CRCA/Blue Ribbon Restaurants presented by Translations.com is an elite amateur bike racing team based in New York City. Under the direction of David Taylor and Thomas Pennell, the squad competes in national, regional and local races up and down the Eastern seaboard. Please use the links above for information about our sponsors, results, photos, rider biographies, and more.
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David Taylor, Mark Alden, and Paul Levis put on a fine display of strong riding in the Cat 2. Race at the Green Mountain Stage Race in VT to start the month off. Alden and Levis finished 9th and 10th respectively in the opening prolouge, and Taylor went on to take 2nd in the circuit race, and 3rd in the road race to place 3rd over all on GC with Alden finishing 7th on the road race and 8th on the GC. Alden then bested that performance to win the Nancy Morgensterm Memorial Road Race in the 40+ field with Taylor taking 3rd. Look for full race reports shortly as we launch our new site which will offer a new look, and contain more in-depth info on the team.
August 30th:
Xavier Melendez showed his sprinting legs again, taking 4th in the CRCA Club Race today in a race that came down to a field sprint. A series of attempted breaks tried to stay off the front, but in the end, everything came back together with Xavier setting himself up to be in strong position to contest the sprint.
August 15th:
Mark Alden took 3rd in the CRCA Club Race today. After just missing out on strong two man move that stayed away, a strong effort was made by the team to chase, and eventually set up a smaller chase group containig Alden, and teammate Xavier Melendez. Mark then won the sprint out of the group with Xavier taking 5th to place 7th in the race.
August 9th:
A Win, Win! Mark Alden and David Taylor both won a race this weekend, and it's now a streak of 3 wins for the team in the past 4 days of racing! On Saturday, both Taylor and Xavier Melendez made it into the winning break in the CRCA 40+ Championships. A breakaway of 7 riders, containing the majority of the strong men in the race got away with about 3 laps to go. Xavier played the perfect team-role and attacked multiple times to soften the group up, before Taylor attacked on the last climb of the day to solo in for the win. And if that wasn't good enough, and his teamwork wasn't good enough, Melendez still had enough gas in the tank to with the sprint out of the break so that the team could claim both 1st and 2nd; racing to near perfection.
On Sunday, it was the duo of Taylor and Alden in the Tokeneke Classic Road Race that earned the second victory for the team. Alden, after being away in a near 22 mile lap-long break away, was back in the main group containing about 20 riders going into the base of the finishing 2 mile climb. With the sprint starting, it was Taylor's turn to be the worker, as he gave Alden a lead out, and the gap that he needed to get out of the group where he quickly acclerated away from everyone. As the finish line approached Alden had about a 5 sec gap and was finally able to capture a win at the race that's alluded him for the past few years. You can also read more of Mark's race report here.
August 1st:
Another Win! David Taylor took one step up to the top position on the podium this weekend, winning the Tour of Lancaster County Road Race. The race was aggressive from from the second lap of five, and maintained a constant group off the front of 4-7 riders. On the last lap Taylor put in an effort on the final climb hoping to shake up the break of 7 that he was in, only to drop his breakaway companions. From then on out it was an all out effort for the next 10k, where he soloed in with a 25 sec. gap, savoring the win before laying down under the nearest tree for a good 10 minutes to recover from what was one of his hardest efforts of the year.
Closer to the City Paul Levis took 6th place in the CRCA ITT Championships.
July 25th:
David Taylor stepped up to the podium yet again this year, taking 2nd in the 40+ at the Tour of the Hilltowns. In one of the tougher races of the season, Taylor found himself in the final group of about 15 riders near the finish, heavily out-gunned by a number of 5 to 1 by one of the larger teams. Outmanned, but not outdone, Taylor put in a strong effort near the finish losing all but one rider who just made it across the line first.
July 19th:
Three riders took to the CRCA Harlem Hill Points Race today andXavier Melendez pulled in a strong result for the team taking 5th. Xavier went with the early break and racked up quite a few points along the way, in a race that saw it's fair share of carnage as the race broke up into multiple groups by the last laps.
July 12th:
Mark Alden was on the podium again this weekend, this time taking 2nd place in the 35+ race of the Union Vale Road Race. Mark made a few attempts to shake out the field, but marked as he was, it was teammate Eddie Espitia who got away; allowing Mark to sit in, and the other teams to chase. In the end, the breaks were caught, and two lone riders managed to slip off the front before the final climb. With the duo enjoying a 45 sec. lead going into the climb, Mark took off and dropped what was left of the field catching one of the two, but the gap was just too big to catch the second, although he was within 20m as the winning rider crossed the line.
July 5th:
David Taylor 6th place GC in the Fitchburg Cat 2 race! For the first time only one team member raced the Fitchburg-Longsjo Stage Race in Massachusetts over the long weekend, but David Taylor was determined to make his presence known. While it didn't start off that way in a misty and windy ITT on day one, Taylor set his sights on doing what he could in the Stage 2 circuit race. After two attempts at bridging to the now established breakaway, Taylor made the bridge with three laps to go, connecting with the lead riders where he finished 5th on the day and moved up to 11th on GC
For Stage 3 the famed finish to the top of Wachussett Mountain was removed, and it made for a faster race over the 90 miles of racing the 14.4 mile loop. On the final lap the break that had been leading for the day was caught, and another of six or seven riders formed soon after. Taylor made a late move to bridge up and finished 6th on the day and now stood 7th on GC.
