CRFP concluded their week of cycling events at the World Police & Fire Games Yesterday in New York City.  The games coincided with the 10th remembrance of 9/11, which participants thought would make it a truly memorable event.  Unfortunately, hurricane Irene, and lack of planning by organizers, made it a memorable event for the wrong reasons. Events were originally planned to start August 27, but were postponed due to the hurricane.

CRFP members Bryan Stottlemyer, Dan Shaw, Ramon Colon, Jason Wehmeyer, DJ Brew, Woody Waite, and Dennis Short were scheduled to compete in the criterium, time trial, sprints, hill climb, road race, & mountain bike race at this years games.  Due to hurricane Irene, the mountain bike race was canceled and Wehmeyer was unable to compete.

After a few days of waiting, the competition finally got underway on Tuesday with the time trial. Dan Shaw, Ramon Colon, and Dennis Short were representing the team in the event.  Poor communication and lack of proper timing equipment caused major problems throughout the day.  Start times for the riders had been changed, but organizers failed to notify the riders about the change.

Short’s start time was 30 minutes earlier than previously posted, leaving him little time to warm up.  The change didn’t affect him much.  Short set a personal best pace and placed 6th in the event.  Shaw wasn’t notified of his time change either and wasn’t able to make his start. Organizers reassigned him another start time and he completed his timed run, but race officials in the timing booth missed him crossing the finish line so he wasn’t scored for the event.  Colon showed up for the event, but wasn’t able to compete because of the onset of a medical condition. He sought medical treatment at a local hospital and returned home the next day.  He is doing fine and is expected to be back on the bike soon.

Wednesday had two events, the criterium and the sprints.  Bryan Stottlemyer, Woody Waite, and Dennis Short represented the team in the Criterium.  The event was delayed by two hours because of issues with street closures.  Once the streets were properly closed and safe, the event was underway.  It started fast, as expected, with attacks coming on every lap.  Eventually a breakaway of 6 riders got away and the CRFP team worked together, along with two riders from FDNY, in a chase group to bring it back.  The gap grew to 50 seconds, but the chase was unable to gain any ground.  In the closing laps they picked up one rider that was dropped from the breakaway.  The chase group was racing for 6th place.  On the bell lap, Waite was on the front working hard for most of the lap and peeled off with about 500 meters to go.  FDNY took over the lead out and the sprint started at about 200 meters with Short finishing 7th, Stottlemyer 9th, and Waite 12th.

The sprints started in the afternoon.  Normally they are conducted with qualify rounds and then a medal round, but with time restrictions the organizers decided to conduct one sprint for all riders in each category.  Short was representing CRFP in the 800 meter sprint.  At the start, Short was in good position staying close to the front.  The full sprint started with about 250 meters to go.  Short moved up to 4th, but was unable to pass the 3rd place rider.

The hill climb was on Thursday.  A 1 mile uphill time trial with an average gradient of 9%.  Short represented the team in the event, and placed 9th.

Friday was the road race in Central Park.  Once again, the event was delayed because organizers failed to obtain enough course marshals.  Bryan Stottlemyer, Woody Waite, Dan Shaw, DJ Brew, and Dennis Short were representing CRFP in the event.  The race started off just like the crit, with attacks coming hard and fast.  Originally scheduled for 6 laps, the race was shortened to 4 because of time constraints.  On the second lap, on Harlem Hill, the race broke apart.  Brew stayed with the leading group and was looking strong.  With approximately 600 meters to go a rider went off the front and Brew gave chase.  He was unable to close the gap and then the sprint for the line started.  Brew finished 7th.  The organizers decided not to score anyone else in the race, so the other members didn’t get a placing.

The next World Games will be held in Belfast, Ireland in 2013.

CRFP Cycling would like to thank their sponsors Spokes Etc., Max Muscle, Wells P Wilson Photography, and MaxxEdge Cycling for their support.

The following is a letter sent to Alexandria Fire Chief Adam Thiel by Alex Wurm, M.D. who was badly injured in a crash during a MTB race at Wakefield Park.  CRFP’s Jason Wehmeyer was in first place when he heard the crash behind him.  He heard Dr. Wurm’s urgent cry for help and went back to assist.

