Rutgers Takes 1st Off-Road Win of 2009!

Riding to victory aboard a Specialized Stumpjumper 29er!

While my skinny-tired teammates tackled The Cherry Blossom RR, The Rahway River Criterium, and even the Dartmouth Collegiate Weekend, I headed to Coatesville, PA to compete in the Hibernia Mountain Bike Duathlon.

I'd never done a duathlon, and I'm not much of a runner, so I enlisted some help. It turns out my girlfriend and fellow endurance athlete, Jenna, is a bit of a runner, so I recruited her to be the runner for our relay duathlon team. Hibernia would serve as a warm-up to the half-marathon she is doing in Central Park this weekend.

We arrived bright and early and set up shop. Neither of us had any idea what was going on. I puzzled over what to do with the single number they gave to us at registration.

Fortunately, a kind soul explained that the number goes on the runner in the relay. More importantly, he explained that the number goes on the front.

That's just weird.

The race consisted of a 2.38 mile trail run, a 10.5 mile mountain bike, and a 2.38 mile trail run.

We didn't really know how the transition was going to work or even how long it would take either of of us complete each given leg, but we figured we would figure it out.

Indeed, we did.

Jenna came in 20th off the run. We made an incredibly fast transition and I rode through seven riders within the first 1/2 mile to settle into 13th overall. It had been since my victory at Bear Creek in September that I'd last felt good enough to race, and I rode conservatively and steady. I could see three riders ahead of me, but I elected to keep them in my sight, but not push too hard to catch them.

On the first lap, I rode a 25 minute split. My goal was to knock the bike out in less than an hour. So far so good. Three quarters of the way through the second lap, I caught two of the guys in front of me on a single track climb. I saw the third guy, now sitting in 10th, but we could only match each other's pace.

I came screaming into the transition area yelling "gooooooo!" I rode another 25 minute lap. Excellent. Jenna took off, now in 11th place. She put in one of the most amazing runs ever to finish the second run in 18:49. She got passed by two of the guys whom I had passed on the bike.

Our total time was 1:28 for the race. We handily won both the co-ed relay competition and the relay competition by over five minutes.

Me, post-race, victory cheer. Also, the new Rutgers Cycling Caps (soon to be available)

The Rutgers Off-Road Team is back in action on two wheels only at its first mountain bike race on Sunday, May 3. The team will be dividing between the first H2H Series race in Waywayanda State Park in NJ and Mid-Atlantic Super Series Race #2 in New Castle, DE.

Rutgers Kicks Off Cross Season at Bear Creek

Though the collegiate cyclocross season is more than a month away, Rutgers Cycling got a jump on the season at the 2nd day of Bear Creek Cyclocross in Macungie, PA this weekend.

In the collegiate men's race, Rutgers swept the podium, going 1,2,3. 2007 ECCC B men's champion AngryMark came off the disabled list and stormed off the line on a wisely chosen single speed cyclocross bike with the Kassassin and Charlie T. (aka C$) in close attendance. With two laps to go, the Kassassin faded in the heat and technical conditions. AngryMark took the win with time to zip up his skinsuit. Kassassin took a convincing 2nd and Charlie rode an amazing 1st cyclocross race to finish 3rd.

Charlie, Mark, and Rich at the start (photo: Dennis Smith)

Donning a Rutgers kit for the first time this weekend was first year Patrick. No stranger to cyclocross, Patrick took on a small, but talented Elite Men's field. In stiflingly hot conditions, Patrick took an early learn that looked insurmountable. The heat, however, took its toll and Patrick had to step off the gas. Andrew Crooks from Hampton Velo bridged up to Patrick and then attacked to take the lead. Crooks would go on to win, but Patrick rode an excellent 60 minute race to take second.

Rutgers is in action again next weekend at the MAC season opener, Nitany Lion Cross (Fogelsville, PA) and Charm City Cross (Baltimore, MD)

Rutgers Victory at Rahway River Criterium!

Race report courtesy of Chris:

"Here is the Rahway Report (please excuse type-o's, I am pretty tired)

