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Ian Clarke sprints to the Cubs Criterium win in Bennington. For more photos from the cycling team, find the KMS Cycling Team on Facebook.
The cycling team has continued its string of successes with a podium sweep at Holderness, top finishes at Gould Academy and top-10 results in college racing at UNH, leading up to last weekend's Tour of the Dragons, in which KMS riders took a handful of top-10 results.
KMS racers swept the top three spots on the day in April 25's Holderness road race. Peter Vollers, Jr., took the win in the 20-mile race and was joined on the Men's A podium by Brendan Rhim (2) and Ansel Dickey (3); Erin Donohue took second in Women's A, while Tommy Shebell took second in Men's B and Ian Clarke was second in Men's C. Alden Suokko (12) and Kenny McNeill (16) rounded out the top-30 finishes in Men's A.
The following Saturday, racing continued in Maine, as Gould Academy held its annual Grafton Notch Challenge. Starting alongside the Androscoggin River and then winding upwards into scenic Grafton Notch, the course provides visual and visceral reminders of New England's geography. Brendan Rhim stepped up with the Men's A win, while Ansel Dickey took third in the top class; Peter Vollers, Jr., rounded out the top 10, while Kenny McNeill took 12th and Alden Suokko 16th. Erin Donohue won the women's race, while Tommy Shebell took fifth and John Ramsay eighth in Men's B.
Moving on to Sunday's ECCC Criterium Championship, Brendan took third behind racers from the University of Pittsburgh and Princeton University, while Ansel took fifth. Erin took 11th in Women's A, while Peter won the Men's B race ahead of racers from Harvard, Lehigh and the University of New Hampshire; Alden rounded out the top 30.
A week later, the team arrived at Bennington's Tour of the Dragons and came up with many of the junior field awards. Brendan took the time trial and King of the Mountain titles en route to the overall win, while Ansel won the criterium, the road race and the sprint leader's jersey. Erin took second in the criterium and the road race to finish fifth overall, while Peter took 10th, Kenny 13th, Alden 22nd and Tommy 24th overall. Ian Clarke, racing in his USACycling-sanctioned event race, took the win in the Cubs Criterium.
After strong showings in several categories at New York's Tour of the Battenkill, cycling team riders took top-five finishes at the West Point criterium and then returned to ECCC racing this weekend with seven podium finishes at Dartmouth's L'Enfer du Nord race weekend.
At Battenkill, Brendan Rhim was part of a two-rider break about halfway through the race and was as much as two minutes ahead of the peloton. As they approached the last climb with a minute's lead over the main group, a second breakaway group of Canadian riders caught up and passed the leading pair, but Brendan was able to stay ahead of the main peloton and finish in seventh position. After "great work blocking for Brendan," Ansel brought what was left of the main peloton home and won his group sprint to take 14th in the junior 17-18 category. Peter Vollers, Jr., rode to a 13th-place finish in the 15-16 men's group and was joined in the top 25 by Alden Suokko, who took 22nd; Erin Donahue took 21st in Women's Category 3.
After finishing a full day of racing at Battenkill, the team headed to West Point for the Army criterium. Peter Vollers, Jr., scored fifth in the men's B race while Brendan and Ansel worked what Coach Vollers described as a "picture-perfect" leadout on the last lap for second and fourth, not only putting them in the top five but also into USA Cycling's weekly collegiate racing wrapup.
Eastern Collegiate Cycling Conference (ECCC) racing resumed this past weekend for Dartmouth's L'Enfer du Nord series. Racing began with a fast, 2.8-mile individual time trial. Brendan beat the Men's A field by 13 seconds to take the win, while Erin took third in the Women's A race. Peter Vollers, Jr., just missed the podium with a fourth-place finish in Men's B and was joined in the top 30 by Alden Suokko, while Tommy Shebell took 13th in Men's C.
The team continued to accumulate podiums in the afternoon's criterium, with Peter Vollers, Jr., just missing the win and taking second in a field-sprint finish. Ansel won the field sprint in Men's A to take third after a great leadout by Brendan, and Erin took fifth in the Women's A field. In Sunday's road race, Peter Vollers, Jr., capped off an impressive weekend with the Men's B win; Erin took third in Women's A, while Alden was seventh in Men's B and Ansel 11th in Men's A.
