RMM's 3rd Annual Guide to Local Road Teams--Part II

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.

The Post You've All Been Waiting For: RMM's 3rd Annual Guide to Local Road Teams--Part 1

Every year this is one of my most controversial posts. The fallout generally lasts for months with riders commenting in person and online. I do my best to just present things as I see them, while acknowledging my biases.

Again, I am category racer, so I will only be offering observations about lower category teams.

Part II will be published this coming Monday.

Enjoy.

North East Bicycle Club--NEBC

Membership: Online, no screening. NEBC recruits everyone they can. Regardless of skill level or personality.

Initially in my bike racing career, I had little respect for NEBC as they field huge squads of lower category riders (4 and 5) who do not work together in races. In fact they often work against each other.

But after I upgraded to cat 3 and began racing with some of their seasoned riders I began developing some regard for the team, while striking up friendships with a few riders (don't worry guys, I won't publicly shame you by outing our friendship on the internet). The cat 3's generally work well together, while not dominating any races.

I think that NEBC would be a great team to join if you were looking for a large social club built around bicycles, as NEBC has a huge membership. Also it is good for someone starting out racing, but maybe is not 100% committed to racing, as they do some good work around development and training. Also, they do some work around women's development, so women will probably be comfortable on this team.

NEBC's shop sponsor is the sketchy, underhanded CycleLoft, which made itself famous when its owner Jeff Palter stole the New England Velodrome from the founder, Tony Eberhardt. You can read about it here, here, and here if you missed it.

Boston Road Club

Open membership, no screening. There are 2 levels of membership, Associate (discount at Wells Ave) and team. I maintain an associate membership to this club even though I've never raced for them.

I love the Wells Ave Training Series, therefore I love BRC. Wells is an incredible community resource for us racers. I am thankful that they put it one week after week, year after year.

When I was starting out as a 5 and then a 4, BRC was the team to beat. They had a large squad and generally took charge of races. I think that BRC's luster has waned recently, but they have been at this for a long time, so I have no doubt that they will have another strong crop of new riders at some point.

BRC is a great team for a new rider looking to learn how to race and train effectively. Collectively, the team has decades of racing and training experience under its belt. And they are eager to pass this knowledge down to new riders. BRC has lots of social events for members. Many of the Boston area's best racers spent time on BRC. Highly recommended for new racers.

Quad Cycles

Membership: Online, no screening. Club and team.

This team started me racing. And for that, I'll be forever thankful.

In early 2011, Quad's race team is a shell of what it had been in the mid 2000's. They seldom field teams of more than 2 0r 3 guys and teamwork is sporadic at best. Any decent results are generally earned on individual rider strength as opposed to focused teamwork.

Quad does have a very active club rider community that sometimes intersects with the racing community.

My assessment of Quad: a good club to join if you are starting out cycling and are looking for some club rides and you may be interested in trying out racing at some point.

Minuteman Road Club--MRC

Membership: Online no screening.

MRC has a large club that focuses both on road racing and triathlon. While avoiding the normal jokes about triathletes, I will point out that triathletes often have monstrous levels of fitness coupled with comically bad pack riding/bike handling skills. Working as a team is alien to the triathlete mind. When MRC gets good results, it is often due to individual fitness, as opposed to the cooperative effort of the team.

MRC has done some great work with women's development, especially in cyclocross.

MRC is a good team to join if you are like it all three ways, but want to be sketchy in a road race once in a while too. MRC is not a good club if you are looking to learn effective road race tactics. It may be a good team for women looking to get into the sport, as MRC maintains close contact with Lady's First, one of the area's most effective women's racing teams.

Svelte Cycles

Membership: Contact Justin Spinelli. If you can't figure out how to contact him on your own, you don't belong on this team. Cat 3 and above only.

Brainchild of Justin Spinelli. This is a cat 3 and above team, not for beginners. Overall, Svelte has firepower, but doesn't appear to work well together, most of the time. I keep waiting for the cat 3's to gel and smash every race. So far this hasn't happened. Good results tend to get earned individually. Obviously, there are exceptions.