With the Stage 4 crit all but a formality, Taylor had the luck of moving up one place and finished 6th on GC in what is probably one of the toughest races, and deepest fields of any race not only in the North-East, but in the country
July 2nd:
Xavier Melendez took the field sprint and 3rd place in the Rockleigh Crit Series in New Jersey tonight. While the pack was unable to catch the two leaders, Xavier played the finish well and crossed the line indisputably in front of the bunch for his first podium of the season.
June 27th:
Mark Alden showed that he can do well in Central Park even if it isn't going uphill, by taking 4th in the CRCA A Race, in what was one of the faster races of the season (maybe in the history of racing in park, covering 50 miles in 1:45). After an attack filled race, Alden still had plenty of gas left for the finish, and after some good teamwork to get him into place, he pulled out a nice result for a rider who's deemed more of a climber.
June 20th: Win Number Two!
David Taylor and Andy Collins made the trek to the Rocky Hill Road Race (part of the Giro di Jersey omnium) on Saturday, for a race on a challenging course in the pouring rain. In the 35+ race, Taylor made the bridge to, and then attacked the winning move of the day. With 4-5 kms left to go, he managed to hold of his former two breakaway companions, and solo in to take his first win of the season in triumphant fashion. Collins meanwhile kept his string or results going, taking 8th in what came down to a field sprint in the Cat 3 race.
On Sunday, Taylor again put it to the majority of the field in a new, and much harder Housatonic Hills Road Race, in the 35+ field. After the first lap, a select group of 6 riders were all that was left at the head of the race. While two riders got away, Taylor was eventually able to rid himself of those that were left, and ended up on the podium again, this time for a well earned 3rd place.
June 13th: First Win of 2009!
Mark Alden celebrated in victory at the CRCA Power Points Race in Central Park today for the team's first win of 2009. David Taylor also grabbed some points out on the course and finished up 6th, securing some much desired team-points for the overall Team Cup as well. In what turned out to be probably the best performance of the squad together so far this year the race stayed in control and nothing was ever away without a rider represented in it, or on the off-chance something was, the other riders dilligently brought it back to help set Mark up for another go at it on each lap.
Aside from great racing all-around, of special note was the offical return of the much-missed teammate Sal Abbruzzese, who just short of a year ago sustained a horrific crash that left all of us more concerned with his well-being than ever riding again. It was probably fitting that these two happened simultaneously, and congratulations to Sal on a great return and everyone who raced and participated in making today such a good one for the squad.
June 7th: By far, this Sat./Sun. turned out to be the best weekend of the 2009 season for the team, with 5 different riders getting a total of 7 results. Saturday the fun started off with three of those at the Balloon Festival Classic with Mark Alden taking 3rd over all, and 2nd in the 40+ category of the Masters 30+/40+ and David Taylor taking 5th overall (4th, 40+). For the second consecutive year made it into the winning move and Taylor broke away from what was left of the field later on. In the Cat. 3 Race Andy Collins continued his strong riding by taking 6th place in what came down to a field sprint.
Day 2 of the weekend saw the short, but grueling course at the Tour of High Bridge. In the Cat 3 Race, Andy Collins continued to improve by riding a strong race on the front and taking 2nd on the day out of the lead group, with Jason Parkin making a strong effort to leave the group that he was with and snatch up 10th place. MeanwhileDavid Taylor continued his positive relationship with this race by getting rid of all but one other rider in the field in the 35+ race, coming down to a two man duel for the line and taking a well earned 2nd place.
Finally, another new addition to the team, Paul Levis, got it done in the Bear Mountain Seven Lakes Time-Trial by taking 4th place in the P/1/2/3 race, and just s few seconds off of the podium.
May 23rd: The team took part in a few of the Tour of Somerville over the weekend, a weekend full of crits and the Hills of Sommerset Road race. The Bicycling Hall of Fame race was one of the races on Saturday, and Andy Collins gave a strong showing taking 8th place in the Cat 3 race.
May 2nd: The Jiminy Peak Road Racetook place today, a race that in years past has been a favorite, and boded well for the team, and today was no different. From the gun Thomas Pennell was in an early move for the first of the three 30k laps. Just as the first pass up the climb approached the break was caught and Mark Alden put in a furious attack and only one other rider was able to join. The duo stayed away for one lap by themselves, before being joined by a third and the trio were gone for good. Alden ended taking the final podium place on the day with a great 3rd place after being off the front for 60k for the day and David Taylor took 6th in the field sprint for 9th place.
April 18th: The first big out-of-town race took place this weekend as the team ventured up to Cambridge, New York, for the Tour of the Battenkill. With the course running in a different direction this year, the field stayed together more than years past, and i`n what turned out to be a crash filled day, the team kept out of harms way and saw Andy Collins and Joe Azze take 9th and 10th respectively in the Cat.3 (Green Field) race. Meanwhile in the Cat 2 race David Taylor made a late bridge to the breakaway to come in 12th.
April 12th: David Taylor took 4th in the 35+ race, in the New York City Spring Series today. It looked like it was going to be another field sprint for the race, but with half a lap to go, Taylor managed to get away with four other breakaway companions as they held off a charging field.
March 22nd: First Podium of the season! Mark Alden took 3rd in the 35+ race, in the New York City Spring Series today in a feisty race that came down to a field sprint. This was Mark's second top placing this year as he took 5th in the race the week before.