcar race.

For even more racing, there's the Greenville, NC races on the same weekend. Steven and Mitch are heading down Saturday after the Conquer the Canal TT to race in the afternoon. Steven is probably more excited about hanging out at ECU.

One last note, check the updated Training Ride schedule with the new Thursday ride as well as the Pungo Death Ride for Tuesday.

Upcoming VB Town Hall Meeting

The following is an email from Kim in reference to the upcoming Va Beach Town Hall Meeting. I know most of us live and train in Chesapeake but please try to attend so we can voice our opinion and show support for the many cyclists in this area.

Dear Bicyclists and Friends:

Thursday, April 19, 2007, at 6:00 pm there will be a Virginia Beach Town Hall Meeting at Tallwood High School hosted by the V.B. City Council. Representatives from the Tidewater Bicycle Association will be speaking on bicyclists behalf voicing our desires for safer roads. WE NEED CYCLISTS TO ATTEND AND SHOW SUPPORT IN LARGE NUMBERS. Even if you do not live in Va Beach, you probably bicycle there, and, if one city in the Tidewater region does something then the others usualy follow suit.

WE NEED TO TAKE ACTION OURSELVES AND STOP SITTING AROUND WAITING FOR SOMEONE ELSE TO "TAKE CARE OF BUSINESS". (Or, as John Mayer says in his song "We're sitting around waiting for the world to change" instead of being apart of making those changes happen.)

I know Thursday night is usually a group ride night, but let's plan to ride the day before or after, and take this Thursday night, April 19, 2007, to make our voices heard by city council.

I hope to see you there wearing a cycling jersey or t-shirt so they will recognize us as bicyclists.

Thank you!

Kim Aldridge

"Dismal" Dash Time Trial

I think the Dismal Dash was not named for the race being held next to the Great Dismal Swamp but the "dismal" feeling we all felt struggling after the turnaround and having to ride into the head wind.

Before we get into the results, thanks to Chesapeake Cycling Club, especially Jeni V. for getting this race coordinated and making it successful. Thanks to Don and the crew from the AAB shop. Thanks to all the racers who helped out Saturday, got there early to help setup and to work the course after their ride. The O'Briens for their tent/shelter/bagels/goodies. And to Kale Running for their chip timing (paid for by the race sponsors - Tesoro and Bulluka). Last but not least to the Suffolk PD for their time and effort in making this a safe route for all the racers.

Results can be found at the following links:
Chesapeake Cycling Club
Kale Running

In the CAT 5, Steven picked up some BAR points with his 3rd place finish (1:05:33) with Joe, Rob and Mr. B in the top 15 also picking up points.

CAT 4 had Mike Lirette in at 14 and Mitch finished 24. Amos and Shawn right behind him at 29 and 30, respectively.

Good job to all that suffered thru the 40km, especially kilometers 21 thru 40.

Snowball Crit #2 Photos

Check out JB's blog for photos of this past weekend's race. Sorry C (Cat5) racers, JB was racing with us and there are no victory shots of Steven or the rest of us.

Snowball Crit Pics by JB

Snowball Crit #2 - Steven With The Win the the C Race

Congratulations to Steven pulling out the win in the C race in the Snowball Crit on Sunday. He had alot of support upfront with Joe, Mr B, Rob (before he went down), Mike H. Chris and Mike B. I did my job of keeping the back of the pack inline.

In the B race we had strong top 10 finishers with Amos, Andy and Mike L in the mix along with Shawn, Jeff and Mitch in the pack.

I'll post the official results as soon as I see them. Also, if anybody has any pics, please email them to me so I can post them on the racing pic page.

Dominion Blvd Improvements - Proposed Bicycle Facility

DOMINION BLVD IMPROVEMENTS - PROPOSED BICYCLE FACILITY

Thursday, Mar 22, 2007 4-700pm
Great Bridge Primary
408 Cedar Road
Chesapeake, VA

The purpose of this Citizen's Information Meeting is to receive public input on the addition of a bicycle facility to the proposed Dominion Blvd Improvements project. The path will be located on the west side of Dominion Blvd and extend from relocated Bainbridge Blvd to Cedar Road. Cost of the facility, which will also serve as a multi-use trail, is currently estimated at 14.7 million. The meeting provides an opportunity for any individual, association, citizen's group or government agency to offer comments fro the project record. Exhibits showing location, impacts and typical sections will be provided for your review. City representatives will be available at the meeting to answer questions. Maps and drawings will also be available for viewing two weeks before the meeting at the Office of the City Engineer, located on the third floor of Chesapeake City Hall.[...]

For information contact Mr. Paul Dunn, P.E., Project Manager at 382-6129, or email at pdunn@cityofchesapeake.net

If Your Name is Mike and a CAT 5

Get registered for this weekend's Snowball Crit #2. There's only 5 AAB registered in the CAT 5 race (down from 10 from the first race). So c'mon and register if your name is Mike (Mr. B, Baker, D'Amico, Henderson).

Remember, if you registered for the 1st Snowball crit, your registration will be automatically moved to the new date (4/29). Contact the race director if you need a refund for the 1st race. I emailed him last week to move my race entry fee to the 2nd race but I didn't hear from him and did not see my name on the rider's list so I just registered for the race.

Here's the Bikereg.com link for Snowball #2. The long range forecast is calling for sunny and 60 - perfect raceday conditions.

Hey Mike L and Joe - you guys got a race report from Richmond?