A solid RU team (David, Charlie T, Alex, Rich, Andy, Eric, and myself) headed out EARLY this morning (races started at 7!) for some awesome crit action at our old stomping grounds, Rahway River Park. Eric represented well in the cat 5 and got his first taste of USCF racing, with a little training, this guy is going to be awesome! The rest of us geared up for the Cat 4 race, which turned out to be the highlight of the day. One of the biggest teams in the field, besides Base Camp, we felt like if we worked together we had a chance of at a good showing. The race started off with the Red Train hammering the pace. Rich, Dave, Charlie and Andy put in efforts that can only be described as Pure Power, and Alex was so aggressive on the front that he was countering his own attacks! With 6 laps to go, the field was coming up on Alex after he rocketed off the front, and I countered and got a 50 yd gap with a guy from Base Camp. After towing him around for a lap I asked him to pull and he said, "No, I can't!". After a little encouragement, I got him on the front for about 30 sec, attacked, and dropped him. When the RU boys realized it was just me out front, the punched in and went to work. Everyone did their part, Dave, Alex, and Andy blocked to perfection (it may have hurt DK's powertap readings, but he took one for the team and tamed the beasts that are his legs). In absence of the Prez, Rich (the VP) took control of the pack and made sure nothing came close. Charlie . . . well Charlie attacked with one lap to go (he is just too strong to let his power tamed by pack), but he definitely did his part to keep the pack back. With three laps to go, the gap shrunk to 10 sec, but I knew my boys were working hard, so I found my second wind and gave it everything I had. I streched the gap to 30 seconds and came to the line with the notorious, the glorious LOOK . . . ZIP . . . BALLIN'! I turned around and saw that one of the hardest working guys in the pack, the Kasassian, somehow had enough legs to sprint for 3rd! After the race it was congratulations all around for the RU team, the entire pack thought we ran a beautiful race. 30 minutes later Dave, Alex, Rich, and myself decided that collegiate riders cannot do only one race a day and headed out for the 3/4 race, where we all showed that we had the fitness to hang with the 3's. Rich had the best placing, I think around 15th. All and all, it was a good day for the RU squad, and it showed that we are ready to rock NH next weekend at the ECCC CHAMPIONSHIPS!!!!!

Your Prez,
Chris"

Beanpot Weekend - FroJoe's Race Report

From our awesome first-year racer Joe:

"Well, the mens D1 road race went a little like this:

Being the lone Rutgers rider in the Mens D, I wont lie, I felt the butterflies.
After the gun went off, or realistically the yelling of "GO" echoed through the air
i was pretty much shuffled towards the back of the pack, and around 400 meters
in someone hit the brakes hard and about 5 or 6 riders went down.
I remember one guy getting his neck ran over as i moved over to avoid the pile up.
I quickly got those bad images out of my head and figured to avoid more
crashes i had to move the front. Even though it was the first lap i decided
to see who had guts and attacked on the hills and had a small break,
but was quickly caught and I moved back into the pack. After the first lap
things picked up on the straight and and i thought since things were speeding up
i better attack on the hills if i wanted a chance to win. So i moved to the front and lead the
race and attacked on the hills again, this time breaking the field as
only four riders went with me. Since i had no clue what to do and thinking
like a runner i just kept pounding and had a nice break and was alone for awhile.
I was adventually caught towards the end of down hills. I clearly didn't have weight or momentum
on my side. As we closed in on the finish line i kept with the pack only beating a
UVM rider on the sprint and the rest beat me but i picked up 5th place out of 50 i believe.

FROJOE"

The U.S. Cyclocross National Championships Race Report

The 2007 Rutgers University Cycling Cyclocross Nationals Team
(left to right: Andy, Joe, Rich, Dave, Mark, Charlie, and Don)

The course on Sunday morning for the Collegiate Men's Race.

After weather delayed the planned Thursday departure of the Rutgers 'cross team, the team arrived in Kansas City in the early afternoon on Friday. The went directly to the course to pick up their bikes, check out the course, and spin out the plane ride from their legs.

Chaz tears it up on the rutted and frozen course

Saturday morning brought snow and a chance to pre-ride the course before the U23 races. The team dialed their tire pressures and gear selection for the frozen and snow covered course. Though the team was not racing until Sunday morning, they banked on similar frozen, rutted, and slick conditions. As conditions got progressively worse through the day the team retreated back to its hotel to rest up, pin numbers, and prepare for Sunday's collegiate race.

36th place!

Mark kicked off Sunday morning in the single speed race and faced biting cold (single digits!) and a completely frozen course. After blasting through the first half of the race in the top ten, Mark suffered a series of crashes that re-injured a hip issue, but held on to top 30 for 28th.

The Cap'n and AngryMark

With his hip taking him out of the collegiate men's race, Mark took to the pit to support the six Rutgers riders in the collegiate men's race. The team faced stiff competition from the 146 rider field and poor starting positions.

Charlie tore through nearly 70 riders to make it into the top 4o riders in a stacked field and rode with some of the most elite collegiate riders in the US to finish 36th. Andy, Dave, Joe, Don, and Rich fought both the course and the enormous field to take home strong rides with Dave 65th, Joe 69th, Rich 78th, Andy 91st, and Don 101st. There's some clear discrepancies in the results, but it's clear that the team rode in the top half of the field.

The team finished 17th overall in the D1 team omnium with Charlie 26th for D1 men, Dave 46th, Joe 47th, Rich 55th, Andy 61st, and Don 68th.

