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Ryan Hartman Races Reston Grand Prix
June 28th, 2009Ryan's third and best race so far. The 8th Annual Reston Grand Prix is raced in the roads of a shopping mall and offer much better surfaces than Ryan has seen to this pint. He began in the middle of the pack and slowly moved to the front, leading the race for a few laps and in a two-man breakaway until the very end, where the peloton caught up. Ryan was happy with an eighth place finish.
Images are up in the 2009 image gallery and results are posted.
Join Our New 1/2/3 Squad!
Are you looking for a squad to race in Cat 1/2/3 races and live in the Roanoke - Lexington - Staunton area? Do you have the time to train during the week with the team? Think you've earned your racing stripes? You can wear ours.
Elliott O'Brien and Dan Baur are looking to develop a 4 to 6 man elite amateur road team to race events along the East Coast for the 2010 season.
For more information You can contact the team by clicking on Elliott's photo or emailing Elliott at elliottobrien@teamtraveller.com
New Photo Series
June 24th, 2009With the success of our "Evolution of Man" photo we did in the winter, we're starting a whole new series of famous poses and iconic photos as interpreted by us. What does it have to do with cycling? Absolutely Nothing, but there is much time between events and little to do..."Hurry up and wait!" We start this new section off with Ryan Hartman as Rodin's Thinker. Click Ryan's photo on the right to go to the new gallery.
Ryan Hartman Begins Racing at Kazane Series
June 24th, 2009Newest recruit, Ryan Hartman, W&L '12 started racing Cat 5 in the Kazane Racing Series in Richmond's Bryan Park. We'll keep you posted with the results in a couple of days.
International and Local News
June 13th, 2009Elliott is in Peru Working with a povery program through school. Dan will be leaving for the country in August to teach English until January. You can check out their travels on the team's Flickr page Team Traveller in Peru. We'll be updating it through the year.
We have some new friends in Pilsen, Czech Republic. Check out Giant League Pilsen. We've put the site through the Google translator, but the technology isn't perfect. Nice to see that Pilsen is known for more than just great beer.
New team members Judah Brownstein and Steve Baur (Dan's brother) are travelling from Lexington, Virginia to San Antonio, Texas. You can follow their trek on their blog South by Southwest Epic
Dan Races Tour of Tucker County
June 7th, 2009
Dan raced the 10th hardest race in the country according to Velo News. Tucker County West Virginia is tucked away around the Monogahela National Forest and near nothing but some windmills. Two seven-mile climbs left most everyone exhausted. Dan finished 16th. Photos from pre- and post- race, results and Dan's Blog "Pain" are all posted.
Dan Picks Up Points at Bryan Park Circuit Race
June 1st, 2009Beautiful weather and more training, gave Dan Baur the edge he needed to finish 7th in the second race of the season at this venue. The race was longer than in March and counter-clockwise, but still had some tight turns and deteriorating surfaces. Dan picks up some points toward Cat 3 and he is already looking forward to The Tour of Tucker County, voted one of the top 10 hardest races in the country.
Elliott O'Brien raced the Pro/1/2/3 race with jacob Tremblay and finished 14th with the pack. Elliott is leaving to Peru and will be back to race in August and September. He has posted a Blog named "Out With a Bang". Photos are in the 2009 image gallery and results are posted.
Elliott Finishes First Pro/1/2 Race Despite Last Second Flat
May 24th, 2009Elliott O'Brien raced with the pros this weekend as a category 2. His first race in the Pro/1/2 field with fellow rider Jacob Tremblay from Fiorucci/Cycor. The two battled it out with the pros and finished with the peloton. Jacob finished just outside of the money and Elliott managed to finish in spite of a flat on the last lap of the race. Elliott and several others had flats, because of the broken glass throughout the course.
Pictures are up in the 2009 image gallery. Video and blogs are on the way
First Category Two Race Profitable For Elliott
May 17th, 2009Elliott O'Brien Cats up to two and places in the Wilmington Grand Prix. Elliott raced in the Cat 2/3 race and rode off in a breakaway with two other riders, picking up the three podiums spots in the race. Video is found on the Race Video Page and Elliott give the details in his blog titled "Wilmington Grand Prix, Sweet as Twix". Photos of the event are posted in the 2009 gallery and official results will be posted as soon as they are available online.
