RESULTS


2009-09-28   McCrea and Ellis kickin it Cross!-- Sunday was about a wet and muddy as it could get... perfect weather for cyclocross! Two UPMC riders scored well at separate rain-soaked events. Jake McCrea took 1st in the intermediate/sport category of Sunday's Month of Mud Cross at Raccoon Township. This was Jake's first time riding a cross bike, let alone his first time racing cross. Even so, he was awarded a 40# sandbag by one local racer after Jake handily defeated the rest of the pack ;)

Greg Ellis took 3rd in Mens 55+ at the Ed Sander Memorial Cyclocross Event hosted by the National Capital Velo Club in Adamstown, MD. As Ellis put it, "The race was outstanding, a great course and plenty of spectators, with racers from up and down the mid Atlantic in attendance. Held in true Belgium style on a cool rainy day, there was an abundance of free beer and waffles, minus the Flemish language and smoking."

It is great to see UPMC riders excel across all cycling disciplines, including road race, time trail, cyclocross, and mountain biking. Clearly a force to be reckoned with! 

2009-09-25   TT and 24h MTB-- Even though the road season is winding down, September marks a very successful month of racing for Team UPMC. Johnny Crawford won the Seven Springs 24 Hour Champion Challenge as part of a four man mountain bike expert team. Skip Rogers won gold at the PA State Masters (M55-59) Time Trial Championship. The same day, Jake McCrea and Eric Milbrandt took 2nd and 3rd in the G20 Prologue TT. Up in Erie, Eric Milbrandt took the overall win at the Presque Isle 12.5 mile TT, posting a blazing fast 26:29. Skip Rogers placed 5th overall and 1st in M55-59 at the same event. Many on the team are doing Cross events in the coming weeks. Check back here for results. 

2009-08-29   UPMC smashes 4-man 20 mile TTT record!-- The four man team of Hodos, Milbrandt, Rogers, and Rutledge smashed the 4-man 40k team time trial record at the Oval Friday night to the cheers of teammates, friends, and family. The old record, set just last year, was 43:10. The new record 41:58!!! It was a blazing fast night and the threatened rain never materialized. With this record, all 3/4-man TTT records at the Oval are under UPMC control :) 

2009-08-28   UPMC wins Oval B series team title, individual 2nd, 3rd, 7th.-- It all came down to the final B points race Wed at the Oval, the P-course! It was a blistering fast race with Grystar, Rutledge, Flink, and Milbrandt duking it out for the series title. UPMC teammates Rogers and McCrea kept the attacks in check, setting up the others for a final two lap sprint fest. In the end, Carl Flink (Steel City) barely edged out the competition and took the series individual title, with Rutledge, Milbrandt, and Crawford taking 2nd, 3rd, and 7th in the series. Team UPMC readily grabbed the series title, accomplishing the goal set many months ago! 

2009-08-22   UPMC dominates 25 mile TT at the Oval-- Friday night was total domination by Team UPMC at the 25 mile individual TT at the Oval. It was a near perfect night, with the day's wind dying down in time for the race. A good turnout, probably 25 riders or so. Despite the heat, it was a very fast night, with 9 riders turning in sub-hour times. In the end, we took the top 4 spots (Milbrandt 1st, Hodos 2nd, Rogers 3rd, and Rutledge 4th). We so dominated the race that race organizer Oscar Swan jokingly threatened to ban UPMC b/c we were just too fast ;) Milbrandt almost broke the course record, missing the mark by just 3 seconds posting a 54:01. Fresh off winning gold and silver at the Senior Olympics, Skip Rogers had the distinct honor of posting a time of his age in minutes (55). Thankfully that's not the mark for a 39 year old!

Next Friday the same four team members plan to demolish the 4 man 20 mile team TT record. Should be fun! 

2009-08-17   McCrea has excellent weekend at Wine Country Classic-- Jake McCrea posted strong results at the Wine Country Classic, in a two day stage race just east of Erie, PA. Jake raced the Cat 2/3 field and got 5th in the 8 mile TT, 10th in the crit, and 7th in the road race. Final GC results are pending. 

2009-08-11   Skip Rogers takes gold at Senior Games!!!-- Skip Rogers took gold in the Senior Games M50-54 5k TT in San Francisco, CA! Beating two time National TT champion John Navitsky by 1 second, Skip laid down a blistering 6:44 (27.6 mph) on the challenging course. Skip also took silver in the 10k TT, 5th in the 40k road race, and 7th in the 20k road race. Congratulations, Skip! It is an honor to have a national champion in our midst! 

2009-08-10   Too much to mention...-- There have been so many good results being posted by UPMC riders lately that I may have missed a few. Noteable recent activity is Skip Rogers placing 5th in the Senior Olympics Road Race in a very tough crowd. Can't wait to see him light it up in the TT, his specialty.

Speaking of TT's, UPMC's 4-man team (Skip Rogers, Eric Hodos, Glenn Snyder, Kevan Rutledge) demolished their previous 10-mile TTT record (21:40), by recording a 21:08, Friday, July 31 at the Oval.

