Easterns Race Report: Penn State!

This week the squad of bulldogs that set out to State College, PA this weekend for the Eastern Championships favored quality over quantity. While many riders bowed out citing "final exams" and "work", a stoic few made the six-hour journey in an effort to reclaim the Ivy League trophy. It was a trip well worth making, with halcyon weather, glorious scenery, and spectacular displays of cycling flair (we're looking at you, UVM and Penn State) and equally prestigious peep-eating contests.

TTT

Saturday's events kicked off with the team time trial, a 10-mile course that was the reverse of last year's. Despite Adam's description of the course as "rolling", the second half actually featured a sustained climb of about 200 ft, reducing many teams to a methodical pace. Danny made a nicely timed sprint for the line to finish strong for the men's B squad---he, Travis, and Adam placed 6th. Meanwhile, our men's D team (John & Matt) took fifth and women's A (Erica, Hannah A, Colleen, & Julia) narrowly missed the podium, finishing 4th.

Black Mo' Road Race

Possibly the most infamous road course on the ECCC circuit, Black Mo' is a 21-mile lap featuring a series of hills optimistically described as rollers, several screaming descents, and a formidable 1800 foot climb. After a short moment of panic during which the absence of fire police threatened to replace with the course with an ITT up the steep side of Black Mo', the races were off.

photo credit Alyssa M. Wentz of Shippensburg

In the first wave, men's C set off for two laps. The pack remained cohesive until the climb. With the fox in the henhouse, Danny got the bit between his teeth, excercised his climbing legs, and dropped multiple riders on the long uphill segment of each lap to finish midpack. Travis worked with the group of self professed "nonclimbers" further back, and then decided it would be nice to go ride the course backwards after the race. In men's D, a start line crash threatened to derail several riders, but the Yalies remained upright for the entire lap. The peloton overcommitted on the rollers, shredding themselves and allowing a patient John to make his move on the bigger climb. Climbing like an angel, he easily passed the majority of field, placing himself in a lead group of three riders where he "soft peddled to the top". He sprinted to third overall and second in division 2, finishing his first season with a bronze medal. He'll be a rider to watch next year: look out, ECCC! New rider Matt S dug deep to finish in the pack, sweeping up many of those who surged in the beginning, after wisely heading advice about race nutrition and pacing on the climbs.

Last in wave 1 was the women's C field.  Plucky rider Julia had far too much fun on the hills, reportedly wishing for a second lap and then riding the steeper backside of the major climb after the race. While struggling on the descents, she found the climb "meditative" and comfortably passed several riders to finish well in the points, proving that she's both a formidable hill climber as well as a great sprinter.

As the sun reached its peak, wave 2 readied itself to tackle the course. With no men's A riders this week, Yale's first rider to set off was Adam in the two-lap men's B race. A group of 4 riders or so went off in the opening miles. Some superb blocking on the part of PSU and NYU led to a tranquil pace into the lower reaches of the first ascent of Black Mo. Not content to soft-pedal the entire climb, Adam rode the limits of the yellow line around the blockade at the front and soloed away from the peloton, to shouts of "It's okay his legs aren't shaved!" He spent the most of that climb alone on Black Mo, and sat up towards the top to join a group of 10 or so that had broken away from the field. The next lap was much faster, as a PSU rider inexplicably worked very hard to catch his own guy in the break, with UVM and Columbia lending riders to the effort as well. On the second ascent of Black Mo, the reduced group caught several members of the break and fractured further. Adam was fifth over the top of the climb, worked with a group of three or four on the rollers atop Black Mo, and ended up finishing 8th overall, less than a minute behind the winner.

Last to leave were the women's A/B riders. The women rode like scalded cats. As if a bomb went off in the field, the field shattered on the first rollers. Hannah A, in her second road race of the season, astounded the ECCC with what Joe Kopena singled out at the awards banquet as "a very impressive performance." Forming a four-woman lead group that included maillot jaune Hayley Wickstrom for most of the race, Hannah thoroughly enjoyed ripping the legs off the rest of the women. She dominated the B field, beating the second-place rider by nearly twenty minutes, and taking third place overall. Erica found herself at the back of the pack after the rollers but once in the intestines of Black Mo', took advantage of the long climb to slowly pick riders off, eventually finding herself on the wheel of sprint leader Leslie Lupien. Although she ultimately couldn't maintain Leslie's pace the second time up the mountain, she eventually finished 7th in As. Meanwhile, Colleen made the difficult but wise decision to listen to the warnings of an achy tendon and pull out after one lap, choosing instead to save her performance for nationals.

Frat Row Crit

photo credit Alyssa M. Wentz of Shippensburg

After stuffing our faces with barbecue at the awards banquet, the team got a good night's sleep before the leisurely 8:30 start time of Sunday's crit. The six-corner course featured a narrow chicane, a long finishing straight, and fewer drunk frat boys than previous years' editions.

John & Matt heeded advice to win the race before the race, staging early and maintaining positions in the front of the race for the first few laps. Unfortunately, a dropped chain in combination with misdirection from the race officials took John out of contention, but not without some important lessons learned about position at the start line and which mechanicals qualify for free laps. Matt finished strong in 15th position. Great work, Matt!

photo credit Alyssa M. Wentz of Shippensburg

Next up was Danny in a dangerously large C field. Not unexpectedly, several riders overcooked the chicane, and the ensuing crashes shattered the field into several groups. Danny rode a smart race, and fought his way into the second chase group, putting out several impressive accelerations and ultimately finishing a fantastic 25th in a field of 63.

With new confidence in cornering after an on-course warmup, Julia set off to tackle her cornery-est crit yet. Despite beautiful form through the chicane, a flat after the start-finish line necessitated a trip to the pit. Unfortunately, in the following lap, the peloton split into two groups, and Julia was put back in the race in the second of these. Nevertheless, she dug deep into her suitcase of courage, rode away from the field, and soloed the remainder of the race to finish right behind the leaders in 5th. Amazing season, Julia! We look forward to seeing you in the B field next year!

In men's B, Adam lost the race before the race, staging at the very back of the field. However, each lap saw him moving steadily toward the front of the field---no small feat considering the pace and the narrow streets. He ultimately finished an impressive 19th in the field sprint, thus concluding his ECCC career.

Last to set off was Erica in the A/B race. A a poor start position in conjunction with the discovery that she had left everything on Black Mo' the previous day meant that she quickly found herself at the back of the pack, but with a newlyacquired, loudly cheering frat-boy fan until she was pulled and placed.

While Yale ultimately conceded the Ivy League trophy to Dartmouth, we finished fifth in the conference and third in our division. Awesome work this season, everyone! We've all got a lot to be proud of and have had a season to remember. 

While the 2013 ECCC season has thus concluded, we are thrilled to announce that we are once again sending a full team of riders to collegiate road nationals in Ogden, Utah again this year. Best of luck to Spencer, Nick, Matt, Adam, Marina, Krysten, Colleen, and Erica! Ride on, Bulldogs!

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PS - Did you catch those misused and overlayed Liggettisms? We have set up surveillance and are watching for Nick's reaction. We just hope he doesn't hurt himself in his anticipated state of acute mental anguish.

Rhode Race Report!

You wonder while around Rhode Island just how an area the size of a postage stamp got two US senators. And it’s not even an island!! Anyways, Saturday’s races basically required every single road in the state, so Yale got a full tour of all the fun Rhode Island has on offer.

