Race Report: Weekend of 7/14-7/15

Weekend Results:

Brooklyn Gran Prix – Saturday, 7/14:

Brian, Steve Suto, Laurent G and Mikael H lined up in the 40+ race with over 90 riders. The pace was fun and fast, and it all came down to a highly contested field sprint. Brian was 11th, and Mikael, Steve, and Laurent were not far behind.

The women finally got their own race in Prospect Park (as opposed to being part of the masters field), in which Cheryl finished 5th. Aaron was in the combined Cat 4/5 race and finished safely in the field, narrowly missing a huge crash in the sprint. 

Race Report: Rapha Gentleman’s Race, 6/23/2012

HANOVER, NH – Signature Cycles sent a team up to the 2012 North East Rapha Gentlemen’s Race near Hanover, NH.  For those not familiar with the RGR, it’s an unsanctioned and for the most part, unsupported ride, that is historically off the charts in terms of difficulty. The team that finishes with the fastest time wins the race, but it only counts if you finish with your full team.  The ride, by nature, is a cooperative one – no one gets left behind.  The winners go home with some nice Rapha gear and glory.  There are teams of all men, all women, co-ed, tandems, and single speed.  While we did not see any single speed teams at the start, we did see one guy involuntarily become his team’s token single speed rider due to his derailleur lying in pieces on the road.

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Race Report: Harlem Skyscraper Classic, weekend of 6/16

HARLEM SKYSCRAPER CLASSIC – Marcus Garvey Park, NYC
We had a great weekend for racing with very favorable weather and a really nice turnout by our Rockstar Games / Signature Cycles team riders.

The Cat 4 team worked nicely with Stefan getting off the front on a couple occasions, as did Wilson, Mikael, and Peter. Aaron took an early prime, and while Mike N, Robert, and Laurent were all present at the front, we just couldn’t get past a late race crash to crack the top 10! Many of the races on Sunday saw their share of crashes, a couple of which either snagged one of our riders (like Stefan, late in the cat 4 race) or forced us out of the action (like major pile up on last corner which thankfully Mikael missed, but just barely).

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Race Report: Weekend of June 2nd

Augusta Crits
After a few weeks of cancellations due to heavy rain and horse shows, the Augusta Crits resumed at the New Jersey State Fair grounds on a hot & humid Tuesday night. The Rockstar Games team pulled off an incredible feat in the Masters race by sweeping the podium for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd!!! Glenn Babikian and Joe Straub did a great job controlling the race on Team Skylands home turf with Team Rockstar taking all the prime laps and setting up Keith Hala for the win.

The category 1/2/3 race started immediately following the Masters in the ninety degree heat. Continue reading

Race Report: Weekend of May 19th and NY Gran Fondo

NJBA Team Challenge and Tour of Syracuse
Saturday, 5/12 was the NJBA Team Challenge in Trenton which is a points race with sprint points on every 4th lap. The format is for five-man teams but Scott Hodder was the only entry for our team in the 35+ race and finished an impressive 4th place. Sunday was the Tour of Syracuse, and once again Scott Hodder brought home a solid placing at 5th in the combined 35/45+ masters race.

JerseyMan Duathlon
Mikael H did his first Du of the year (2m/20m/4m format) and was once again foiled by 2 very fast 20 something year old brothers from NJ (who have beat him for something like the 10th time over a 3yr span). He was 5th after the first run and moved up to 2nd on the bike (catching one of the brothers), but being nearly twice their age, he can’t quite seem to run those sub-6 minute miles on the 2nd run! Mikael finished 3rd overall.

NY Gran Fondo
Lucia D’s experience at the Gran Fondo: Continue reading

Race Report: Weekend of May 12th

There were a lot of events in our area this past weekend … Team Rockstar Games / Signature Cycles had a solid presence at most of them!

Hunter Mountain Road Race
Jeffrey Lesser and Peter Nicolardi lined up for the Cat 5 race. The race consisted of two 39 mile laps with technical descending at speed over 50mph. A stiff tempo on the last big climb shattered what was left of the field. Two riders broke away on the last descent, leaving a group of three – including Jeffrey – to sprint for the remaining places. Jeffery came through in 4th, Peter in 15th.

Luci Olewinski took 3rd in the Women’s Cat 4 field at Hunter Mountain Road race this weekend.

Orchard Beach Criterium
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Race Report: Weekend of May 5th

Berkshire Classichttp://berkshirecyclingclassic.com/
Mikael H, Aaron M and Peter N made the trip to Lenox MA for this unbelievable ride. As a UCI worlds qualifier, this was not your Father’s Gran Fondo, but more of a no holds barred open category road race! It was also both most fun I have had on a bike in a long time and one of the most painful rides ever. An 81mi course with 6000ft of climbing that boasted about 350 at the start. The 1st natural selection came at a 4mi hill at mile 18, where I was dropped but caught back on thanks to some strong work by 4 guys from the Rapha team (lead group down to 100). Next selection came at 5mi climb at mile 31, where I lost contact over last 200yds and chased for 3mi with 7 others. Caught back on then puked (lead group now 30). Raced hard until some rollers at mile 70 and got spit out. Finished in 3:42 and 26th overall (4th in my division). Aaron finished in 3:54 (3rd in his division) and Peter in 4:14. Awesome ride and should be on everyone’s calendar for 2013!

Tour of Colts Neck Continue reading

Race Report: Weekend of April 28th

Race Reports from the Women’s Team, who was very busy this past weekend!

Quabbin Reservoir Road Race
We had 3 team members in the Women’s Open field at Quabbin this weekend, Emily, Lucia M and Susan. From all accounts, it sounded like a really intense and difficult race, both due to the terrain and the stacked field of very strong Cat 1/2 women. Lucia M’s quote: “Quabbin. It sounds like a place from Lord of The Rings…and it felt like that.” Our resident mountain goat, Susan came away with the best result at 22nd, being able to hang on to the front pack the longest. Emily and Lucia M both really dug deep, working their way back to the main field, forming chase groups and picking off dropped riders along the way. With Battenkill and now, Quabbin being Lucia M’s first and second road races ever, she is clearly well on her way to clenching the title for “The Most Difficult First Year Road Race Choices Possible.” A really long and hard fought race for all – good job ladies!

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Race Report: Weekend of April 7th

Augusta Training Series – Masters Race
• Keith Hala 1st
• Joe Straub 3rd
After a rather uneventful start of the race Joe Straub dumped some serious wattage onto the pavement to close down a breakaway that had formed in the last few laps. This set up Keith Hala for some easy sprinting to grab the win. Joe, after all that effort, still managed to hang on to 3rd.

Augusta Training Series – 1,2,3 Race
• Keith Hala 4th
• Joe Straub 7th
• Glenn Babikain 8th Continue reading