Back Bay Cycling Club--B2C2
Membership: by request with some screening process.
This is the newest of the local road teams mentioned here. B2C2 has built up a respectable road team from a solid background in mountain and cyclocross. They are a Boston based team, who competes with Cambridge for prizes such as "hippest team," "most exposed tattoos," and "most fun to invite to a party." I am very good friends with some B2C2 riders and respect them highly for their racing prowess, as well as their personalities.
Socially, B2C2 is filled with younger riders who skew toward liberal and hip. As racers they tend to field small squads who ride cohesively.
B2C2 is a good team to join if you are young, live in the city and are looking for a team that competes in off road events as well as on the road. If I wasn't on Cambridge, I would be asking B2C2 for a membership.
Green Line Velo
Membership: Unclear, though they seem to be looking for young people.
GLV is a post collegiate team that makes a point of recruiting kids who have raced collegiate. Even their name "Green Line Velo" is a reference to the MBTA's notoriously slow Green Line which services most of the city's colleges. It is unclear whether GLV accepts collegiate riders who got degrees from schools on the Red Line, such as MIT and Harvard.
GLV comes deep. They might have had some of the best race representation of any team in New England in 2010. And they are young, so some of them get real fast, real quick. With their youth and fitness, they are a team to watch. Sometimes you get to watch them attack foolishly. Other times the foolish attacks stick.
GLV's spokesman, Stephen Hopengarten, assures me that GLV will be cohesive and bringing the pain down on the cat 3 peloton in 2011. I look forward to it.
GLV is a good team to join if you have been racing collegiate and are looking to continue the good times in the less fun world of USAC category racing. Bonus if you are socially awkward.
Cambridge Bicycles
Membership: By request, screening. Open only to active racers. No club.
This is my team. I have had considerable influence in the way the team is run and how we race. So I apologize if I sound biased. I am biased. I am proud of my team.
Cambridge focuses on team tactics and getting one person on the podium. We share prize money and work together cohesively .
CB is an urban based team that has traditionally been made up of alternative types, such as bicycle messengers and hipsters. While our demographic has expanded (Kyle Smith was on CB), we remain very urban and very liberal. We field and support both men's and women's teams.
As for racing, we've had some successful road seasons. 2010 was not one of them. With the exception of Stephen Pierce's and Matt Aumiller's great results, 2010 was marked by injury and illness. Our cat 3 squad has been thinned by upgrades, which was great for the upgrading riders, but ultimately bad for the team, since we moved them along to other teams (Embrocation) since we do not actively support any riders above cat 3.
We have rebuilt for 2011. While we are still upgrading riders, we have some aces up our sleeve for 2011.
CB has traditionally been a sprinter's team (we started on the track), our repertoire has expanded since our inception.
CB is a good team to join if you live in town, are a cat 3 or 4, take racing very seriously and can pull off white lycra. You won't fit in well if you just like to "wait until the end and see what happens," as we generally have a plan.
If you are interested in joining, contact me directly (rmckittr at G mail dot com), as we are currently looking to round out our squads.
Threshold Cycling
Membership: Unclear. I have it on anecdotal data that Threshold screens.
Powerhouses. These dudes produce Watts. If you don't believe me, go to their team blog and read about WATTS.
Seriously, Threshold takes training and racing seriously. They advocate systematic training and over panache and verve.
They have a number of strongmen in both the cat 3's and 4's who are capable of putting the hurt on the whole race. Generally, if a lower category race has a successful breakaway, Threshold is in it. If not, they are bridging to it.
Threshold is a team to watch. It is better to work with them than against them.
Socially, they Threshold skews more toward the scientific, numerical types. As mentioned, they spend lots of time (and bandwidth) discussing power data.
Threshold is a good team to join if you like analyzing your power data, discussing said data and you like putting the hurt on a breakaway.
Cyclonauts
Membership: Open.
While not a Boston based team, I mention them for a number of reasons. Most importantly, I am writing this post from their team training camp in NW Georgia, which they were kind enough to invite me on.