Brendan Rhim kicked off the Lux et Velocitas race weekend at Yale University with a second-place finish in the time trial, just 10 seconds behind Erik Levinsohn of Williams College. Ansel Dickey took 17th in the race, while Peter Vollers, Jr., had a strong run in the men's B division to take fourth and Erin Donohue was fifth in women's A. Alden Suokko rounded out the team results in 16th.
Pushing their recoveries from the uphill time trial, racers moved into a "brutal" road race course later in the day. Erin took another fifth-place finish in the women's A field while Coach Vollers reported that Ansel "rode himself into the ground" for seventh in men's A; Brendan crashed out on the first lap. Peter Vollers, Jr., took 11th and Alden took 23rd in men's B.
After enjoying the gifts left behind by the Easter Bunny on his Sunday-morning visit, the team headed into the criterium. Brendan "adhered to coach's tactics perfectly" to win the men's A race, with Ansel muscling through the field sprint for eighth. Peter Vollers, Jr., took eighth and Alden 27th in men's B. Categories: Cycling Team
In the 2012 Michael Schott Memorial Race—the opening race of the New England road racing season—Ansel Dickey led the KMS Cycling Team with his first premier-class podium, taking third in the Men's Pro / Category 1-3 division. Marblehead, Mass., has been hosting this season-opening event for nearly four decades. Ansel spent most of the race jousting with some of the top cyclists in New England for 42 miles before riding a "wildly fast field sprint" to his third-place finish.
Coach Vollers described the finish as "a massive breakthrough," noting that the podium was in the top category at a classic New England race. Racing in the Men's Category 4-5 division, Peter Vollers, Jr., just missed the podium with a fourth-place finish, while Alden Suokko took 25th. Categories: Cycling Team
With a new arrangement between USACycling and the Eastern Collegiate Cycling Conference, any high school team registered with USACycling can compete in collegiate races. The KMS Cycling Team made the most of the first race in this arrangement with four podiums and a total of 10 top-20 finishes.
Peter Vollers, Jr., took the weekend's first podium for KMS with a third-place finish in Saturday's road race. He was joined in the Men's B category by Alden Suokko, who took 20th; Erin Donahue took eighth in Women's A and Ansel Dickey took 17th in Men's A.
"Peter made the winning break, but with a downhill, tailwind sprint, he had little hope in junior gearing," said Coach Vollers, "but he still podiumed."
In Sunday's individual time trial, Peter stepped up to the top of the podium, taking first in the Men's B race; Erin took 10th in Women's A, Ansel took 13th in Men's A, and Alden took 17th in Men's B.
The weekend wrapped up with a Sunday-afternoon criterium in which KMS riders took two of the six premier-class podiums; Ansel took second in Men's A and Erin took third in Women's A, while Peter Vollers, Jr., finished mid-pack and Alden was just off the back. Coach Vollers described it as a breakthrough race "because everyone raced so smart."
For more updates from the cycling team, including photos of last weekend's racing, stop by the KMS Cycling Team blog. Categories: Cycling Team KILLINGTON, Vt. (Jan. 11, 2012)— In just one season, the Killington Mountain School (KMS) Cycling Team has grown from a group of true beginner riders to a team of New England champions. Categories: Cycling Team
The KMS Cycling Team took four podium spots, including three category wins, in this past weekend's New England cyclocross championships. Peter Vollers, Jr., set the stage as he turned a holeshot in the men's category four race into a gap that lasted throughout the race. Next, Erin Donohue stepped up in the junior girls category to take the win by nearly a minute.
In what would turn into the tightest contest of the day, Ansel Dickey and Brendan Rhim had strong starts in the men's category three race to make up two-thirds of the lead group. Along with Bliss Racing's Cooper Willsey, Ansel and Brendan turned their powerful starts into a significant separation from the field that would grow to nearly a minute by the end of the race. As they began the last lap, Ansel was sticking to his game plan and glued to Cooper's rear wheel, while Brendan bobbled a corner and fell slightly off the pace. Brendan dug deep to not only close the gap but to take the race lead over both Cooper and Ansel, setting up a last-ditch battle between KMS teammates as Cooper was unable to hold on to the leaders. Ansel broke into a tremendous sprint and edged Brendan by the narrowest of margins, claiming the third regional title of the day for KMS.