Dear Adam Thiel,

I am writing to describe to you the impressive character of one of your fire captains, Jason Wehmeyer, at my accident.  I’ll try to paint a brief picture for you.  I just this year got into mountain bike racing after years of riding.  I wanted to pack as many in this season before the birth of my second daughter (my wife is 7 mo. pregnant).  In any case at a mtb in wakefield park on Sunday July 24, I got off to a great start quickly drafting in second place off the leader in my age category.  I felt awesome, we were passing multitudes of riders who started 3 min ahead of us.  Roughly 3-4 miles into a 6 mile lap I wiped out crashing to the inside of a descending switchback landing hard on my right hip.  I struggled for an instant to “pop back” onto the bike like I have in several other crashes, only to feebly smash face first back to the dirt.  My body knew something was gravely wrong and I shouted for help as I lay immobile partially within the tricky single track section.  I feel like one to two riders from behind nearly hit me as they maneuvered past me.

Then help arrived from the forward direction.  He claimed he was an EMT in Alexandria and immediately got to work pulling my bike off the trail and making me as comfortable as possible.  I recognized the jersey that I had been following for the last several miles and realized the leader of the race had come back for me.  It was Jason Wehmeyer.   I was stunned by the level of sportsmanship I was witnessing.  The reaming series of events were a blur.  Jason contacted race officials slowed down advancing riders who threatened to wipe out themselves or run into me.  The race had provided their own EMT and the two of them worked out the complexities of the extraction (hilly single track under power lines no ambulance access etc.)  Honestly I don’t have the words to describe my gratitude of having Jason come back for me.  The rest of the crew was great, but Jason seemed to stand head over shoulders above the rest.  I was impressed with his leadership skills and abilities.  He provided me shade, standing in front of me, took off my helmet, shoes and socks, all of which greatly eased my discomfort.  Being an Interventional radiologist, I was almost positive that I had dislocated my right hip due to the mechanics of the fall and was in a significant amount of pain.  The greatest thing Jason did was distract me from the pain by conversation.  I even remember him making me laugh at moments despite the agony.  Jason stayed until the EMTs showed up despite having to work himself at noon that day.  He also took personal responsibility for my possessions including my bike and delivered them to the race officials.

I was taken to Inova fairfax where they discovered a horrible shattered right hip (comminuted displaced inter and sub-trochanteric femur fracture).  I was as shocked as anyone, I did not think the fall had the energy to cause that level of damage.  The trauma guys were great and I underwent surgery later that day with an intramedullary rod, 2 horizontal stabilizing screws, 2 intertrochanteric nails, and a transtibial retracting pin.  Now I’m recovering uneventfully at home struggling to find the right words to say to my pregnant wife whom I should be taking care of.

In summary I just wanted to extend praise to you and Jason.  You guys must be doing something really right there selecting and developing such character attributes as Jason’s to so unselfishly abandon his race victory to provide such skilled service and leadership during my crisis.   He has truly inspired me to be a better person.   I have been in contact with Jason and he is so humble he would not give me his address to send a thank you card, so I was hoping you may know of an office address where I could send one.

Sincerely,

Alex Wurm, M.D.

CRFP Cycling would like to thank their sponsors Spokes Etc., Max Muscle, Wells P Wilson Photography, and MaxxEdge Cycling for their support.

Chuck Ryan and Tony Mills of CRFP rode in the US Air Force Cycling Classic Crystal Ride this morning in Arlington, VA.  The course was a 7.5 mile loop around Crystal City, the Pentagon, and the Air Force Monument.  The two completed 31.75 miles during the ride.

CRFP Cycling would like to thank their sponsors Spokes Etc., Max Muscle, Wells P Wilson Photography, and MaxxEdge Cycling for their support.

Dennis Short traveled to Leonardtown, MD for the 2011 Leonardtown Criterium.  The course was a .7 mile loop through the streets of Leonardtown.

The race went pretty smooth from the start.  Two guys broke away from the field early, but no one was willing to take up the chase.  It came down to a field sprint for 3rd place and Short held on for 5th.

CRFP Cycling would like to thank their sponsors Spokes Etc., Max Muscle, Wells P Wilson Photography, and MaxxEdge Cycling for their support.

CRFP fielded two teams for the 9 Hours of Cranky Monkey MTB race at Rocky Gap State Park in MD.  Ryan Kephart, Larry Miller, and Vince Smith competed in the 3 person male category, while Dan Schultz and Tony DeMarinis competed in the 2 person male category.

Early in the race, Kephart’s carbon frame broke in half which put him out of the race, leaving Miller and Smith to compete as a 2 person team in a 3 person category.  Both put in an amazing effort to finish 6th in the 9 hour race.

Schultz and DeMarinis had a solid performance as well in the 2 person category finishing 11th.

CRFP Cycling would like to thank their sponsors Spokes Etc., Max Muscle, Wells P Wilson Photography, and MaxxEdge Cycling for their support.