The team post-race

Rutgers Cycling would like to thank everyone who made this trip possible. Special thanks to Don, Tom, Kurt, and Mike at Verge Sport for all their support throughout the weekend. Thanks also to Bob Cary and everyone from Skylands Cycling for their generous donation. Thank you also to Linda Yost and Rutgers Recreation for their financial and organizational support. Huge thanks to Rutgers Cycling president, Chris for his untiring efforts in making the trip happen.

After a much deserved break, the team will begin building once again for a successful collegiate road season.

NBX Grand Prix of CX @ Goddard Park, RI

Before we get to day 2 of action from Goddard Park, let's have a shout for the amazing host housing generously provided by Hannah in Providence.

We slept in a fort; Colonel Henery Rutgers would be proud!



Mark worked the Results



Dave and I bonded



And FroJoe, well, he slept



The bikes enjoyed socializing with some new friends from Rhode Island, so we didn't feel too bad leaving them with their new acquaintances while we went to an amazing party at the Hub.




Alright, back to the action!

The Mens C team lined up in a field of 47. With FroJoe's newly taped shoe, he stood a chance to realize his potential with many meters of sand to run per lap. Dave was as comfortable as ever as he expertly navigated the field. Less words, more pictures:









For a number of laps, Joe was caught in traffic from the B masters field that allowed a Drexel rider to get away in the clear lines in front of that pack. After hearing enough shouting from us to break free of the pack he was in, he charged through and was making up some time on the Drexel rider, but it was not to be. Had the Mens C staged ahead of the B masters (as yesterday), it could have been an amazing duel to the finish line. FroJoe came across the line in 24th position. DK had an amazingly consistent race and looked so in control from beginning to end. A UNH rider was trying to catch DK in the last few laps, and DK responded by setting the frozen course on fire to ride away from him and finish 31st. These two are primed and ready for nationals; I wish that I could watch their performances.

The B men lined up after a solid finish on Saturday and were unsure of what was left in the legs for Sunday. The course was just as fast or faster than Saturday, but instead of a few long power sections, there were many shorter straights and gentle bends to get your pedal on! This suited me well, for it was somewhat similar to the type of output that you have to put in while carving singletrack in a competitive MTB field. Mark had his technique together, but the nerve in his hip was not allowing him to put the power down on Sunday. He kept it going steady, but could not muster the power to explode out of the MANY MANY MANY corners on the course. He had a pain-free race on Saturday, but the double-header was too much. We are all hoping that he will have a pain-free ride at nationals. He is looking forward to some extended recovery after those 45 minutes of effort.

I had a better experience, for the course suited me, my legs felt great, and I made a good move early in the race. Though I staged in the back, I made up a number of spots with a good starting sprint and aggressive lines through the two hairpins that followed. Then onto the beach, where a rider to the right of me fell over onto us. I was able to get off my bike and get it on my shoulder quickly and took an aggressive line off of the beaten path up the run up. Taking this line allowed me to gain a large number of spots and get me in a pack with some fast dudes! I was able to hang with them until bobbling the bike while riding the second beach. My right shifter must have got some sand in it, and it could no longer release cable. I got stuck riding 46-25 and 46-27 for the last 25 minutes of the race. Going backwards while doing a 25 minute cool down during the race probably saved my legs from a lot of pain. The group that I was with finished 19th-22nd. That was, by far, the best 30 minutes of CX racing that I have had in a 2/3 field in New England.











In the end, I finished 40th and Mark held it down by outsprinting Bard for 37th. Way to push through the pain and get the job done!

Rutgers Back-to-Back Conference Champions!

In the final weekend of the Eastern Collegiate Cycling Conference's Cyclocross series, Rutgers Cycling took the team title for the second time in two years.

Even sweeter, Rutgers riders Andy, Joe, and Dave swept the C men's omnium podium. B riders Mark and Charlie took first and second in the omnium.

That makes five individual medals and one team championship cowbell for the Rutgers University Cycling Cyclocross Team!

Next weekend, the seven rider cyclocross team tackles the US Cyclocross National Championships on Kansas City, KS.

W.E. Steadman's CX @ Goddard Park, RI

C Mens Report




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?

MAC Series Finale Wrapup

Rutgers wins at Reston; FarmerAndy and AngryMark lock up series titles!

DK, FroJo, AngryMark, and me (FarmerAndy) killed it this weekend for the MAC series finale and the second to last weekend of racing for the ECCC.

For starters, we rolled out to Carlisle and Reston in the pro-ish Rutgers Van complete with enough bikes, wheels (9 pairs!), and assorted spare parts to rival most small elite teams.

We started our Saturday morning the way all 'cross races should start: Belgian style with yummy chocolate chip waffles and hot coffee thanks to the Waffle House that was adjacent to our HoJo's.

