C mens Report
In the C men, DK and FroJoe lined up being placed in the last row as Rich Fries heckled the team telling them to go home. The ground was snow covered and thick with ice as a frigid chill stayed in the air. Prior to the start of the race it was announced that the barriers were going to be removed due to the icy conditions.
The field size was huge with a large showing of collegiate riders. Dave and Joe rode together for most of the first half of the race working their way up the field. Dave was crashed when a rider tried to pass him on the narrow single track and ended up wiping out his front wheel. That's when Joe decided to throw down the hammer and put out an incredible ride.... all without his right shoe, which broke on the second lap and fell off in the beach run. Joe ended up with a 32nd (5th collegiate) finish and Dave was able to out sprint an MIT rider at the line for 42nd (7th collegiate).
B mens Report
In the B men, AngryMark and Cap'nChaz lined up against a strong New England field. Due to the call ups and seeding by order of registration, we lined up close to the back of the field, but there were 45 minutes to fix that!
The course was both fast and slippery, with thick mud in spots, while other portions of the course were still icy as in the C-race. The word of the day was FUN! The course had so much variety that it served the bike-hadler as well as the towers of power. The start was more crowded than the last train home from New York with elbows flying everywhere. Charlie upset one or two people... sorry, well, not really. AngryMark found out that that he could still pedal. Maybe it wasn't as hard as he would like as he had to take time off due to the hip injury, but no pain today. We both spent most of the race mid-pack. Charlie pulled an MIT rider up the start-finish straight, and then punished him by intentionally over-cooking an icy off camber corner. The Captain put his foot and rear tire out, the other rider, well, he crashed. Bye Bye. Angry Mark attacked the technical sections today. He was able to drop much stronger riders. A new tool in his toolbox; look for him to wield it tomorrow and at nationals. Cap'nChaz and AngryMark ended up finishing a respectable 36 and 38th. In the Verge NE, we'll take that finish anyday. The questions are: will we be able to place that well tomorrow and will this form continue 'till nationals?
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