Arc Racing Team

Early Season

Hey quick question before we get started, does any one know how Cancellara is doing in the Wollen bei Bern Spring Series? No? How about Kittel, he doing alright in the Arnstadt Cup? No idea? Now why the fuck is that? I thought you like Pro cycling. Is it because even if those races existed the Pros wouldn’t be there? You’re god damn right. They would be piled in a team vehicle racing far away from their hometowns. Ergo, traveling to bike races is PRO. 

Any NYC racer can tell you that park racing is a fact of life. The races are often the first venue in which any one of us swung our legs over a bike and raced strangers for upgrade points, plastic trophies, coffee money and/or XXL Beefy-T’s. For some they are easy points, for others a way to stay sharp for the big events out of town, for others still an opportunity to get action shots of their guns and rig splashed all over Facebook. Even amidst burning carbon brake tracks, first light start times and concerns about “that one guy in the threadbare 80’s skinsuit”  they can still be a great deal of fun. HOWEVER they are decidedly un-PRO and remain a means to end.  

So, then, what the hell has Arc been up to? Well, for those of you who understand foreshadowing or have been waiting for the gun to come of the wall: we have been Fabian Cancellara. Wait, no, sorry. We have been out of town racing bikes. Now we haven’t jetted across continents but we have been driving upstate “on the reg” (which is what I believe the kids say but only in an ironic reference to what kids said before I was a kid (not to get too deep into my interstitial cultural adolescence)) and as someone who has had too much Turnpike rest stop food I will say the nutrition has certainly been foreign. The Trooper Brinkerhoff series in Coxsackie (“CAWK SACK EEE” ~Nick C.) has been a blast and is honestly one of the best supported races, much less race series, that I have had the pleasure to race. The team has seen a bit of success in the event as well with Ian and Nick C grabbing a smattering a top 5’s and top 10’s in the C field and Drew grabbing a top 10 in the B’s. Arc also sent two brave emissaries to the Battenspring Classic and while yours truly had a mechanical and got to spend many long miles alone pondering the meaning of “you’re so stupid you stupid slow stupid,” Matt put in a good bit of strongman’s work en route to a top 10 placing. Full Bethel recap here.

Want to be on the lookout for Arc? Check for us at Trooper B and then onward to Battenkill. The next two weekends loom large for the team. Battenkill has/is a major rallying point for our early season goals and aspirations. While most of the team can take a look in the honesty mirror and know that they will crack before the finish line, we are also certain that each of us will win that race. As much as all the driving has served to further the narrative fiction that is local bicycle racing, the mileage undertaken in the shadow of Battenkill has paid dividends and the squad is closer and faster for it. No matter what the back of Nick C’s Jeep smells like. 

We’re Back

Many successes for the squadra this season, none of which made it onto this here blog. That will slowly be rectified with some of the more righteous photographic evidence. In the future expect more updates and new team member info. 

Arc is back and we never even left. 

Battenkill Recap

Besides being the sufferfest that everyone makes the Tour of the Battenkill out to be it is also a very pure race. The parcours itself is selective and technical enough that the race allows only those who are the fittest and most skilled bike handlers to reach the finish line in a position to contest the result. Starting at Juniper Swamp the race slowly begins shedding those who are not worthy of the glory on offer. The only guarantee at the start-line is that if you ride hard, and avoid mechanicals, you will suffer for the full 100km. Its bloody magnificent. 

The team assembled the night before at a top secret up-state farm grounds (for those familiar with the filmography of Colin Farrell think of something similar to The Recruit but with more shaved legs) where we were treated to a delectable risotto courtesy of resident Italian Manuel, who was also the host for the evening. After some nervous pre-race banter the team retired on the early side for a furtive night of rest. Pre race jitters aside, trying to sleep through the night in a house with 6 other well hydrated individuals is a foolhardy endeavor.