The Elis arrived in the fair town of Scituate, RI at the crack of dawn, and the beat dropped at 8:30 with the shortest TTT of the year—a four mile straight shot with one turnaround. For what it’s worth, none of us has the faintest idea how to pronounce “Scituate.” While relatively non-technical, the damp roads required a little bit more care than normal from our racers.  The Men’s D squad was first out the gate. Matt Schullman, Amogh Sivarapatna, John Wen, and David DeWitt quickly made friends and worked together for a third place finish. Next to depart was the Men’s A team of Adam, Matt, Nick, and Spencer. The boys settled into a good rhythm in the second half of the course and finished strong but conceded second place to Dartmouth by a heartbreaking 1 second. 

In the second wave, the Men’s C contingent of Dan Spakowicz, Daniel Del Bosque, Danny Schlingman, and Travis Rabbit squeaked into the points for fifth, and the Women’s A cohort (Marina Wilding, Erica Blom, Kelsey Lynd, and Krysten Koehn) put the hammer down to finish third. Third place would also go to the Women’s B team of Hannah Garrett and Elif Erez.

The dark and dingy morning weather began to clear after the TTT and our racers girded their loins for the longest road race on the calendar—the “Tour of Scituate”—a rolling 23 mile circuit featuring some Battenkill-worthy dirt roads, stiff winds, and punchy rollers all of which would suit the hard men and women of the ECCC.

The Men’s D and Women’s C racers departed at 10:30 for a single lap of the course. John Wen struggled in the absence of any sustained climbing but maintained position as best he could throughout the day. He finished just behind the second group in 19^th place. Our newest team member, Matt Schullman, also finished mid-field in his first mass start race, having skipped the intro category and jumped straight into D. Further back, Amogh, and David demonstrated solid teamwork and rode a race to be proud of. In Women’s C, Elif persisted despite the difficult course to finish with the field, still having the energy to continue on her own solo training ride afterwards. 

The A and B mens and womens, and C mens categories decamped at 12:30 for their races.

First to leave were the Men’s A racers. The Tour of Scituate would be the final ECCC road race for several of the A riders and the Yalies rolled out hungry for a result. Three riders including Spencer attacked from the gun and built a gap that reached a maximum of 10 minutes. Matt and Nick ably covered counterattacks from KMS and MIT, and in an unprecedented turn of events early break would survive. In the final kilometer, Spencer turned himself inside out to win the sprint out of the exhausted three-man group and give the Bulldogs their first Men’s A victory of the season!! Way to go Spencer!!!! Matt finished with the field in 18^th, while Nick suffered a flat tire on the second lap and was unable to rejoin the field.

A large field showed up for the Women’s A/B race, and while the field split into two main packs early on, solid chasing on the part of the second group reunited most of the riders. On the final lap, a two-woman break including the yellow jersey got away, gaining two minutes on the rest of the riders, who finished in a field sprint. Krysten, Erica, and Marina finished 8^th, 10^th, and 11^th respectively in As, while Kelsey finished first in the B race and Hannah grabbed 16th! Great work girls!!!

In the Men’s B race, Adam fell victim to the sharp rocks on one of the course’s dirt sections, and bad luck befell several of our C riders as well. Dan Spakowicz suffered two flats and dropped out of contention, but fortunately flatted a second time just as the Men’s A field passed and snagged a neutral wheel from the follow car. Del Bosque finished his first race since Rutgers after eating too little in the first miles of the race and bonking hard but worked with Travis, who had flatted at the start line and started the race with a brake rub from a wider than normal replacement wheel. Sometimes simpenjoying the ride and company of teammates is winning for the day.

Sunday’s criterium in downtown Providence had “MISERY” and “DANGER” written all over the course map. The 8-corner crit featured a steep power climb with gradients up to 15%, a bumpy descent into an off-camber left-hand corner, and a high-speed chicane. After consultation with the various heads of state in the ECCC, officials decided to cut out the climb and descent from the course, leaving in a safer but shorter 6-corner course. This was accomplished in mindbogglingly efficient fashion by the efforts of a few good Yale riders, the use of our trailer, and a hoard of West Point cyclists.

 The short course meant riders falling off the pace would be pulled more aggressively than a longer course, and position in the field became even more important to avoid splits in the field. In the early races, John Wen navigated a treacherous D pack to finish with the bunch. Danny Schlingman suffered after he found himself in a chase group at the back of the C race but soldiered on until he was pulled and placed in the closing laps. In the Bs, Adam similarly found himself in a disorganized chase group but mounted a brave solo bridge effort after remembering to ride in his drops.

Next up was the Women’s A/B race, which was one of the most exciting yet in the calendar. The pace was high from the get-go when several riders ignored the "neutral until the cones" instructions. A hungry field combined with several well-organized teams resulted in a flurry of earnest but unsuccessful attacks. After the early hubbub subsided, two MIT riders TT’ed off the front. Despite relentless chasing by the yellow jersey, the two stayed away to take the top spots on the podium. Amid the commotion, Erica dug deep to hold her position with the leaders, while Marina, Kelsey, Krysten and Hannah suffered after their mammoth efforts in yesterday’s road race. Kelsey and Marina worked together to bridge back up to the chasers, but the pace at the front was ultimately too high. Erica finished highest of the Bulldogs in 19^th place.

The Men’s A riders rolled out last under sunny skies. With Spencer’s form uncertain after his Olympian efforts yesterday, the plan was for Matt and Nick to go for the breakaways. Unfortunately, a touch of wheels on the second lap sent Nick to the ground and ruled him out of contention for the rest of the hour. The aggressive pace and dominant tactics from KMS put a damper on the team’s ambitions, and Matt and Spencer would settle for 19^th and 20^th place respectively. Nick DNF’ed after dropping out to tend to his wounds.

In sum, then, a great weekend for Bulldog Cycling—Yale finished fourth overall and took their first A win in many seasons. Next week Yale travels to State College, PA for the ECCC Championships. See you on the road.

Army Race Report!

The 29th Army Spring Classic

The ECCC gathered this weekend at West Point, NY for the 29^th edition of the Army Spring Classic. The race is the conference’s oldest continuously running event, and each year the Army weekend heralds spring’s full and jubilant arrival. When combined with West Point’s natural elegance it’s a welcome event for race-weary cyclists. It’s also the only race weekend where you’ll have the privilege of a Humvee for a pace or follow car. Not only can they bulldoze cars pesky cars obstructing your path, they scare the bejesus out of you when they downshift, which means extra motivation to move up in the field on the climbs... Anyways...

SATURDAY

Though steeped in tradition, the Army Spring Classic took a page from the New York amateur playbook for Saturday’s road race. While recent editions had featured team time trials and/or circuit races, riders would compete this year on the course of the famed Harriman Road Race. Its principal attraction: a 50-mph downhill run into a sharp 180-degree “Corner O’ Death,” followed by a nasty cat. 3 climb. Long, straight open roads for the remainder meant high speeds and breakaways would be the game of the day.

John Wen, David DeWitt, and Julia Schlesinger kicked things off for the Yale team in the Men’s DII and Women’s C fields. In the DII race, John used his superior power-to-weight ratio to make the race’s critical selection when an equally bird-like NYU rider attacked on the first long climb. He would finish 4^th—the best finish for a Yale D rider all year!! David did not find the parcours quite so fulfilling and decided to conserve himself for Sunday’s races. In Women’s C, Julia persevered through her most demanding road race yet, but an astonishing act of violence upon her rear tire and front derailure brought a premature end to her day. 

The A riders led off the second wave of races at 11:30, followed closely by the Women’s A/B, Men’s B, and Men’s C races. The Men’s A race began on a difficult note with Matt suffering a moderate head cold and Nick nearly running over all-star photographer Jan Polk. After several difficult laps, Matt withdrew to rest for Sunday’s races. With two laps to go, some hard chasing by Yale, Dartmouth, and MIT had reeled in the early break and riders were jumping at the bit to get away. Amid the parry and thrust of attack and counterattack, Nick broke away with a BU and Penn State rider on the back half of the course. The Penn State rider rode both his compatriots off his wheel and sauntered on to win the day, while peloton swallowed Nick and his fellow escapee at the top the climb on the final ascent. With Nick spent, it was Spencer’s turn to deliver his first top-10 finish since Stevens. Woohoo!