New Members Join Team
May 17th, 2009John Bovay W&L '07 lives in Richmond and has joined the team for the summer, Clarke Morrison and Ryan Hartman (both class of '12) have joined and taken the positions of Tresurer and Vice-President respectively. Hansen Babington will be graduating this year and leaving the team. Good luck to all
Elliott O'Brien's Blog on Wintergreen Posted
May 10th, 2009Elliott talks about his race up Wintergreen to win the State Hill Climb Championship for the second year in a row (Completing his time as a Cat 3).
Dan Baur Posts Blog about Road River Relay
May 6th, 2009Dan sacrificed his place in the Wintergreen Hill Climb for the opportunity to win this important local event. Dan lives for this event. Check it out on our blog page.
Wintergreen Hill Climb and Road River Relay
May 2nd, 2009Elliott O'Brien, Dave Cobb, Brian Keegan and Ken Hewett raced the Wintergreen Hill Climb. Elliott continued his winning streak with a victory in Category 3, beating Jacob Tremblay by 1 minute 21 seconds. Ken finished 6th in Cat 4 and Brian finished his 7th race with a 25th place finish in Cat 5. Dave finished 17th in the 45-49 category.
The record for the fastest time was broken this year by professional Jeremiah Bishop. Jeremiah rode the 7 miles in a record 32 minutes flat. Congrats! That makes Elliott's job of beating the record next year that much harder.
Meanwhile in Rockbridge County, Dan Baur and Rob Benevento raced the Road River Relay in Lexington. Dan raced the bike leg of the race for the Pork Chop Platoon team, contributing to the team's victory in the traditional category (meaning the team used a traditional canoe).
Dan Posted a new blog on the Ephrata race and we've posted photos and results of Wintergreen.
Waynesboro Grand Prix #1
April 29th, 2009While Dan, Dave and Elliott were in Pennsylvania, Ken Hewett raced in Waynesboro, just down the road in the Grand Prix #1 Crit, on Sunday the 26th. Ken stayed with the pack until caught behind a wreck. Ken finished 5th in his category and 9th overall in the race. Rick Beville, one of our coaches, announced the race and George Richards, a club member, came along for support. We're working on photos. Results are posted.
Waynesboro Road and River Relay
April 29th, 2009Rob Benenvento raced in the Road and River Relay in Waynesboro on Saturday the 25th. Rob won the Solo division. The event had three parts: Running, Kayaking and Cycling. Working on photos and results.
Elliott O'Brien aka "Kiwi" aka "Zebra Guy" Wins The Tour de Ephrata
April 27th, 2009This was a big weekend for the team and the largest cycling event on the east coast. Elliott O'Brien and Dan Baur raced in the 5th annual Tour de Ephrata. Elliott returned for a second attempt to win the GC and Dan raced for the first time.
The road race was a new course from last year. Dan went first and completed three loops on the course for a 40 mile race and a 22nd place finish. Elliott did 4 laps and finished 6th place.
Sunday was a two-race day, beginning with the Time Trial. Dan went first and finished 17th place. The real fun was when Elliott was warming up and messed up his bike. Dan had already left for the crit in town, so his bike was unavailable. Dave just happen to bring his bike on the off-chance some parts might be needed. Elliott grabbed it, made a few changes and raced the TT to a first place finish.
The final race was the crit. Dan was already racing by the time, Elliott, Dave and Jacob Tremblay (from Cycor) arrived. Dan finished a great race in 7th place, for a GC of 13th. Elliott started at the back of the pack and pulled off a second place finish to win the GC for the weekend.
Three picture galleries in the 2009 Image Gallery Page: Ephrata Crit, Pain Mountain Time Trial and Middle Creek Road Race. Results are posted as well. Blogs will be posted.
One Win, Two Crits: Syn-Fit and Casey
April 20th, 2009The team was down to one this weekend. Only Elliott raced these two Virginia criteriums. The Syn-Fit was held in an office park in Chantilly and had smooth roads gradual turns and great weather. Elliott failed to sustain a break and finished in the back.
Like the Out Like a Lion weekend, Elliott came back fighting the second day by winning the Casey Criterium for the second year in a row. This time not a solo, but sharing the breakaway with a Team Nature's Path rider.
Photos are up in the 2009 Image Gallery. Results are on the results page and some video is posted on the Race Video Page.
