General Team News

Press Release - Jon Baker's Cyclocross Plans

Vitamin Cottage Cycling Team — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 08:05:00 GMT

Jonathan Baker is preparing for national UCI circuit after winning all of the elite men's races in Colorado so far this season, including:

9/13 Pikes Peak Supercross #1 in Colorado Springs

9/14 Brecktobercross in Breckenridge

9/21 Mammoth 'Cross #1 in Golden

This Wednesday he travels to Las Vegas for the UCI C1 Race 'Cross Vegas (this race is sponsored by our own Denver/Boulder Couriers) to compete against the best in the nation. ‘Cross Vegas kicks off a circuit that will include UCI Racing in Wisconsin, Ohio, Kentucky, Delaware, Pennsylvania culminating in the national championships to be held in Kansas City, Missouri in mid-December. After that it is on to the World Cup circuit, with races mainly held in Belgium and The Netherlands. This racing will serve as preparation for a bid at World Championships, held at Hoogeheide, NL, in early February.

Contact Jonathan:

720-323-6712

jbaker.beasys@gmail.com

Jon Baker Wins CO Cross Races - Readies for Cross Vegas

Vitamin Cottage Cycling Team — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 18:48:00 GMT

In the 2008 road racing season, the Vitamin Cottage Cycling Team pb XP Companies took Colorado's Best All Around Team Competition in the men's pro-1-2 category for the fifth year running. With that title now in the books, attention turns to cyclocross.

Jon Baker notched a pair of wins to open up his cyclocross account for the Vitamin Cottage Cycling Team pb XP Companies. In prior years, Baker has had different team arrangements during the cyclocross season but will be racing in the familiar orange and purple in 2008.

Saturday, Sep 13 saw Bear Creak Park in Colorado Springs as the venue. Baker lapped all but second and third place on his way to victory in the men's elite race. Sunday, Sep. 14 provided some high-altitude cross in Breckenridge Colorado. Baker had to come back from a mid race mechanical problem but was still able to pull off the victory.

Next up its Cross Vegas for Baker and a team of special guests, including former VC rider and current Successful Living Pro Chuck Coyle. Cross Vegas is held in Las Vegas during the interbike trade show. Last year Baker held is own in the lead group of domestic and international cross stars and finished 7th on the day. Stay tuned for a race report.

Kirsten Williams wins the Best All Around competition

Vitamin Cottage Cycling Team — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 12:06:00 GMT

Kirsten started racing more consistently in the junior women’s 10-12 category this year. She raced the past two seasons doing tandem races with her dad and the state TT on her own. After her first season of cyclocross she wanted to strike out on her own for road races. She especially wanted to compete in the Cherry Creek TT series. After winning two of those time trials Kirsten was hooked on bike racing. Halfway through the season out of curiosity she checked the BAR results and found herself in fourth place. She set her sights on moving up in the ratings and finished in first place!

Kirsten placed in the top 5 all year and had a long string of races where she was first or second. She won at the Wheels of Thunder, Longmont Criterium, and Rock the River races. The competition came down to the last weekend of racing. Kirsten needed to do well in both races to hold the lead position. She placed fourth in the Federal Center Circuit race and then sixth in the Bannock Criterium.

August 19 update - Baker, McCarthy, Pinkerton and more

Vitamin Cottage Cycling Team — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 14:59:00 GMT

Baker wins Tour of Colorado, Gateway and Boulder Roubaix – Jon Baker continues to have a strong 2008 campaign. This past Saturday, Baker took out one of Colorado’s most prestigious races by winning a wet and muddy edition of Boulder Roubaix. The win was a sweet one due to the teamwork involved. Jon Tarkington went in a very early move with Alan Krughoff (Team Rio Grande) and put pressure on the field. When Tarkington was caught late in the race, Christian McCarthy took off on a solo move. Sheldon Taylor (Team Rio Grande) bridged up to McCarthy with only Baker in tow. Upon Taylor’s arrival at the McCarthy rear wheel, Baker launched a textbook attack and held it to the line for the win. McCarthy would finish third. Derek Strong continued a string of solid performances by finishing 6^th and Dirk Friel took 7^th. Tarkington hung on for 10^th.

Baker finished 5^th the following day at another Colorado Classic – the North Boulder Park Criterium. With that placing, Baker clinched the Tour of Colorado. In taking that title, Baker won a pair of climbing road races the prior weekend in Grand Junction, CO.

In women’s racing, Anne Lannan took 2^nd in the North Boulder Park Criterium with VC teammates Renee Eastman, Lisa Strong and Jenna Allen taking 6^th and 9^th and 10^th, respectively.

McCarthy racks up silvers – in other race news, VC strongman Christian McCarthy notched three-in-row second places in recent weekend races. In all three instances, McCarthy was second to some solid professional riders. McCarthy took second to Heath Blackgrove (Toyota United), Chris Baldwin (Toyota United) and Jason Donald (Garmin-Chipotle) at the Federal Center Circuit Race (Aug 2), Bannock Criterium (Aug 3) and Vic’s Prospect Criterium (Aug 9).

Pinkerton wins Nevada Masters State Championship – VC team manager and long time rider Bob Pinkerton recently took the Northern California/Northern Nevada State Criterium Championship in the 50+ Division at the Carson Valley Classic Criterium.

Kellagher, Barrowclough and Mapes – The Vitamin Cottage pb XP Companies team snagged a few recent victories of note. Bill Kellagher won the 45+ and James Mapes the Category 3 Boulder Roubaix race. Mathew Barrowclough won the Salida Criterium.

McCormack takes 2008 CO State Criterium Championship

Vitamin Cottage Cycling Team — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 05:29:00 GMT

McCormack takes the win (photo by Lewis Geyer/Timescall.com)

Alan McCormack won the 2008 CO State Criterium Championship in a dramatic finish. While Dirk Friel's presence in a long breakaway looked promising for him to repeat as the state crit champ, with three laps to go, Friel was the last rider away after his three breakaway companions were swallowed up by the field. Friel held a narrow margin over the field, but with half a lap to go was caught. Never fear, as McCormack along with teammates Randy Reichardt and Christian McCarthy were well positioned for the sprint. McCormack took a close sprint over Reichardt in second with McCarthy finishing in sixth. Reichardt's second was impressive given that he crashed hard just 15 minutes earlier. For a full report, check out the Longmont news article from the timescall.com.

In Saturday's Rocky Mounts Criterium, Dirk Friel took second to team THF's Dan Schmatz.

The 08 State Crit podium (Byron Nix, Alan McCormack and Randy Reichardt)

Jon Baker's race reports (Vail HC, Folsom Crit, Nevada City and Nez)

Vitamin Cottage Cycling Team — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 05:07:00 GMT

Following are race reports by Jon Baker.

Vail Hillclimb:

Raced on the same day as the Mike Horgan hillclimb in Boulder, which I unfortunately would miss, the Vail Hillclimb promoted by Teva Mountain Games, and sponsored by Backcountry.com, offered a generous prize fund; but only 4 deep. This was the first race in my upcoming 5 week road trip, so I was motivated to earn a bit of money. Checking out the start list on the morning of the race revealed some heavy hitters, including Ned Overend (winner of the past 2 years), Mike Carter, Drew Miller, Stefano Barberi, Corey Collier (Health Net), and the Toyota duo of Ben Day and Chris Baldwin (both current or former national TT champions). I knew I would have to be on my "A" game for this one.
When I won this event 3 years ago, I raced on a full TT setup; this year, I used my road bike with clip-on bars. The course is half flat/rolling, with the 2nd half an uphill grade of 7%. With a ripping tailwind, times were super-fast, with both Day and Baldwin breaking the former course record (held by Andy Hampsten!). I was able to slot in 3rd place, about 20 seconds off the old record time. See http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2008/jun08/jun10news for a snippet on the race.

Folsom Criterium:

I raced a criterium in Folsom, CA as a warmup for my favorite race of the year, the Nevada City Classic. After lapping the field with a large group of 13, I mustered a fifth place in the sprint.

Nevada City Classic:

Held in my home town of Nevada City, CA, this race serves as a good reason to travel out to California, and see my family for Fathers Day. Oh yeah, and the race is pretty cool too. As the oldest race on the west coast, it has an impressive history and list of former winners (see www.ncclassic.com). I've dreamed of winning this race ever since I started competing, and always arrive super motivated. This year saw a list of the usual suspects for the difficult circuit that climbs 150 feet per lap for 40 laps. Scott Nydam, Justin England, Burke Swindlehurst, Steven Cozza, Matt Cooke, and Ned Overend were among the top contenders. As expected, attrition was the rule of the day, and by the midpoint the front group was down to a dozen or so riders. First Nydam, then England went up the road, and as I was going through a bad patch, I was unable to respond. The remaining seven or eight guys I was with set a good tempo, and we stayed within striking distance as I recovered a bit. As the race wound down, it became obvious that we would only be able to contest the final podium spot. I launched a late attack on the last lap, but was overtaken in the last 200 meters by Graham Howard (Bissell) and Eric Wohlberg (Symmetrics), to arrive 5th on the day. I was pleased with the result nonetheless, as it equaled my previous best in this notoriously difficult event.