While the first lap was treated as a warm-up in women's A/B, the race slowly turned into a battle of attrition in the ensuing laps as the elite riders contented themselves to ride tempo and slowly turn the screws on the rest of the field. Out of the slow-motion wreckage emerged a select group including Army, MIT, Pittsburgh, and Dartmouth. Krysten, newly upgraded to Women’s A, and Erica joined small chase groups as the third lap shattered the remainder of the field. Erica finished in 11^th place after a close sprint for 10^th, while Krysten finished 15^th. In Women’s B, Colleen and Hannah suffered but put together a great day of training for their future exploits. Colleen finished 9^th, while Hannah decided to pre-empt the official and dictate her own terms. Keep it up ladies! 

In men's B, a bad crash in the lead group at the finish line forced the officials to neutralize the race; only 12 riders were ultimately placed. In the C race, Jimmy Martenson finished just inside the top-10 after working his way into the chase group, with Dan Spakowicz arriving several minutes behind in 18^th, maintaining his most-consistent-rider status. Danny Schlingman and Travis Rabbit were P&P’ed and finished 26^th and 29^th, respectively, persevering amidst many in the field around them dropping out of the race and a corner marshal misdirect incident.

 SUNDAY

 After a hearty dinner and watching Yale Ice Hockey shut out Q-Pac to take Yale’s FIRST EVER NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP (!!!!!!), the Bulldogs rolled into West Point ready to check the rest of the ECCC into the Wattage Cottage for the day.

First up was the infamous Army Hill Climb Time Trial—an excruciating 2.6 mile course featuring several steep ramps of climbing punctuated by brief opportunities for recovery. The course concluded with a dastardly twisting false flat up an access road that kept the finish line out of view until the last few seconds of the race. Highlights included John Wen’s 5^th place finish in DII, Erica’s 9^th place finish in Women’s A, and Colleen’s 4^th place in Women’s B. Shout-out to Adam for finishing seconds out of the points in men's B despite a dropped chain. Great work folks!

Army’s famous Shea Stadium Criterium concluded the weekend’s racing. Like the earlier races, the simple three-corner course map belied the race’s vicious nature. A volatile mixture of a beyond 90-degree corner, a miserable crosswind off the Hudson river, and a steep rise to the start-finish conspired to keep riders fighting to stay in contention from the gun.

Without the steep grades necessary to deploy his mountain-goat climbing skills, John Wen suffered in the criterium. Nevertheless, he and David DeWitt worked together to stay with the group as the DII brawlers duked it out at the front of the bike race. Nice work boys.

Dan, Jimmy, Danny, and Travis came to the CII race ready to brawl themselves, and after struggling to maintain position for the first third of the race Dan and Jimmy muscled their way into the business end of the office, keeping the pace high and demonstrating some excellent team strategy. Danny himself tried his hand in an early prime and showed good sprinting form to take third. The two Dans crossed the finish line side by side for 12th and 13th, with Jimmy not far behind and Travis rounding it out.

Julia took to the road next in women's C and deployed her race acumen to hold a consistent top-10 position. With yesterday’s mechanical mishaps a thing of the past, she finished 8^th in the sprint.

The Men’s B race saw the first real tactical race of the day as riders repeatedly played their hands to upset a bunch sprint. However, the stiff wind put solo riders and small groups at a disadvantage relative to the field and the gaps stayed in the low-teens. Adam marked several attacks in an effort to put his signature Boyd 58s to work, but ultimately yet another finish-line crash put the kibosh on his sprint. He finished 31^st.

Erica and Krysten set out for revenge after yesterday’s road race and rode a smart race in the Women’s A event. Krysten kept a watchful eye on the eager attackers as best she could while Erica rested behind. Several attacks kept the pace high and ultimately a small squadron of the usual suspects broke away. Nevertheless, Erica put in powerful sprint to take 10^th with Krysten not far behind in 16^th. Colleen and Hannah fell victim to the surging and placed 13th and 14th in the B field.

Last up were Men’s A. With Matt out due to illness, Spencer and Nick would try for the breaks. The field would have none of it, however, and set a blistering pace in the early laps to discourage attacking. Nick made several efforts to get clear but lacked the power to really put the cat amongst the pigeons. With Nick languishing after his early exuberance, Spencer put his legs to the test and bridged to several dangerous splits in the field. A touch of wheels in the first corner with 1 to go, however, derailed plans for a sprint finish and both riders rolled in well down in the standings.

All in all, despite illness, mechanicals, and some bad luck, the Bulldogs saw some great performances in D and C categories, women, and a top-10 in the A road race to finish 10th on the weekend. On Saturday, the Yalies ship up to Providence for the inaugural RISD/Brown cycling weekend, featuring the longest road race on the calendar, the shortest team trial, and a 6-corner criterium in downtown Providence.

Enjoy the weather! See you on the road.

Shippensburg Race Report

Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, you ask? You might imagine a charming port city full of comings and goings and all manner of colorful characters, but you’d imagine wrong. This weekend’s destination instead lay in the rolling country of southern Pennsylvania not 20 miles from the Mason-Dixon line. The, ahem, rich smells and sight of horse-drawn buggies made it abundantly clear that the Bulldogs had come far from rough-hewn New England indeed.

Saturday’s schedule featured a criterium on the campus of Shippensburg University, followed in the late afternoon by a 7-mile mass-start hill climb on the outskirts of town. The criterium featured two 90-degree and one sweeping 180-degree left hand turn with a sharp uphill kick before the finish line. The final left hand turn proved to be a source of difficulty in the lower categories, but the Yalies kept the rubber side down during the a.m. races. In Men’s DII, John Wen held on to finish 12^th as the bulk of the field as P&P’ed. In the C race, a group of four riders broke clear of a disorganized field to win by over a minute. Jimmy Martenson finished safely mid-pack in 30^th place. In Men’s B, Adam worked hard to stay with the group as NYU and UVM battled back and forth for control of the race. He finished safely in the group.

In a change from the usual schedule, the A men took to the road ahead of the women next. Penn State, Pittsburg, and local riders from Shippensburg and Kutztown came ready to put the hammer down, and from the gun it was on like Donkey Kong. Matt and Nick worked for the first half of the race to keep Spencer near the pointy end of the peloton and shut down several attempts by riders to get clear. When a mid-race consultation revealed Spencer’s lack of sensations, however, Nick and Matt began riding for their own chances. Matt fought his way into a promising but unsuccessful group of five, and Nick got away in a three-man break several laps later.

Misfortune struck as Nick clipped a pedal in the turn, sending him to the deck and out of the race. With several laps to go, the field was back together and the race wound up for the final sprint. Going into the final turn, a rider tried to move up on the inside and forced Spencer into the outer curb. The crash forced Matt to slam on the brakes, costing him his position in the final sprint. (Public Service Announcement: DON’T PASS ON THE INSIDE OF A CORNER)

In the absence of the formidable MIT women's squad, the women's A/B crit maintained a comfortable pace for most of the race, keeping almost the entire group together until the sprint finish. As in the previous races, the final corner proved too much for a couple of riders, but the Yale team managed to skirt the carnage and finished 3rd (Krysten), 9th (Marina) and 10th (Erica), with Krysten grabbing some prime points as well.