Rock Hill Omnium
April 6th, 2009The past two years Rock Hill was an enormous event. In past years the streets were filled with fans and bystanders. This year was a fraction of the spectators, half the payout and half the participants...in spite of the great weather. Regardless, Elliott turned in a great performance with a third place in a breakaway in the Cat 3 Crit. Dan was having trouble getting going but finished at the back of the pack and Dave posted a 23rd place finish in the Masters 4/5 crit.
Sunday was reversed with Dan finishing 12th and Elliott at the back of the pack. Dave finished at the back again. The Sunday race was a mixed bag. No great finishes, but none of the guys were caught up in any of the spectacular crashes at the finish.
Photos are posted in the 2009 gallery and results are posted.
Jefferson Cup Road Race
March 30th, 2009This is one of the big road races in Virginia, and the team has never been able to schedule it in. Ken has done this race in the past and really enjoyed it. Dan and Ken rode the Cat 4 race and Elliott the Cat Pro/1/2/3 race. All performed well. Ken and Dan finished in the middle of the pack and Elliott had a decent finish in spite of dehydration from missing one feed and dropping the second attempt.
Results ar posted and photos are in the 2009 photo gallery.
Victory! -- Out Like A Lion Road Race and City Park Criterium
March 23rd, 2009The team showed up en masse this weekend: Brian Keegan, Dan Baur, Dave Cobb, Elliott O'Brien, Ken Hewett and Brant Wymond. Brant brought his motor home for our mobile HQ. Operations commenced with the Out Like a Lion Road Race, on Saturday, where Brian had a top-ten finish in near-freezing conditions for the under-35 Cat 5's. Dan, Ken and Dave raced the Cat 4's together for the first time and Elliott was leading through most of the Cat 3 race.
Sunday's City Park Criterium began colder, and Brian Keegan decided to do back-to-back races in freezing weather at 8:00 AM. Brian, with coaching from Brant Wymond, mixed it up with two seperate groups of Cat 5's, with a pack finish in the first race. Dan and Ken had pack finishes in the Cat 4 race and Elliott stomped, mercilessly, on the competition with a 20-plus second lead at the finish of the Cat 3 race.
Images are in the 2009 Gallery page, two videos are on the Video page, Blogs and Results are posted.
News and Updates
March 11th, 2009Brant Wymond has become the team's Sprint Coach and is racing for the team in Cat 1. Brant raced for many years as a pro while living in Texas.
Brant Wymond's son, Shafer, has joined the team as the first junior.
Dan Baur who lives in Richmond and races for the team has moved up to Cat 4. Dan raced with the University of Pittsburgh team before joining the team.
Cullop's Import and Snowball #2
March 9th, 2009Brian Keegan is racing again and he brought the good weather along with. The team participated in two events this weekend: Cullop's Import Criterium, at Bryan Park in Richmond and Snowball Criterium #2 in Virginia Beach.
Cullop's was on Saturday. Dan's mother and Elliott's girlfriend, Julie, came to watch the race, while Dave took some photos. Dan's 4/5 race went off at noon. Dan stuck with the pack throughout and finished without a scratch, though shaken by the bumpy road surface. Elliott did his first 1,2,3 race and finished first in his category and 4th overall and winning a Chipotle Burrito Prime. After the race, the team went to Chipotle and ate the winnings.
After Richmond, we proceeded to Newport News to stay with Brian Keegan, who had been to a Phish concert. We stayed with Brian at the Omni. Sunday morning we went to Virginia Beach and raced in the Snowball Criterium #2. The weather was in the 70's again and perfect. Dan and Brian did the 5 race, which had a couple of crashes (including one participant taken to the hospital). Dan and Brian both took their turns at the head of the race. In the end, Brian had a pack finish and Dan held on to third. Dave and Elliott did the 3/4 race. Dave regrets ever moving to Cat 4, but finished the race, and Elliott finished the B race without incident in 5th place and a prime lap. The team has a well-deserved weekend off and then down to North Carolina on the 21st of March.
We have posted two galleries on the 2009 image gallery page and two videos of the Snowball crit #2 B race
Greenville Training Series -- Fork Shoals Road Race
March 1st, 2009We were really looking forward to a two-day weekend of road racing -- a combination you rarely see in amateur racing. Unfortunately the weather was not cooperating, and the Sunday race was cancelled. The Fork Shoals Road Race went off on schedule. Fields were combined and sent off into the 50-degree pouring rain. Elliott finished 14th, Dan finished 9th and Dave finally finished a race.