I have it on good information that Spinelli is opposed to sharing his prize money, so maybe an individualistic ethic runs through the team?

I am friends with many Svelte riders and enjoy hanging out with them and racing against them.

Svelte is a great team to join if you are a cat 3 who is on the cusp of upgrading to cat 2 and you don't want to change teams after the upgrade. Once you upgrade to 2, you will get the pleasure of being Justin Spinelli's domestique, which is really like being a domestique to Mario Cipollini, since Justin rode for Cipo back in the day.

RMM’s 2nd Annual Guide to Local Race Teams Part II

Nor’East

This team appears to be based mostly in NH. The lower category riders appear to be little more than crit jocks, though they also field an elite team that does moderately well in Pro12 races

One of the major advantages of joining this team would be the ability to train with and learn from higher category racers. Also if you are pretty sure that you are going to make an upgrade to cat 2 mid season, this team would be a good fit, since you wouldn’t have to change teams to have teammates to race with in the upper cats.

Cambridge Bicycles/Igleheart Frames

If you are reading this, it is probably no secret to you that I am deeply involved with this team. I helped develop the program for the team’s first road season and continue to exert some secondary influence on the way that the team is run (I no longer hold any official office on the team). I explain all of this for 2 reasons: 1. I am proud of what I have helped build. 2. Clearly I am biased.

Cambridge prides itself on teamwork and race domination. Our goal in every lower category race is to be a determining factor and to put a single rider on the podium. We succeed in this goal a good portion of the time. We practice race strategy and routinely talk about strategy. Instead of having everyone finish a race, some riders’ jobs are to attack until they have to pull out of the race (or stay away and get the result). Before a new rider is allowed on the team, they have to explicitly agree to work as part of the team as opposed to “let’s just wait til the end and see what happens.”


2009 was a highly successful road season. We had over a dozen road podiums and we made decisive moves in almost every race we entered. We have started to build a nascent cat 2 team, which is shaping up to have a promising season in 2010.

We also had a number of riders upgrade and a few riders decide to ride for other teams in 2010. With the personnel change we are in a period of transition. There are a bunch of promising riders in the pipeline; so while we don’t know how our season will play, it is also very exciting.

CB generally only accepts riders who have already demonstrated a commitment to racing…we judge this by race attendance. Currently, we are considering cat 2,3 and 4 riders. If we sound like a team you want to race for, then get in touch.

There are a few stereotypes about CB. We are a bunch of hipsters. We are more concerned with partying than racing (yes we have beer sponsors for cross). We are more concerned with our kits than with bicycle racing. We all wear ironic mustaches. We can be dicks during races. All of these stereotypes are more or less true at one time or another.

I am proud to say that we subscribe to the shrewd, cutthroat form of tactical racing made famous by personalities like Mark McCormack, Paul Curly and Adam Myerson. If I wanted one thing said about our team it would be this: we raced hard and smart.

Cyclonauts Racers

This team is essentially a cat 3 leadout train. When these dudes show up to a crit, they come deep and start winding it up with about 2 kilometers to go. You can’t get around them, since they have like 10 dudes who are killing themselves to deliver their man to the line first. I admire their work. But they are limited.

It is fairly well known that Mike Norton is the biggest personality on the team. He sprints well, but really hates a hill. So his team generally sticks to flat races where their powerful leadouts almost guarantee a good result. Seldom are they a factor in a hilly race.

Cyclonauts also promotes lots of races. They do a great job. The Norton/Cyclonauts races are some of the smoothest running races around. Reasonable race fees, results are posted quickly, payouts are timely and in cash.

Some people object to Norton and his cohorts based on personality. Norton is a player and is outspoken. He has been promoting races without USAC sanctioning. His biggest transgression appears to be his success. He has thumbed his nose at USAC and has suffered almost no consequences.

Personally, I respect Cyclonauts and their team, while not desiring to emulate them.


HUP United

While this is not a road team, some of their members race road in HUP kits, so I feel that I need to mention them.