After some misadventures searching for emergency medical care, the Bulldogs reconvened for the afternoon’s mass start hill climb—a 7-mile race featuring a flat but windy 2 mile prologue and a subsequent ascent to the ridgeline south of Shippensburg.

First out the gate for Yale was John in Men’s DII, who put his hill training to work in an impressive 5^th place. Great work John! Jimmy quickly followed in the Men’s C field, which quickly disintegrated on the slopes of the climb. Jimmy kept calm and carried on on for a solid finish in the top-20. Yale’s strong showing continued in the B race as Adam “T-Rex” Trexler put in a massive effort to finish inside the top-10. Awesome racing boys!

The A men rolled out bruised in body but ready for battle at heart. On the lower slopes of the climb, Nick went to the front and drilled the pace for as long as he could before dropping himself and leaving the race to Matt and Spencer. Matt turned a pedal in anger to finish fourth with Spencer close on his heels in seventh place. Nick rolled across the line in 25^th.

Last to leave were Yale’s A and B women. Marina and returning rider Hannah Arem made the coveted selection on the climb and worked together to stay in contact with the leaders. As the sun declined on the racers in the final meters, Marina displayed some perhaps unjustified kindness by leading out a Dartmouth rider but nonetheless finished in a fantastic 6^th place. Hannah rode to first place in B’s a few seconds later while Erica rode a steady tempo to finish 12^th. Great job, ladies!

Sunday featured the Horse Killer Road Race—a brutal course featuring an ascent of the eponymous Horse Killer Road (“In these parts, they name these roads for a reason”), a technical descent featuring a blind, off-camber left hand turn, vicious winds and rough pavement in many stretches.

The Men’s D race covered a shortened course that omitted the climb but none of the wind. John kept out of trouble and out of the breeze amid a sketchy field. As a man who prefers his feet and inches over meters, John took the “1K to go” sign as an interesting piece of advice rather than a finish line indicator and calmly rolled across the line in 15^th place.

Jimmy was the first Yale rider to take on the full course. Unfortunately, a dropped chain early in the race meant that he chased heroically for forty miles, nevertheless passing many riders on the climb and managing to finish mid-pack in the C field.

Adam set out with a plan to mark UVM’s mountain goats and fight hard for a top-10 finish in Men’s B. Unfortunately, an ill-timed puncture on the first lap spelled the end of his Shippensburg campaign with no follow car to supply a new wheel.

Last out were the Men’s A and Women’s A/B fields. With temperatures in the low-60s, riders could at least look forward to warmer weather than past weekends. The Men’s A race, however, would prove to be a wash. Nick flatted on the first lap and chased for the remainder of the race until he was pulled and placed, while Spencer’s elected to withdraw after two laps in light of the previous day’s injuries. An errant touch of wheels in the last 400 meters brought Matt down and dashed his chance for another top-10 finish.

The women proved to be the bright spot in an otherwise average day of road races. The A/B race began at a leisurely pace as riders took stock of the course and each other. The climb produced the anticipated separation, but cautious descending allowed riders to catch back on. The first ascent popped Erica and Krysten, who each chased for the remaining of the race. Erica finished 13^th in A’s, while Krysten, ever the opportunist, decided to slink back and draft the Men’s A field for the remainder of the race. She would finish 3^rd in B’s. The second climb sent both Marina and Hannah out the back, but they both managed to rejoin the leaders amid the blustery winds on the back-half of the course. By the third lap the lead group had been reduced to about 10 women. The predicted acceleration by the leaders on the final hill-climb, though slight, was hard to match and shattered the group of 10 into a break of 3 riders, followed by 3 individual riders, followed by a chase of 4 including Marina and Hannah. Marina would finish 8^th in A’s, while Hannah would finish 2^nd in B’s.

The Bulldogs will take their fishnet gauze next week to West Point, New York—home of the storied Army Hill Climb Time Trial, campus criterium, and a new road race. Enjoy the weather everyone!

Army, RISD and Easterns Race Preview by Adam

            The upside of flatting on lap one of my 50 mile race yesterday and having a long bus ride home is that I’m actually a functional human being this morning, so I find myself with plenty of energy to write.  Everybody should be pumped about the upcoming three race weekends: the Army Spring Classic, RISD’s Rhode Race, and Easterns at PSU.

The Army Spring Classic is, well, a Classic!  If you’ve never been out to the Catskills of NY, wherein the West Point campus is nestled, the scenery of the area alone is reason enough to go to this race.  The races are fantastic.  The ITT is a brutal 3 mile uphill drag called Stony Lonesome.  The mere name conjures visions of glorious struggle against the mountain.  I haven’t done the Harriman Road Race, but conference director Joe Kopena has often been heard to remark this is one of his favorite races in New England.  Also there are military Humvees for pace cars—and how cool is that?  Finally the criterium is right around West Point’s stadium on campus, and the entire course is visible from the staging/start area.  Its one of the most spectator friendly crit courses I can think of in the ECCC.

The Rhode Race hosted by RISD and Brown in Providence, RI is a new edition to the ECCC calendar.   This may be the race weekend I’m most looking forward to mainly because of the road race that is planned.  It has all the makings of a classic ala the Spring Classics of Europe.  Dirt sections!  Punchy climbs!  Crosswinds!  Did I mention dirt sections!  Up to 2 miles of dirt road per lap!  If we’re lucky, it will have rained at some point and we’ll have mud.  If not, it’ll be dry and dusty as all hell.  Either way—it should be an excellent, highly entertaining race.  I think this course will favor breakaway specialists and rolleurs.  Like Paris-Roubaix or the other classics of Belgium that features cobbled sectors, look for separations to occur in the dirt sections as racers slow or get tangled up behind mishaps.  Doesn’t that sound fun?  This isn’t a race to miss! 

The only thing I have to say about Easterns at PSU is Black Mo! More formally, the Black Moshannon Road Race is a 21.4 mile loop that features a 5 mile climb for nearly 1,500 ft. of elevation gain.  This may be the most epic race in the ECCC.  Regardless of where you finish and in what field, you will have stories to tell about this race.  Easterns is still three weeks away too, so you’ve still got time to hone your climbing form, and in the case of the A racers, starve another pound or two off of your emaciated bodies.  W/kg ratio, ladies and gents! Just kidding, we are all nutritionally sane people here at Yale… if eating our weight in Peanut Butter & Co and Chabaso Bread on race weekends equates to sanity.

If your schedule is slammed this time of year, both Army and RISD/Brown are a mere 1.5 hours away, so travel times are brief!  In summary, come and race your bike!  

Yes, this is the profile of the Penn State Easterns circuit race.  

 We've been looking forward to it all season. 

On Crashing

We all risk crashing when we ride and race our bikes, which means that each of us given long enough will find herself on the tarmac. Luckily, most crashes are not serious. Yet despite this fact, crashes induce a vivid fear in many casual riders and racers alike. Why? I can think of several reasons.

First, crashes bluntly remind us of our own limits. The bicycle normally extends our physical possibilities. It allows us to float about the world on a cushion of air a tire-width above the obdurate surface of the earth. Crashing attacks the invincibility that a well-tuned bicycle naturally inspires in its rider.

Second, a cyclist experiences riding as a harmonious equilibrium under normal circumstances. The feeling of an effortless, unsolicited companionship between a rider and her instrument constitutes one of the peculiar joys of riding a bike. Crashing not only disrupts that companionship, but it also threatens the possibility of a harmonious interaction with one’s bicycle in the first place. Who hasn’t crashed in a race and taken some time to regain the confidence to take corners at speed?

