FareStart Cycling Team

West Side MTB Series #1 Dash Point State Park

2012-02-12T21:18:00.001-08:00

Event Name:	West Side MTB Series #1 Dash Point State Park
Date:	12 February 2012
Description:	Twisty, turny with only short sections of straight, flat trail.
Expert Single Speed:	10th - Martin Criminale

The West Side MTB Series has been a staple of the NW for several years and and the first event in the six-race series was today at Dash Point State Park.

In a very competitive and BIG single speed field Martin managed to stoke his diesel engine just enough to pull off a top-10. Not known for his fast starts Martin kept it consistent and managed to reel some riders in on the last lap.

Here is Martin's race report and here are all the pictures.

Technorati Tags: West Side MTB Series,Thumbprint Racing,BuDu Racing,Dash Point State Park

The FareStart Cycling Team serves up dinner at… the FareStart Restaurant.

2012-02-09T23:45:00.000-08:00

For the second year in a row we have volunteered to wait tables at the FareStart Guest Chef Night. This year was another extremely rewarding experience.

Ever since we founded this team we have ridden in the name of a charity (or two). From the very beginning FareStart has been one of these charities and for 2012 we decided to go all in as they say and we have put all our eggs in the FareStart basket by riding in their name exclusively. It has become abundantly clear to us that this was an excellent decision as it is incredibly easy to have a very real and positive impact on our community by helping them out. Our tag line, "leave your mark" couldn't be more true.

We like Strava, check out our stats.

2012-02-06T11:46:00.001-08:00

Several of our team members use Strava and love it. Thanks to Cosmo Catalano you can now compare the riders in your Strava Club. Fun!

Check it out: http://www.thumbprintracing.org/p/strava.html

Technorati Tags: Strava,Strava Club,Strava Leaderboard,Cosmo Catalano

Fort Steilacoom Off-Road Duathlon - Martin gets 6th

2012-01-28T18:28:00.000-08:00

Event Name:	Fort Steilacoom Off-Road Duathlon
Date:	January 28, 2012
Description:	5 km run, 15 mile bike, 5 km run
Men:	6th - Martin Criminale

For some the 2012 racing season has already started with the 4th Dimension Duathlon series at Fort Steilacoom. In this the second event in the series both the run and the bike course were altered from the first removing the big hill and making times significantly faster. Cyclocross bikes (or light mountain bikes) were definitely the preferred bike today. Because the bike leg had been shortened, riders did five 3-mile laps instead of three 5-mile laps like at the first race.

In the Open Men's race Martin placed 6th and was 8th overall (out of over 80 entrants) with just two teams beating his time. 1st place was local multisport powerhouse Team Zylkowski crushing the competition by almost five minutes.

Here is Martin's race report.

Technorati Tags: 4th Dimension Racing,Fort Steilacoom,Duathlon,Thumbprint Racing,FareStart Cycling Team

Thumbprint Racing will be waiting tables at FareStart Guest Chef night Feb 9

2012-01-16T16:19:00.000-08:00

Once again the FareStart Cycling Team will be honored to wait tables during the FareStart Guest Chef night on Thursday, February 9.

Come on down for a three course meal (only $30!), get waited on by us and know that any tips you leave go straight back to FareStart.

There will be two seatings and these events sell out so don't delay - make your reservations now.

Here are all the details and how to make reservations.

Please join us to support this fantastic charity.

Everything new for 2012

2012-01-15T11:35:00.000-08:00

FareStart Cycling Team is excited to kick off 2012!
With the racing season only one month away we are proud to announce:

Our sponsors.
Our roster.
Our kit.
Our new web site.

Thanks to everyone that makes it possible for us to continue to do what we love.

Indoor @ Cycle University

2011-12-16T12:50:00.000-08:00

The FareStart team is super excited about all our sponsors, but in particular we're pumped about the new relationship with the good folks at Cycle University who have two locations now, one in West Seattle and one on Sand Point. Because its WINTER out!

Today was one of our regular EARLY morning indoor training sessions and it has been great to fill up all eight Computrainers as we do our best to drown the mat in sweat. Making the trip this morning as well was Gabe Templeton who brought his camera to document some of the nonsense that middle aged men seem to bring on themselves when they are entranced with visions (in their mind) of recapturing the athletic glory of their youth.

No Gabe, that really is my bed-head hair, I didn't realize we had to be fierce this morning.