Race day was the prototypical spring morning in upstate NY; the cool air and heavy dew were only prelude to the steady fahrenheit climb that ensued prior to roll out in Cambridge. The race itself unfolded as promised, some sketchy stuff heading into the first minorily selective portion of the race with riders jockeying for position riding into the covered bridge and first dirt section like a pack of oversexed teenagers trying to get that last dance with the new kid who is supposed to “loose.” For all the emphasis on positioning into the covered bridge, the real monster, Juniper Swamp and its 18% dirt gradient, loomed. Juniper was automatic red zone and shedded a large portion of the field. Race director R. Kelly was quick to point out that although Juniper ignited the race it was really only the hotel lobby portion of the Battenkill. Sticking with the group over Juniper is no small feat and it was reassuring to have 4-5 Arc Racing riders make the selection. 

The day continued on, each dirt section slowly sapping power and whittling down riders’ resolve. Personally I came unglued somewhere on Meeting House Road. Meeting House is one of the longer rolling dirt sections on the course and I was as worn through as the sheets in brothel. After washing out in a bit of gravel I didn’t have the powder in the guns to catch back onto the lead group. I watched the last two Arc Racing riders Todd and Adel ride away into an unknown and dusty future. 

Crossing the line slightly over the 3 hour mark I was met with the good news that both Todd and Adel rode themselves into top 10 positions. Further the youthful wonder Chase continued his strong spring with a top 10 finish in the cat 3 field. All in all it was marvelously successful weekend for the team.

After putting together a number of top 5 finishes in local racing it was excellent to see the team use local success as a spring board for regional results. So ends the early season and with an appetite whetted by cold winds and hard miles, Arc Racing looks forward to a summer time of more hard work and better results.  ~Nick

Snapshot: Arc Racing Team

With the first racing events in the NYC season nary a scant month and a half away, Arc Racing would like to present a brief snapshot of the current roster. For a more detailed look at an individual rider please feel free to click through on their name. Thanks for taking a look.

Name: Drew Mistifier
Age: 
Experience/ Disciplines: cat3 road

Name: Adel Sarhan
Age: 37
Experience/Disciplines: cat4 road

Name: Todd Bender
Age: 33
Experience/ Disciplines: Cat 4 Road.  Just finished my second season racing.

Name: Nick Hoenemeyer
Age: 28 
Experience/ Disciplines: Cat.4 Road and Cross

Name: Ian Lieberman
Age: 27
Experience/ Disciplines: 2 years – Cat 4 Road

Name: Matthew Rossi
Age: 37
Experience/ Disciplines: Cat 4 Road/Cat 3 Cyclocross

Name: Jan Wolfe

Name: Manuel Mainardi
Age: 40
Experience/Disciplines: Cross, MTB, Road

New Fit Kit Day

Recently the secret Arc Racing Center for Training and Meditation received a welcome package in the form of fit kits from our gracious and most benevolent sponsor Castelli. Although new kit day is certainly the greatest holiday during the cyclist’s calender year; fit kit day is perhaps the more solemn and majestic holiday. While New Kit Day serves as a welcome reminder that the warm Spring days of riding under budding trees is just around the corner, fit kit day represents a promise to oneself. Trying on the next years duds is a promise to eat leaner this off season. A promise to ride the early lonely, dark, cold miles. To make it to team rides when it would be easier to stay in bed. Fit Kit Day is about the promise of New Kit Day and all that needs to happen in the interim that makes New Kit Day such a glorious occasion.

Most importantly Fit Kit Day is about planning next season’s tan lines. Every cyclist knows that in addition to keeping their summer spandex tan line razor sharp said tan line must also be at the fashionably appropriate level. Too low and people will whisper that your team kit was pilfered from a 1970’s container shipment of USSR merino bibs. Too short and it is tantamount to branding yourself with a scarlet T. No one wants to be a triathlete these decisions matter. Cipo famously told his entourage that Fit Kit Day was the most important day in his off-season training regime. Fit Kit Day gives ample time to answer the important questions: gel grippers flipped up or down? How is my sock cuff to short length ratio? When the kit is unzipped on climbs will I need a necklace? Will I need two necklaces? The answers to these questions can take months to answer definitively, the EuroPRO is a fickle fiend but Fit Kit Day allows you months to plan for most eventualities. All hail Fit Kit Day.