Both these fears, while natural and understandable, rest on a mistaken notion of risk. It conceives of crashing as a fixed and unchanging feature of cycling, when in fact we can exercise far more control over how and whether we crash at all. As cyclists, we take certain fixed constants of the world as our starting point, and then we push back against those constants where we can. We can choose out aggressive or modest we wish to be. Often we claw out a little more ground for ourselves, and sometimes the world claws it back. Nonetheless, we have substantial control over when, how quickly, and where we try to conform the world to our will. And when we think about the risks we take in this subjective, agent-centered manner, crashing becomes a feature internal to an activity we influence rather than a malevolent force beyond our control.

Thinking of risk as a choice rather than an imposition requires us to take responsibility for our riding. Taking responsibility becomes particularly important in group situations where your risks impose dangers not only upon yourself but others as well. At the same time, taking responsibility warrants us to take pride in the risks we choose. 

More practically, most crashes are preventable. As the occasion for this post, I had the misfortune this weekend of clipping a pedal on a turn, which resulted from a misjudgment of my lean angle. Another frequent source of crashes is a touch of wheels with a fellow rider. Keep your wheels from overlapping with others, and stay out of riders’ “blind spots” whenever possible. A final, general cause is panic. Stay on your machine. Anticipate the actions of other riders. Breathe.

There are better and worse ways to crash on your bike, which you can practice on sand or grass. Keep your hands on your bars and try to roll out of the fall as much as possible. Let your body take the blow of the impact rather than your limbs. You still might suffer some road rash or torn lycra, but you’ll walk away with out more serious injury.

Crashing is a feature but not a fixed constant of cycling. By changing our attitudes toward crashing, we can better respond when they present themselves and prevent them from happening at all. 

The blog returns! Five weeks' worth of race reports

MIT X-Pot:

The MIT crew pulled off a real coup this weekend with their latest scheme to utterly decimate and demoralize the ECCC—the X-Pot 3.0. Saturday and Sunday featured a full complement of races, beginning with a savage uphill ITT and concluding with the soul-crushing, call-your-mother-and-cry inducing, aptly named Purgatory Road Race. Nevertheless, the Bulldogs came out swinging to finish fourth on the weekend and move up to third in the ECCC standings.

Saturday morning commenced with the 5 mile hill climb ITT, which featured several serious climbs in the first half followed by a set of rollers and a poorly-marked finish line. First off were our D men, Brandon and Connor, whose firstrace weekend would turn out to be a real doozy. Both finished solidly in the top twenty. Great job, guys! Julia and new rider Kelsey Lynd were next, making it look easy: Kelsey took third in Cs, while Julia decided that 5 miles wasn't long enough and tacked an extra hour of riding onto her race, finishing 16th.

The next batch were the A, B, and C men. Matt put in his usual excellent performance, taking a very impressive 6th, followed by Spencer in 32nd. Returning to racing after a few weekends off, Adam's legs were plenty fresh to put in the massive effort required to finish 14th in Bs, netting him his first points of the season. No doubt there are many more to come! Danny S finished off the set, finishing solidly in the middle of the pack.

Last off were the A/B women: Marina and Erica set off first, finishing 9th and 10th respectively in As. In Bs, new racer Anna floats-up-hills Chase won her first race of the season and provided much-appreciated guidance to her teammates on when to sprint. This allowed Colleen, newly upgraded from Cs, to snag 4th place (upgrading was clearly the right move!) followed by Krysten in 10th and Hannah in 12th. Way to bring home the points, ladies!

After all our riders had successfully returned from the ITT, we relocated to the "criterium" course...

MIT probably sent their minions to scour every single intersection in eastern Massachusetts to find the most ridiculous, outrageous criterium course imaginable. In their hubris, MIT failed the most basic test for organizing a criterium—organize a criterium. Not a circuit race, a criterium. For those of you unfamiliar with the minutiae of USA Cycling’s regulations on this matter, a criterium course must specifically be less than one mile in length. And usually they’re flat. Save the 8% gradients for the road race.

Anyways, the course comprised two 180-degree turns—one off-camber, the other after a steep and ill-paved downhill—and ridiculous finishing climb replete with melting snow and a maximum gradient of 15% (!?!?!). As usual, men's D were the unfortunate guinea pigs on this course, and the race shattered pretty early, forcing the officials to pull & place all but six riders. Brandon and Connor both put in heroic efforts, finishing 19th and 22nd respectively. Men's C was a similar tale, with nearly two-thirds of the 80-man field pulled. Danny continued to put in a solid performance, finishing comfortably mid-pack.

In women's C, Julia and Kelsey both sat comfortably in the lead pack for the first several laps, until Julia's front derailleur refused to cooperate and she was forced to pull herself. With a few laps to go, a UVM rider soloed off the front while Kelsey stayed with the main pack, winning the field sprint and finishing second overall. 

In men's B, a few small groups got away early but Adam hung with the main field, shedding riders every couple of laps on the climb. All but a couple of riders were reined in before the final sprint up the climb, where Adam finished 12th overall. Well done, T-Rex!

The MIT women dominated the start line of the Women’s A/B crit, but the Elis were fired up and ready to go. The technical corners and pothole-ridden descent put the Bulldogs' handling skills to the test, but all our riders remembered to brake early, countersteer, and pick smooth lines through the turns. Erica put in an Amazonian effort to narrowly avoid getting lapped, placing 14^th, while our “Killer Bs” (Krysten, Colleen, and Hannah) finished 4^th, 9^th and 10^th respectively.

Matt, Nick, and Spencer toed the line for the Men’s A race shortly after the conclusion of the women’s race. After some early attacking, a group of four riders made the decisive move of the day away in the lull after the first prime. Spencer put in a Herculean amount of work at the front of the field to control the gap for Matt, while Nick yo-yoed throughout the pack and rued his lack of a proper warm up. Matt unleashed a great turn of speed to take second in the field sprint for 6^th place. Spencer took 12^th and Nick, having led out the sprinters into the final turn, rolled in near the back of the field.

The Bulldogs arose Sunday morning for the second Team Time Trial of the season. Teams would complete two laps of a five-mile course, and pre-race inspection revealed a lumpy profile. Still, the lack of wind and generally smooth pavement made for plenty of fast racing. First up was the Men’s A squad featuring Adam, Matt, Nick, and Spencer. The A-Team went out hard from the gun—perhaps too hard—and despite a series of small mistakes and lack of pacing, they netted an impressive 6^th place. Meanwhile, Connor and Danny formed a two-man C team, working hard for 16th.

The Women’s A and B squads were the last to leave the start line. The A women (Erica, Marina, Krysten, and Anna) put in a massive turn of work to finish second after the defending national champions! The B squad (Colleen, Kelsey, Julia, and Hannah) showed some great form and finished first in Women’s B. Great work ladies!

As the wind began to stir the flagpole over Sutton Middle School and clouds obscured the morning sun, a pall fell on the exhausted riders. The Purgatory Road Race loomed large in the thoughts of ECCC riders and the Bulldogs retired to their lawn chairs and vehicles to nap, eat, and begin the familiar ritual of pinning numbers. 

The course presented the first proper “road race” of the road season. Riders would complete various laps of an 11-mile course featuring some early risers, a fast descent, a long death march into the wind, and finally a steep half-mile climb to the finish averaging 7%. Connor and Danny first took to the road in the D and C fields respectively with plans to stay with the leaders and out of the wind. Despite a remarkable effort, Connor ran out of GU early in the race and settled into a manageable rhythm to finish his first ever road race. Asked to describe the hill, he said it was "... big." Indeed. Great work Connor!!

Amid the gloom and doom of the road race, Danny Schlingman's performance stood out as a brilliant spot of resilience. After bonking hard on the third lap and nearly falling off his bike (?), Danny hiked up the final climb to put his front tire over the line. While he finished nearly 20 minutes down on the next rider ahead of him, Danny refused to quit in the midst of utter exhaustion and took the cake as our most tenacious racer of the weekend. Next time you think about pulling out, think twice. Way to go Danny!!!!

