sausage legs, or the lack thereof

Uniform (i.e.: kit) Deal-Breakers  

1. Tight leg-elastic (aka "sausage leg"): I have been known to cut, hem, sew, and otherwise alter my shorts to make them resemble less of a tourniquet. Even my skinniest climber teammates have experienced the tight elastic fit in the thighs that seem to ruin most team issue shorts. 
2. The Chammois: although chammois cream does help, you just can't very comfy on a bike with a bad chamois. 
3. Materials: quality of the material is my other big concern, not only because of comfort on rides, but also because there is almost nothing worse than riding in a pace line with someone who has a see- through panel on their backside. 

How Stralight Apparel Kits Compare
Starlight shorts are amazing to ride in & the jersey is super comfy. Easily my new favorite shorts, with or without a team logo. The icing on the cake is the quality of materials & construction allows for a really good looking design.

1) The Shorts: Very impressive fit! It was like someone who rides actually had input into the design! The legs do not cut off my circulation & the design of the bib allows a lot more air flow to cool my sides and back, I actually felt as cool riding in the Starlight bibs as I did in regular shorts. After riding in the Starlight bib shorts a few times I was very pleased with the chamois, nice and comfy but not over padded. Love it!  

2) The Jersey: Well fitted, nice and snug without being tight (I have the race fit), and really comfortable to wear. The jersey has a full zip front zipper that is small enough to keep from bulging akwardly like others I have raced in. Love it!

3) The Materials: They feel nice, they look great, and they keep you comfortable on a long ride. They are not limited in design by the way they are pieced together, either, so your design can look pro. Starlight offers the best design options I have seen for a competitive price, check out their work to see what I mean. 

Charm City, the other way around

Report by Ava

The second day of racing started out much better than yesterday.  A much better night sleep and making it in time for Chris to warm up a bit before his race kept us from getting overly stressed.  The course was run in reverse with the 2 sets of barricades, mud, stairs, fast section, sand pit, and then the slick, off-camber 180 degree turns dumping us onto a straight street finish.  At the start of the race I found myself in the 3rd row, a little better starting position than yesterday.  After the initial sprint I was hoping on settling into a rhythm fairly quickly since I didn't have to fight my way back for a good position, but it never quite seemed to happen.  I found myself in the top 10 fairly quickly and was battling to pick off each rider in front for the first 2 laps.  The barricades and stairs worked in my advantage and I was able to find the top 3 during the final turn of the second lap.  The turn into the first set of barricades I started sliding out, unclipped my right foot to keep myself upright, and used that as the beginning of my dismount.  I took the barricades at speed and was able to take 2nd place before the next set of barricades, which gave me a little more of a gap.  Still not settling in, I pushed hard through the sand pit on the fourth and final lap where I finally felt I had a safe enough gap where I could relax a bit.  I always wonder why there has to be an off-season for cross, but after this first weekend of racing I've realized that we have an off-season to forget how much pain this puts us in!

Thanks again to everybody for the support.  Thanks to the wonderful staff at BikeBeat Newport News for covering for Chris and I while we went to the race.  And thanks to Twenty20 Cycling for supporting such a great event.  See everyone next time!

Ava in the number 2 spot after a greatrace

Patty was also representing VA Asset Group in the elite women's field, she made us proud (as usual) with 10th the first day and 9th the second day in a really tough race.

Charm City CX

Report by Ava

Ava charging through the sand

Julie H. at Charm City CX

A late start from Newport News left Chris and I arriving to a 'not so comfortable hotel room' at 2:00am.  Roughly 3 hours of sleep and it was time to head out for the race!  Weather conditions for day 1 were "perfect cross conditions"...low to mid-60's, overcast, and the threat of rain. I broke out the embrocation cream, knee warmers, arm warmers, and thermal cycling cap for the first race of the season! On the start line, everybody was feeling the drastic change in temperature and were trying to shed layers at the last minute. For call-ups, the Women 3/4 lined up in rows of 8. I was in the 4th row and Julie H. was 2 rows behind me. At the whistle, there was the traditional sprint, vying for position into the first corner. Everybody typically goes straight, unfortunately 1 girl 2 rows in front decided she was going to go towards the course tape. Whether she couldn't get clipped in, or she was losing her balance, we'll never know. What we do know, she cuts in front of several girls in the 3rd row and runs directly into the girl in front of me. Five-ten yards from the start line I'm already trying to avoid a crash! Having started 26th back, I lost about 15-20 more spots.  Julie H found herself about 10 wheels in front of me.

The first half of the course had slick, off-camber, 180 degree turns making maneuvering around other riders challenging.  The sand pit offered a nice opportunity to out-sprint (as in dismounting and sprinting on foot) some of the riders trying to ride through (which was much easier to do later on as the sand got packed down). More slick cornering, a short fast section, mud, stair run-up, more mud, and another fast section allowed for me to jump up a few spots.  The natural barricades and the man-made barricades put me in a much more comfortable position where I could settle into a rhythm before starting another lap. Julie and I stayed fairly close together for the remainder of the race until the last lap. The penultimate lap (word of the day!) I took an off-camber right turn a little too quickly and slid out. Luckily I had a big enough gap that I was able to keep my position. The last lap however, Julie took that same corner just 50 feet behind me and wasn't as lucky. She slid out the same way, but unfortunately suffered a broken collarbone in the process. Hopefully this one will heal as quickly or quicker than the last one! I finished in 7th overall out of 60 starters. And had Julie been able to finish, she probably would've finished right behind me in 8th place.

Thanks to Julie for the support during the race and I hope you're not on the injured list too long! Thanks also to Chris for cleaning my wheels and bike in the hotel courtyard this evening with a trashcan, ice bucket, and a cut-up milk carton as wash buckets! Good luck tomorrow to Erin & Patty, both of whom raced today in the Elite 1/2 category. Charm City CX Day 2 tomorrow!