Waterford Race p/b BasemediaRacing Saturday June 19, 2021

Join us for the return of some Weekend Warm Weather Racing. Registration is open.

Waterford Hills Criterium Flyer is updated – Note the race time changes, especially for the Cat 1/2/3 race.

Register before Price Increases!

contact: corktowncrit@gmail.com 

Waterford Criterium  COVID-19 Guidelines

Base Media Racing is committed to providing safe and fun race opportunities to children and families across the state of Connecticut. We will strictly adhere to the MI Rules for Outdoor Sports and USA Cycling’s Guidance for the Return to Racing and Riding, to present a safe and compliant event. We have successfully self-certified as a COVID-19 compliant sport organization and USA Cycling has approved our event plans as COVID-19 compliant.

The full event details for USA Cycling can be found here: Return to Riding & Racing USA Cycling

Special Covid-19 Rules and Requirements. Please read it carefully!

PRE-REGISTRATION IS ENCOURAGED: If you cannot attend the event for any reason, we will issue you a credit or provide a refund of the entry fee portion of the event. Please notify us within 24 hours after the event start time. We will be limiting the size of the event according to Michigan State regulations on the date of the event so please pay attention to the BikeReg Pages! We reserve the right to reschedule and restructure the ride to a virtual edition if COVID-19 does not allow for in-person gatherings.

EVENT CHECK IN: Event check in and number pick-up will be a one-way, walk-through lane with social distancing to maintain separation of participants. Masks must be worn and temperature checks will be mandatory upon arrival.

COVID-19 RULES & REQUIREMENTS: The following rules and requirements will be strictly enforced. They are for the safety of all riders, staff, volunteers and their families. While these measures are intended to minimize the risk of exposure to COVID-19, that risk cannot be completely eliminated

  •  Face masks must be worn at all times. This includes while in the parking lot, during number pick-up, at rest-stops, and after your ride.
  • You must maintain a distance of at least 6 feet from others at all times (event with your mask on) except during the ride. The parking area is large enough to allow all cars to park 6 feet apart.
  • Do not come to the event if you are sick or don’t feel well – we WILL refund your entry fee. Please notify us within 24 hours after the race to request a refund.
  • We will use a thermal scanner to take participant temperatures in the check-in line. Any participant with an above-threshold temperature (100.4 o F) will receive a refund of their entry-fee and be required to leave.
  • No physical contact with others not in your family. That means no hugs, handshakes, fist bumps, or high fives.
  • We will stage riders 6 feet apart and release them in waves of 5-10 riders. Riders will be required to wear masks while staging and will be instructed to remove masks approximately 30 second before their ride starts. Once riders have returned to the venue OR if they have to leave the course for any reason, they must put their mask on immediately.
  • Do not share water bottles, food or other equipment.
  • We will have hand sanitizers on site and encourage everyone to bring their own as well.
  • Restrooms will be disinfected on a regular schedule. Social distancing of no less than 6 feet applies to those in line for the restrooms.
  • Under no circumstances should any rider discharge any mucus/phlegm while riding (e.g., spitting, snot rockets, etc.) If you need to clear your sinuses, please safely move off course, and away from others.
  • If you feel any symptoms of COVID-19 or are traveling to the event from a local hot-spot for COVID cases, please stay home. If you don’t feel well, you can get tested at one of your local MI testing centers.
  • Please see the Michigan COVID-19 Knowledge Base for more information on COVID-19, including where to get tested, and other helpful knowledge.

The best part of Michigan Cycling is the community we’ve built together. We value all of you wholeheartedly and these rules are for your safety. FAILURE TO FOLLOW THESE REQUIREMENTS MAY RESULT IN YOUR EJECTION FROM THE VENUE AND FORFEITURE OF YOUR ENTRY FEE.

 

Thank you to all of our Michigan  families and racers for compliance with these guidelines. We look forward to seeing you! Sincerely, The riders and volunteers of Base Medi racing

2020 Team Roster

 

2020 – New Partners – Covid19 – Ride Solo…Carefully

With the cancellation of all races for the near term, we wish everyone happiness and health. Hang in there!