It was cold and windy when we got to the Carlisle Fairgrounds for the race. Definitely one of those mornings that made us all question why we choose to wake up at the crack of dawn to ride around in muddy circles while the rest of our peers sleep in their nice warm beds.

The course was nice and swoopy with some decent short hills, some nice long stretches of pavement, and a fast set of barriers. DK, FroJo, and I killed it in the C race chock full of collegiate riders from Penn State, Carnegie Mellon, and two guys from Drexel on full suspension mountain bikes.

The first two laps for me didn't feel too good as I sat 5th wheel. As I hopped over the barriers after lap 2, I started to find my legs and though I could not catch Matt Spinks and Sam O'Keefe (who are both 14), put in a solid effort to finish 3rd overall (1st if you don't include the U19 riders) with FroJo and DK also throwing down some solid efforts to finish 17th and 20th.

FroJo tackles the barriers en route to an awesome finish! (photo: Dennis Smith)

While we rode the 3 miles back to the HoJo's to shower, warm up, and check out, AngryMark was putting the hurt on the B Field to finish 2nd collegiately.

With our racing done for the day, we were more than happy to get back in our nice warm van and cruise down to Bethseda, MD to meet up with our lovely hosts Greg and Jill (thanks guys!). Not only did we a great place to stay, Greg (former Rutgers Cycling President circa-1992) showed us his old-school RU jerseys and pictures from collegiate racing back in the day.

With the Sunday forecast showing snow, rain, and bitter, cold we were ready to face the worst, but it when we rolled over to Reston, VA for the Capital Cross Classic, it was dry and much warmer than it was in Carlisle. I loved Sunday's course, lots of places to go fast, and with no Matt Spinks in the picture, I kept on the gas the whole race for a solid win in my last race before KC Cross nationals in two weeks.

DK, FroJo, and AngryMark put int great efforts to ensure that the Rutgers 'Cross team maintains their lead in the ECCC Standings with one week of racing left to go.

FarmerAndy tries out the new TT helmets (photo: Ann Rock)

Did I mention that we picked up our new team TT helmets? They look awesome and are perfect for 'cross on those windy days. A big thanks to Efinger Sporting Goods!

Rutgers Wins NJ Championship, rolls at Baystate Cyclocross

It was another busy weekend for the Mighty Rutgers Cycling Cyclocross Team!

Friday night, Rich, Don, and Mark headed to Sterling, MA to race the Gearworks Baystate Cyclocross, round 5 of the ECCC cyclocross series. Don met with some bad luck, but Rich and Mark both had, ahem, "sterling" rides to finish 4th collegiate in the men's C and men's B.

Rutgers took the team overall at Baystate and retains its lead in the ECCC cyclocross series!

Mark continues to hold the lead in the B men's overall standings.

The story of the weekend, however, is a little closer to home. Sophomore FarmerAndy has been showing incredible form lately with podium finishes in the last two MAC races and a commanding lead in the ECCC individual points competition. On Sunday at the NJ State Cyclocross Championships in Augusta, NJ Andy put it together to take home the NJ State Championship in the Cs! This is the second time in three years that Rutgers has won a state championship.

With this win, Andy has cemented his lead in the NJ Cyclocross Cup and looks absolutely unstoppable for the remaining races!

Rutgers returns to action this weekend for ECCC races number 6 and 7 in Carlisle, PA and Reston, VA.

Busy Rutgers Cycling Weekend Recap - HPCX and ALS Spin-a-thon

Will gives us this weekend recap:

Friday: ALS Spinathon

Led by the club vice president, Rich K., the team gathered at the student center to spin on stationary trainers for 16 hours to raise money and awareness for ALS research. A few heroic members of the team defied sacred college doctrine by getting to the student center at 6AM. They set up the tent and materials and got the spinning underway in less-than-warm conditions. More and more riders joined the spinning until mid afternoon, at which time the buzz of spinning trainers reached its busiest hum.

Fiona sat on that bike for 15 hours!

We worked to get the already-poor college students to empty their pockets of their precious laundry quarters. I rode around in kit to add some novelty to the giving experience.

It was hard to avoid me when I hunted you on two wheels.

Chaz helped by sprinting and causing hubub each time somebody dropped a donation. The team took turns in the sprinting “hotseats” and others quickly jumped in to pass along information and collect money. There was bonding, laughter, and the general sense of doing something for a cause greater than our usual exploits. Fiona took the day by managing to ride 15 hours straight, while the bulk of the team logged at least 4 hours on the trainer. The group spun well into the dark, even whilst the student body had retreated to dorms and apartments to prepare for Friday night.