Jake McCrea took 7th place in the cat 3/4 race at the 7th annual Zoar Road Race on Sunday, August 2 in Zoar, OH. Jake was fortunate enough to avoid some serious finish line crash carnage. Our thoughts are with those who were not as fortunate.

Glenn Snyder took 5th overall and 1st in the M50+ at the Carlisle TT Sunday, August 2. Glenn laid down a smokin' time of 54:38.00 over the 40k course, or 27.3 mph.

And finally, our own Kevan Rutledge took a last lap flyer and handily won the B race at the oval Wed, August 5th. Kevan's strong performance solidified our lead in the team series, putting us 20 points over the next closest team and himself 3 points up over teammate Eric Milbrandt for the individual title. With only three races left to go in the series, it should be a very intersting August! 

2009-07-28   West Virginia Rocks (and so does the Oval)!-- An excellent day of racing Saturday down in rural West Virginia at the Lost River Classic Road Race. Excellent turnout, well organized, very friendly locals, great course. McCrea and Milbrandt did the cat 4 race, which was 3 laps around a 10 mile course with two big climbs per lap. The lead group split after the first major climb to about 15 riders, but never got any smaller than that. McCrea impressed everyone on the course with some fearless descents down a very steep ~1.5 mile drop on narrow bumpy roads w/ blind turns and rollers. Both riders pushed the pace hard, working their own paceline for large portions of the flats and finally browbeating the others into some semblance of a working pace line on the last lap. The finish was an all out sprint up a 1 mile climb of 6% grade which topped out at 9-10% in the final 200m. McCrea and Milbrandt hit the hammer hard, being bested by only one rider from Philly (Team Cippo) and leaving the others in the dust. In the end, Milbrandt took 2nd and McCrea a very close 3rd. 

Earlier in the week, the UPMC Blue Train rolled through the Oval at the Wed night B race. The killer leadout train delivered a 1-2 punch, with Milbrandt taking 1st and Crawford 2nd in a photo finish between the two. With these placings, we again took command of the B series team title. Five more races to go... lookout Steel City and Iron City!

2009-07-13   UPMC cleans up in weekend of racing-- UPMC dominated area races over the weekend. Jake McCrea and Kevin Rutledge showed them how it's done at the Tour of the Valley in Ohio, a three day stage race. McCrea took the overall GC title for Cat 4/5 while Rutledge took 4th in Cat 3. Both guys dominated their individual races, including two crits, a road race, and time trial. The race enjoyed local newspaper coverage.

Elsewhere, Eric Milbrandt took 1st place and KOM in the Cat 4/5 Renfrew Ras up in Butler. Climbing the "Alpe d'Butler" proved to be the deciding factor, with each successive lap shelling off contenders. The final sprint came down to a 9-man free for all, with Milbrandt outkicking number two by two bike lengths. Milbrandt is a relative new-comer to road racing and this was his first road race win... hopefully with many more to come.

Also at Renfrew, teammate Eric Hodos took 5th and Luke Dembosky 10th in a challenging Men's 40+ division. Full results are here. 

2009-07-10   Racing update and the secret lives of UPMC racers-- UPMC continues its domination at the Oval, with Rutledge, Milbrandt, and Crawford taking 1st, 4th, and 7th this week in the B race Wed night.

More than just gearheads, UPMC cyclists are giving back to the community with a diversity of day jobs. One of our teammates, Dr. Rodosky, just repaired the shoulder of a certain famous Penguin. Another, Assistant US Attorney Luke Demboskey, helped bring to justice The Iceman, a hacker who stole 1.8 million credit card numbers. Our riders include doctors, attorneys, architects, a construction worker, an environmental engineer, a professional photographer, and a dentist. One rider is even retired (watch our for him... he's lethal in the time trial). 

2009-06-25   P-course domination!-- The racing was fast and furious last night at the Oval for the first B race P-course for points. Rutledge took 1st in a stunning late break, crossing the line well ahead of the 2nd place man. Milbrandt took the field sprint and 3rd overall after spending most of the race in a two man break before being joined by Rutledge. Rounding out the top ten was Skip Rogers, who took 8th place, and Jake McCrea, who took 10th. I predict more domination for UPMC on the P. Can't wait 'til next month! 

2009-06-22   TT and Fort Cherry-- UPMC Cycling took 3 of the top 6 spots at Friday's 20-mile TT at the Oval, with Rogers, Rutledge, and Ellis taking 1st, 2nd, and 6th, respectively. Sunday at Fort Cherry, McCrea took 4th overall in the Cat 4/5 race. Rogers took 7th and Snyder 9th in a very competative Mens 45+. Official results are posted here. 

2009-06-16   Weekly update-- Milbrandt took 4th and Crawford 6th at the Oval B race this past week. The P-course returns next week and should be a healthy serving of pain. Ellis took 5th in 55+ at the Oxford Road Race Saturday. Snyder, Rogers, and Ellis all had strong showings at the 40k Carlisle TT. 

