June 1, 2019

VeloClub Lagrange

La Voix - June 2019

June 1, 2019

VeloClub Lagrange

Click on a blue link to go to that section of La Voix

2019 LG Cup 500M Sprint, La Grange Grand Prix, La Grange Happy Hour, May 50 for 50 Ride, Santa Barbara Century June 22, July 14 LA City Proclamation Day, Race Report

2019 LG Cup 500M Sprint Rescheduled

The 2019 LaGrange Cup 500M Sprint at the World Famous Encino Velodrome has been rescheduled to Sunday, August 11th due to rain. The 500M sprint is comprised of two laps of the Encino Velodrome. You will be held in position at the start line by an official. Countdown to zero and you’re off! The key to a good time is getting off the line and up to speed as fast as possible and then holding that speed for the next 35+ seconds. You don’t have to be a trackie to get a rush from this experience and your standard road bike is just fine for this event.

This year, we will be holding the event from 10am to 1pm so anyone who wants to get their warmup on the Nichols ride can do so and then ride over the hill to the track. Like last year, there will be no start times. Arrive whenever you like, get your warm up and then let us know when you’d like to take your timed run.

More reminders to come. Registration is up on the our website.

La Grange Grand Prix

The La Grange Grand Prix on June 2, 2019, was an extraordinary bike racing experience. Everyone seemed to have a very positive experience from a racer’s perspective and a spectator’s perspective. Race Director Zach LaBry did an outstanding job and Race Czar Joe Duerr made it happen. Many many thanks goes out to thankless club volunteers who showed up starting at 3 am and many stayed until 8 pm to clear the venue of any trace of a bike race.

Sarch Jones takes a podium in just her second bike race ever.

Sam Selfridge waving to his admirers on the back stretch.

Zach LaBry and Joe Duerr, the two people that truly made this event happen.

La Grange Happy Hour Monday, June 24

Hotel Shangri-La at 1301 Ocean Avenue, Santa Monica, California 90401 will be the site of the next La Grange Happy Hour from 6 pm to 8 pm. Come spend some time with your old friends, new friends, fellow cyclists and teammates off the bike. We will be on the rooftop bar enjoying drinks and watching the sunset. DRESS CODE NOTE - NO FLIP FLOPS :)

Come early, the first few drinks are on the La Grange tab!

Happy Hour will be on the rooftop bar from 6 pm to 8 pm.

May LG 50 for 50 Ride

LG member Lee Ziff was in charge of this month’s LG 50 for 50 ride. The group met at SVO (San Vicente and Ocean) and rode down to Palos Verdes and out to the far side of the peninsula to White Point Beach where SAG was provided by Amy Weiss, the wife of club member Jonathan Weiss. A lunch was hosted by Lee back at his house at the end of the ride.

Santa Barbara Century June 22

Please join us for another La Grange Century as we ride north to Santa Barbara. The ride starts at the Van Nuys Train Station and departs at 7 am sharp. We will be stopping at San Vicente and Ocean for our first stop for those that don’t want to ride over the Sepulveda pass. We will roll from there around 8 am.

Route:
https://www.strava.com/routes/8714909

Ride Rules:
This is a group ride, which means we stay together, and you should be able to ride at an average pace of 18 MPH. There will be four stops approximately every 20 miles for food and drinks from the truck. If someone has a mechanical, the group will stop so that we all stay together. You should not be riding ahead of the group.

Cost:
$20, which includes the meal at Casa Blanca in Santa Barbara and and transportation of your bike back to Van Nuys. You must prepay via PayPal by Sunday, June 16th at 10 pm so that we can confirm restaurant reservations and purchase goods based on the number of riders. The club’s PayPal email address is paypal@lagrange.org. Please choose "send money to a friend" so the club does not have to pay any transfer fees. If you do not have a PayPal account, please send $20 to:

Rich Hirschinger, DDS
9615 Brighton Way Suite 323
Beverly Hills, CA 90210

Train:
You are responsible for your own train ticket, and most people purchase a coach seat but you can buy a business class if you so desire. Please buy a ticket for Amtrak 792 Pacific Surfliner departing Santa Barbara (SBA) at 4:40 pm arriving Van Nuys (VNC) at 7:09 pm.
https://tickets.amtrak.com/itd/amtrak

Duffle Bag:
You can bring a duffle bag with a change of clothes, which will be transported to Santa Barbara on the truck. Please plan on carrying your personal stuff back on the train. If there is room in the truck we can transport it but bikes take priority.