Joe: “MONNNNEYYYYYYY, NOWWWWWW”

While money towards an ALS cure and raising awareness are great outcomes, I most enjoyed observing the selflessness and generosity of both my teammates and the Rutgers campus. My teammates skipped classes, paying jobs, and gave their busy college time without hesitation. The campus received our efforts with polite thanks and generosity, choosing to stop and hear our cause when they could scurry by on a busy Friday afternoon.

A bus driver honked at me and did a drive-by donation

Saturday: Course Setup, Highland Park Cyclocross Race

With butts still reeling from too many hours on a bike seat, the team again assembled on Saturday to prepare the course for the annual Highland Park Cyclocross Race. Much raking, staking, and taping comes together to make an offroad, grass course on which silly cyclists will crash and beat the anaerobic crap out of each other.

The course was beautiful, to say the least.

Sunday: HPCX

(Before recounting Sunday’s events, let me say I have ridden a lot of miles on a road bike, but could count my offroad riding experiences on one hand.)

With butts still reeling from too many hours on a bike seat on Friday, and hands blistered from a day of manual labor on Saturday, the team again assembled (this time at 5:30AM) to get the race promotion flowing. We all pitched in to various odd jobs, while AngryMark and Rob orchestrated the intricate unfolding of a bicycle race. I convinced Jenks to lend me his bike (a less-than-safe gamble, considering his race was directly after mine) so that I could give this cyclocross business a try. I’ll spare you my race report because I did not crash or do anything particularly blogworthy. I will say that it was great fun and will add, quite unhumbly, that the field would have been in trouble if I had the confidence to blast the first lap, rocketshipstyle.

Will P. storms the barriers.

Others on the team had some solid races, with Jenks taking fourth in the B’s and the RU team sweeping collegiate podiums like nobody’s business.

Jenks is a blur, as usual.

This weekend tested the cycling team’s resolve, but the troops rallied and made it happen. The rest of the ECCC conference would do well to notice this growing team from New Brunswick.

~ by wcuk on November 12, 2007.

ECCC Cross Weekend #1 - Chainbiter and Cycle-Smart Int'l

The defending ECCC Cyclocross series champions Rutgers Cycling kicked off their assault on the 2007 ECCC Cyclocross Series at Chainbiter 9.0 in Farmington, CT and Cycle-Smart International in Northampton, MA this weekend.

Some people have referred to Rutgers' cross program as a "juggernaut." If this weekend was any indication, nobody stops the juggernaut.

A small Rutgers cyclocross crew of FroJo, FarmerAndy, The Kassassin, Sleepin'Kyle, and I arrived in Rocky Hill, CT on Friday night and crashed at a pretty decent Howard Johnson's about 25 minutes from the course. We awoke the next day in darkness and headed out to the course with stops along the way for coffee and Clif bars.

Our 4 men's team had a solid effort in the massive 99 rider New England field. While we don't agree with the results, Andy placed 34th (3rd collegiate), Joe 83rd (5th collegiate) and Rich and Kyle's results seem to be missing.

"If it's cold, wear warmers. If it's wet, wear embrocation." I'm obviously a little cold... Chainbiter

I was the only 2/3 rider and had an okay day just coming off recovery from an injury and a bit of a bug to finish 49th (3rd collegiate).

After the race, we loaded up the car and headed to Hadley, MA to stay with family friends of Andy. Their hospitality and beautiful home were welcome sights after a long, hard day of racing.

Sunday morning after a breakfast of oatmeal and dried fruit, we headed to Look Park in Northampton, MA for the 17th Annual Cycle-Smart International. The race is put on by Rutgers coaching sponsor Cycle-Smart, so it was a great opportunity to show our fitness at this awesome race!

In the 4s, Andy had a great day to finish 23rd (2nd collegiate) in another massive field of 92 riders. Rich had a better day (and finished with both wheels intact) to finish 53rd (6th collegiate), Joe finished 76th, and Kyle 80th.

In the 2/3 race, I felt better and finished 51st (3rd collegiate) in a field of 84 riders. Chain difficulties sent me backwards a bit, but I was able to feel like I was racing for the first time in a while.

Because of the team's massive and consistent effort, Rutgers took the D1 overall both days and currently leads the ECCC 'cross team overall. Andy is second overall in the C men, and I'm 2nd in the B men.

This weekend, Rutgers races at home in NJ. Saturday the team is headed to Bridgeton, NJ to race Beacon Cyclocross. On Sunday, the team hosts its own race in Jamesburg, NJ, HPCX.

With a home advantage all weekend, Rutgers is set once again for cyclocross domination!

Oh, it's cyclocross season

We headed down to South Jersey for a little cyclocross action today at the Hillbilly Hustle .2. As always, it seems, we had a big crew with The Jenksster, FarmerAndy, Craig., Todd, Pluto, The Kassassin, NinjaDon, Dave, Freshman Joe, Matt P. and Me (and Noah too!).

