Raccoon Rally Road Race, the OMBC, and the Hyde Park Blast
Hyde Park Blast, OMBC #5, and the Raccoon Rally – a busy weekend of racing for Team Spin/RR Donnelley.
This past weekend several Team members laced up their shoes for different races across Ohio and western New York. Ryan Williams rode the popular Hyde Park Blast criterium in Cincinnatti. Ryan battled the 75 strong Cat 3 field and finished in the top 15.
Considering they did call-ups alphabetically, Ryan had the privilege of starting the race near the back of the field. As a result, most of the intense 45 minute effort was spent earning one hard fought spot at a time. Too bad Ryan was not able to start closer to the front, passing that many racers in a short, fast race is always difficult.
Ray Wagner, representing the Team on the mountain bike, raced the OMBC #5 in East Fork State Park, near Cincinnati. Ray raced hard and near the end of the second lap had an inopportune pile-up with a few other riders. Two broken spokes resulted in a premature finish for Ray, very unfortunate considering he drove a fair distance to participate.
Tom Keller, Dave Steiner, and Jason Halloran raced in the Racoon Rally road race on Saturday. All raced in the “1-2” category with approximately 25 other racers. Two 24 mile loops with ample climbing meant it wasn't going to come down to a bunch finish. On the second lap of the race Jason managed to get himself in the winning 5 man break. Usually the uphills are the deciding factor in a race like this but the break actually established itself on a downhill. The group worked well together over the final climb and a strong move from Chris Cioccio (Indiana Regional Medical Center) resulted in Jason finishing second place on the day. Dave finished 10th and Tom 14th overall. Dave, in true strong man fashion, not only rode the road race on Saturday but partook in Sunday's cross country mountain bike race as well. Dave finished 18th overall in the expert class.
Root 66 Putney West Hill MTB Race
Aleksandra Rokita traveled up to Putney, VT, for one of the hardest mountain bike races in the north east and she drilled it. She took first place on a challenging course with a field studded with fast riders. For video of her stomping the hill while racing to the win, go here.
Fort Cherry, Pennsylvania
On Sunday June 21, Tom Keller and Dave Steiner raced in the Pro-1-2-3 field at the Fort Cherry road race just south of Pittsburgh. We covered 7 laps of an eight-mile rolling loop with one moderate hill each lap. The finish featured a quarter mile climb only ridden on the last lap. The field had about 50 riders, and featured many large teams with most of the Pittsburgh area hard men. (click for more)
At-A-Glance
In 47 events the team has 17 wins / podiums since Jan 01, 2009.