Steve Collins, Bryan Stottlemyer, and Dennis Short headed to Cascade, MD for the 4th Annual Fort Ritchie Classic Criterium today.  The course was a 1.3 kilometer loop with 6 turns and was held on the grounds of the former military installation.

In the morning, Short raced the Masters III/IV race finishing 8th.  In the afternoon, Short was joined by Collins and Stottlemyer for the Senior IV race.  Just a few laps into the race, Collins had a mechanical problem and was unable to continue.  Short & Stottlemyer performed well, but in the closing laps were unable to move up in the field, and finished 26th & 27th.

CRFP Cycling would like to thank their sponsors Spokes Etc., Max Muscle, Wells P Wilson Photography, and MaxxEdge Cycling for their support.

CRFP’s Jason Wehmeyer, Vince Smith, and Dan Schultz teamed up for the 12 hours of Lodi MTB race today at Lodi Farm in Fredericksburg, VA.  The team competed in the 3 Person Male category, and completed 10 laps during the 12 hour race.

The weather was perfect throughout most of the race until the later hours when it started to rain.  With no major problems to speak of for the 12 hours of racing, the team put in a solid performance to finish in 6th Place.

CRFP Cycling would like to thank their sponsors Spokes Etc., Max Muscle, Wells P Wilson Photography, and MaxxEdge Cycling for their support.

CRFP Cycling is proud to announce the support of Spokes Etc. Bicycles for the 2011 season.  Spokes Etc is one of the finest bicycle shops in the mid-Atlantic region, and is the exclusive bicycle shop sponsor of the Capital Region Fire & Police Cycling Team.

Spokes Etc. takes pride in offering the best customer service in the Washington, D.C. area.  Their sales associates are friendly, service oriented and very knowledgeable in the sport of cycling.

They keep a large inventory of bicycles, which include brands such as Trek, Specialized, Seven, Salsa, Surly and Serotta, to accommodate everyone, from children to adults.  If you haven’t become a Spokes customer yet, we hope you will soon by visiting one of their 5 store locations in Fairfax, Alexandria, Ashburn, Vienna, or Belle View.

For more information on store locations, products and services provided by Spokes Etc., please visit their website at spokesetc.com.

CRFP Cycling would like to thank their sponsors Max Muscle, Spokes Etc. and Wells P Wilson Photography for their support.

CRFP’s Dan Shultz, Jason Wehmeyer, Vince Smith and Jonny Wood headed to Leesburg, Va this morning for the Snotcycle MTB Race, or was it a walk?  The Temp was just below 30 degrees for the 8am start, and there was about 5″ of snow on the entire course.  Smith and Wood in Cat 3 were to complete 1 lap of the 10 mile course, while Shultz and Wehmeyer were to complete 2 laps.  The conditions were so bad, that race organizers cut the Cat 2 race down to 1 lap.

The guys were thinking the snow would get packed down after the start…wrong!  They, along with everyone else, ended up walking and carrying their bikes for about 8 of the 10 miles.  Smith had made snow chains for his tires, which were pretty cool.  despite the slips, slides and crashes, the team had a blast riding the last 2 miles.

With the freezing temperatures and snowy conditions, this years Snotcycle was definitely a tough race.  Between Cat 2 and 3 there were 82 racers that did not finish.  The CRFP team didn’t give up though, they gutted it out and did their team and sponsors proud. Good work guys!

Cat 2 (76 racers) 40 DNF, 8 DNS

Wehmeyer- 19th (2:02:20)

Schultz- 28th (2:16:40)

Cat 3 (71 racers) 42 DNF, 4 DNS

Smith-7th (2:18:59)

Wood-13th (2:34:32)

CRFP Cycling would like to thank their sponsors Max Muscle, Wells P Wilson Photography, and MaxxEdge Cycling for their support.

CRFP was on the trail today, but not for a ride. It was trail work day at Fountainhead Regional Park in Fairfax Station, VA and CRFP was there to help. The work was part of the $300,000 Fountainhead Revitalization Project.

Volunteers moved lumber from the parking lot about 1.5 miles into the woods. The lumber will be used to construct new ladder bridges and skills areas on the trail. By utilizing volunteers to move the lumber, the project saved approximately $2,000, which can be used towards the actual construction.

To find out more about the Fountainhead Project visit their website at www.fountainheadproject.org.

CRFP Cycling would like to thank their sponsors Max Muscle, Wells P Wilson Photography, and MaxxEdge Cycling for their support.