Scott Hodder, Jeff Cordisco, Sandy Chapman and Vladimir Borovkov teamed up to win the Men's 45+ New Jersey State Road Team Time Trial Championships that were held on August 16th in Cream Ridge, NJ. Besides beating their nearest 45+ competitor by almost two minutes, our team's average speed of 26.946 mph over the rolling course was faster than all but one of the category 1-2-3 teams that competed that day. A special welcome back to Sandy Chapman, who appears to have fully recovered from his winter skiing injury.

It's 7am and the parking lot is empty at the foot of Sunrise Mountain. One van is parked there and one lone rider is already on her trainer warming up - before any other racer has even arrived to register! Signature Cycles / Rockstar Games' Deb Killmon prepared perfectly for the hillclimb time trial that was the first stage of the Giro Del Cielo stage race, which was held in northern New Jersey over the weekend of July 18th & 19th.

Deb got 2nd in the TT, 1st in the hot-and-fast afternoon crit, and then placed a solid 4th in the hilly road race. Her presence was always at the front of the peloton and she proved to be the best all around rider in the state - even placing over current US national champions, and winning the general classification in the women's category 3 race.

The men's category 3 stage race was contested by:
Kevin Haley, who used the race as preparation for Vermont's Green Mountain stage race in September
Alex Betko, in his first category 3 race after upgrading
Michael Haddad, the senior member of the team, at age 52

Michael placed a solid 7th on GC, against a much younger field, and Alex finished a fine 6th place on the final road race after a brave attack 1 lap from the finish. He certainly belongs in the 3's and his aggressive riding style will continue his advance through the ranks of NJ riders. Kevin achieved what he wanted, which was to ride well in the crit (he sprinted to 10th place) and gain experience on a tight fast course.

Dave Parker was our only entry in the large cat 4/5 men's field and had a fine top-20 stage placing.

Great team riding by Jeff Cordisco helped his team mates Vladimir Borovkov and Scott Hodder take first and second in this long, flat road race in Mullica Township, NJ. When the course is flat, it's the riders that make the race, and aggressive early riding by Scott allowed Vladi to sit in and follow the wheels early on to conserve his energy. Scott and the early break dangled just 45 seconds ahead of the pack for 2 full laps before being caught. Some weak counter attacks were absorbed until Vladimir unleashed a powerful attack that was joined by 3 Mambo King riders. Scott didn't like those odds, so he bridged alone up to the break, which Valdimir powered away from the rest of the main field.

With a lap to go Vladimir showed the Mambos that he was the strongest rider of the day as he attacked solo and motored in for a beautiful victory. Poor Scott was left in the remains of the break with three frustrated Mambo Kings who took turns attacking him to try and drop him before the finish.The Mambo guys were unsuccessful and Scott hung in and then took on all three to win the sprint for second by half a wheel.

A local rider told this story recently:
I am waiting in line at the start of the time trial and I notice that the guy starting ahead of me hasn’t shown up at the start yet. 30 Seconds before this guy is supposed to start I see a rider dash in front, breathing heavily, sweating profusely, with snot running out of his nose. I am thinking: “What kind of warm-up does this guy do?”

The rider he was describing is our newest team member, Vladimir Borovkov. Formerly of the Soviet Union, Vlad’s credo is hard work and more hard work. I have personally heard stories about his daily 50-mile bike commutes to work. The warm-up that Vladimir had done before that time trial was another time trial. It appears that he has been showing up at the NJ Time Trial Cup events and registering for both the 35+ and 45+ events, riding the first event and then turning around at the finish line and getting back in line to race the course again! Most time trials leave a rider gasping for air and unable to ride back to the car, but despite his maximum effort, Vladimir is capable of a second effort that is sometimes even faster than the first. Awesome!  He is currently in 7th place in the 35+ and 2nd place in the 45+ standings.

Welcome to the team, Vladimir – and please slow down when we tell you to during the team time trial!

While most of us were at the beach, John was winning the Brooklyn Grand Prix masters men 35+ race on Saturday, July 11th. He followed up with a 2nd place the following day in the 45+ field at the New Britain, CT Criterium.

John was away for 8 windy laps on his own, won 2 primes and was caught shortly before the final field sprint, which he won. Another rider had slipped away with a lap to go, otherwise John would have had a double win this weekend.

Way to go, Speedy!

The one road race to win every year is the state road race championship. All the best riders compete for the state championship jersey and the gold medal. The field is always filled to capacity and there is usually a long waiting list of riders dying to get into the race.

On June 13th, Signature Cycles / Rockstar Games' own John Raheb powered away from the men's 45+ field to an uphill sprint finish. With only one other teammate in the race, John knew exactly how and where to position himself for the narrow run-in to the finish so he could unleash an acceleration powerful enough for the win. Great job, John!

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