The weather was so bad, we didn't bother to take any photos (the one on the right is a shot of Mario Cipollini at the 2008 Tour of California and sums up Dan's impression of the event). We assume the law of averages will give us sun and decent temps for Cullop's and Snowball #2 on the 7th and 8th of March and we will make up for that, with an extra big gallery.
Dan and Dave give their unique perspectives on the weekend in the Blog Section.
The Race That Was Never Supposed To Be -- Snowball #1
February 23rd, 2009Sunday the 22nd was the worst weather we've raced in. The promoters for the Snowball #1 were unable to alert the participants of a cancellation, because BikeReg was offline, and the names of the participants were unavailable.
The races went on as planned, and on time. Dan Baur rode a perfect race and finished 9th. Elliott O'Brien and Dave Cobb rode the Cat 3/4 race an hour later. Dave had a flat 10 laps in and decided not to take the pit wheel in case Elliott needed it. Elliott finished a minute-plus ahead of the pack, nearly lapping them on the .7-mile course. We have more details in the Blog and photos in the image gallery.
Wolfpack Cycling Classic, Raleigh, NC
February 16th, 2009Four members of the team along with supporting staff descended upon Raleigh for NC State's Wolfpack Cycling Classic. The weekend started with a road race on Saturday and Finished with a Crit on Sunday. Brian Keegan, Dan Baur, Dave Cobb and Elliott O'Brien raced in the Cat 5, 4 and 3 races respectively. The weekend offered races for Collegiate as well as Amateur racers.
Brian and Dan took off first and all was well with the two of the in the front when a rider cut off Brian, touched wheels and down went Brian and Dan. The two rolled to the finish with scrapes and cuts, but nothing too serious. Brian and Dan still managed to finish 23rd and 24th respectively.
Elliott started his Cat 3 race without incident, and completed the 54-mile race leading, following and ultimately getting boxed in on at the end with an 18-place finish.
Dave started the Cat 4 race, with the intention of staying with the peloton, but after the 4th hill dropped back, lost rack of the peloton and missed a turn with some other riders because of an absent race marshal. This lead to a 25-mile trek to find the race again and Dave rolled in having done a 40-mile lap instead of the 18-mile lap on the course. End of day One.
For more on the race, we are going to post reports on the blog. Check that out soon. Photos from the weekend are posted in the 2009 image gallery.
Elliott O'Brien Wins Bike-a-thon
February 14th, 2009The Rockbride Area YMCA held a bike-a-thon to raise money for 15 new spin bikes. There were 36 participants riding a cumulative 1,250 miles, the equivalent of riding fro Lexington to Key West. The winner for the longest contiuous ride was Elliott. He managed to ride contnuously for 9.5 hours. The event raise over $5000.00 toward the new bikes.
The Washington and Lee Cycling Club Needs You!
December 12th, 2008Cycling is an expensive sport. Bikes, uniforms, equipment, travel, entry fees and accomodations all add up. As a club, Would you like to help Team Traveller? One quick and easy way is to Bookmark this pagethe members cover most of these expenses rather than the school. To make the sport more accessible, we are always looking to offset our expenses. Sponsors and donations help with gear, travel, entry fees. If you are an alumnus or friend and want to help the University Cycling Club, you may make a tax-deductible donation by going to How to Make Your Gift to W&L and indicate it is for the "Cycling Club (Team Traveller)" in the Special Instructions section.
If you don't want to make a donation, but would still like to help, we are always looking for hosts near our races. Every dollar saved from hotel expenses can be directed toward entering more races. We have several alumni who already help us with accomodations in Pennsylvania, Massachussets and Texas, but we are looking for help in other areas. If you are near Raleigh North Carolina, Greenville South Carolina, Virginia Beach, Richmond, Rock Hill South Carolina, Greenville North Carolina or Cape May, New Jersey, we'd be thrilled with your assistance.
Another way to help the team is to Bookmark this page or add our link to your website. This helps us get the word out to more alumni and friends.
If you have any questions, please contact us at team@teamtraveller.com. Thanks again to all the alumni that have helped us with donations and lodging.
Washington and Lee University Cycling Club | PO Box 994 | Lexington, VA 24450
Email team@teamtraveller.com
