The BOS group ride has changed it’s start time to 7:00am.

BOS is a great group ride in North Scottsdale that leaves early Saturday mornings. Most know where it starts and where it goes, but never WHEN it starts. There is no central website. There is no group or person promoting the ride. Start time changes are called out in the parking lot morning of the ride.

Last Saturday morning the call was made in the parking lot to change the start time to 7:00am. That call was relayed on to us and posted here to try and keep everyone up to speed.

We do our best to keep track of BOS’s start time. If the end of the week rolls around and you’re not certain of the start time, check out our ‘Calendar’ page or make a quick post to the Forum’s “Group Ride” topic.

Thanks.

The results for last Saturday’s ASU Criterium have now been posted.

To view them, check out our ‘Results’ page or click here.

We’ve got our hands on the Avondale Criterium results! They’re posted to our ‘Results’ page. Or, you can click here.

Thanks.

Tour of the California Wine Country Training Camp

Missing Link Coaching and Training Systems will be holding the fourth annual Tour of the California Wine Country training camp again this year. The dates are April 15th, 16th, 17thand 18th. The camp consists of four days of riding through the northern California wine country of Sonoma County. If you have never seen this region you are in for a treat. This is one of the most beautiful places anywhere to ride a bike or sight see. The area is known for winding rivervalleys, terraced hill side vineyards, giant redwood trees and the rugged Pacific Ocean coast line.

DAY 1

Chalk Hill/Alexander Valley/Dry Creek loop. The ride starts and finishes in Santa Rosa. It consists of rolling hills and goes through the Chalk Hill, Alexander Valley and Dry Creek vineyards.

DAY 2

Russian River Valley/Bodega Bay/Occidental loop. The ride starts and finishes in Santa Rosa. This ride winds along the Russian River valley vineyards through towering redwood forests to the Pacific Ocean. We will ride south down the Pacific Coast Highway along beautiful beaches and the rugged coastline. The ride then turns inland and passes through the town of Bodega famous for the filming of Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds” From here we wind through a redwood forest to the town of Occidental, a sleepy little town among the redwoods which has remained in the 1960″s era. From Occidental it is rolling hills back to Santa Rosa.

DAY 3

Santa Rosa/Healdsburg/West Side Loop. The ride starts and finishes in Santa Rosa. The ride will wind through the Sonoma Valley vineyards to the town of Healdsburg. From Healdsburg we will enter the Dry Creek wine growing region and ride up the east side of the valley to the Lake Sonoma dam. From the dam we will ride down the west side of the valley winding our way back through the vineyards to Santa Rosa.

DAY 4

Healdsburg/Canyon Road/Geyserville Loop. This ride starts and finishes in Santa Rosa. This ride winds through the vineyards of the Russian River Valley to Healdsburg. From Healdsburg we ride along Dry Creek to Canyon Road. We will ride up and over Canyon Road to the town of Geyserville. From Geyserville we make our way back to Santa Rosa through Alexander Valley and Knights Valley.

The four rides take in all that makes this region one of the most beautiful places on earth. The ride format is laid out so that we have moderate days on day one and day three. Day two and four are harder but like I said, we have never left anyone behind. All rides will be sagged and water and nutrition will be provided.

The cost of the camp is $700.00. The cost does not include lodging and meals. I will set aside a block of rooms in Old Railroad Square in Santa Rosa at the Courtyard by Marriot. The cost for four nights, double occupancy is $600.00. The hotel is very nice and within walking distance of many great restaurants. Arrangements can be made with other campers to share rooms. Or, you can bring your significant other as they will be close to great shopping and more wine tasting than is possible in four days! I will make recommendations for restaurants but you are free to try others as well. I grew up in the Santa Rosa area and am very familiar with the area.

I have room for 12 to 16 riders in the camp so if you are interested contact me to get on the list. This is a popular camp which has always had good attendance. Feel free to share or forward this information to friends who might be interested.

