Rahway River Criterium

Because torrential rain and flooding wreaked havoc on the UNH road course, the Rutgers team was in action a little closer to home at the Rahway River Criterium, hosted by the Cranford Bike team.

Mike, honorary RU rider gives us this report:

Rahway... was a Good Idea. Mark, Harold and Pluto (Will P.)
rode from the shop to the race. Jim, Dave K., Rich K., Ray D. (and
Brittany, too!), Chris R., Craig, Andy and myself drove. Bob showed
up to play the role of the ultimate-tifosi/soigneur by providing us with ample camp chairs, bananas, oranges, powerbars and vocal chords.

Jim set the tone early on by riding away from the Cat 5 field during
the first lap. He was joined by what we were told was a Cat 2 from
Guyana -- huh?! Jim held his own for the duration of the race and was
only outfoxed at the finish. Second place in his first road race!
Nice job Jim! Rich and Ray showed their strength in the field finish,
both taking solid placings. (Though, in my opinion, Rich would have
done better if he hadn't spent so much time on the front!)

Dave, Chris and Pluto took it to the Cat 4 field hard. Some Westwood
guy made a sneaky move and took the solo win. Unfortunately I was not
paying attention in trying to prepare for the 3/4 race but I think
Dave took a good placing in the field sprint and Pluto put in a good
showing, too. Unfortunately Chris flatted and was not given the
benefit of a free lap . . . jerks!!

The main event for the Rutgers/Hermes team was the 3/4 race, in which
we had Craig, Mark and myself in the oh-so-hot green and yellow,
joined by the dashingly good looking Scarlet Knights Dave, Chris and
Pluto. The plan was to work for Mark and put one guy in every move.
Chris was very active while Dave and Craig kept Mark safe. Pluto went
with a promising move but, when it looked doomed, he came back to the
field. I bridged to the break myself and it turned out that it would
stay away. A DKNY guy made a sneaky move with about a lap to go and
outfoxed the break. I took the sprint for 2nd while Mark pulled a
solid 11th with a good performance in the field sprint. Nice work,
team!

Andy, Craig and I rode the P/1/2/3 race. I don't think there were any
current pros, but by my count, there were at least two former pros.
The race was fast and hard. I'm told I initiated the winning break
but, in a group of four and way out-gunned, I had nowhere to hide and
came back to the field. Craig and Andy did a superb job of setting me
up for the sprint. We got a bit boxed in but I was able to regain a
couple spots and pick my way to third place field finish, sixth
overall. Thanks again to Craig and Andy!