As I have mentioned in the past Cyclonauts revolves around Mike Norton, who often rubs people the wrong way. That said, the Cyclonauts take cat 3 and master's racing VERY seriously. If they show up to a crit, they come deep and they race hard. Mostly they dominate crits, though as I have seen down here in GA, some of them can climb.
Cyclonauts have caused considerable controversy by promoting unsanctioned races. I think that their success in doing so is what makes it so controversial. Personally, I have no problem with unsanctioned races.
I respect their racing style, since they work cohesively to put a man in first and not always the same man.
Socially, Cyclonauts tends to skew toward conservative.
Cyclonauts is a good team to join if you are looking to be part of an effective criterium domination squad and you find yourself uncomfortable with most cyclists' liberal rantings.
545 Velo
Membership: Unclear.
545 are mostly master's riders. The team was born out of the "Crack O Dawn" ride, whose slogan is "show up on time or ride alone"
545 fields a huge team, who do close to nothing in races. Most of my experience with them has been in the Wells Ave A race in 2010 where their cat 4's cause crashes with their sketchy riding and lack of understanding of race dynamics. In fact, thier behavior has kicked off a conversation amongst BRC about banning cat 4's from the A race, since there have been so many complaints about 545's foolish riding. I have nothing against cat 4's and nothing against 545, but when they endanger me, I take notice.
545 is a good team to join if you are already friends with people on the team.
__________________________________________________________
I am sure that I left a critical team off of the list. Please contact me if I left your team off and I will update the post accordingly if:
1. I agree that your team should be included
2. I have the energy and time to make said update.
42 comments:
The new Firefly team . . . talk to Jon Bruno. Elites, Masters, juniors. Good stuff.
545 Velo, dude. Not 540. Hence your googling fails.
Wayde:
FF is outside the scope of this post.
Colin R:
Thanks for pointing that out. I fixed it, but I think that I liked the post better with the mis...er...misnumberings.
my 2cents which i'm sure will bring much hatred:
i'm not some foolish obama-loving liberal, but i'm still on cambridge.
cyclonauts dudes are all built like fucking juggernauts and can haul ass in crits
glv is a fucking joke
i'm with mike in that were it not for CB i'd be looking for a spot on back bay
also, isn't threshold like red line velo since a lot of their guys went to harvard or mit? though much cooler and more effective than glv for sure.
I'm glad someone agrees with me. I strongly dislike (hate is a harsh word that I reserve only for hipsters) GLV as well. Those damn kids are always winning races and having fun doing it. They won something like 12 races this past season! WTF?! Their stupidly successful social beer rides and their partnership with Nicole Freedman and Boston Bikes just make me want to puke. My strong dislike towards them is probably fueled by jealousy from wanting to be young, successful, and lusted after by hot college chicks. Anywho, they will probably fall apart before the 2011 season, because, as we all know, they are a fucking joke. SHopengarten is pretty cool though. I'd post their race results for this past year, but I, like you, am too embarrassed by how dominant they were in every race they entered. Glad we can commiserate over envious, hate filled anonymous internet provocations!
Er...other than Gary!, who was hating on GLV? I certainly am not. Gary! hates everyone, so your wounded sarcasm is misplaced.
Again, I look forward to seeing the GLV pain train in 2011.
Wounded is a very apt description of our fragile ego, yes. I actually pointed out that your write up was ultra positive and accurate (though we are open to any racer regardless of what T stop they live on!). Sometimes, Hopengarten's uncanny ability to start internet fights effects us all.
Sam, what is the age limit for GLV? Also, do you require that your recruits graduate from college or just attended? For example, can a drop out join your team? What about non traditional college students?
At least we can all agree this is Shopengarten's fault.
It's always Shopengarten's fault.
I don't know that there is an age limit per-se, but 98% of our team is under 26. Most are still in college, or grad-school. There is no degree requirement or anything crazy like that. It just so happens that most of the people that find their way to our team do so through collegiate cycling!
Keith and the boys started GLV so that the people who love racing, drinking, and carrying on with each other during the collegiate season could continue year 'round. The main goal is to have the people you race with be the same people you choose to surround yourself with the other 6 days of the week. If you love to race your bike, and are nice, you've got a spot! If not, usually you're still in if you aren't too much of a weirdo. Hell, HOP is here and he doesn't fit in anywhere (we love you steve)!