July 14 LA City Proclamation Day

Save the date! Sunday, July 14th, which is Bastille Day, the City of Los Angeles will present the club with a proclamation recognizing the club’s 50th anniversary at the start of the World Famous Nichols Ride. We expect a huge turnout for this so be sure to mark it on your calendar now. Post ride crepes will be served at San Vicente and Ocean!

A food truck serving fresh crepes will be at SVO at the end of the Nichols Ride on Sunday, July 14th

Race Report

Nick Gillock Wins the Tour of the Gila

Succeeding in a stage race requires a careful balance of training, recovery, strategy, and will. This year, at the 2019 Tour of the Gila Stage Race, Nick Gillock put it all together and won the Men’s B 50+ Category and came in 3rd in the entire Masters B field.

The link contains an incredibly detailed race report with phenomenal photos for Nick’s 4-day adventure as an amateur stage racer in Silver City, New Mexico. For each of the 4 race stages (2 Road Races, 1 Time Trial, and 1 Criterium) there is an individual report.

Please take the time and enjoy the report as Nick takes you through his highs and lows, trials and tribulations, rivalries, near-catastrophes, and small victories. View the report here.

May 1, 2019

VeloClub Lagrange

La Voix - May 2019

May 1, 2019

VeloClub Lagrange

New “bookmark” feature. Click on a blue link to go to that section of La Voix

2019 LG Cup 500M Sprint, La Grange Grand Prix, LG 50 Camelbak Water Bottles, LG 50 T-Shirts, April 50 for 50 Ride, July 14 LA City Proclamation Day, Camera Angle, Race Report, Tour of California May 17 Stage 6 Mt. Baldy

2019 LG Cup 500M Sprint

The 2019 LaGrange Cup kicks off on Sunday, May 26th. The action will begin with the dreaded 500M Sprint at the World Famous Encino Velodrome. The 500M sprint is comprised of two laps of the Encino Velodrome. You will be held in position at the start line by an official. Countdown to zero and you’re off! The key to a good time is getting off the line and up to speed as fast as possible and then holding that speed for the next 35+ seconds. You don’t have to be a trackie to get a rush from this experience and your standard road bike is just fine for this event.

This year, we will be holding the event from 10am to 1pm so anyone who wants to get their warmup on the Nichols ride can do so and then ride over the hill to the track. Like last year, there will be no start times. Arrive whenever you like, get your warm up and then let us know when you’d like to take your timed run.

More details and reminders to come. Registration will be up on the our website shortly.

La Grange Grand Prix Sunday, June 2, 2019

Thanks to the relentless work and dedication of Joseph Duerr, Velo Club La Grange will be the very first cycling club to negotiate a cycling race on a 53 acre CLOSED course race track at the Porsche Experience Center in Southern California! For those of you that do not know about this race track, it is a location where Porsche USA allows owners and guests to race around this enthusiasts play-land https://www.porschedriving.com/porsche-experience-center-los-angeles.

The La Grange Grand Prix will offer an extraordinary bike racing experience. Several club members have had a chance to ride this course, and it is spectacular. 1.4 miles of straights, turns, hills, and descents on an immaculate high-speed unblemished tarmac. When you ride on it, you will know that with every turn of your crank it will test everything you’ve got. This race is incredibly unique and will not be missed.

Sunday, June 2, 2019, is the date. Keep it free and get ready to race or just attend to watch your fellow members and friends race this spectacular course. Plus, all Juniors will race for free, so we want to see you all out there!

LG 50 Camelbak Water Bottles

The LG 50 anniversary Camelbak water bottles have landed. Y’all ordered 272 bottles so the Board will sort each order, at the next Board meeting, into a bag with your name on it and you will be able to pick up your bottles from Helen’s in Santa Monica starting on Thursday, May 9th. Do not call Helen’s and ask them if the bottles are ready for pick up or your order will be donated to someone who needs bottles.