For more photos and details on the cycling team's weekend at regionals, visit their blog at http://www.kmscyclingteam.com/ or watch the post-race interview of Ansel and Brendan (featuring a background appearance by Peter Vollers, Jr.) at http://www.cyclingdirt.org/coverage/247601-New-England-Regional-Cyclocross-Championships-2011/video/543449-Ansel-Dickey-and-Brendan-Rhim-12. Categories: Cycling Team
The KMS Cycling Team put in another impressive weekend on the cyclocross circuit, taking seven top-10 finishes between Saturday’s regional race and Sunday’s 21st Annual West Hill Shop Cyclocross Race and Vermont State Cyclocross Championships. On Saturday, Ansel Dickey led a four-place sweep in the junior 16-18 category, taking the win ahead of Brendan Rhim (2), Peter Vollers, Jr. (3), and Alden Suokko (4). Erin Donohue took sixth in the pro women’s category, while Coach Vollers added another podium with a second-place finish in the Masters 45 category. In Sunday’s Vermont State Cyclocross Championship, Brendan took first and Peter Vollers, Jr. took third amongst Category 4 juniors. With no other Category 1-3 juniors entered, Ansel raced in the men’s pro field and took the holeshot off the line in his first pro race. However, his incredible start brought him into the first set of barriers with such speed that he got separated from his bike in the attempt. Despite the setback—the entire field passed him as he recovered—he was able to battle back and take a solid, ninth-place finish. Visit the KMS Cycling Team blog for more photos and updates as the cyclocross season marches towards the national championships in January. Categories: Cycling Team The KMS Cycling Team continued putting up strong mountain-bike and cyclocross results with nine top-15 mountain bike finishes and eight top-10 cyclocross finishes over the past two weeks. Ansel Dickey’s continued excellence in cyclocross racing has allowed him to move into the ultra-competitive Category 3 grouping, and his string of impressive finishes leaves him ranked fourth in the nation for juniors in this category and ninth in the nation for juniors in all categories. KILLINGTON, Vt. (Oct. 19, 2011)— Killington Mountain School (KMS) Cycling’s Ansel Dickey, 16, of Truro, Mass., won an important race in his cycling career on Sunday, taking first place in the Category 4 race at the Minuteman Road Club CX Race in Lancaster, Mass., establishing himself as one of the top Category 4 junior riders. His win will propel him into Category 3 racing, where most of the elite junior riders compete. Not only did he defeat Category 4 juniors, he also bested about 100 other Category 4 men ages 19-34 with a winning time of 0:37:14. Dickey began racing cyclocross—a growing cycling discipline that is gaining popularity and has been called a steeplechase on road bikes—at the end of August so he is still at the entry Category 4 level on his racing license. “With that kind of traffic it was crucial for Ansel to get out in front from the start to avoid the mayhem of so many riders packed into such a tight course,” said KMS Cycling Team Head Coach Peter Vollers. He said much of the course was no wider than 15 feet. “I just told him, ‘As soon as you get your foot in the pedal and see any daylight, go like the finish line is at the hole-shot,’ where the course narrows into the more technical sections; in this case, about 200 meters from the start line. He did just that. He established a 20-meter lead by the hole-shot and increased that margin to more than two minutes by the end of the 45-minute race.” Vollers said that with this result, Dickey will now be eligible to move up to Category 3. Dickey is the top-ranked competitor in men’s Category 4 for cyclocross nationally. His goals for the remainder of the season are to place as high as he can overall in the Verge Series and continue to improve his overall ranking for a good starting position, most likely in the snow, at the Junior National Cyclocross Championships in Madison, Wisc., in early January. The KMS Cycling Team is the newest athletic program to be offered to student-athletes at Killington Mountain School. The team is coached by Peter Vollers and Greg Hadley, and all technical support is provided by Dan McKenna of The Start House Ski and Bike Shop in Woodstock. Riders are introduced to junior level cycling that showcases and promotes interscholastic as well as USAC-sanctioned junior level bicycling racing. Killington Mountain School is a fully approved Vermont independent school whose mission is to inspire students to pursue excellence in academics and athletics in a culture that promotes integrity, leadership, responsibility, and respect. To learn more about alpine, snowboard, freestyle, and freeskiing training and opportunities, visit www.killingtonmountainschool.org or call 802.422.KMS1. ###
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