Tour De Nez:

The Tour De Nez was back to it's former glory as a multi-day NRC stage race this year. Held at altitude in and around the Reno / Tahoe area, this event is tailor-made for Coloradans. VC brought a 4 man team including, Randy Reichardt, Joey Pinkerton, Dirk Friel, and me. From the Team Presentation on the Grand Stage at the Grand Sierra Casino, to the Post-Event party with gourmet catered food and an open bar, the organization was top-notch. We were treated to complimentary hotel rooms, as well as 2 meals / day for the Reno portion of the event, and with Northstar Mountain Resort's commitment for the next 3 years, I was told that teams would be given rooms there as well next year.

I've realized that at the NRC level, if I just sit in and wait for the finale, I'm a bit behind the top riders. With that in mind, I was determined to "race" all stages this year, looking to be opportunistic and get in breakaways. That strategy panned out, as I was able to make the break on stage 2, finishing 2nd, and again on the final day, only missing the top step by about 6 inches! Overall, the stage results were much better than my anonymous 12th place overall, justifying my race strategy. As result of my two second places, I also was second in the Points competition, adding another $500 to the coffers. I was very happy I was able to get this result for the Vitamin Cottage Cycling Team pb XP Companies as we were due another national level result.

Karl Erickson's Track Report - American Velodrome Challenge

Vitamin Cottage Cycling Team — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 04:53:00 GMT

Following is Karl Erickson's race report from the .

Keirin - I sat up with 1.5 laps to go when the lead rider swung dangerously up track, sandwiching several riders together and pushing one rider into the boards. Riding safe was far more important to me than qualifying for the repechage round.

Miss-and-out - I was safely tucked away in the lane for the first 1/3 of the race and had an easy time as riders were eliminated one by one. Then with about 20 laps to go, I found myself in the back with a fast-moving pack that filled the entire width of the track.

The first evening was a little disappointing but I was still looking forward to the scratch and points races on Saturday.

15k scratch race - I was active right from the start, participating in three different break-aways. The first two breaks were short-lived (although I did pick up a bottle of wine for a prime at 35 laps to go) but the third break gathered some real muscle and looked promising. The pack recognized the danger and went full-throttle to catch us. We were then countered by a solo rider who took over three quarters of a lap before the pack went into chase mode again and brought everything together. In the end I was boxed in while the bulk of the pack came over the top.

20k points race - The points race started with a slightly more reserved pace than the scratch race. I began around 10th wheel and was up to 2nd wheel by the 3rd lap. I decided to try my luck and took a solo flier with 57 laps to go. The pack didn't really react, so I settled in, hoping to stay away until the points at 50 to go. The pack allowed the gap to grow to about half a lap before they started accelerating for the sprint. Giddeon Massie (2008 olympic team sprinter) took the 2nd place points with a hard-charging pack in tow. I continued working to see if it would be possible to capitalize on a post-sprint breather. It turned out that the pack's easy pace was around 30 mph, so my break only lasted another two laps before I was swallowed up by the pack. For the next 15 laps, I sat tucked in the pack recovering and trying to find another opportunity to snatch some points. With 32 laps to go, the opportunity presented itself. The pack was stretched out with some gaps between groups of riders and the sprinters lane was open with the lead riders sitting up. I shot through the opening and built up about a 2-3 bike length lead before anyone reacted. At the line Giddeon Massie nipped me for first place points and then the pack came roaring through so there was little time to rest before we started hammering again. In the last 20 laps, I rode defense, working to prevent anyone from taking a lap or any single break from eating up too many points. In the end, the two scoring laps put me in 3rd overall behind Kenny Williams (1st Rate Mortgage) and Daniel Holloway (Garmin Chipotle). Giddeon Massie lost a lap on the field but came back about 20 minutes later to win the flying lap record attempt.

Baker second in final Tour de Nez stage

Vitamin Cottage Cycling Team — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 17:52:00 GMT

The Tour de Nez wrapped up this past weekend with the Vitamin Cottage Cycling Team pb XP Companies turning some heads. Jon Baker stepped on the podium again (click here for photo and gallery) after another second place finish on the difficult final stage. Baker finished 2nd earlier in the week in the Truckee Criterium and ended up 12th overall. The team received great photographic and press coverage on both Cyclingnews.com and Velonews.Com.