I will need to have a deposit of $350.00 by March 15th hold your space. The hotel room will need to be reserved in your name by March 15th as well. Don’t miss a chance to ride some great routes with a guide that grew up training and racing on these roads.

Contact Info:  Don Williams
don_williams6518@cox.net
602.524.9435

Please Donate Today!

The Doug Flynn Memorial North End Classic is coming up this weekend February 27th and 28th and its time to reach out and make a difference.

http://www.yumabikeclub.com/index.php?page=north-end-classic

Doug Flynn Slide Show

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5DA5XtXfm8

Recently he was hit by a car and tragically killed while out riding his bike.

On be half of Arizona Masters Racing and the Arizona Cycling Community we will present a check to his family at the race.

I can’t imagine how this is for his wife and children.

Catch up with me or send a donation.

Check or Cash, we could make a difference!

Checks to;

Arizona Masters Racing

4240 East Dubois Court

Gilbert AZ 85298

Attn; Doug Flynn Family

Thanks,

Bryan Staub

Alright… we’re always talking road racing here, but would it hurt to plug a little mountain biking here and there? No. So, here you go, a 24 Hours of Old Pueblo write up from Team Waste Management’s Ben Bradshaw.

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This past weekend, Team Waste Management presented by Hammer Nutrition decided to race the eleventh annual 24 hours of Old Pueblo. Usually the team jump starts the season by diving straight into the fast and furious southwest road scene, however this year the self proclaimed “Lost Boys” decided to start our season by doing things a little bit different. So we headed to the desert to shred our mountain bikes in the Old Pueblo.

Personally... the one on the far left worries me.

The weather was spectacular, perfect sunny skies and absolutely gorgeous desert riding conditions. I have to tell you, 24 hour races are a bit of a shock to the system for a couple of roadies. As I stood watching the sun rise Saturday morning I couldn’t help but be amazed by the hundreds of motor homes, tents, and bikes strewn about the desert floor.

Twelve noon (when the race starts) was upon us quickly, and of course I (Ben Bradshaw) was the sucker who was chosen to do the first lap, and the ridiculous Le Mans start that it begins with. The start of the race is a hectic affair, and as the gun went off 600 cyclists in carbon soled shoes charged for their bikes. The run was miserable, but as soon as I got on my bike I started to get my wind back. I got in a rhythm and started to pick guys off. The desert course was fast, but definitely required caution, as any overshot turn would result in a cholla to the backside. My first lap was decent but not spectacular, I came in 6th overall. As I tagged Stevie Cullinan in for our second lap, I knew it was going to be a fast time. I wasn’t wrong. Stevie crushed the lap and brought us into the lead with the fastest lap by far.

Lap after lap we slowly began to extend our lead. In between laps we would pound all of our Hammer Products to replenish the glycogen we had lost during the laps, which was extremely important in a race as long as this. Our race was looking good as we headed into the early morning hours, but unfortunately luck began to turn against us. At around three in the morning, I began to have . . . . . issues, and eventually I had to refund a bowl of chicken soup during a lap (should have stuck with the Recoverite). Needless to say my lap time was not quite up to speed after my little pit stop.

Even though food poisoning prematurely ended my race, my teammates rallied to keep us in second throughout the rest of the race. Stevie, Ron Jensen, and Cory Steinbrecher all pulled extra laps to hold on to our podium spot. Looking back it was quite the weekend. I definitely could see us doing another 24 hour race, and perhaps this time our luck will hold out for the win.

A fine showing for a group of roadies.

A couple people we would like to thank for making or weekend possible- Hammer Nutrition for keeping us fueled in one of the most grueling endurance events in the world, The Bitty Bitty Cycling Team who provided us with food, lodging, and Bitty Fuel, and of course none other than Steve Cullinan who manages our team and keeps us set in all departments. . . . Until Next time,

Ben Bradshaw

Honeywell Cycling earned top points for this past weekend combining both the ASU Crit and the Avondale Crit #2!