We have some new partners as well:

The Professional Bicycle Mechanics Association and BicycleMechanic.com – we are excited about both. We want to help the PBMA and its members grow the association and promote, develop and advocate for the ProfessionalBicyclemechanic©

True Vehicle Solutions – if you need help with automotive vehicle logistics, support for special events, car prep, advertising production, check us out

And of course, we still enjoy Velofix, Canyon and world class marketing support from those genius Automotive Marketing Consultants at BaseMedia, LLC

We are adding an all white top for summer heat. Let’s hope we get to group ride again this summer.

Ride solo, ride Zwift and stay safe out there. Just because the roads are clear doesn’t mean you can’t get run off the road by inattentive drivers or worse, semi-truck drivers. Check out my encounter below.

Chasing a Break – 2018 USA Cycling Amateur Nationals Road Race Weekend

Contributed by Chris Wanley

July 27, 2018 – Hagerstown, MD

Four hours. Four hours may seem like a relatively short period of time to spend on a single task, especially considering how easy it is to lose hours on a Netflix binge. Very similarly the four hours I spent racing this previous Friday at Amateur Nationals went by far too fast. A certain level of calm and nerve starts to work its way through my mind. Heart beat starting to rise as some of the best riders in the US get a call up to the line. For the next four hours I’ll be contending with elements beyond my control, at speeds that leave little tolerance for error. In the moments before the race my mind reaches out to grasp at things it can control: Have I checked my brakes, am I in the right gearing for the start, where do I need to be for the beginning of the race, is my power meter calibrated, does my cat have enough food, and most importantly any little bit of luck I can get. Before long a little voice pops in my head, not one of self-doubt, but one that leaves me hopeful. As I look to my right, and then my left, I realize these guys are every bit as human as I am. I believe in myself, my training, my strength, I’m ready for the four-hour fight alongside them. The nerves calm, and in that moment, I feel at home in this environment.

“Riders on my count, 3, 2, 1…” Let me pause for a moment. As much as I wish I could just show up with this hyped up, grandiose confidence, to keep me in the right mindset to race against some of the FASTEST people in the USA, I didn’t just show up to find myself standing there waiting for the green light to race. I remember watching the tour and seeing some of my favorite riders racing their hearts out to chase their dream. Dan Martin races with his heart, and whether that is true or not, I look up to him because of that drive. Yet heart alone won’t let you slip away from the strength of the pursuing peloton behind. That single moment is all that we see from afar, but its everything that was done in preparation, the hard work to get there, that made that moment possible. In that moment the announcer was counting us down, I found my thoughts wandering. How did I get here, ready to race against some of the fastest riders in the country, at the Amateur National Championship Road Race?

I was never the most competitive person growing up, nor was I the most athletic, but a few years ago I discovered a new passion. Running. I jumped in the deep end. My mind, absolutely loved it. My body, did not. The two disagreed with my plan of jumping into a marathon, as I had had only been running for a few weeks. I wanted to run to new places, to places that were missed by the quickness of a car. Luckily for my joints, before any marathon attempt, I found two wheels. I felt very much like a kid again. A momentary break from reality and the ability to travel to new places under my own effort. I could go as fast or as slow as I wanted, but I seemed to enjoy going fast the most. A chance meeting with an old friend at a park put me in the direction of my first group ride. I remember being so afraid of getting dropped in Detroit, that I made a pact with myself to work however hard I needed to, so I wouldn’t get lost. No matter what, don’t get dropped. I only got dropped once that day. Looking back maybe an attack over the Belle Isle bridge wasn’t the best move.