Following is a race report from Dirk Friel for the final stage:

Tour de Nez Final Stage, Northstar Village, CA.

The final stage of the Tour de Nez was yet again an up and down affair. Even though the "Nez's" stages are relatively short they are far from easy. There was not one minute of recovery in the entire 4-day, 5-stage, event.

The final race on Saturday consisted of 22 laps of a hilly, 2-mile technical circuit. The field was down to about 56 starters and my goal was to hopefully move up a few spots in order to finish top 30 overall.

Bang! The starters pistol was shot and 56 riders went sprinting out of the start line as if we were starting a criterium. We quickly descended the downhill portion of the course and within a minute hit the first short hill and cobble section through the Northstar Village.

The cobbles added a European feel to the race and yet again took away any chance of recovery on what otherwise would have been the easiest section of the course. I must say I was suffering like a dog but rather enjoyed the atmosphere of racing through a ski village. Million dollar penthouse condos loomed four stories above and spectators lounged in comfy leather couches sipping coffee and beer. What could be better.

About five laps into the race I was able to help my Vitamin Cottage/XP Companies teammate Jon Baker leap off the front of the group and bridge to a small breakaway. Having helped Jon as best I could I quickly went back to survival mode and tried to stay hidden within the second group and conserve precious energy.

Half way through the race the break with Baker was about 30 seconds off the front and I found myself still in the 2nd group with the GC leaders. Our group was down to about 19 riders and I was pleased with my efforts. However, I knew it was going to be short lived. With 9 laps to go I popped off the back of the 2nd group and found myself chasing solo. Luckily I caught two riders and we put our heads down and worked well together to the finish.

Somehow the results got messed up as I finished with two riders yet the results show me as finishing alone. Oh well, in the end I rode a solid race and moved from 33rd overall to 28th place in the final general classification. This is certainly not a great result in the grand scheme of things, but for a guy who trains about 10hrs/week and hasn't raced an NRC stage race since 2002 I'm really happy with 28th. I'm even happier for my team though since Jon Baker finished 2nd on the final stage which was his second, 2nd place of the week. With just a tad more luck Jon could have won two NRC races last week.

Stage Details:

1:36

305 avg watts

359 NP

*This race also produced my second highest Normalized CP 20 of the year at 398w.

It is now time to recover and think about the next local Colorado race which is the Niwot Criterium in a few weeks. I may also do the local Wednesday time trial series this week.

Thanks for reading,

Dirk

Race Report - Baker Second at Tour de Nez criterium in Truckee, CA.

Vitamin Cottage Cycling Team — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 04:41:00 GMT

The Vitamin Cottage Cycling Team pb XP Companies made a huge splash in the national calendar waters last night in the Tour De Nez, Truckee Criterium. To start things out, Dirk Friel was away for a long time in break with Alex Candelario (Kelly Benefits). Dirk took second to Candelario in an intermediate points sprint. Jon Baker countered the Friel/Candelario move. Roman Kilun (Health Net) and Justin England (Toyota United) bridged up to Baker and they stayed away to the finish. Baker was 2nd in front of a huge crowd. Kilun won with England 3rd.

The team received huge props throughout the race from rock star announcer Dave Towle. Tomorrow is the hardest stage with tons of climbing with Jon Baker sitting in 9th on GC. Baker will rely heavily on teammates Friel, Joe Pinkerton and Randy Riechardt, all of whom are having a great race so far.

See pictures and a race report on the cyclingnews tour de nez coverage.

Tarkington wins Glenwood Criterium

Vitamin Cottage Cycling Team — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 06:37:00 GMT

After a tough day in Saturday’s Glenwood Springs Rock the River Road Race, the VC men’s p-1-2 team redeemed itself with a 1-2 finish on a challenging Glenwood Criterium course. The weekend races saw two great new venues on the Colorado racing Calendar. The road race course provided scenic views along the Colorado River and served up a demanding route with lots of rolling climbs and a stiff wind. To make a long story short, the team missed the days winning breakaway of four and the chaotic field sprint didn’t provide any consolation.

Sunday’s Criterium course, however, provided the opportunity for redemption. On a technical course that included several tight turns and a fair bit of climbing, Jon Tarkington delivered a commanding solo performance eventually lapping almost the entire field for the win. Christian McCarthy provided the exclamation point by rolling across the line alone for second on a day that saw the field completely shattered.

Team highlights from the women's races this weekend included Carol Hutton's fourth-place finish in the road race and Renee Eastman's second place finish in the criterium.

Tarkington on his way to a solo victory