HUP is focused on the feel-good side of bicycle racing, specifically cyclocross. While HUP has some talented riders, I don’t feel like it is off base or insulting to say that HUP is more interested in friendship and camaraderie than in smashing races.

HUPsters are some of the friendliest racers around. They will be the first to help you fix your bike before a race, even if they know that they are helping you to beat them. You will see them handing out cupcakes and beers regularly. Its almost like they bring a mellow west coast vibe to NE.

HUP is the team for you if you are looking to make friends and enjoy yourself. If you are looking for a team to work with to be competitive on the road, then HUP is probably not right for you. That said, many people who desire a strong road team in the summer would really enjoy racing with HUP during cyclocross season.

International Bicycle Centers

This team continues to soldier on. Fielding small teams on the road and off. They sometimes get some decent results, but that this is usually a result of individual accomplishment as opposed to teamwork.

International has started fielding an elite mtb team. While this team does not compete regularly on the road, it is an indication that the regular IBC team is somewhat in decline. The elite team is administratively separate from the regular team. They wear different kits, different colors and share almost nothing but a sponsor. I only mention this since it seems like this team may experience some upheaval in the near future.


Boston Road Club

BRC had a rough season in 2009. A mass of riders left the team and formed the meat of a number of newer teams (Svelte and CB). That said, this team has been in the game for a long time and I am confident that they will rebuild with a new batch of riders. Even with their diminished numbers, they still have some strongmen capable of bringing the pain in a cat 3 or cat 4 race.

Membership is available in two levels, associate and team. Associate membership is for non-racers or for racers from other teams; it offers a discount for the Wells Ave races. In 2008 and 2009, I was an associate member of BRC (not sure if I will do it this year; I’m broke!)

BRC is s developmental team, which does an excellent job of introducing new racers to the sport, teaching them strategy and introducing training techniques. They are the organizer of the Wells Ave Training series that runs every Sunday from mid-March through September. Also, they have regular training rides midweek.

I remain friends with a number of BRC team members and alumni and can say that I have lots of respect for what they do. If you are a newer rider (cat 5), BRC is a great place to learn the ropes while getting some support and advice from more experienced teammates.

Wheelworks

This team is like the phoenix, it keeps popping up and then flaming out a few years later. My understanding is that support from Wheelworks has been tepid for lower category riders in the past. Perhaps it has changed?

Its current iteration is a B level/masters cross team. But as these things go, they will likely race on the road as well.

They have a few good riders. The trick will be whether they work together or just all show up to races in the same kit.


For The Teams I Forgot to Mention: If I left you out, it was not an intentional slight. I just included the teams that I know something about.

RMM’s 2nd Annual Guide to Local Race Teams--Part 1

Last season, I posted a guide to local teams. The post caused some controversy, since some rider’s objected to my portrayal of their team. So here I am writing this thing again. I expect a similar uproar, as I plan to call it like I see it again. Please take all of this with a grain of salt, as it is nothing more than my opinion.

This post is mostly meant as a guide to lower category (5, 4, 3) riders who are looking for a new or first team. I will outline what I know about the team’s behavior as well as what I know about admission and benefits of joining (I will not share any inside information) It is not meant to dish on any teams or to promote any teams in particular. That said, I am a long standing member of Cambridge Bicycles and have put considerable blood sweat and tears into helping build that team into the best team possible. Therefore, it should come as no surprise what I say about CB.


NEBC NorthEast Bicycle Club

This is by far the largest team/club in New England. Their members number in the hundreds. If you are looking to meet the maximum number of cyclists, NEBC may be right for you.


Admission is open. They regularly recruit newer races from the “C” race at Wells Ave.

The downside is that NEBC is so huge that many riders feel lost on the team. It is not uncommon to see 10 lower category NEBC riders on the starting line of a race introducing themselves to each other.

In the cat 4’s and 5’s teamwork is out of the question. In fact, quite the opposite is often true. Teammates often chase teammates. Teammates sprint against one another. If you are looking to join a cohesive lower category team, NEBC is probably not right for you.

There are a few situations where NEBC might be the right club for you. These include if you want lots of organized club rides (though you don’t need to be a NEBC member to go on most of these) or if you are a higher category rider.