The bottles have landed. The bottles have landed. But do not call Helen’s. They will be ready for pick up on Thursday, May 9th.

LG 50 T-Shirts

Now is to your chance to celebrate 50 years of Velo Club La Grange in style. For a limited time, we are offering an LG50 Logo T-shirt. These are in limited supply and are available to first come, first served. Shirts are unisex but fitted so may run small on bigger bodies. Limit 2 shirts per member. All shirts may be picked up at Helen’s Cycles in Santa Monica starting Thursday May 9th. Order at https://www.lagrange.org/lg50-shirts#!form/Shirts

April LG 50 for 50 Ride

Board member Katie Rollins was in charge of this month’s LG 50 for 50 ride. The group met at SVO (San Vicente and Ocean) and rolled up PCH to Latigo, climbed up Latigo for the SAG stop stationed by Jaycee Cary. It was a cool, brisk day with heavy gloom at the top of Latigo, which means it was perfect cycling weather. The 50 for 50 rides, which were conceived by Jaycee, have been very well attended. They are “no drop” rides with several regroups and, as a result, they are very social. The past few rides have ended at Tacos Por Favor for some great tacos, burritos, etc. Stay tuned to learn about the May 50 for 50 ride.

July 14 LA City Proclamation Day

Camera Angle

Many of us ride with cameras. Why? I like riding with cameras “just in case.” Just in case I need it to show what happened. Just in case I need evidence. Just in case. A great example of the need for cameras occurred this past Sunday. Casper Casperian was riding with a group of cyclists on PCH when a motorcycle rider aggressively buzzed him. Fortunately, Reese Sylvester had camera and caught the incident on video. The license plate of the driver was captured and the incident is being reported to law enforcement. Helen’s Cycles is still honoring the amazing discount on Cycliq units that they offered to us on Helen’s Night so please contact them and ask them for the La Grange member pricing.

Race Report

Sea Otter by Clark Duncan

Sea Otter road race is a brutal event with a ~2.5 minute climb that the P12 field would go up 9 times before finishing on a 7 minute climb with a savage kick to the line. There wasn't much time to settle in with bombs being dropped on the first climb by the Wildlife and Illuminate guys, it had turned out to be a pretty strong field with a fair few bona fide and talented pros racing. I made the selection on first climb and spent the next few laps hanging on, or just managing to catch back on on the flat exposed section at the top of the climb. I always find racing at midday tricky, not knowing how much breakfast to eat, I definitely had one bagel too many and spent much of the first half of the race trying to digest my breakfast. By the time the second half had come along and I had managed to hang on, but a break with some ridiculously strong guys was long gone, I thought there were 3 but apparently 6 were off the front. I did feel myself improving for the second half of the race, and even managed a dig on the climb to try and whittle down my group a little. After 9 climbs the final longer climb came around, it was weirdly gentle for the first 5 minutes, then everyone remembered we were racing when the 1km to go came up. I tried to just ride at my own pace knowing the last 200m was a double digit gradient, got there opened up to give whatever I had left, passed a few people, crossed the line, and crumpled in a heap, for a middling finish in my group.

I finished 12th / ~40 , but was actually really happy I managed to stick as long as a I did and finished knowing I really couldn't have given it much more - the best feeling ever!

CBR

Emily, Renee, Tina and Danie are race ready.

Emily, Danie, and Renee cheering on the club racers.

Not even a mechanical mid race can get Emily down.

Renee and Jaycee, so grateful for our volunteers.

Tour of California Stage 6 Mt. Baldy

La Grange will likely have a presence on GMR so look for us if you ride up. Here are some details provided by Ryan Ung. He says it’s a bit more complicated than previous years because the women’s race is taking place 2-3 hours before the men’s which makes a lot of the mountain inaccessible for cars (bikes ok).