The lucky eight willing to get up at o'dark thirty to sweat.

John Duggan - Sponsor Profile

2011-12-13T14:24:00.000-08:00

FareStart Racing Sponsor Profile No. 1 – John Duggan, Attorney-at-Law

John Duggan is a familiar name in many cycling circles in the greater Seattle and Puget Sound area and is widely considered a tremendous friend of cycling and in particular, cyclists who are injured. In addition to his strong involvement with both the Cascade Bicycle Club and the Bike Alliance of Washington, he sponsors many amateur racing teams including Thumbprint Racing which rides on behalf of charity and will represent FareStart for the 2012 season.

We began our overview of John with some questions posed directly to him.

What got you into cycling initially? Did it precede your interest in law?

Yes, my interest in cycling preceded my interest in law. Initially, I started cycling during college and law school as a matter of necessity because I did not own a car. After law school a couple of other attorneys turned me on to the recreational side of riding. I had been a high-level soccer player through college and once my playing days were over cycling was able to provide the fitness and competitiveness that I had been used to my entire life.

Spokeswomen Racing - Welcome to the Neighborhood!

2011-11-22T16:23:00.001-08:00

Here at FareStart racing we love to follow other cycling teams in the Pacific Northwest, and in particular enjoy the writing at Seattle P.I.'s "Velocity Blog" by David Longdon. From time to time David posts a bio about an area rider which is usually pretty interesting. Even our own Martin Criminale was outlined in one issue here.

It was especially cool to hear about the genesis of a new women's race team as part of the bio on Lindsay Felker which you can read in its entirety here.

We excerpted the section that we thought was particularly cool and include it below.

[David L.]You are a co-founder of a new women’s cycling team. How did that come about?
{Lindsay F.]Myself and a few other rad women in the local peloton started a new women’s-only team and we’re just now getting the word out. We’re modeling our team, Spokeswomen Racing, after Farestart powered by Cobalt Mortgage team concept with emphasis on regular involvement in the organization. Our title sponsors are Peterson Bicycle and Jubilee Women’s Center. Jubilee is a women’s transitional house on Capitol Hill that provides extensive support to formerly homeless women. Our team’s focus is not only to race our bikes fast (we have some really talented riders) and mentor new riders, but to have a positive impact in our community.

Rad women? Heck ya! A couple of their racers, Cathy Varland & Alexie Montaland are FareStart alumni. A tip of our cap to Spokeswomen Racing in 2012!

Grand Ridge Trail Run - Martin Wins! Justin Wins!

2011-11-21T09:33:00.001-08:00

Event Name:	Grand Ridge Trail Run
Date:	11/20/11
Description:	Produced by 4th Dimension Racing, this trail run has a number of distances to contest. Click on Martin's name to see a short summary of the event on his training blog. Congrats to both!
Marathon distance:	1st - Martin Criminale 4:38:35
50 KM Distance	1st - Justin Angle 4:38:54

NW Cyclocross in the News!

2011-11-19T15:50:00.001-08:00

Thanks to Erik Anderson for catching this...and Daniel Liberator for shooting and editing most footage.

KOMO News Coverage

With no less than:

Lane Seely (tutu)

Jeff Woerner

Dean Jasper
Aaron Griffith

Horatio Hornblower

In order of appearance...

MFG #6 Woodland Park GP - TuTu's setup train of pain

2011-11-13T16:07:00.000-08:00

157 racers in the field, TuTu's earned 3 of the 12 coveted call ups due to consistent series performance.

Dean the machine on the barrier remount.

Stache & Tutu was not enough today.

RD pushed the pace early but faded when it mattered.

Series leader Kauper quickly established his hegemony, carrying the day and the series.

Kauper started the sprint before the turn, and looks back to be sure he's got Nicholas where he wants him.

The pic that captures why we train all the time. We want to do that thing with the arms.

The four amigos.

Lane S. nailing the stairs.

Jeff W. before the remount...

...and after - executing perfect 'Hand-of-God' form.

New teammate Jesse N. shot this nice bit of video from lap 1 - first time up the stairs.

All photos credit Neal Goldberg and Gabe Templeton!

Event Name:	MFG #6 Woodland Park GP
Date:	11/13/11
Description:	Final in MFG series - biggest fields of the year!