Since that day  everything has moved so fast. I learned about pacelines, racing, wind directions, tactics, and training in the cold months of the year. I’m still learning new things every day I clip into my bike. The cyclists I meet always provide great stories, and whether they know it or not, will even provide invaluable wisdom. This guy is quite thankful for that. It has been about 2 years of solid racing now, not including the time I was sidelined due to a car running me over. That’ll be a different tale for a different day, I promise. But I’ve lived the past 2 years trying my best to break through to a next level of fitness. For me it is a balancing act of breaking myself mentally and physically and having to piece myself back together again. All in the hope of becoming stronger, smarter, and wiser on a bike. My friends and family have been supportive of me and have picked me up when I have been at my lowest in this sport, and in life. And in my lowest moment of my riding era I decided that I was going to once again jump off the deep end. While I laid at home with my broken ankle up on the back of the couch, I reaffirmed my dream. I used it as my drive to try and become strong again. Like my first group ride, I would do everything within my power, to not get dropped. I decided I want to be racing against the best riders in the country, at the USA Cycling Amateur National Championship. In that moment, I put in for my Category 1 upgrade.

This year has been a roller coaster of emotion when it comes to my training and racing. Chasing after your dream is not easy. I have fallen, crashed out of contention, almost passed out on the trainer, had some breakthroughs in my fitness gains, and even shed some tears along the way. Yet, I continue to chase. I do these things because I learn so much about myself along the way. I find my character, and I find my drive, I find comfort in the uncomfortable. I have seen so many amazing things and been to so many new places. Made amazing friendships, and sometimes traveling halfway around the country to meet people that live in my backyard.

Four hours. 2018 Amateur National Championship. As the whistle released us from the starting line, I smiled. For the next four hours, I’m in my element and I wouldn’’t want to be anywhere else.

The Race: Amateur Nationals – Road Race

The race itself was like any other race, but faster, and quite a bit punchier. Not to mention that a good number of teams had radios. New team goal: Race with radios. I started the race with a simple task; Race near the front. Whatever it takes just stay near the front. With some mentoring from Alexey I knew I needed to find my moment to strike all my matches at once. To be willing to be aggressive and not afraid to lose it all. To trust my gut, and race like I do most other days. Little did I know it was going to be tougher than that. Nor did I think the feed zone would be so deadly. Grabbing bottles from our team support was like trying to grab brick from a moving car. The peloton would take a left hand turn into the feed zone at speed, never slowing down because position into the Draper climb was far too important.

In four feeds I received one bottle, but I took one in the chest, tried to grab one like a wide receiver catching a ball, and I think I had better luck catching the other one if I had just punched it. Such a shit show. The best way I heard it described was by a Strava title that went something like, “A bar fight in the feed zone”. I can still smell the carbon brakes from the 45mph decent into a 90-degree right hand turn. The sound of our team president’s ENVE hitting a pothole that stealthily laid in the shadow of a tree down a dark road, and the sound of carbon cracking and breaking behind me to those who weren’t so lucky. Sometimes I miss it when riders called out obstructions in the road, or just went around them. I also saw cars having to drive into ditches, and riders having to shift right at the last second so as to not hit the car that is driving on the supposed closed course. Yet, through all of this I found myself able to stay near the front. I chased after wheels, I brought back a few moves, and I even attempted to bridge to moves up the road. By the end of the race it was clear that a break would not win the day, and field would be rushing to the line in a sprint. Which was good for me, because I would want nothing to do with a sprint and was good to know that I didn’t miss a break after being taken out in a crash. Remember that “Bar fight in the feed zone”? I got caught up in that. One of those “bricks” that missed a hand off landed on the ground. A guy to my right with one hand on the bars darted left to avoid it and hit me hard. Left me hitting the ground. I was able to get up and with SRAM’s help was able to start riding again. However, my contention was done. I gave it my all in the post-crash mindset of catching them again. In that moment of desperation up a Draper hill, watching all the convoy pass me, I realized I wasn’t trying to catch the field, but I was chasing a break. Like I said before it has been a long up and down year, and I’ve had some great fitness, but just haven’t been able to catch a break.

I had worked so hard and sacrificed so much to get here. Having put a lot of weight on a good result, I began to tear up knowing my day was done. In that moment with one lap to go, I was determined to accomplish the most basic of my goals, finish the race. Benny Cook kept me company during that last lap, and together we rode through the line. I technically took out Benny. Well I was the body that came to a stop in front of him. To say I felt bad about that would be an understatement. That last lap was by far the slowest lap of the race, but under the circumstances it was a great lap. I was able to process the good and the bad, focus on the fact that I had a support system in my life to have put me and my closest friends in a race in Maryland. Where would I be without BaseMedia support, I don’t know. I owe Wassmann, and Donnelly so much for all the love and support they have shown me, and the others. I’m sure it can be frustrating at times dealing with all of us hooligans, especially when we destroy the kitchen.