Maps: https://www.amgentourofcalifornia.com/route-2019/2019-route-overview

STAGE 6

Finish Location: 8401 Mt Baldy Rd, Mt Baldy, CA 91759

Women’s Race Start: 9:45am (course only follows the final 25 miles of the men’s route from Glendora Mountain Road to Glendora Ridge Road to Mt Baldy)

Women’s Race Finish: 12:09pm

Men’s Race Start: 11:55am (traditional 80 mile course)

Men’s Race Finish: 3:41pm

Tips:

Lower Mt. Baldy Road (below the village) will be accessible all morning through about 11:00 AM (closure is at CHP’s discretion). This is probably the best place to park in one of the dirt pullouts. No parking is available above the village because women’s teams will need to utilize all the parking in the previous Manker Flats area 1 mile from the summit
Glendora Ridge Road will not be accessible to cars after 9:30 AM
Ride with caution, CHP may ask you to get off the road as the races are approaching

April 1, 2019

VeloClub Lagrange

La Voix - April 2019

April 1, 2019

VeloClub Lagrange

La Grange Grand Prix, March 50 for 50 Ride, 2019 LG Cup Dates, July 14 LA City Proclamation Day, Track Report, Race Report

La Grange Grand Prix Sunday, June 2, 2019

March 50 for 50 Ride

The March 50 for 50 ride route was changed the day before the ride due to the closure of Topanga Canyon for hillside damage repair. The turnout was awesome. The route went south to Marina Del Rey, east on the Ballona Creek bikepath, north through Beverlywood and into Beverly Hills via Rodeo Drive with a stop at the Witch’s House, then into Franklin Canyon with SAG provided by Jan Datomi, down into the valley to the Orange Line bike path then up and over Sepulveda and into Santa Monica for lunch at Tacos Por Favor. We hope you join us for the April 50 for 50 ride!

The Mastermind behind the 50 for 50 rides, Jaycee Cary.

The Queen of SAG…Jan Datomi. Thank you Jan!

Riding on the Ballona Creek bike path. Photo by Leo…who else?!

Caleb and Dan turning in front of the Beverly Wilshire Hotel

The iconic Witch’s House in Beverly Hills.

SAG by Jan Datomi at Franklin Canyon Lake.

La Grange Cup Dates

500M Track Sprint - Sunday, May 26th
Trancas 20K TT: Saturday, July 13th
Piuma Hill Climb: Saturday, September 14th immediately followed by the annual club picnic

July 14 LA City Proclamation Day

Track Report

A little background…

This year, as part of its commitment to developing track racers and as the club with one of the largest contingents of track racers in LA, La Grange sponsored a set of race-focused women's track clinics earlier this year. The first clinic on January 26 introduced racers to basic concepts of racing on the track and the different types endurance races. The second clinic, held over two days on March 9-10, was geared toward intermediate racers with a focus on skills an tactics for the four events of the International Omnium. The clinics were taught by Chris Birch, a two-time US Elite National Champion and member of the US National Team.

Katy's race report

A couple weekends ago I participated in the LAVRA Women’s Race Clinic on Intermediate Mass Start Racing on the Track. I was hesitant to register as the event was advertised for Intermediate track racers, and I’d only ridden on a velodrome three times before, but eventually Zach LaBry, who organized the event, set me up with one of the track’s rental bikes and coaxed me into it.

A mix of women showed up for the clinic – masters racers who had earned stripes on their kits, women who’d been racing track for a few years, women who had ridden on velodromes for years but had never raced, and a few women who – like me – had only been on a track a handful of times.

The clinic consisted of two 3.5 hour sessions lead by Chris Birch and Zach LaBry. Over the weekend we covered all four international omnium events – tempo and elimination on day 1, followed by scratch and points on day 2. We talked about tactics as Chris drew diagrams on a whiteboard, then we’d break into drills for attacking, moving around the pack, and defending position that were tailored for the specific situations we’d discussed, but applicable to any mass-start track race.

Everyone at the clinic was extremely supportive. Chris and Zach did a phenomenal job of making sure everyone was getting something out of the drills – not an easy task with that spread of experience levels. The racers who had spent a lot of time on the velodrome were helpful and respectful of those of us who were brand new, encouraging us and making us feel welcome to share the boards with them.