I thought that Hopengarten was the official mouthpiece of GLV.
I thought that Hopengarten was the official mouthpiece of GLV.
I'm not anything important for GLV. I have no title there except Bike Racer.
By the way RMM, I originally shared the post with the team because of the positive review. So, thanks.
HAHAHAHA I'm surprised Hopengarten is even allowed the mouth piece for himself.
It looks like we are as active on the interwebs as we are on the race course. And, amazingly, our blog posts fly off the cuff as quickly as our ill-advised attacks in the peloton. At least we're consistent!
I think that we should hold a little guerilla crit/alley cat some time soon between the CB and GLV guys. Could be a good time. Gary and SHopen will be required attendees of course.
i've never met steve hopengarten, i don't read his blog, and i only have 2nd and 3rd hand knowledge of his internet fame, but from everything i gather and his announcing at this past years 'ice weasels' race he just seems like an absolute fuppet.
and sam, who i also don't know, what the fuck do i care about how many races glv wins, especially when i was in most or any of them the past year so it's not as if they were directly competing against me. plenty of dudes win races, plenty of dudes are fucking dicks. brian wilchoski won a bunch of races, he's strong, but it doesn't mean i respect him. glv should just take their shit back to college.
i don't fucking care about bostonbikes or nicole friedman or mayor mumbles or any of that. i'm not expert or vet, but i've been riding in boston since 2006 and all the white lines on the asphalt haven't done shit to make my life easier.
they go on drinking rides? awesome, so do fred teams and pub crawlers, and their ability to hold alcohol holds no sway with me.
pain train? if you mean having all 10guys on glv in one race go off the front on the 2nd lap, blow up, get caught, then yeah, that shit was real painful for the 2 or 3 guys who tried to chase and help drag the peloton with the,
Gary! is my favorite curmudgeon.
cur·mudg·eon –noun
a bad-tempered, difficult, cantankerous person.
—Related forms
cur·mudg·eon·ly, adjective
—Synonyms
grouch, crank, bear, sourpuss, crosspatch.
Can't we all just get along? Keep the rubber side down?
Wilichoski is the man, dammit!
Gary's comments were actually more entertaining than the post itself.
Whitney, Wissell, Sweeney, Reuter? Those guys are some of the biggest dicks around. You guys have it all wrong about B2C2, way worse than GLV!
You gotta appreciate Gary's general misanthropy.
Gary, this goes out to you.
Hating on GLV is like hating on Mother Teresa. We are young and some of us are fast (I am neither of these, over 30 and out of shape). When we envisioned what our team was going to be about, it was all about the love... the love of riding a bike, the love of a tight knit group of people working together and yes, the love of winning races. Who can blame us?
Perhaps bike lanes aren't your thing, but Nicole FREEDMAN (if you are going to drag someone's name through the mud at least spell it correctly)and Boston Bikes are helping, not hurting the two wheeled community here in Boston.
So what gives? It is evident that you are an angry person. I am not going to tell you to change, but try not to misplace your ill will. There are plenty of jerks in this world, try not to be one of them.
Michael McKittrick is one guy on the CB team that needs to be removed, and I mean ASAP. Since you're on the team with him will you please tell that complete tool to stop getting in the way of all the fast people? He's dangerous and seriously slow.
Dude YOU are the tool -- this RMM blog is Mike McKittrick. Agreed on the other counts but RMM is not a teammate, he is the actual guy himself. If opinions are like assholes then Mike is an opinion. In his profile he's a criterium "specialist". Apparently specialist means he shows up and gets in the way, a skill for which he shows an exceptional knack. Give Mike some extra room and don't hang out at the back of the pack and he really is not a terrible bother. I don't race 'cross so I can't speak for that, but I have my suspicions as he also "specializes" in that discipline.
Allow the personal attacks to begin!
I'm never more thrilled than when I am insulted by anon posters and people whom I have never met.
Harris, I suppose that I will be seeing your back alot this season? If you have the time after collecting your winnings, come and introduce yourself some time, maybe you can guide me on how to stay out of your way.