I'm always super psyched to watch the C race when we have oodles of teammates in it. We had six. To the surprise of no one who saw his ride on Wednesday, Todd (RU Cycling Alum) rode away from the field to take the win. It was sweet! It's also his first win ever . That's awesome. The Rutgers boys were in full effect. At one point, we had 4th-6th - all Rutgers guys. FarmerAndy is clearly in good fitness after his cross country bike ride this summer and was positioned for third until a mechanical and a crash knocked him back. I'm not entirely sure where everyone ended up in the Cs. Rich finished strong after suffering a flat at an entirely inopportune part of the course

Big props to Joe in his first ever cyclocross race! He looked fantastic out there!

In the Bs, Jenks, Craig, Don, Will P (cuz he can't get enough from just one race), and I toed the line. Despite the course suiting neither of us, Jenks and I both had solid races with me spending most of the race in 3rd to 5th until I fell apart in the last two laps to finish 7th and Mike coming back from 3 crashes to finish 11th. Craig's bike didn't hold together and Will DNF'd, but Don put in a solid ride despite a lingering cold to finish in the 20s.

With my ride today, I think (if my math is correct) I took over the lead in the NJ Cross Cup. Cool.

The biggest congratulations go out to Todd for putting out an amazing ride today and bringing home the win! Well Done!!!!

NJ State Road Race Championship

Today went well for the Rutgers crew.

In the 4 race, Rutgers was well-represented by Will P., Dave, Rich, Chris, and I. Rutgers did a phenomenal job of riding at the front and helping to control the race. Even after 56 miles, the boys rode incredibly strong.

With a few miles remaining in the race, the pack was noticeably nervous. The pace dropped, and we all sort of waited for the hammer to fall. Ralf from Westwood rolled away, but it didn't stick. The Rutgers gang was anxious to wind it up, but we decided to wait until one of the bigger teams came to the front to get the party started.

The finishing straight for the RR is long, wide, and slightly uphill. We came into the finishing straight with all five of our guys in the top 10. As the sprint started to wind up, the field got a little crazy. Chris, Will, Rich, and I were all boxed and couldn't seem to get out. A Princeton rider drove it hard to the left of the field just as I wiggled my way out of the field and opened up the sprint. The Princeton rider took the win. I came charging up the left to just miss riders from Liberty and Westwood for 2nd and 3rd. I finished 4th, Will finished 5th hot on my wheel. Chris finished 12th. Rich and Dave both finished in the top 25.

Well done!

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!

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!

Rutgers Cycling Takes On Boston

by Kevin Miller

LIVE (almost) from the Boston Beanpot Cycling Classic-here's the race report, or rather weekend report. When the team gathered in the parking lot of Brower at 5PM Friday, who knew the awesomeness that would ensue during the weekend? Some dubbed it the undergrad race; others dubbed it the undergrad race with super-senior Jay. Either way, everyone packed all their gear into Chris's van and Dave's SUV, and we started the journey to Boston- stopping on the way in Connecticut for Dunkin Donuts. Andy was sporting his cornrows and gold chain (a regular Grand Master Flash). We passed other people with bikes on their cars and proceeded to scream about Rutgers Cycling out the window. Then, BOOM, fast forward a couple of grueling hours on the road and we arrived in Boston. Destination: the MIT fraternity Delta Tau Delta (which was like a mansion). The brothers, many of whom cycle, had let us stay in their second floor bedroom and provided many couches and mattresses for us to rest and live in for the weekend. Friday night, several of us went out to peruse the city, and some decided on hitting the sack early for the race the next morning. We woke up early, and set off for Grafton, MA where the Beanpot Road Race would take place- on the campus of the Tufts Veterinary School- a very small, but beautiful campus in rural Massachussets. The course was very up and down hilly, with the largest being right smack dab in the middle. In the D's, Dave would race adamantly, with Andy following close behind. Racing C's, Chris finished 4th (after a giant truck was practically stopped during the sprint), and Jay and Rich held up with the rest of the pack. I finished around the middle of the pack, and Alex put in a good sprint in the B's. After the race came and went, we headed back to the frat house, stopping for pizza in a small shop and watching re-runs of Wrestlemania. Next morning- Sunday was to be the Beanpot Criterium- located on the Tufts University Main Campus. This is clearly one of the most dangerous crit courses out there, having turns named Carnage Corner, and the like. Fortresses of hay bails were laid out to prevent serious damage. Andy and Dave, racing the D's, were entangled in a massive crash that threw them out of the crit, Dave's on the last lap. In the C's, Chris finished second overall (and got a sweet medal to prove it), and Rich and Jay followed close in pursuit. I raced Intro's in what was probably my best race to date. Alex topped it all off with a decent finish in the B's, and we all went to a Burrito joint where they were having a meal deal sponsored by the ECCC. We headed home, stopping for some Auntie Anne's on the way, and then hit New Jersey, where it was pouring rain. Sadly, nothing gold can stay, only in our memories. :) Boston was beautiful! Pictures coming soon.

