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Shawn "bega" Blumenfeld
a quest to win a championship...


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blueberry_soup_is_coming - February 18 2010
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im-in-points - November 19 2009
on-lead-lap - November 25 2009
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getting-ready-for-cross - September 14 2009
urban-cross-is-coming - November 14 2009
officiating_the_crits - May 17 2010
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44th - December 2 2009
outdoors - January 27 2010
tacchino-ciclocross - November 8 2009
usa-cycling-radio-ban - February 3 2010
no-rain-for-me - March 29 2010
ten-nine-radio - February 8 2010
and-so-now-im-addicted - September 22 2009
kelley-acres-next-up - September 24 2009
hyattesville-cross - October 12 2009
re-urban-cross-is-coming - November 15 2009
photo-from-hyattsville - October 13 2009
another-cross - October 6 2009
off-to-the-races - February 25 2010
towc_part_2 - June 23 2010
re-tacchino-ciclocross - November 9 2009
kelley-acres-cross - October 5 2009
tour_of_washington_county - June 12 2010
south_jersey_training_series - March 22 2010
Over the years, I've dedicated a good deal of my life to helping other people race bikes. Whether from my early years of racing with the likes of Team Aggress, my own messenger racing Team Bega, and more recently the Hub Racing Women's Pro Team, I've received most of my glory from other people's victories. Don't get me wrong, I've played my part and I've recieved proper admiration for my job as a manager, a soigner, a domestique. But it's not the same as winning a race on the bike. And I've won a couple. But I want my own Championship. At the Cycle Messenger World Championships, I've qualified on the front line, placed top 20 twice, been in 6 finals. So now I really want to try to win my own championship in Guatemala at the 2010 CMWC... (im already thinking about 2011 also: the usa national championship timetrial in the mixed tandem masters classes)


south_jersey_training_series

March 22 2010

the weather looked iffy so i never went down to the dismall dash. its was a tt anyway, and while they serve as a worthwhile measure, they don't help increase speed or endurance anymore than a solo training ride.

but i felt really good following the thursday contes ride so i pulled the trigger on the south jersey training series #2. it was a fantastic 3 mile curcuit in harrison nj, and matt and team independence put on a fine event. with little fanfare the masters race still had around 25 racers.

a race like this for me is all about top speed. my endurance is acceptable at this point, and the outdoors training with the nice weather this past week has aided that, but until im sitting on the wheels of the cat 1's and 2's in the masters fields, i wont gain the top speed i need to compete at cmwc. and this race was fast for me.

i sat in fine with the group early, but while i didnt redline the heartrate, i couldnt match the acceleration of the top riders when the group split in two. but i stayed comfortable with the 2nd group as the paceline formed. several riders foolishly attempted the jump to the first group, and the accelerations caught me out 5 or 6 times. but each time i was able to grab the wheels of the smooth cyclist 54 guys (not really sure of the team, that logo just stood out). eventually, the jumps caught me one too many times, and i rode the final distance alone. i passed at least 2 others who fell off after me, but also got lapped by the leaders just before their finish. results not yet posted, and not really important, but i was somewhere between 17 and 23 i think. not sure how many dnf'd ahead of me.

next up for me is either saturday for a small road race up north in pa that might be just my style or the big one down south in va on sunday that will have a lot more riders to group with. i think ill flip a coin just before reg closes. i cant imagine trying to do both.

added notes:
19th, last official finisher. i believe 2 dnf's ahead of me and 2 dnf's behind me.
"cycles 54" was the team name
itll be the sunday race this weekend