Let me begin by saying that it wasn't me; I WAS wearing my lucky
underpants, so it must have been someone else.
This weekend was a long and sometimes painful one. There was quite a
bit of excellent racing, but there was also quite a lot of bad karma
about, and the bad news must be aired with the good. Because it might
be comical in length alone, I will begin with the bad news from the
weekend and then proceed to the spankin' sweet results. If you're
having a bad monday morning, may I suggest skipping to creme. If you do
decide to read the bad news, I have taken the liberty of inappropriately
inserting emoticons to make it more palatable.
*The Really Bad News:*
Anna :-* in the circuit race :-) took a corner too fast and crashed
:-( ; after an ER visit :-$ , it was clear that she had broken :-[ her
clavicle =-O in three places >:o and fractured her scapula :-D . Tom
and David, after dominating 8-) in the men's intro race from the very
start, crashed :-X with four turns to go; Tom too :'( took a trip to
the ER :-( and discovered that he also broke his clavicle >:o . Matt
believes broken clavicles are contagious :-! .
Please join with me in wishing both Tom (Thomas.fleming@yale.edu) and
Anna (Anna.olivier@yale.edu) speedy recoveries.
*The Bad, but by no means comparable, News:*
Neil, looking unbelievably strong this weekend, didn't get the chance to
finish a race. In the circuit race, after being in the perfect position
the whole time, he flatted. In the Crit, again riding a perfectly
strategic race, he crashed in a corner after the free lap rule was up.
Next weekend, man, you will get a chance to show the D field who's boss.
*The Slightly Ridiculous Bad News*
At the end of the race day on Sunday, however, Doug, Alli and David were
stranded in South Philly as Tacco drove home with Doug's keys. With
Sarah and Alexis coming the rescue (with a Triple-A account), a new set
of keys was made and they made it safe back to new haven only a few
hours later. Chris and Rachel, however, were in a car accident. They
are OK, but it sure wasn't a great topper to their weekend.
Fortunately, that accident may have saved Tacco from an atomic wedgie.
*The Good News:*
Overall for the weekend we placed fifth, behind PennState, UPenn, MIT,
and UVM. We racked up some ill finish line photos this week: Alli,
Amelia, Tom, David, Doug, Nicholas, and Jennifer all made appearances on
www.velocityresults.net. Check that out for complete results.
The Women's A Time Trial of Anna, Christine, Sarah, and Amelie claimed
2nd, losing by only a little to the MIT squad. The Women's C squad of
Ashley, Alli, Amelia, and Hannah crushed their competitors and took
first by 22 seconds, placing equivalently 4th in the B field. The Men's
Intro group of William, David, and Tom took first. The men's A Time
Trial of Doug, Nicholas, Neil, and Chris, did NOT finish last (Note:
everyone who finished ahead had many more shaved legs).
The circuit race, modified slightly from previous years to accommodate
construction, was in nearly perfect weather of 70-something and sunny.
The 6 mile loop had two moderate climbs, and some very fast
straightaways. Nicholas placed second in the Men's D field in what was
a picture perfect finishing sprint. Ashley, in the C field, had a
similar sprint being third in her pack coming around the final turn; she
finished behind Alli, Hannah, and Amelia, placing 15th, 10th, 7th, and
6th, respectively. Tom and David placed a fearsome 2nd and 5th in the
Intro Field, with Will following in 12th. Meanwhile, Jennifer placed
4th in her first race, followed closely by Alexis in 5th.
Super-Strong-Sarah placed 7th in the fast Women's B field, and I placed
17th in the Men's A field.
The Criterium was held at the very southern end of Philly, in the Naval
Base. The L shaped course was perfectly flat, very smooth, and winding.
Jennifer placed second in the Women's Intro field, proving that she's
more than able to join our other fine ladies in the C field. Speaking
of whom, our C women continued their pattern of racing very intelligent
races: Ashley and Alli blocked for Amelia who was able to take home a
first. Ash and Alli took 8th and 9th. Great teamwork, and great
results. Nicholas in the Men's D field held the ninth position for
nearly the entire time of the twisty race. Will took 14th in the Men's
Intro race. Doug avoided a crash (and the claviculitis) on the final
lap of the men's A race but couldn't bridge up to the leaders in time
and took 9th.
Next weekend is Princeton's race. They're putting on an ITT (very
flat), a 4 mi Circuit race with a 330 ft climb, and a criterium. It
looks to be a set of very well chosen courses, and should be a great
weekend.
I have some serious Thank you's to Alli, David, Ashley, Amelia, Sarah,
Alexis, and Neil for being a huge help when the going got tough.
Happy Monday,
dougE
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