Pinecone RR

As told by HP Hermes cyclist, Mike Jenks:

Today, Hammonton, NJ played host to the 2007 edition of the Pinecone
Circuit Road Race. The Cat 3/4 race was a 48-mile affair full of my
absolutely favorite terrain: flat, flat, flat. Mark, Will C., Will P.
and I met at the Dunkin Donuts in the HP at the wonderfully fresh hour
of 5:15AM (I was late, as usual).

Once at the race, my day began rather inauspiciously as we were
heading out to do a pre-race roll-around (note: this was by no means a
warm-up). As I tried to show off my CX skill in the
field-turned-parking-lot, I fell to the ground--much to the amusement
of my teammates.

The race itself went off pretty slow at first. Two guys decided to
head out at about mile 6, one guy was unattached and one guy was from
the platoon that was Team Beacon. They held a 20 second or so gap for
a long, long time. As it looked like they were to be caught, an attack
went in and I joined a chase group of four or five. The six or seven
of us worked very well together, running the gap up to 30 seconds
again.

At this point, as told by Will C., random guys in the field started
"attacking." I put attacking in quotes because it was more of a
(horrendously ugly and consisting of poor form) sprint that happened
to drag the entire field along. We came back with about 15-20 miles
left.

At that point, I decided to do what I was supposed to be doing all
along: sit in. I plopped myself onto Will C.'s wheel and, for the most
part, never moved from it. Another break of six or seven went up the
road but didn't gain much advantage. On the final circuit (the final 6
miles), a lone attack went that got quite a gap as everyone was
tentative, not wanting to waste their energy for the sprint. Will P.
did some great work at the front, keeping the pace high and the race
safe while we debated whether or not to give a full chase to the
one-man breakaway. The final stretch was long, maybe 3km corner to
corner. At this point, the lone attacker was still up the road and we
started to get mixed up in the argy-bargy. There was an intersection
with a flashing yellow light at about 600m from the line. Mark went
full gas at that point on the right as the field surged on the left.
Will C. followed easily with me tucked behind him. I yelled a wee
early for Will C. to go but he hit out anyways and I marvelled at how,
under the power of Will's massive pistons, we went around people like
they were standing still, including the single breakaway rider. I hit
out for myself, also a wee bit early, with maybe 200-250m left. With
about 75-100m to go, I looked behind and saw a few bodies in the
distance but no one seemed to be closing. I had a good enough gap to
sit up at the line and point at my jersey in recognition of one of the
most phenomenal leadouts I've ever seen, let alone been a part of.

Will C. crossed the line in 9th, earning himself a cool $30 while Mark
and Will P., their legs spent after all the support they gave me,
rolled in with the field.

To add some symmetry and closure to the day, again, I tried to show
off my CX skills in the field-turned-parking-lot, again, I fell over,
again, much to the amusement of my teammates and the various
officials, registration workers and young children who happened to
witness the feat.

Victory!

Rutgers Cycling has been chalking up wins all this season. In fact, the team has taken at least one win every weekend of the collegiate season thus far.

Perhaps as a prelude to the Beanpot weekend in Boston, the Rutgers Cycling Karaoke Team (an off shoot of the cyclocross team) took another prestigious win in a hotly contested karaoke competition at Harvest Moon Thursday evening.

Don and Will took home the win (and $100 gift card to Best Buy).

The win was not, however, a solo effort. As on the road, teamwork was key. Don started the aggression off with a rousing song. This move was countered by some karaoke sandbagger singing Christina Aguilera's "I Am Beautiful." Jay covered the move with "The Entertainer."

As the competition came to the bell lap, Mark started the lead out at 1k to go with "The Humpty Dance." HermesMike (honorary Rutgers rider) took over after Mark tired with an amazing "Video Killed the Radio Star." Mike's no slouch and he delivered Will C. and Don to the line for an absolutely stunning "Mr. Roboto" (Styx).

The Mighty Rutgers Cycling Karaoke Team

Bucknell Race Report by Rich

Rich, in his final two D races, had a great weekend at Bucknell. Here is his report:

Saturday: 27mi circuit race
It was a muggy, wet, and cold morning when we reached the circuit race site in Lewisburg, PA. The C, D, and Intro Men's races began at 10:30, and by the time we arrived, registered, and changed, we had minimal time for warming up... in fact, I didn't warm up at all!