My understanding is that NEBC takes fairly good care of the cat 2’s and 3’s. I don’t have details, but there are a number of talented riders who chose to remain on NEBC.

Svelte Cycles

Mostly a cat 3 team, which is run by Justin Spinelli (aka semi-famous Euro domestique to Cipollini). Spinelli comes out and mixes it in Pro123 races and appears to offer guidance to the cat 3’s.

Svelte appears to only be open to riders above category 3. I believe that you must contact Justin Spinelli directly in order to be considered.

Last season was Svelte’s first season fielding a cat 3 team. The team was chock full of talented riders who never seemed to gel into a cohesive unit. Their results suffered as a result. There were a few exceptions, such as Chris Bailey shattering everyone at the Attleboro Criterium

This season, they have an influx of extremely motivated riders, many of them well versed in team tactics and riding very strong. While last season was surely a disappointment to Svelte’s cat 3’s, this season may prove to be a breakthrough.

I have no idea if the team has addressed their every-man-for-himself race tactics for 2010. If they have, expect some serious domination and some upgrades. If not, we can expect a repeat of last season with Svelte taking long suicide breaks that get brought back and then countered by another team who ends up with the win.

Green Line Velo

This was another new team in 2009. They mostly seem to an amalgamation of collegiate riders, thus the name, which references the many colleges that are located on Boston’s notoriously slow Green Line.

I don’t know their admission policy, though I assume that if you are racing collegiate, you know a rider or two from Green Line.

My assessment of Green Line is mostly based on seeing them around before and after races. They don’t have too many outstanding results, but they are a bunch of young guys and a few gals, who seem to enjoy racing bicycles.

During races, they tend to remain invisible, taking few pulls and attacking infrequently.

If you are a collegiate rider who is looking to carry that good time collegiate vibe into the USAC season, you don’t need me to introduce you to Green Line, since you are probably already a member.

Quad Cycles

Quad is mostly a bicycle club with a racing arm. This team used to do some great development work, helping club riders make the transition to USAC racing. In fact, Quad developed me into a racer way back when.

Quad has open admission. You can register online at their website.

Anecdotal data suggests that Quad is no longer developing riders. It seems that every season they have fewer and fewer racers, mostly racers who have been racing with them for a few years who haven’t moved on.

In races, they tend to sit in and then try to jump in on someone else’s leadout train. While they have garnered a few decent results over the years, they are seldom a factor to consider during a race. Teamwork is rare. Tragically, the one leadout train I saw them organize in 2009 was crashed out wholesale by a Threshold rider in the last lap of the Attleboro crit.

Threshold Racing

Another new team for 2009. These guys came out swinging and got results. They were often factors in both the cat 3 and cat 4 fields, often getting in decisive breakaways and using their wattage to remain away from the field. If Threshold had a motto, it would certainly be “Attack!!”

Team cohesion appears important to Threshold, as does strategy. If they have the manpower in a race, they attack and then counter their teammate’s attacks. They tend to get into a lot of breaks and work those breaks hard. On occasion, they have worked those breaks too hard, getting out-sprinted in the end.

Many of us enjoy making fun of Threshold for posting power data on the Internet, but seriously we make fun mostly because we are in sheer awe or Leo Desforges’s wattage.

If you are looking for a good group of guys who take training and racing seriously, this is a good crew to hook up with.


Embrocation Cycling Journal

This team is a grassroots road team, who focus on pro races. They happen to have a couple of elite cyclocross racers who chose to race cat 3 in Embro colors on the road in New England. Since the founder of Embrocation has moved to the Portland, OR area, there is now a west coast branch as well. I have no idea what they are up to.

I happen to be good friends with the NE cat 3 riders as well as some of the riders on their elite road team. The New England branch of Embrocation is not accepting lower category riders on the road, so stop emailing them to ask.