Cat 2 Women:	9th - Alexie Montaland
Cat 3 Men 35+:	8th - Jeff Woerner 9th - Lane Seely

Cat 4 Men:	1st - Greg Kauper [Series Winner]

Pretty exciting day for the Cat 4 men's squad. We knew Greg was getting the callup but did not expect both Dean and myself to also get the nod. This was huge as there were 157 racers entered!! Dean and I did not have to burn energy to get through the inevitable layers of guys who got a favorable callup randomly. We nailed the holeshot and had Dean, Greg and I through first quarter of the course in 1,2,3. This was pretty awesome. Some attacks started to go after the second barrier on the gravel road and then it pretty much blew open thereafter. But Greg nailed it when it mattered and won the race and the series pretty convincingly. He's donating all his prizes to his family.

In the Cat 3 35+ men's race Jeff and Lane held tough rounding out the top 10, we'll see how this holds for the series lead.

Nelly warming up the tutu for later.

SCX #5 Steilacoom V2 - Woerner Podiums!

2011-11-06T16:30:00.000-08:00

phot credit www.onceglimpsed.com

Event Name:	SCX #5 Steilacoom V2
Date:	11/6/11
Description:	Second time around for SCX at Steilacoom.

Cat 3 Men 35+:	3rd - Jeff Woerner

On the eve of his first child's birth, Jeff goes out and lands a podium finish. No pics yet so we don't know if a tutu played any role in it. Or facial hair for that matter. **this just in, neither were the case and he did well in spite of it!**

Stolen Bike Alert

2011-11-05T08:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday evening a black 58cm Neuvation rain bike with fenders and a powertap rear wheel was stolen from outside the Brave Horse Tavern in South Lake Union. The rear wheel is stainless PT hub laced to DT Swiss RS45 silver rim. There is a name on the top tube as well - "Greg Kauper".

If someone tries to sell you a rain bike cheap please let us know at "ear@thumbprintracing.org".

Information leading to the recovery of the bike will undoubtedly result in some kind of reward I'm sure.

Thanks

Martin Wins SCOTT Cougar Mountain 20!

2011-10-30T10:42:00.000-07:00

Event Name:	SCOTT Cougar Mountain 20
Date:	10/30/11
Description:	Twenty mile trail run.
Men's 20 mile:	1st - Martin Criminale

Here is a more detailed report.

MFG #5 Magnuson Park, our two series leaders hold serve

2011-10-29T09:03:00.000-07:00

Tutu gets second place! Credit Gabe Templeton.

Evidently the wrong color. Credit Gabe Templeton.

Red tutu = 2nd place. Credit Gabe Templeton.

Event Name:	MFG #5 Magnuson Park
Date:	10/29/11
Description:	First time on a new course focused on east side of Magnuson park near the swimming beaches. Beautiful weather!

Cat 3 Men 35+:	2nd - Lane Seely [Series Leader] 5th - Jeff Woerner
Cat 3 Women:	10th - Alexie Montaland
Cat 4 Men:	2nd - Greg Kauper [Series Leader] 14th - Dean Jasper
Cat 3 Men:	5th - Olivier Humbert
Rocking Kids Race:	1st - Lauren Kauper 1st - Rowan Xavier Dean
Notably MIA:	1st - Ryan Dean 1st - Andrew Eisen

INSERT BRIEF RACE REPORT HERE
Well, the Tutu has obtained near-magical powers now. Two men, two series leaders, one tutu and BOTH finished 2nd place while wearing it. Occupy MFG on November 13th at Woodland Park - let's show them the 99% wear Tutu's!!!! Let's feel the power!

Big props to cheering section: Neal Goldberg, Gabe Templeton, Suzie Kauper

Tutu Man and five others post top tens at Speedway CX

2011-10-28T09:29:00.000-07:00

Dean had his best ride to date - solid 8th and no spills!

Another top ten for Woerner.

Cat 3 35+ series leader Lane Seely.

TuTu man remounting after the tricky stair section.

Andrew hitting the banked "whoopsie-do"

Newly 'stached, Dean - 9th place

This past Sunday FareStart delivered 6 top ten finishes - pretty good considering only 7 FareStart riders were out racing. In the Cat 4 men's race the strategy was to try to keep Starbucks from going 1-2 again and allow Greg to focus solely on containing the series leader Justin C. Dean and Ryan took turns putting pressure on the number 2 Starbucks rider. Greg finished 2nd, ahead of Justin - retaking the series lead heading into tomorrow's Magnuson Park race. Dean managed to finish with no spills and a new best placing of 8th! Ryan was on his wheel for 9th.