The C's went off, and we D's took the line in a very sloppy fashion. As everybody tried to squeeze to the line, we were unexpectedly interrupted by a horse and buggy. Which was weird. The race got underway with the typical missed clip-ins and swerving chaos. Knowing that our race would be 3 laps of 9 miles each, we treated the first lap as a warmup, which was fortunate for me since I hadn't had time to do so before the race.
A Most Unusual Delay
The second lap, while not that fast at all, was certainly eventful. A number of 1- and 2-man attacks went off the front, only to be brought back almost immediately.

During the final lap, the intensity of the race ramped way up. Attack after attack strung the group out through the hilly headwind section. I decided to bridge up to a lone Penn State rider, using the steepest ascent as the springboard for my move.
Ray Riding Comfortably in the D Field
The pack had to work, but they eventully brought us back ... honestly, I mostly just wanted to have a fun time destroying that hill at full throttle. This left me with dead legs, though, and I dropped to the tail end of the pack. It was there that I met the zebra clad motorcycle ref. I asked him if he was enjoying the view, and he said, "yeah, but you guys are insane!" When we reached the wicked 120 degree turn, I was still in last, but within a few hundred yards and a crit-like sprint I was back in 5th wheel.

I led into the last corner, then slowed a bit to find some draft. I was riding behind Dave, again in 5th or so wheel, when the pace picked up drastically. When a spot opened on the side, I yelled at Dave to follow, then decided to go for it. I sprinted like mad and pulled away from the pack! This happened about half a mile from the finish, and I was fighting to hold my ~200 foot gap all the way to the line. With the finish line in sight, I started to feel the effort, and my speed slightly dropped. When the first of the other riders started to appear in my peripheral vision, I shook my head in semi-disappointment. Still, I was happy to end up in 11th place for the day.

Sunday: 20 minute criterium
My plan for this race was no secret, at least not among the Rutgers team. I was going to take advantage of the highly technical course and attack when everyone was tired from the first prime. This was the first race I have warmed up for yet, and I felt good at the starting line. I was somewhere in the middle of the pack, but I sacrificed my spot to move to the back and start with Ray.

When the race started, we were instantly set back. Some rider in front of us decided he didn't like being upright and promptly fell to the asphalt when the whistle sounded. I lost track of Ray when that happened, trying hard to get back in contact with the pack. By the third turn I was settled in behind Dave at the back of the group. At the end of that lap, the officials rang their cow-bell, announcing the prime.

I immediately spewed profanities in my head. I had told everyone my plan to attack, and here I was cruising at the back of the strung-out pack. By the 3rd turn, I was at mid pack. By the cafe at the 5th turn I was in about 10th wheel. By the time we reached the line, I still wasn't in any position to attack. I was disappointed with myself and just stayed in about 4th wheel for the first 3 turns. Then I saw my opportunity: A Penn State rider attacked, giving me the perfect conditions for a successful breakaway. I sprinted up the side of the road and latched onto his wheel. We instantly kicked the pace up a notch. We both knew what we wanted and were not going to get caught.

I wanted to look back and check our gap, but I've seen enough footage from the Tour to know that once a rider starts turning around and seeing the pack, that his attack is over. So I never looked back.
Rich's Winning Breakaway Builds Its Gap
For the next two laps, we both worked our tails off, although with a bit of disorder. We weren't quite working together, but we weren't working against each other either. The final prime bell rang as we passed the line, and I decided that rather than contest a prime, I would save my strength for the last lap. He crossed the line first on that lap, and we kept chugging away.

Riding at that speed was actually pretty scary. During my first lap off the front, I rode the 5th corner so fast that I didn't see the pothole at the inside of the turn... my race almost ended right there! As the race progressed, we both got used to powering through every corner, since we didn't have to worry about any other unstable D riders like the chasers did. Many times my pedal would scrape the ground or my rear wheel would skip over a couple inches, yet we kept the pace and managed to avoid crashing.

After I gifted him the last prime, the PSU kid and I worked as a team. We both took turns pulling, and when one tired, the other would know to get in front. The final lap came, and I think he tried to pull away from me after the 2nd turn, but I shifted up a gear and powered my way back to his wheel. At this point I'm not sure what was on his mind, as I was riding comfortably in his draft up until the last corner.

I went into the finishing straight feeling fresh and confident. He started weaving back and forth, trying to juke me off his wheel, but I wasn't buying it. He swerved to the right and I rocketed off in an all-out sprint. This sprint was different from the other sprints I've contested; Normally the my head wants to keep pushing, but my legs scream at me to please stop. Today, though my legs didn't say a word, and the only thing going through my head was "there is no way I am losing this". The confidence I experienced through the entire sprint felt awesome as I crossed the line. When it finally dawned on me that I had won, I threw my fist in the air and let out a deep breath. It felt really good to win.
Congratulations to Rich, Crit Winner!