The Embrocation riders in general are known to have lots of style. They have a loose affiliation with Rapha, a tight sponsorship from Ridley and hookups all over the place. They are VERY concerned with bike fashion. Tan lines are regularly compared and a discussion of proper sock height can last for hours. During cross season, I heard that one of the “executives” of ECJ was upset that a photographer had published photos of an ECJ team member leading a race while wearing a garish pair of orange construction worker type gloves. I am not dishing on them, as I support their push to make sure riders are professionally attired. I like white handlebar tape, shiny Italian shoes and tall socks as much as these dudes.

As far as cat 3’s are concerned. They have a few strongmen who will be factors in break-aways and hilly races of attrition, such as Tour of the Hilltowns or The Central NH RR. In general the cat 3’s don’t even show up for criteriums.

Part II will be Published Tomorow

RMM's Guide to Local Road Racing Teams

There are a number of competitive cycling teams in the Boston area. If you are new to the sport or move here from somewhere else, it is hard to figure out which team you should join. Once you join a team, simple minded folk become very upset if you leave the team to join another local team where you fit in better. In the following post, I will try to give a snapshot of all of the local club teams. Even though I am friends with many of them, I do not include any of the upper level teams like Embrocation or Kenda/Spooky since these teams do not accept lower category riders.  Many teams have mountain bike squads as well, which I do not consider in this post, since I am mostly ignorant of the off road scene.  

North East Bicycle Club-



By far the biggest team in the Boston area, this team blanket recruits everyone. It is not uncommon to see 10+ riders on the starting line of a race. It is also not uncommon to see those 10+ guys introducing themselves to their teammates on the starting line of said race. In the lower categories, it is not uncommon to see NEBC riders chasing down breaks that have 1, 2 or even 3 of their riders in them. They sometimes sprint against each other.
Very rarely does this team race as a team, it is more a collection of riders wearing the same clothes. I have even heard one NEBC rider refuse to block for a teammate because the team mate "won" the race last week. When asked what he meant (everyone knew who had really won), he explained that he wasn't blocking because his teammate kept getting better results than him, so he hoped that the break wouldn't stick.
Since it is a large club, there are many people to socialize with. The club is so big that many riders feel lost.
I am told that the upper category squads are more cohesive.
Perhaps NEBC's greatest strength is the women's team. They have an active and well supported group of women who kill the women's races. In fact, there are so many strong women on this team that competition amongst them is common.

Quad Cycles-

This was my first cycling team. Mostly this is a shop's cycling club with a competitive arm. The team often recruits new team members from the club; which is how I began racing bicycles. This is a great team to join if you are not sure if you are interested in racing, but want to try it out.
In races Quad sometimes places well, but is not as cohesive as other teams. While they can be tactically savvy on occasion, their strong riders spend themselves in fruitless and poorly timed attacks.
While two Quad riders may work together, this is the exception rather than the rule. Most of the Quad riders who get results have gotten them as a result of their own talent, as opposed to the support of a team.
The shop and the team are supportive of riders' material needs. There are generous sponsorships.
The social life of the team revolves around the shop, which shop owner, Rustem Gode, actively encourages by keeping food on hand and buying beverages often.
Quad has a small women's racing team and a strong female showing at the weekend club rides.

Boston Road Club-



BRC is a developmental cycling team that does a great job of adding value to the local scene while developing strong racers. BRC has put on the Wells Ave Training Series since the 1980's. In addition they run clinics for members on teamwork in races, sprinting, climbing, cornering, ect. They generally have a coaching sponsor to help new riders make the most of the early years in the sport.
BRC has many members, but most of the guys who race week in and week out work together as a team. If they have a man up the road, they block for him, or at the very least, they don't chase. They take race tactics seriously. In cat 4 races, especially criteriums, you can always expect them to be a factor.
They have many team rides where they test each other at KOM's and townlines. BRC is a very male organization and they have social gatherings at Redbones (sponsor).
For 2009 BRC may be weaker in races since there has been a large exodus of riders to other teams.
Small women's squad, though BRC has been sponsoring elite women to try to develop and support a women's team.

