Monsoon Weekend Race Report

Not having paid attention to the weather reports, a skeleton crew of
Yalies headed to Grant's Tomb in NYC to race bicycles. Upon arriving at
the course it was apparent that it wasn't raining, it was hurricaning,
tornadoing and monsooning. It was raining at up to an inch an hour with
40+ mph sustained winds. For those familiar with the course the wind
was so strong that the course needed to be modified. The dogleg around
the city block was taken out and it was essentially reduced to a
velodrome with a 180 degree turn at either end of the park enclosing
Grant's Tomb.

Eric Fischer kicked off Yale's race efforts in the Men's D field. He
muscled out a pack finish in a wet and cold field. Tacco took the
course next and much like his later counterparts, caught a little bit of
separation into the 40 mph headwind an it was too much for him as he
flew out the back, literally. Both David DeWitt and Rachel Duncan
mulled around in the Intro clinics in the frigidly cold weather, as the
rain continued to fall and riders continued to go airborne from the
wind. They both raced to strong finishes in their respective intro
fields. A quick shoutout to Jenny for showing up to her first ever
collegiate race after arriving back from her travels at 3AM the night
before, after being advised this probably wasn't the best first
experience she's ready for next weekend. The day rounded out with Anna
and Doug racing in fast A fields.

A rash e-mails went out to the cycling list and with the announcement
that our captains were casualties from the day before, the list of
racers dwindled to three hearty souls. Dave and Tacco ventured to FDR
State park to try and recover from Saturdays scarring rides. The course
was mostly flat, freshly paved and seemingly had zero sketch involved.
This was a welcome change to for the ECCC racers as last years criterium
on Stevens Campus was the opposite; a hill repeat, unkempt roads and
massive throngs of sketch ball.

Tacco's race started off well and he was feeling the groove, until he
felt the groove. He was pushed off the race course into the only hazard
on the 2 mile loop and hit the ground hard. His bike did as well and
wasn't in condition to catch back on the field. He settled for riding
the course with the Intro fields for the rest of the day. Dave DeWitt
dried out and thawed out from Saturday geared up and raced a smart race
by not doing any work and forcing his pelotonmates to do all work in
catching the typical "I am going to ride off the front of the field from
the line and win" Intro racer. Sprinting in hard for a strong finish he
was satisfied. The third and last racer of the day was Ashley ready to
take advantage of her dry shoes and clothing. In an epic couple laps
of racing she laid down a beast of a final sprint to capture second in a
shattered Women's Intro field. Thanks to dougE for coming out on Sunday
to cheer us on, we're not jealous that you're going to North Carolina
for the week at all.

We're looking forward to having a healthy rested squad next weekend as
the Yale Cycling team heads to Philly for the Philly Phlyer.