The clinic culminated in a mock omnium in which we raced shortened versions of all four events with a quick rest and debrief after each. Again, I was hesitant to participate in the mock races, fearing that I’d inadvertently get in the way of the more experienced racers, but they insisted that wouldn’t be the case. It was a huge mental hurdle for me to race in close proximity to other people on a bike with no brakes, but knowing that all the other racers wanted me there helped me get over it and boy, was it fun! While I can’t say I did particularly well in any of the mock races, I got a glimpse of what it would be like to actually race track – blistering speeds, people on all sides of you, and –of course – a lot of left turns.

Over the course of the clinic, I faced fears, made friends, learned a ton, and got in a workout. What a way to spend a weekend! Next up for me: buy a track bike and sign myself up for a race!

Katy Olesnavage (right) attended both intro and intermediate track clinics that were coached by Chris Birch (second from left) with help from Zach LaBry (left).

Race Report: Tour of Murrieta

This year 18 members of the race team traveled to the Tour of Murrieta. Held the weekend before Redlands, this race gives amateurs the chance the rub elbows (sometimes literally) with pro riders who are just warming up their legs. As a cat 3, I had the chance to race hard in the women's 3-4-5 crit and then start again shortly after with the pros. With the Mexican national team, a pro canadian team, and numerous others it was an unprecedented chance to see how it's really done. Spoiler: it's done FAST.

After that crit, Daniela Garcia reports: "The Mexican team was leading the overall and I knew they will control the [circuit] race. I was covering the brakes because Liz was on the overall. It was a hard race.. I suffered bad cramps on the last lap but was still able to get 7th on the stage." Her teammate Liz Ureno took 8th overall in the women's P12.

As for the men, Duncan Clark returned to take first place in the 2/3 omnium for the second year running! Patrick Barrett and Victor Ayala, each racing in different categories, raced super hard in the circuit race. "I broke rule #1 of being in a break," says Victor with a huge grin. "Don’t get dropped from the break." As Patrick's breakaway - it's all on video. After many laps of gaining reputation by attacking the leaders ("two Dutch brothers"), he sees the winning break and bridges up. By the time the break passes Ft. La Grange he's on the back of the break with his tongue hanging all the way out. Then on the back stretch he blows up.

It's races like these that help riders grow their skills. Acacia Shyr writes: "A highlight was watching the amazing talent in the other races! I realized that I could have pedaled through many more of the corners than I did while I was watching the other races. I think this skill comes with lots of practice." Acacia also describes working together with teammates Emily Conant and Ellie Perry, who passed her a gel when the going got tough. Emily is new to the team, and agrees on the importance of bike handling. " I slowed myself down a lot at the turns and had to expend a lot of extra energy catching up." Another tip from Kim Kopenhaver: "It's important a few laps to go start moving up. I had the strength at the end but hesitated too long and the window to move up closes very quickly!"

Having your teammates around is the best part of a travel race weekend, especially for all the new racers. "Unfortunately for my legs, I could not disappoint LG’s cheer-leading squad, let alone let down my teammates. So I stuck through." "The atmosphere and camaraderie was motivating!" says Liz Fu. In the W345 circuit, "I even managed a little (accidental) breakaway! In fairness Dani was shouting “go go go”, so who am I to ignore instructions?"

Race Day Boss Ellie Perry, who booked the house and shopped for food, has maybe the greatest racing lesson of all: "Racing isn't only fun if you do well in the race - if nothing else it's just fun to ride your bike somewhere different and spend quality time with some of the best people around!"

Sebastian Garduno, Ellie Perry, Kim Kopenhaver, Danie Monahan and Liz Fu

Ellie Perry, Emily Conant, Ben Forrest, Acacia Shyr, Liz Fu, Sebastian Garduno, Mohammed Asgari, David Arnold

Duncan Clark, first place omnium Men's 2/3

Duncan Clark, Liz Fu, Acacia Shyr, Charlie Herndon, Frank Wyer and Ellie PerryBaking cookies at the La Grange house. — Duncan Clark, Liz Fu, Acacia Shyr, Charlie Herndon, Frank Wyer and Ellie Perry
Baking cookies at the La Grange house.