The Men’s A field departed a little after 2 pm to complete six laps of the course followed closely by Men's B and the Women’s A/B races, each to complete five laps. The Yalies were in full force in the women's race, with a full squad of seven ladies at the start line. As anticipated, the usual suspects splintered the race by the second lap, and the majority of riders were pulled after four. Erica suffered through five, working together with a UNH rider for most of the race to finish 9^th and maintaining her consistent string of top-10 finishes (beating an unfortunately-bonked Katie Quinn), followed by Marina in 13th. The B field suffered enormously and all but two riders were pulled and placed (“P&P’ed”) or did not finish (“DNF’ed”). Despite the challenge, newly-minted B Kelsey, Krysten, Anna, Colleen, and Hannah all finished in the top 10. Particular shout-outs to Kelsey for her mid-weekend upgrade and an amazing third place finish, as well as to Krysten, whose consistently impressive results have put her at the top of the women's B leaderboard. Great stuff!

In men's B, an attack in lap 2 in the rollers and headwinds on the course before the main climb put Adam in dire straits, and he found himself separated on the climb. After chasing to get back for most of the third lap, he eventually made his way onto a chase group. After a few minutes' recovery, the headwind on the straightaway prompted him to consider the final two laps a training ride. Nevertheless, he finished solidly mid-pack. Nice work, Adam!

As is typical for a long road race, the Men’s A field decided to let an overeager McGill rider hang out to dry for the first two laps. With Spencer suffering from his efforts in the criterium yesterday, Nick stayed up front to work for Matt’s chances. On the second ascent of the climb, MIT launched a powerful attack that crystallized into a group of seven leaders including Nick. Several more riders the danger and bridged up to the group, and Matt smartly followed wheels to move up with the leaders. Matt tucked into the back of the group while Nick and several other riders with teammates in the group worked to keep the pace high, and the leaders’ advantage hovered around a minute for the remainder of the third lap. Further attacks on the fourth ascent whittled the leading group down to 7-9 riders, but Matt shifted into offense and danced a merry jig on the pedals to join them. Farther back, Nick settled into a group of four riders and played defense to preserve Matt’s advantage. It was now every Bulldog for himself, and Matt and Nick pushed themselves hard to the finish. Matt barely missed out on his fourth sixth place finish of the weekend for 7^th, while Nick cracked the top-10. Spencer chose to ride within himself and finished 25^th on the day.

One heck of a weekend. Next time, Week 6 takes our merry band of spandex warriors to Pennsylvania for the “Shippensburg Scurry,” featuring the “Horse Killer Road Race.” I hope no animals will be harmed in the course ofracing. Over and out.

Bard:

The ECCC took a breather this week and marked the halfway point of the road season with a half-race weekend at Bard College in lovely Annandale-on-Hudson. Nonetheless, time off from collegiate racing doesn’t mean time off, and the Bulldogs spent their Saturdays racing, training, and actively recovering.

Two men’s A riders—Nick and Spencer—chose to test their legs at an amateur ¾ race just up the river. Blustery and frigid conditions presented a significant challenge to riders at the Trooper Brinkerhoff Memorial Race Series, particularly given the exposure of the race’s northbound leg to harsh crosswinds. The race comprised four laps of a 12-mile circuit containing a short power climb and two long straightaways marred by aforementioned crosswinds. The Bulldogs concentrated in the early minutes on maintaining position in the field to both respond to attacks and avoid the general sketchiness in the group behind. Despite their best efforts, by the second lap, a strong group of three riders leapt away and worked up a 45 second advantage on the field, with several chasers in the no-mans land in between. Sensing that this might be a wining break, Nick jumped away on the third lap with two other riders and over the next twelve miles bridged up to the leaders. The group of six worked smoothly enough until the final ascent, which reduced it to four. By the last two kilometers, the field was nowhere in sight for the breakaway and it was every man for himself. Nick put in the first attack just outside the flame rouge over the course’s final rise, opened a 5 second gap on the leaders through the final turn, and held on for the win.

Back in the group, Spencer worked tirelessly to shut down bridging efforts from the field. He eventually wearied of the tedium and turned the tables on his counterparts with a bridging effort of his own. The field, perhaps irked by such a show of defiance, caught him with 2K to go. Undaunted, Spencer nonetheless took second in the field sprint for sixth place. Way to go Bulldogs!

After some well-deserved rest, the Bulldogs decamped Sunday morning to the quaint and homey campus of Bard College. Mischievous organizers had designed a punishing course complete with an uphill finishing kick, two downhill 90-degree turns, and yesterday’s brutal crosswinds to boot. The Men’s D race exploded immediately thanks to the strong winds and left a select group of 10 in the front with a trail of stragglers in their wake. In the midst of the wreckage, Brandon and David found one another and worked together until the end. Congrats to Brandon on navigating his first collegiate race, and we’re looking forward to seeing more from his SuperSix Evo in the future!

The wind would continue to shape the day’s races, and from the go the Men’s C raceshattered into a wild, blooming confusion of colorful jerseys and labored breathing. An RPI rider soloed off the front for much of the race and finished over a minute up on the leaders (dirty sandbagger). Jimmy, fresh off his strong showing in the Philly D race, made the early selection on the course’s short power climb and concealed himself in the pack, while Danny found himself off the back and worked hard for a solid midfield finish. Not content to dilly-dally in the pack, Jimmy snapped up second place in the race’s second prime. Winded from his effort, Jimmy couldn’t quite put down the power he wanted in the final sprint and rolled in 12th, with an invaluable lesson learned.

In the women’s races, Yale riders fell victim again to Bard’s deceptive parcours. In Women’s C, Elif suffered enough to earn a wry grin from the sternest Belgian hardmen and rode much of the race solo. In the A/B race, Krysten labored hard to stay with the leaders and rolled in 4^th in the B field. Behind her, Hannah finished 6^th on the day.

The Men’s A race brought together the quattro amici of the men’s TTT squad—Andy, Spencer, Matt, and Nick—for the first time this season. With a smaller usual field and several of the usual suspects absent, the race was truly anyone’s game. Matt and Spencer quickly moved into position to mark moves in hopes of escaping, but the combined efforts of Dartmouth and Pittsburg kept the initial laps together. After 6 laps, a move containing UVM, Dartmouth, KMS (baby faced high school cyclists!), and Spencer got clear. The group contained enough firepower to open a substantial gap over the field, and with five to go the leaders had lapped the still further reduced field of 15 or so riders. With the two groups rejoined, the race settled down until the final lap when a Pitt rider attacked, followed closely by Dartmouth leader. Matt turned a pedal in anger at the front of the group to rescue Spencer’s changes for victory, and while ultimately unsuccessful, Spencer came in a fantastic third place! An exhausted Matt crossed the line in 16^th place.

On the other end of the action, Andy struggled courageously in the vicious opening laps and chose to conserve his strength for later in the season. Nick came frustratingly close to a joining a group of six chasers and was pulled halfway through the race.

Nonetheless, the Men’s A squad earned their first podium of the year, and we certainly believe it won’t be the last.

Philly:

Bulldog Cycling journeyed to Philadelphia this weekend for the Philly Phlyer—a race that has become a fixture of the early season in recent years. Saturday’s team time trial (TTT or “triple-T” as those weirdos from MIT call it…) and circuit race took place at lovely Fairmount Park next to the “Please Touch” Children’s Museum, whose name always inspires a giggle or two from the 20-somethings. Despite well-maintained roads, the morning began with apprehension at the forecasted bad weather and the gloomy skies portended worse to come.