Fun Fact: nothing gets a grupetto wound up more than someone attacking over top of it to get a better finish. That group banded together so quickly to chase it down. Kudos to Benny for being the one to start the chase.

Four hours. A lot can happen in four hours, no matter how short that time might feel, and a whole lot more can go into it than what first meets the eye. My coach always reminds me that the process is the most important thing. If you cannot enjoy the process, you’ll have a hard time working through the tough times. One step up would be to always enjoy the present moment. Through all the crazy of that day I had so much to be thankful for. I was so thankful to be in Maryland with my closest friends and teammates. It is through their support that I was even able to be there in the first place, because I couldn’t do it alone. I probably would have given up long ago without their encouragement and support. To have shared in so many laughs along this journey, and even with the medic cleaning my wounds I had plenty to smile and even more to laugh about. I love bike racing for more than just the racing, but for the experience, for the people, and for learning that I can endure. I learn new things every time I get on a bike, and though the field has many more years of experience than I, I am quite stubborn and can endure quite a lot. All I need is a little bit of a break.

Thank you Wassmann, Donnelly, and all the others from Base Media that help support me in my dream of chasing down a pro field, and for believing in my ability on the days that I struggle to see them. To all my friends and family that put up with a hangry and otherwise unsocial person during the months leading up to this event. I know that can be quite hard on you and is a big sacrifice. I have great teammates, who are a blast to ride with, and who remind me I don’t currently get paid to do this, so be sure to keep it fun for the soul.

First in Team Competition, Second in the Road Race, and Third in GC

The Cat 2/3 Basemediaracing team traveled to Georgia this past weekend to compete in the Tour of the Southern Highlands and collect some hardware.

Sam, Brett, Benny and Thomas looking, uh, photogenic

 

 

 

 

 

 

Benny Cook, Thomas Moran, Sam Junge and Brett Beddow finished first in the team competition. Sam Junge finished second in the road race and third overall in GC.

Time to feed Brett Beddow
The crew
A little pre road race shake down
Sam Junge 3rd overall in GC
Sam and Brett on the podium of the road race

The Port City Crit, Muskegon, MI

Satuday, May 14, 2017 – Chief reporting

The Wallet forgot the wallet

We had an inauspicious start to the day. How does one drive across the entire mitten state without cash, drivers license or credit card? Feel free to ask. I can provide pointers.

The Team

Fortunately, the rest of the day improved. We had a good team turnout given the 5-6 hour round trip ride: Kristen Waite (and her two “children” dog 1 and dog 2), Matt the “Diesel” Jenkins, Chris Donnelly (Yeah, the guy with the flyaway Base Media tent) and of course the Cat 2 team of Chris Wanley, Benny Cook and Christian Eckart.

Matt the Diesel

 

The Crash

A special shout out to Terry Ritter – heal fast! Terry crashed in the Masters 40/50 race coming out of the fastest corner on the course, at least 30-35 mph – as someone once said, like jumping out of a moving car…naked. A lot of us were fortunate to avoid the crash. 

Chris Donnelly winning the race for fast old dudes

Other Highlights

Watching Kristen crack the women’s race and finishing 3rd. As usual, she was aggressive and forced the race. Fun to watch. 

Kristen cracking open the women’s race

 

 

 

 

Then, the Chris Donnelly victory in the master’s race after a short lived break away by yours truly. I was happy to hold on to the pack at the finish. For some reason, I was short of breath.

My break…trying to breathe, thinking, I’m so aero…

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chris Wanley finished the day off with a solid 4th in a “hectic” pro 1/2/3 sprint with support work by Benny and Christian.

Pro 1/2/3 strategy discussion

Beautiful venue along Lake Michigan and definitely worth the drive. A big thank you to the organizers for putting on a great event.

 

 

Wanley pushing the pace in the Pro 1/2/3

For those wondering…the old man made it home. 

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