Outstanding racing from Honeywell Cycling’s Chris Poole and Mark Fosenburg!

Bicycle Haus Racing scored big as well with some very impressive racing!

See all the details and results at www.azmps.com

After some voting, some thinking, and some insight from you all, we’ve decided to introduce a Forum to this site.

All we ask is this: lets do our best to keep this forum positive and not some sort of grounds for bashing folks.

I fully support debate, discussion, and banter, but let’s keep it ‘above the belt’.

To access the Forum, click “The Forum” tab at the top of this page. There is one post that is a requested read before you ‘register’ for an account. Read it over as it sheds some insight in to the Forum and the registration process.

Best of all, the Forum will now allow us to pull in more community participation and enable this website to better circulate Arizona cycling information. That’s our goal!!

Thanks.

Admin

The Velocity Group / AZMPS Most Aggressive Racer series was alive and kicking this past weekend!

For those that have forgotten or are unfamiliar with this series, it is something we are co-promoting with the Arizona Masters Points Series. It will be awarded to masters racer’s seen riding strong and fighting the good fight out at the races.

This weekend featured the ASU Criterium’s masters 30+ and 40+ races and the judging panel featured Austin King and Bryan Staub. Sunday’s Avondale Criterium featured the masters 40+ race and the judging panel included Greg Kilroy, Austin King, Barney King, Suzanne King, and Bryan Staub.

Saturday’s Most Aggressive Racer was awarded to True Brown (Bicycle Haus) and Mark Fosenburg (Honeywell Cycling). True Brown was the aggressor from the starting gun in the ASU Criterium attacking constantly in the opening laps before opening up one of his trademark breakaways. After a bit of reshuffling True again set out on the attack and was shortly joined by three others including eventual race winner Craig Streit (Procon Cycling). For the duration of the event True never hesitated to swap off with the others and aggressively lend his locomotive abilities to the 4-man breakaway that eventually lapped the field.

All the while this powerful 4-man breakaway powered away from the field Mark Fosenburg and another rider were caught in no man’s land – in between breakaway and peloton. Rather than take the easy route, throw in the towel, and be reabsorbed by the bunch, Fosenburg fought hard to further establish his breakaway. He even kept the hammer down solo for a lap when his breakaway companion needed to stop in to receive service for a mechanical.

Sunday’s Avondale Criterium featured Kyle Butkiewicz (Bicycle Haus) riding like a man possessed. Possibly another rider out there with a trademark attacking style, Butkiewicz launched early and he launched solo sticking his face out in the wind for several laps. With several riders and teams chasing it took quite awhile for them to bring him back to the group. Once back in the group Butkiewicz seemed to rest, reload, and re-launch taking another flyer in the closing laps to not only take the Most Aggressive Racer award but the win as well. Not too shabby. Honorable mention for the Avondale Criterium goes to Jim Silverman (GST Racing). For those watching the race it could be seen that Jim was doing a lion share of the work to chase back Butkiewicz and restore order. Jim was also seen slipping into a dangerous several man breakaway mid-race.

That’s all for now. We’d like to congratulate all the master’s racers from this past weekend for their great efforts. It was a lot of fun watching select races and giving credit where credit is due. Next up on our series schedule: San Tan Criterium (March 6th).

If you’d like to be a member of our judging panel at the next Most Aggressive Racer event, please feel free to contact us at info@velocitygroupaz.com. We’d love to hear from you! Thank you.

Just a reminder to all…. the Phoenix Consumers Criterium Series a.k.a. Tuesday Night Worlds WILL NOT BE HELD THIS TUESDAY.

The criterium series will resume as usual the following Tuesday. For times and event information, please refer to our ‘Calendar’ page where all events are posted.

Do not drive out there or it will be a lonely evening of riding in circles in a parking lot…

Thanks.