State Championships in Tallahassee

Four hours of driving in the pouring rain: taxing. Freezing temperatures and chilling breezes: teeth-chattering. Two days of cyclocrossing in Tallahassee and two state championships: PRICELESS!
Riders on Saturday were challenged with a course that had steep climbs up slick mud, sharp turns on grass and drops down bumpy, slippery hills with hard turns at the bottom. The technical fiends were in hog heaven while the timid slid into fences and crashed. Chase Forman set the tone for the weekend, zooming to the win in the kid's race while James Mertens showed his Belgian heritage by winning the 10-14 junior championship just ahead of Zoe Mullins. Michelle Blake attacked the course and cruised to first in the Women B race. The 15-18 junior race saw furious racing with many mishaps including Taylor Warren who flatted and ran part of the course to the pits. Brandon Forman kept putting out the power and cranked out a fifth place. We were relieved to see Brent Harrell NOT repeat the head-first crash of last year and finish fourth in the Masters. JP Russo posted a solid 5th in the Pro 1,2's. Tracy Mullins, our closet Colavita rider, finished the Master's race with a big smile and proclamation that "this is fun!".
Dinner was carbo loading on a major scale at "Decent Pizza" with huge pies and LOTS of good cheer. I think you can eat more pizza if you laugh between bites...
Sunday morning began with a bone-chilling 33 degrees that forced everyone into their warm woolies, reminding us that cyclocross is a winter sport. The course was reversed and a bit more flowing but still had some ankle-biting challenges with more than one rider glad for the extra clothing as they slid down the hill or tripped over the barriers. The competition began with Chase getting second in the kid race while James won the 10-14 again, with Zoe in second. Brandon kept ahead in the points by winning the 15-18 class. State Championships were up for grabs in two categories on Sunday, Women B and Men C. Again, Michelle charged the course, fearlessly dropping down the slopes that claimed the other women, giving her a win by a large margin. The Men C race was just the opposite, with Taylor and Lucas Wardein (ORC) battling head-to-head for the entire race. Taylor got a small gap when Lucas has to change bikes because the mud had clogged his cleats and he could not clip in. However, the spare bike had flat pedals and he had to ditch his shoes in order to pedal it. In just socks, Lucas literally flew down the course, taking out the marking tape in an attempt to catch Taylor. With a hundred meters to go, Taylor was in the lead but a crafty Lucas came around him to win by inches. Dean Warren, our ace photographer, missed shooting the close finish because he was still on the course, having a good time racing in his first 'cross race.
With such a great course, exciting races and inspired riders, as well as two state championship titles, it was a fine way to end the 2009 racing season!

Photos: Dean Warren (Saturday and Sunday) and Michelle Blake (Sunday)

State Championships Cyclocross

Tallahassee Cyclocross

Saturday

Kiddie Race

Chase Forman 1st

Junior 10-14*

James Mertens 1st

Zoe Mullins 2nd

Junior 15-18*

Brandon Forman 5th

Taylor Warren 6th

Women 4

Michelle Blake 1st

Masters

Brent Harrell

Pro 1,2

John-Paul Russo

Sunday

Kiddie Race

Chase Forman 2nd

Junior 10-14

James Mertens 1st

Zoe Mullins 2nd

Junior 15-16

Brandon Forman 1st

Women 4*

Michelle Blake

Mens C*

Taylor Warren 2nd

Dean Warren

Masters

Brent Harrell

Pro 1,2

John-Paul Russo

*State Championship Race

Orlando Cyclocross

I'd like to say thank you to everyone who made Saturday's cross race happen. It's grown into a great team event that would never happen without everyone lending a hand, shovel, axe, water hose, sledge hammer and time. Special thanks goes out to the following.... JP for doing a great job in making sure none of the small details were forgotten. Diane for her hard work she puts in a few months before the event, making sure the course is ready to race and all of the heavy lifting. Tracy and his Dad for making sure all the riders left the race with the taste of mud and doing whatever needed to be done. The Forman's for helping build and set up the course as well as work at registration, Ginger and Dean for the same. Jan for the pictures. Eddie for his sense of humor and strong arms, and all of the juniors who helped with setup and teardown and making it so that doing these races is worth it, and to so many others who had a hand in the race. I'd be remiss in not also mentioning Brad Gordon Sr for showing us it's never a bad time to try something new. The course, the event, and the experience was better than it's ever been for this race and it never would have happened without all of you.

You guys are the best,

Jonathan

We would also like to thank the shops and businesses who donated prizes and equipment to make this a successful event.

RetroCity Cycles, Cycling Hub, B-3 Cafe, Victory Bicycles, Quality Bicycle Products, Seattle Bike Supply, Little Everglades Ranch, Topview Sports and the City of Altamonte Springs.