The 14-mile TTT course took riders from the park down to the Schuylkill River, twice up and down the adjacent road, and then up a short but nasty climb to the finishing area. A slight northern wind meant headwinds up the river and tailwinds while returning. The women’s A squad pulled out an impressive second-place performance with especially strong performances by Erica and Marina. The C men fought tenaciously for 7^th place as Jimmy and Danny Schlingman worked together to tame the elements. The Men’s A team for their part finished a surprising 5^th after a virtual non-warm up and panicked start. While the other squads warmed up on the trainers, the Men’s A boys decided on a more leisurely course preview and traded some beautiful views of the Philadelphia Museum of Art for an actual warm up.

The precipitation offered its first tease around 10 am innocently enough—sparse, dry snowfall analogized by sometime Yale men’s captain Eric Fischer (visiting from his new home at William & Mary) to “raining Dippin’ Dots®”. The weather behaved throughout the combined Men’s D race, where Yale neo-cyclist Jimmy Martenson stayed esconsced in the front group to take 9^th place as the massive field shattered around him. By the time of Yale’s next race, however, conditions had deteriorated with freezing rain and occasional hail. As his fellow racers whimpered and talk of withdrawal spread through the Men’s C field, Dan Spakowicz found the fortitude to push through the awful wintry mix and finish 13^th on the day. Great work Dan! Danny Schlingman worked hard to stay with the leaders, but found himself the victim of a split in the field thanks to the challenging winds and punchy climbs of the “Schuylkill Scrambler.”

The women C, B, and A teams took to the road just after noon, at which time the rain had stopped. Julia finished 13^th on the day after riding a smart race in the bunch. The women’s A/B field split on the first lap after several of the “heads of state” attacked on the main climb. While the rest of the group worked their best to reel them back, the winner had amassed a seven minute advantage by the end of the five laps. Marina and Erica finished 9^th and 13^th respectively in As while Hannah finished 7^th in Bs.

The snow, hail, and freezing rain returned just in time for the start of the Men’s A race, and while conference organizers had promised to cut laps if conditions deteriorated the mood ranged from tense to resigned at staging. The first lap saw Nick and a UVM rider attack from the gun in a move that lasted roughly until the base of the climb. From then on, leaders attempted various probing attacks, but the field was not keen to risk a breakaway with the possibility that the race could be suddenly shortened. After two treacherous descents on slippery paint, at least one crash in the field, and a sudden dip in temperatures causing the wet roads to freeze, the Men’s A field decided to neutralize therace after two laps of racing. Given the risks to rider safety and sheer awfulness of the conditions, officials decided to cancel the race with no results. All would live to fight another day.

After some well-deserved dinner (and not-so-well-deserved hassle with the bill), Yale set off Sunday for a day of criterium racing on the Temple University campus. The deceptively simple course geography belied a nasty uphill finishing drag, complete with a headwind to boot. In addition, two sets of tram tracks and dubious pavement in multiple sections of the course increased the usual risk of flats and accidents. 

Conditions were improved over Saturday’s brutal storm, but clouds and wind throughout the day blunted the uptick. The men’s D race saw multiple splits in the field, but Jimmy again rode a strong and skillful race to finish in the top-10. Upgrade in the near future? As Gandhi once said, the only way to go is up. Amogh continued to hone his skills in the Men’s Intro category, finishing 12^th but winning the competition for best pedaling form. In Cs, the Dans continued their consistent work. Dan Spakowicz navigated several splits in the field and finished safely in the lead group, while Danny Schlingman took third in the first prime of the race to score his first points for Bulldog Cycling. Good work chaps! 

In the women’s races, Julia continued her excellent run to win the Women’s C field sprint in dramatic fashion. Great job Julia! Despite a mid-race crash that nearly ended her race, Julia rallied to unleash a massive seated sprint that dashed her competitors’ hopes on the rocky shoals of disappointment. The A/B race began with bad luck when a start line crash trapped Marina behind the leaders and forced her to chase for most of the race. While Hannah attempted to pace her back into the lead group, it was alas of no avail and Marina ended up in the third group on the day. While a frustrating criterium debut, we’re confident the women’s A field doesn’t know what’ll hit them in two weeks...

Erica for her part made the lead group and worked hard to maintain her position in the lead group of 15. Despite numerous unsuccessful attempts by Katie Quinn to break the will of the field, the group held together and Erica took an impressive sixth on the day. Behind her, Hannah rode a solid tempo to finish 9^th in Bs. Awesome work!

 By the end of the day, the men’s A field was rarin’ for some hard racin’ after yesterday’s frustrations. Unfortunately, Spencer Gilbert continued a string of bad luck for the Bulldogs and flatted on the first neutral lap of the course. Thanks to the fortuitous location of team mates, however, a quick wheel change meant he was ready in a jiffy. The early laps came fast and furious as riders sprinted out of corners, and Nick did his best to move his team leader Spencer up into the top-15. Riders bounced about over potholes, chip seal, and tram tracks, and the tight corners exaggerated the accordion effect in the bunch. A breakaway carved out a 10 second advantage by the end of the race, but the strong headwind through the finish gave the field a stronger hand to play. Nick for his part flatted midway and took a free lap after an errant staple found its way into his rear tire. In the end, Nick ended up on the wrong side of a split in the field and was dropped with two laps to go, while Spencer needed to hit the brakes in the final turn and lost valuable ground for his sprint. While a consensus emerged between the two on mediocre sensations and nerves during the race, the men’s A team will look to hone its form over the next few weeks with an eye toward those field and group sprints.

Columbia/Stevens:

The Yale team returned to Grant's Tomb on Saturday for an exciting day of criterium action. The famous five-corner course took riders out on to the mean streets of New York through two 90-degree left-hand corners, up a sharp uphill kick back into the park, and around a sweeping 180-degree left hand turn into the long uphill drag to the finish line. Noticeable winds out of the northwest made for challenging racing, but the otherwise balmy weather meant the pale legs of riders saw their first sun in several months.

The day's racing began with the amateur events. Re-frozen melt from the recent snowstorm made for treacherous conditions in the early morning events, and despite the race organizer's claims to the contrary patches of black ice still dotted the course. Matt Lloyd-Thomas, eager to test his mettle after last week's showing, rode a solid and attentiverace in the Cat. 4 event, coming in 10th. In the Cat 3 race, Spencer and Nick missed their start after organizers decided on a whim to move the start up in the schedule. True to form, Spencer chased furiously for 20 minutes until organizers pulled him from the race, while Nick opted to maintain his composure and turn his attention toward the collegiate races.

The collegiate races commenced with some newcomers to the Yale team. Amogh Sivarapatna gritted his teeth in his collegiate debut, while in Men's D, Will Redden and Adam Simpson put on a fireworks display for the first third of therace before missing the decisive split (keep up that training guys!). In the women's C race, Julia (fresh off her dominant performance in Intros last week) and Colleen hung together to finish in the pack. 

In Men's C, Danny and Travis endured bad luck. Danny found himself gapped off the back after Princeton and Harvard set an aggressive pace at the business end of the field, while Travis suffered mechanical difficulties with his headset midway through the race.

Yale's fortunes took a turn for the awesome in the Men's B race. Matt Lloyd-Thomas attacked from the gun in a dashing display of panache, gaining a maximum advantage of 8-10 seconds over the field. Unfortunately, the strong headwind on the backside of the course made a solo effort a difficult one and Matt eventually rejoined the field. Despite concerns from spectators that he had burnt most of his matches in his early heroics, Matt put in a great turn of speed in the final sprint to win on the day. Great work Matt!