I'll gladly shake your hand, mate - nothing to hide here. If I hung out at the back more we'd know each other better by now. As far as Mister Anon your guess is as good as mine...he could be anyone, and is probably no one. Sadly this Sunday at Wells has been postponed but soon we'll all be out there and can start talking about actual races and events and not just theory or memories long since made and nearly forgotten.
You'll know me once we chat and spend 40k together on the same loop. Without the Iridium Oakley shades and full kit on not many of us would know who the hell we're talking to on the street anyway. Does it even matter what happens at the coffee shop on the corner? Nope -- it only matters on two wheels.
Roger, I tried to acquaint myself with you via road-results.com and "roger harris" don't show up. What gives?
This is all bullshit until the last 2-5k of the race. Then no one talks and every question is answered at the line.
While I do get the feeling that maybe Anon is just screwing with this blog, I also must be honest in saying that Mike seems to be looking for an online throw down with the same enthusiasm.
And for that I must deduct points. Decent level of difficulty but sloppy entry into the pool.
If I was pressed to guess how Mike rides I would say: messy. But I'm guessing and am a cat4 so that means I am inherently dangerous and should always stay out of his way according to what I've read here. If I was ever to be in a race with cat3 riders (apparently that's where the real talent is) then I would cause crashes and generally be ruining an otherwise great race for the *really* fast and *super* safe cat3 guys.
For the record: In 6 full seasons of racing a full schedule, I have never been in a crash during a road race, nor have I ever been accused of causing one. Seriously. Get your facts straight.
Your anger is appreciated -- but not being accused means little. That doesn't mean you cause crashes all the time, mate; it just means that possibly non one called you out on your line.
I know who you are solely because you tend to run your mouth on this blog and that makes people ask who the fcuk is this guy...so you've achieved the notoriety you so clearly are seeking. If you didn't want the attention you'd ride your race and get on with it -- but you spend the time to go home and bitch about this team and that rider so suck it up and take the lashings. With that attention will come scrutiny, and no one is squeaky clean. Now you've got more eyes on you than many others in the pack so that means that little bobbles and whatnot will be reported as major events that wreaked havok in the field.
We're all here because you're a loudmouth online and pack fill in races. Maybe save your time bitching and train more, huh?
Eddie:
Who is angry?
I interpreted your "tone" [which is a slippery beast in text] to be terse, leaning towards anger.
For that I apologize.
Have to agree with Eddie on this, Mike: just by the sheer fact of being a douche in your blog there's a slim chance anyone will say you're a safe or good racer. Since you put down half the teams in your Rank List and call out individual riders for minimal infractions...well, you'd pretty much have to pull the entire length of Battenkill and then let 30 guys go by you at the line before some people would start to say "Mike McKittrick is a good guy".
You made the bed and now you get to lie in it. But you knew that when you started this blog and probably enjoy being bashed on or you would have just kept your mouth shut in the first place. Looking for friends in the peloton? Consider this approach a failure.
Can you talk about team dynamics once you are on a team? What happens when your personal goals do not align with the teams, for example when individuals speak up early in the preseason and state some goals for themselves and the team jumps on board, so now your team is racing to get, say, a bar jersey for these team members yet you may think that if you have enough points to win the bar jersey you should have upgraded about 5 races ago.
Cary said: Gary's comments were actually more entertaining than the post itself.
Agreed fully with this comment.
I don't think this is all going the way Mike planned for it to go.
Wayde:
I don't really care how this goes.
I don't believe you. But I think you already knew that.
I like gary!'s blog a lot better -- he's a got a handle on his feelings and doesn't need to bash people and teams to move himself up in life.
So I'm jumping ship and going over there.
Just checked: I'm switching to gary! as well. He's a pretty damn good writer and somehow manages to do it without shitting on everyone else.
How can that be? Mike, are you listening? Turns out it IS possible to place 27th without claiming that the first 26 finishers were all cheaters or hacks. Imagine that.
Looking forward to seeing Mike out at Wells tomorrow, although maybe he's planning on the Bkill preride instead.
i've never done dick to you, but you go ahead a do that dudeguy.
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