Easterns!

This past weekend the mighty Rutgers Cycling team headed to New Paltz and Poughkeepsie NY for the Eastern Collegiate Cycling Conference Championships hosted by Vassar.

The team has had its most successful road season in years and was psyched to end the season on a high note.

The team was sure not to disappoint with an impressive roster including: Charlie, Rich, Dave K., climbing phenom Alex, Mark, Chris, Kevin, Jay, and Will.

Intensity, thy name is Will

Saturday brought the brutal road race in New Paltz. With Intro men doing 10 miles, D and C men doing 35, and Bs 60, it was going to be a hard day in the saddle. In the Cs, Jay, Mark, Rich, and Charlie tried to hold it down, but the climbing expertise of the teams who live near mountains put them all in a spot of bother. Mark was the highest placed C in 62nd.

Hot off his victory at Army, Kevin was psyched to lay it down in the Intro race... and lay it down he did. Kevin crashed out on a technical descent. He came out a-okay and his bike suffered only a flat and a bent bottle cage.

Kevin went boom.

The story of the day was in the Bs. Newly minted B Chris and mountain goat-like Alex were set to tackle the grueling 60 miles course. Chris ran into some bother early on but Alex made the crucial early select group of nine who would shatter the field. Alex finished an AMAZING 6th in this incredibly difficult race.

Alex, proof that climbers do come from NJ

Saturday night brought the team banquet where the RU squad rested and recharged. The team did a healthy amount of carbo-loading in the form of brownies to prepare for the criterium on Sunday.

Early Sunday morning brought the criterium. If NJ doesn't have a lot of mountains, it does have a lot of criteriums, and the team demonstrated its skill at crits early on. Dave kicked it off with an impressive 3rd in the Ds. Mark and Rich rode an impressive race in the Cs, and Mark also finished 3rd, crucially, ahead of riders from Columbia. Kevin continued to have a heartbreaking weekend. Despite riding beautifully in the Intro crit, he got in a bad situation in the last corner and lost position for the sprint. He still pulled off an impressive 8th place. Weary from the previous day's efforts, Chris and Alex sallied forth in the Bs for an hour long crit. Chris got caught up in an early crash and was forced to chase, but Alex hung tough and finished 23rd. The main event was the A men's criterium, and Will C. joined the team in Poughkeepsie on Sunday just for the crit. The race was blisteringly fast, but Will hung tough to finish in the field.

Dave is a baller. On the D men's podium.

Dave and Mark show off their hardware

The C Men's Criterium Podium

Chris, as most know, has been the revelation of the season. Going into Easterns, Chris had a slight lead in the C men's overall standings. With his move to Bs, that overall lead was in doubt. With some crafty riding by his teammates, Chris' overall lead was defended, and he took home the D1 C men's overall title!!!!

Chris on the podium. Division I C Men's overall champion!

And that puts an end to another collegiate road season. Look for the RU Cycling crew in action throughout the summer on both the local road and mountain bike circuit. The team will gather together again for collegiate competition in the Fall when they hope to defend their ECCC Cyclocross championship!