2009-06-09   Points, TT, and Grand Prix-- Opening day for points at the Oval last Wednesday was a cold and rain soaked affair. Definitely a character builder. Rutledge showed just how tough he is, pulling out a solid 5th place in a race that was just a bit crazy at times. Over the weekend, UPMC made a strong showing at the Oval for the PMVC 10-mile individual TT, with Rutledge taking 1st (21:51), Milbrandt 4th (22:24), and Ellis 8-9th (22:55) out of a field of 30. And finally, out in Oakmont at the Riverview Grand Prix Sunday, Milbrandt took 7th out of 46 on the turn-filled course of the Cat 4/5 race. 

2009-05-27   Weekly Update-- Ehler takes 6th place at Aliqippa this past weekend in Cat 4/masters, while Rutledge takes 2nd and Milbrandt 8th in the B's, and Snyder takes 5th in A's at the Oval. Next week is the first points race at the Oval. With the full Blue Train back in action, there should be plenty of pain to dole out :) 

2009-05-22   P-licious-- Wed night was the first time for the P course in the Oval B race. What an intense ride! UPMC was well represented, with Rutledge taking 1st, Rogers 6th, McCrea 8th, Milbrandt 12th, and Ellis 13th (after going down in one of the turns!). McCrea was the highlight of the race, bunny-hopping over a downed rider, mowing some infield grass, then returning to the straightaway to sprint for the finish. Hopefully this challenging course will be part of the B points series this year! 

2009-05-11   Weekend report-- Ellis took second in M55 at Uniongrove out east, while back in southwest PA, Aliquippa proved a tough opponent, with Milbrandt flatting out of Cat 4/5 with 2 1/2 laps to go and Dembosky having to bail 300m from the Cat 1/2/3 finish to avoid a crash. McCrea looks to have landed 8th place in Cat 4/5 judging by the race pics, but official results are still pending. Sure wish they would have snapped a photo of him riding a wheelie over the railroad tracks! 

2009-04-27   Weekend Update-- It was a beautiful day in Erie, PA at the Presque Isle TT. There were 154 competators of all ages and abilities. UPMC was well-represented. Rutledge took 1st in his age group and 7th overall. Hodos took 2nd in age group and 13th overall. Milbrandt took 3rd in age group and 21st overall. The Hodos kids also did quite well, with Nick placing 5th in his age group and Ann taking 1st in hers! Click here for full results.

 Elsewhere in the state... Skip Rogers took second overall for M55+ at the 2-day, 3-stage Tour de Ephrata. Snyder took 19th in M45+. Nice work, guys! Full results are here.

2009-04-23   Rutledge takes 1st in B-- Making it look all too easy, Kevin Rutledge simply rode away from the competition and took 1st at the Oval B race Wed night. Rounding out the top ten were Rogers at 6th and Milbrandt at 8th. Hodos made a rare guest appearance, taking time away from the pool to ride a few warm-up laps w/ the team before the race. 

2009-04-20   Weekly update-- Milbrandt and Rutledge took 3rd and 6th in B's at the Oval last week, while Snyder was part of a four man break that lapped the A's with 20 laps to go, placing 3rd overall!

Saturday in Ohio at the Race at the Lake, Rogers took 3rd in a combined Men's 35+ field, winning the field sprint just a few seconds behind the two man break, proving he's not just a lead-out guy!

Sunday At Mingo, Rutledge placed 7th Cat 1/2/3. Dembosky placed 5th in Men 40-49. Rogers, Ehler, and Ellis placed in the top ten in Men's 50+. McCrea placed 15th in Cat 4/5 in an exciting sprint finish! Click here for complete results 

2009-04-13   Ellis and McCrea score big at Morgantown-- The Blue Train rolled through Mountaineer Territory this weekend at the Mortgantown Road Race, one of the toughest courses in the area. Both Ellis and McCrea scored big in the 47 mile race, with a large field encompassing racers from throughout PA, WV, and DC! Ellis took 1st in men's 55-59 while McCrea took 5th in Cat 4/5 in what proved to be a wild sprint finish! Official results are here. 

2009-04-08   Oval race report-- UPMC was well represented at the Oval tonight. Rutledge took 1st in the B's in a 3 man break, while Milbrandt took 4th, winning the field sprint thanks to an excellent leadout by Rogers. Rogers did a little double dipping tonight, racing both the B's and A's, taking 6th in B's and 7th in the A's. More results here. 

2009-04-06   Strong weekend for UPMC riders-- Ellis took 3rd in Men's 55+ at Fawn Grove Roubaix, just behind the men's National Champ! At Mingo, the sun was shining and the bikes were flying... Ehler took 5th in men's 50+ despite a mechanical, while Rutledge took 5th in Cat 1-2-3 and Milbrandt took 6th in Cat 4-5. More results here. 

2009-03-29   Mingo Road Race Results-- Rutledge takes 7th (Cat 1-2-3). Milbrandt takes 11th (Cat 4-5). A classic Mingo RR, complete w/ cold, rain, and lots of flats. More results here. 

2009-03-14   Skip Rogers and Greg Ellis take 1st and 2nd in M55+ at the Farmersville Road Race--