In the women's Cat 3 race, Alexie Montaland finished a solid 9th place continuing her strong run through the CX season.

In the hotly contested Cat 3 Masters 35+ men's race, rumors swirled regarding whether upgraded riders were still racing in this hotbed of competition. In any event, former FareStart rider Brad K. rocketed out of the holeshot and held out on his own for the entire race finishing second. Lane and Jeff held tough for 6th and 10th respectively.

Thanks to FareStart race team board member Gabe Templeton coming out to cheer the team and take most of the photos shown above.

TUTU Man falls to lowest result of the year at Silver Lake

2011-10-16T16:03:00.000-07:00

Removing all shreds of dignity, area Cat 2 motor in a Cat 4 chassis falls to his worst performance yet.

Photo credit Dennis Crane Photography

Greg Kauper, pictured above, was inspired by chartreuse socks at a local store and after purchasing them felt an inexorable desire to match them with a tutu. And then to race his bike.

Despite the formidable facial hair in progress, Greg had his statistically worst placing of his nascent 'cross career with an 8th place at Silver Lake. Coincidence?

We asked Greg what the most satisfying aspect of racing in tutu was and he quickly replied that "guys don't like to be passed by a guy in a tutu". Ya think?

What inquiring minds really want to know is whether Greg bought only ONE tutu or did he get several? Each one a different color of the rainbow? I don't have the answer to this or other nagging questions associated with this photo so will simply have to see what the inbox provides for me after MFG #4 this Sunday.

Martin Podiums!

2011-10-16T09:35:00.000-07:00

Martin Criminale, no stranger to podiums when pedaling a bicycle built for one OR two - can now add a half marathon to his impressive palmares.

Showing most of the field his heels, a rather muscular looking Martin channeled his inner Justin Angle, replete with hand-held bottle to a blistering time of 1:26:14.

Furthermore, he opted to wear a shirt inspired by the hit TV show "Portlandia" and put a bird on it!

To celebrate, Martin promptly ate this:

and this:

Congrats Martin!

For the unedited, more accurate portrayal, please see Martin's blog here.

Steilacoom CX - first hand race report

2011-10-14T10:08:00.000-07:00

From time to time we like to post a blow-by-blow account from a racer who "did the deed" and actually raced. Here is Greg Kauper's report on last Sunday's race produced by Seattle Cyclocross.

RACE REPORT:
After hearing Jeff W rage about the course quality I knew I had to
"cross it".
Dean and I lined up and suddenly realized...no call up! So we had to start pretty far back.

Just before the start I gazed around at the competition...there was
some but also noted the large group of 12 yr olds in JL Velo, beef
jerkey, and assorted other jr kits....

Really? These kids were gonna line up in front of me?

I saw this going really bad, post race Jr father up in my grill asking
why I ran his kid over...luckily that did not happen.

The gun went off and Dean and I really jammed the first section and
managed to put ourselves in good position.

That proved one of my new rules of cross true: get in good position at
the gun but dont panic.

Then we used our descending and cornering abilities to drop most of
the other riders.

The race would only be three laps, and I never managed to catch one
guy who got off to an early lead. [editor: Jake Ricker, rocking the full facial hair - point proved!]

BUT my primary rule of cross was validated: keep your head up and
avoid crashes. The entire group I was riding with crashed into each other and I
rolled past them...TIMBER!

I'm hoping to hit Silver Lake this week as Jeff and Alex have called it
the hardest race of the year.

Steilacoom SCX #2 Results

2011-10-09T12:30:00.000-07:00

INSERT PICTURE HERE

Event Name:	Steilacoom SCX #2 Results
Date:	10/9/2011
Description:	More wet cross action. Folks it don't get no better than this.

Cat 3 Men 35+:	7th - Jeff Woerner

Cat 4 Men:	2nd - Greg Kauper 6th - Dean Jasper

The Hairy Truth

2011-10-07T12:58:00.000-07:00

Road racers, much like fashion models, are all about aerodynamics and sheen. Nothing quite says speed more than shiny smooth surfaces, like clean-shaven faces, legs and for this author one fateful day back in 1989, arms. OK maybe that was excessive.

Well as you are probably aware by now, road races are so yesterday, because right now it's cyclocross season. The seasons change and so do the ingredients necessary to be a successful racer. As a rookie racer in this unique discipline, I'm learning what it takes to fit in. It's hair - and lots of it!