Orlando Cyclocross Results

Kiddie Race
Chase Forman 2nd
Owen Greene 3rd

Junior 10-14
Zoe Mullins 1st
James Mertens 2nd

Junior 15-18
Brandon Forman 1st
Jos Chalmers 2nd
Casey Braga 3rd

Women 4
Michelle Blake 1st

Women 1-3
Diane Blake 4th

Category 3
Jos Chalmers 1st

Category 4
Casey Braga 2nd
Eddie Braga 10th
Brad Gordon 12th

Masters
Brent Harrell 4th

Photos From Orlando Cyclocross From: Dean Warren, and Jan Chalmers

Note: Sorry for the disorganization of the images but blogspot is currently having some kind of major, extreme, annoying, frustrating, terrible, problem with uploading that they cannot seem to fix even after exasperating messages have been sent to their "help" section. Thank you.

Horrible Hundred

If it's really so horrible then why did over 2,000 cyclists show up in Clermont, Fl today in order to participate in this amazing event. From team Colavita alone we brought 20 people. Representing the junior racers, we had Zoe Mullins and Briana Luthman who both rode 35 miles along with moms Wanda Luthman and Jill Blanchard. Michelle Blake, Casey Braga, Nick Blanchard, Jos Chalmers, Bradley Gordon, Taylor Warren, Brandon Forman and Ian McGauvran all completed the 100 mile ride though the hardest hills of Central Florida. Masters racer, Neville Brabrook also finished the century as well. Colavita parents Dean Warren, Brad Gordon, Eddie Braga and Tracy Mullins (Team Armada) rode the whole 100 miles unable to catch up with their speedy kids. Daryl Forman, who had never done more than 30 miles, rode with Diane Blake through the hills, successfully completing the 70 mile ride.
The weather was a beautiful compliment to the extremely well-run event put on by the Florida Freewheelers. Details such as police at all the intersections and well-stocked rest stops made it a fantastic day to be riding a bike.
Note: Brad, it is a good idea to hang onto your jacket when you take it off, lest it escape and smite thee.

Lakeland and Dade City Cyclocross

This weekend kicked off the 2009-2010 Florida Cyclocross season with races in Lakeland and Dade City. Saturday's course was located at Loyce Harpe Park and included some tight single track as well as difficult sugarsand sections. Sunday's race was hosted at Little Everglades Ranch with course that included a little sugarsand, fast flats though the woods and even a trip through a barn every lap. There were also some great vendors there, selling marvelous Belgian waffles and other tasty after-race foods. Big thanks to Little Everglades Ranch who let us borrow their stakes and tape for our cyclocross race coming up (more info coming soon). Team Colavita had a great showing out there this weekend, we got a total of 11 podium places over the course of two days!


Race Report
By Brandon Forman
After an intense day of racing, jumping on and off the bike a number of times, I am very happy with my results at my very first ever cyclocross race. It was an interesting course and after 30 minutes of racing, I held it all together to finish the junior 15-18 race with a first place. After completing that, I did another race right after, even though I was tired. I surprised myself by getting a forth place position in the mens C, finishing with the pack.

Results

Saturday

Junior 10-14
James Mertens 1st

Junior 15-18

Brandon Forman 1st

Women C
Michelle Blake 2nd

Women A/B

Diane Blake 3rd

Masters +35
Brent Harrell

Mens A

John-Paul Russo 5th

Will Willis

Mens C
Brandon Forman 4th

Sunday

Kiddie Race

Chase Forman

Jack Greene

Owen Greene

Junior 10-14
James Mertens 1st
Zoe Mullins 2nd

Junior 15-18

Jos Chalmers

Casey Braga

Brandon Forman

Christian Teather

Women C
Michelle Blake 2nd

Women A/B

Diane Blake 4th

Men A
John-Paul Russo
Will Willis

Men B

Jos Chalmers

Men C
Taylor Warren 1st

Masters +35

Brent Harrell

Photos this weekend take by: Dean Warren, Jan Chalmers, and Michelle Blake

State Track Championships

This Halloween, while many kids were partying with friends or out in the neighborhoods trick or treating, the Florida State Track Championships were being held at Brian Piccolo Velodrome in Miami, FL. Team Colavita was represented by Michelle Blake, who had come down that afternoon, all the way from Orlando to participate that evening. Some other familiar Florida road racing faces were there as well, including Kevin McGuire and Amir Merali.

The first of the three races was the 500m TT, followed by the 4 km Scratch race and 36 lap Points race. Michelle made a time of 44.86 seconds in the time trial, came in 7th overall in the scratch race and was the first across the finish line in the points race, putting her in first in her category. Michelle won the womens 13-14 omnium with 15 points and is now the 2009 Florida State Track Champion, Congratulations.

Team Colavita Helmet Decorating Contest

In honor of Halloween, Team Colavita held our second ever Helmet Decorating Contest. The overall winner was Daryl Forman who had attached a giant, fluffy pumpkin to the top of his helmet, followed closely by John-Paul Russo, the news paper boy. Michelle Blake's helmet came in 3rd, decorated as a Chipotle burrito and chips, which she seriously considered eating after the ride. Briana Luthman, Zoe Mullins, Chase Forman and Brandon Forman also participated in the contest and won some Halloween candy for their awesome adornments.

One of our riders, Taylor Warren, was not able to make it to the ride last night because he was participating at the district swim meet. Taylor came in 1st in two of the events he participated. Great job, hard training pays off, on the bike or not.

We also had a new rider with us last night, Riley. She is very enthusiastic on the bike and we hope to see her again out at the airport with us.