CCB-



Mostly a masters team. They are fast, savvy and curmudgeonly. When these old dudes, show up, they kick ass and take names with a good measure of grumbling and complaining thrown in. If you are getting barked at in race, it is more than likely coming from a guy in blue and pink.
They also have a history of developing junior riders, perhaps you heard of some of them: Tyler Hamilton, Tim Johnson, Gavin Manion
It may sound like I am making fun of these guys, but that is not the case. CCB has been winning races since 1979 and there is no reason to think that they will not continue winning.
It seems like there is little logical place on this team for newer racers. It seems that they have an elite team, a masters team and a junior squad. If you fall in between this grouping, you may get more support elsewhere.
Unclear if they have a women's squad.


Threshold Racing- 2009 will be Threshold's first year on the road. Most of the squad is experienced and savvy. They will be a factor in cat 4 races and sole 3, strongman Leo Desforges will be attacking relentlessly in the 3's. As far as the 4's go, they have a number of riders who are on the verge of upgrading to 3, so they will be a team to watch in the early season.
They have a membership process that requires potential members to actually be approved by the team before being accepted.
No women's squad.

Minuteman Road Club-



This team usually fields some strong riders. Their cat 4's had an impressive season last year. They are generally getting thier results based on individual accomplishment, though on occasion, I can remember them halfheartedly helping my block for a break that we both had a man in.
For 2009 I would expect that they will get some results, but I wouldn't count on them controlling races.
MRC has recently developed a great women's squad. They have been offering coaching and support. MRC women housed the B field in cyclocross in 2008, so much so that taunts of "sandbagger" and "upgrade" became ubiquitous (3+ minute leads on second place). I am not sure if MRC supports a women's road team, but if they do, it will be one to watch.

Pedro/+3 Network --



This is a cat 3 only team, chock full of strong, savvy riders. Everyone agrees that these will be the team to watch in the early season. Cort Cramer was belting out 360 watts in 20 minute indoor TT's in February, what is he going to be doing in May? But CCC is not the only threat, this team is stacked. They have sprinters, climbers, TT guys and hardmen. There is not a race that they can't contest.
No women's squad.
I have Diane Fortini's phone number on speed dial so that I can request forced upgrades when the time comes.

Cambridge Bicycle-




If you were having a cycling party and wanted to make sure it would be bumpin', you should probably invite us. We are an urban based cycling team with its roots in urban culture. Sponsored by PBR and Mad Alchemy Embrocations, we have the best party tent(s) at every cross race.
We race road too. Our cat 4 squad is cohesive and team focused. I am not betraying any secrets when I say that every individual works as a team for the team result. We don't want 5 guys in the top 20, we want one person on the podium and the rest of the results don't matter. Our forte has been criteriums, though we had wins in stage races and strong placings in road races too. For 2009, we have some hungry new riders who are committed to continuing the momentum from 2008.
The cat 3 squad has been beefed up by points-based upgrades. Many of our fours couldn't approach a cat 4 registration table without harrassment for sandbagging, even before we had the points to upgrade. We expect to contest every race, and no, I am not going to tell you any details.  Just rest assured that we have some riders and some plans.
CB is a huge supporter of the New England Velodrome. Our track team is the best represented every week up in Londonderry. Our results on the track speak for themselves, podium sweeps were common. 
We have a strong women's squad for this road/track season, both 3 and cat 2's. While this is the first season for the women's road squad, they are enthusiastic and organized already.
Memebership is invite only. We recruit based on personality. Our biggest question in considering a candidate is : "Do I want to spend the weekend with this person?"  Second question is: "Will this person be willing to work as part of a team?"  If you want to join CB, start hanging around and make it known that you want to join. You can almost always find some CB racers at Zuzu on Sunday nights.

International Bicycle Centers-- This team has strong riders and seems to ebb and surge on a multi year cycle. Last season, they were a factor in races, but they were not executing team tactics. For all I know, they are building a monster of a team for 2009.
They had an elite women's team in 2007 and field a few women every season.
IBC provides support for the team.




There are many other smaller teams around Boston. If I left a big one out (yours), please email me and I'll edit the post to include it. 

If you don't like what I had to say about your team, use the comment section to explain why I am wrong or race smarter.