Kauper, who hopefully threw his razor out last night.

Take 'hairy legs' here - at a road race he gets a lot of stares, but in 'cross its like "who brought the IRS agent"? Even the former ex-pro 'cross racers in the background of this picture look on disapprovingly. They wonder if he'll figure out the "secret" in time to hold the series lead.

Nah, the leaderboard is littered with guys like this rouge's alley. They know the secret which I will break down for you right now! HAIR+TATS=STYLE and unless we're going to an insurance convention to race our bikes we need to get with it people.

"I'm fast and I save a ton of money on hair products"

"Let me show you how it's done ol chap, what what!"

Doctors say excessive hair growth is an symptom of excessive testosterone levels. I say bullcrud, its the reverse, the more hair, the more energy a 'cross racer can pull out of the air. Much like a sea anemone uses its tendrils to eat whatever floats by, a 'stached or bearded 'cross racer can literally pull the testosterone occurring naturally in the air into their faces and heads and then its just simple capillary action to get it to the legs and a top ten performance. Duh.

Are these two 'rocking enough strands'?

uhhhh, no way right?

And this guy?

photo: Michelle Woerner

No way - that skin is pampered, my guess is he shaves his face like those guys on "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy".

So, I conclude with an open letter to FareStart and all those who love them. If you want your racer to take it to the next level this year in 'cross you must join me in unplugging the trimmer! Hide the razor! Tell the barber you moved out of town because until we can bring the complete package like Ricker here, we don't stand a chance.

ps - Cycle U., is this part of 'cross boot camp?
pps- all photos courtesy of Amara Boursaw at www.wheelsinfocus.com

MFG #3 North Bend Magic Mountain Meadows

2011-10-02T16:47:00.000-07:00

Alexie in action! Amara Boursaw photo www.wheelsinfocus.com

Event Name:	MFG #3 North Bend Magic Mountain Medows
Date:	10/2/2011
Description:	First time venue under the auspices of Mt. Si. Double rainbows and huge turnout for a great race! FareStart puts not less than FIVE racers in top 10 placings!

Cat 3 Men 35+:	7th - Jeff Woerner 10th - Lane Seely
Cat 3 Women:	4th - Alexie Montaland
Cat 4 Men:	3rd - Greg Kauper 10th - Ryan Dean

Area CX Racer furious, mainly with himself.

2011-09-28T12:45:00.000-07:00

Greg Kauper after rolling his self-glued tyre

Long time area racer and current series leader of the coveted and prized "MFG Cyclocross" points series for Category 4 men, Greg Kauper is hopping mad right now.

Turns out Greg isn't quite the self-styled mechanic he thinks he is, like for example a Martin Criminale or others who have carefully honed their craft after years of devotion at bike shops or at home, following detailed YouTube videos or reading the multi-lingual directions that come packed with any Shimano parts. No, our Greg figured he could do this tubular thing with a couple of half used cans of mixed cement and a phone call with Saul at Speedy.

A group of unsuspecting U8 girls were practicing soccer last night when Kauper rolled the thing and were then exposed to an expletive laden rant rivaling the best saucy sailor coming into port to realize he's a day late and a dollar short. One traumatized youth snapped this photo of him leaving the scene, tyre-less (and helmet-less).

Brooke Sillers at Speedy had to call for SWAT team backup when he "got into it" with store employees over "contact patch" and "Dugast this" and "cyclocross tyres for less.com" that.

Reached in Perwez, Belgium while training, Sven Nys had this to say "...of course this is why I have the mechanic glue the tyres for me, I have to spend my time on training and winning, he has to keep my bike in good repair".

Reached a few hours after the incident at the park and at Speedy, we found a more introspective Kauper who suggested that it's "the pressure on my shoulders to hold the series lead to the end, the whole team is counting on me to get this done. If I fail it could spell disaster..."

FareStart wins 12 Hours of Capitol Punishment

2011-09-24T23:03:00.000-07:00

Event Name:	12 Hours of Capitol Punishment
Date:	24 September 2011
Description:	12-hour mountain bike race in Capitol Forest near Olympia, WA
Male Duo:	1st - Tony Bravetti and Martin Criminale

Not only did Tony and Martin win their category, they were 2nd overall (a 4-person team won) and one of only two teams that managed to put in 12 laps before the time cut-off.

Mountain biking is obviously alive and well at FareStart!

Here is Martin's race report.