Bulldog Cycling's talented women's team lined up for the Women's A/B race. After their dominant performance last week in the B race, Marina, Krysten, and Hannah were riders to mark in the women's peloton, and Erica's consistent results meant she herself was not to be underestimated. True to form, Marina took first in the Women's B race, Erica finished in the top 10 of the women's A field, and Hannah hung on valiantly to bring home the omnium points. Sadly, another rider touched wheels with Krysten in the final sprint and crashed her out of contention. 

The Men's A field lined up for the final race of the day. Robin Carpenter, the ECCC's baby-faced wünderkind and winner of the P/1/2 race earlier in the day, was the undisputed favorite and was spotted making silly faces at the start line (secret pre-race relaxation exercises?). The first 15 minutes were a blistering combination of cursing, labored breathing, and grimacing as riders struggled to make it through the early pyrotechnics. Spencer moved smartly into the top third of the field, while Nick found himself working hard at the back of the field in his first criterium in nearly 8 months. Racing calmed down when the field let a group of 6 riders go clear, but with a few laps to go it was gruppo compacto and things were lined up for a field sprint. Carpenter took the sprint ahead of Killington's Ansel Dickey, while Spencer finished in the top 15 and Nick, content to leave the argy-bargy to the sprinters, rolled across the line fifteen seconds later.

After a short sleep thanks to daylight savings time, we relocated to Mountainside, NJ for the first proper road race of the season. The course consisted of a 6.2 mile loop through Watchung Reservation and was variously described as consisting of 15% grades and 70% descents. While both were undoubtedly exaggerations, the course was certainly fast but hilly with no clear advantage to climbers or descenders.

In the frigid sub-freezing temperatures of the early morning, our first racers to brave the couse were Adam S in a large combined men's D (3 laps) and Amogh in men's intro (2 laps). Both races quickly shattered, and the men worked hard to finish 24th and 12th respectively. Colleen and Julia were next in women's C (4 laps). The pack uncharacteristically clung together for the majority of the race (aside from a possibly mis-categorized Penn State woman who was minutes off the front) and, despite a dropped chain, Colleen and Julia finished side by side in the top ten, both snagging some points.

In men's C (4 laps), Travis's persistent mechanical difficulties made for a difficult race, and he and Danny suffered through the hills before being pulled with a lap to go. In men's B (5 laps), Matt continued his domination, riding comfortably in the front of the pack for most of the race until the final sprint. He finished third, keeping him at the top of the men's B leaderboard. Rumor has it there's an upgrade in the works...

In the final race of the day, Spencer and Nick set off with men's A (6 laps) followed by women's A/B (5 laps) who, unsurprisingly, were lapped by the men in their penultimate lap. Spencer managed to get into a 6-man break allowing him to take sixth place in the final sprint, while Nick hung in the main pack chasing down bridging attempts and protecting the break. The neutralization of women's A/B (due to being lapped) allowed the three-woman breakaway a comfortable lead. The main pack finished mostly together, with Marina taking second place in Bs, Krysten fourth (despite her road rash from the previous day), Hannah eighth, and Erica eighth in As.

Thanks to the combined efforts of our racers, Yale finished first in the team omnium for Sunday, and moved into second place in the conference. Great work, team!

Rutgers:

First race report of the season! The 2013 road season kicked off this weekend in not-so-balmy New Jersey at the Rutgers Frozen-Toed Season Opener with a set of amazing results. Four -- count 'em, four -- first-place finishes (three from new Yale riders, no less!) and slew of other top tens. Also a puppy (de rigueur for team Yale). The details:

Saturday kicked off with the laughably short 2.2 mile ITT. Our men's intro riders were first, finishing 8th (Rohan Misra) and 22nd (John Wen) in the largest men's intro field we'd ever seen (a whopping 37 riders). Women's intro rider Julia Schlesinger went off next and, upon return, mentioned in passing that she'd passed three riders, gaining a full minute to finish in second place. Way to go Julia!

The second wave started out with men's A Spencer Gilbert finishing a solid 29th. In men's B, Adam Trexler took 33rd and newbie Matt Lloyd-Thomas WON with a solid seven seconds on the second-place rider. Our men's C team, consisting of three Dans and a Rabbit, were next, finishing 18th (Dan Spakowicz), 21st (Travis Rabbit), 33rd (Danny Schlingman) and 36th (Daniel Del Bosque). Women's B netted us a slew of points with Hannah Garrett in 11th, Krysten never-raced-before Koehn in fourth, and Marina Brown for the win! Well done ladies! And finally, I took 11th in women's A.

We then relocated to the Rutgers campus for the crit (new and improved, now with corners!). Our first race was men's C2, with the Dans & Travis. The race was fast and shattered quickly, with Dan S and Travis working together and sitting comfortably within the main group to finish 18th and 26th respectively (Travis, with an awesome save after going near-horizontal in the final lap), and Danny S and DDB in 38th and 41st.

The start of the intro race was off to a rocky start as John Wen was pushed over in the start line to a chorus of ohhs! but recovered quickly, losing no ground. The large field shattered early and the men learned to work together in small groups. Rohan finished 9th in the field sprint with John not far behind in 23rd. In women's intro, Julia took the wind for four laps and finished an impressive fifth despite pulling her competition for 98% of the race.

In men's B, Matt maintained an excellent position throughout the race, putting in several strong attacks and pushing -- no, driving -- the pace high enough to start spitting riders out the back. No breakaways stuck, and Matt finished in an incredibly impressive 7th place (as well as second in the last prime) after the day's second save from a final-lap-near -crash, followed by Adam in 31st.

With the absence of MIT's formidable and field-lapping Katie Quinn, the women's A/B race miraculously clung together for the entirety of the race, finishing in a field sprint. Krysten rode a smart race and it paid off with her first win, followed by Marina in 5th, Hannah in 12th, and me in 11th in As. Moreover, Krysten racked up a slew of sprint points, snagging points in every prime with two firsts, a second, and a third. Wow! In men's A, Spencer rode an incredibly smart race, staying near the front of the pack and out of the wind to finish 11th.

On Sunday, in the absence of any D riders this weekend, we were able to sleep in to the luxuriously late hour of 6.30. The former cornerless crit course was rebranded as a circuit race and consisted of a gradual climb, fun descent, and windy straightaway through the start-finish line for a whopping 0.9 miles. Needless to say, the initially innocent-looking hill became increasingly painful by the tenth or twentieth iteration. Our tent, erected to protect us from the cold, garnered us some not unexpected heckling from the race announcers.

First up, again, were the C2 men. In a show of remarkable consistency, Dan S bagged his third 18th of the weekend (apparently also his former soccer jersey number), followed by DDB in 32nd and Danny S in 35th. (Travis bowed out due to an unhappy ankle from the almost-crash in the previous day's crit.) In men's intro, Rohan seemed to be getting bored, easily finishing in 7th with John in 14th.

We were joined for the day by Colleen Feriod to represent in the women's C race. With riders lapped multiple times, the race was incredibly confusing for spectators to follow, and Colleen---despite a dropped chain!---finished 11th, scoring us some team points. Nice work!

In women's intro, Julia internalized her experience from the previous day and stayed out of the wind for most of the race in a five-woman lead group, sprinting easily to a first-place finish. Makin' it look easy, Julia!

Men's B was, as usual, a fast and fairly cohesive race with several attack attempts, some led by Matt, who replicated his previous day's result to finish again in 7th, with Adam in 38th.

Unlike the previous day, women's A/B saw several splits in the field, some of which (eventually) stuck. Marina floats-up-hills Brown stayed with the lead group for the entire race to finish 3rd in Bs, with Krysten in 8th, Hannah in 13th, and Erica 11th in As. In men's B, Spencer was looking strong and in excellent position until an unfortunate flat removed him from contention.