admin – Team Mandalore

ratl 4 and a series 2nd place!

Big news this weekend for the 3 Mandalores in attendance at RATL#4. Robbie raced for the first time & Brian placed 18 our of 36 in his 3rd crit! The mens Cat5 race was in pretty crummy conditions – rain and about 40 degrees – and the boys both did a great job! Robbie, Rae says she’s really sorry she pinned your number upside down 😉

In the womens 4/5 field, Rae managed to eek out enough points to place second overall for the series (a first for her and for Team Mandalore) and reports that the weather was MUCH better for her race. It’s nice when the ladies get the good weather!

What’s up next for the Mighty Mandalorians? This is a rare off weekend for the team, but there will be group rides and adventuring before we get back to racing. EOTT begins this month in Deerfield and the first of June will bring us the Parkside races in Twinsburg.

We’ve also committed to supporting the FU5K CANCER trail race in Kent on May 23rd. Sign up here to help us support Colin Cares! Say hi when you see us scrambling around in the woods, likely confused, as we try to figure out what running is. In all honesty, they sold us with “there is beer after.”

RATL 2 & 3 Report

Team Mandalore is having a blast with Summit Freewheelers at their Races At The Lake Series. Race #2 was a first time in a large criterium field for Brian, our zoomiest Cat5 and Race #3 was the first for our foundling, Quinn.

For both races, Rae spent time with her galpals in ladies 3/4 and put a blistering 18.1 mph average on the locally contested “S River Slog” Strava segment. 2 seconds off the leader, not bad for an old meatball.

pretty sure we promised you you’d be able to find our jersey!!!

The beginning of May also brought the delivery of our new SE roadbike, which is going to young Quinn to get her started on what we know will be a long and happy road racing career!

Q is lucky to have former pro, Duncan Oliver, around to help her learn how to use the Garmin cause it’s a mystery to the rest of us goons!

Quinn is training with Stacy Rhea – Health Coach Rhea – to build her endurance, take advantage of her young muscle building ability and learn great nutrition for sports performance. Stacy’s amazing, definitely check out her training plans! Or if you’re a lady, come on out to the Cleveland Velodrome Women’s Weekend to get a taste of her coaching.

Q & Rae zooming at the lake! Thanks so much to our teammate, Dave, for taking photos during the Womens 4/5 race! Check out his work at facebook.com/yellowMTB

weekend wrap up: let’s go do the back to back back back

this weekend saw Mandos at Summit Freewheelers’ Races at the Lake and Headwinds Cycling’s Ohio Hill Climb Challenge. Fine weather and fine friends in the great state of Ohio!

Rae hates criterium, but the sense of desperation for fun after a long 2020 convinced her to enter RATL. Not DFL, but definitly DFF (down for fun!) Rae spent some time with former Team Stelleri teammates and friends from Ohio Bicycle Club, Summit Freewheelers & Team Litzler.

yeah, Rae may have placed 9th out of 10 but just being out with friends for the first time in over a year was worth it!

Sunday’s big adventure was a long haul down to fabulous Zanesfield, OH for the first Ohio Hill Climb Challenge. Brian, Rae & Quinn all competed in their first ever hill climbing time trial. Rae beat enough people, but not enough to get a prize. Quinn made INCREDIBLE time up that hill (for a kid on a borrowed bike & flat pedals who’s never done a TT) and impressed everyone with her enthusiasm and grit.

Best news, though, is Brian’s scorching 7 minute run got him a solid third place in mens cat5. This was Brian’s FIRST EVER competitive event and Team Mandalore’s FIRST podium of the year. When asked how he was feeling after, he beamed at us and squealed, “THIS IS SO MUCH FUN!!!!” We love that spirit!

We can’t do this without our sponsors. As the season kicks off, we want to tip our collective hats to all the fine people who help make this rag tag army of fun chasers able to race: