Rutgers Cycling Season Kick-off!

The RU Cycling season kicks off this Friday, August 11th, at 'Cross Under the Lights, part of the NJ State Fair at the Sussex County Fairgrounds.

With one cyclocross workout behind them in preparation, the RU crew is looking pretty good. In years past, the Fairgrounds has been kind to RU with 3 state championship podiums on this course and multiple wins during the November cyclocross series held there. The Rutgers 'cross crew is primed to continue its success at the Fairgrounds.

Representing Rutgers: Don, Alessandro, Jay, Mark, Brandi, and Ted.

This race will be Don's first after months spent off the bike due to surgery. If last night's practice is any indication, Don's form is on track, and he will smoke everyone in any run. Don wants this. He wants it real bad.

Alessandro will be leaving Rutgers Cycling (and NJ) at the end of August, so this will be his farewell to NJ cycling. In 2004, Alessandro was 3rd in the state 'cross championships at the Fairgrounds. Perhaps his farewell ride will net him the win...

Jay has spent his summer doing two things: painting and riding his mountain bike. This 30 minute race will be but a blip on Jay's radar as he is preparing for the 24 hours of Allamuchy in September. Look for Jay to get the hole shot and clear the barriers in a single bound.

Mark, the resident cyclocross fanatic, comes into this race after a summer spent racing on the road. His fitness is certainly there, and he's hungry for some results in cyclocross. In 2004, Mark also reached the podium in the state 'cross championships at the Fairgrounds and finished 10th against a deeper field in 2005. Look for a mean face and flying mutton chops.

Brandi is a newcomer to cyclocross. In fact, Tuesday night's practice was the first time she had gone over barriers! She has, however, shown immense promise and growth over the course of the 2005-06 season. Brandi is a fierce competitor with a steady-state engine to match. She may very well be the women's cyclocross revelation of the season.

Ted is threatening to race 'Cross Under the Lights on his single speed 'cross bike. Ted is also fairly new to cyclocross having only raced at Highland Park 'Cross last year. Ted, however, is an impressively strong rider who continues to only get stronger. Ted will surely put in an impressive ride with only one gear.

And there you have it! Friday night promises to be a great night for Rutgers Cycling!

hill ride controversy (gasp!)

with last week's dominators out of competition this week (mike and jay claim to have jobs, but i think that their hematocrits were too high and the "jobs" were an excuse to avoid being tested), the field was wide open... until alessandro sent out an email saying he would be riding with us.

dave kim, dave allara, alessandro, chris redmond, and i met at brower (which is surprisingly nostalgic after a long summer), then headed into bound brook to meet mike bogdan, one of the new guys. within a mile or so, we were at rt 22, about to start going, well, up. this is where the controversy began.



hill #1; washington rd:
during the easy slope at the bottom, dave kim and chris sat at the front, having a chat. neither of them had ever been up washington rd before. we hit the first steep bit, and needless to say, the conversation stopped. i glanced back and noticed that a gap had opened.

the three of us continued up for a while, with dave sitting at the front. i glanced back at the stop sign, about 1/3 of the way up, and saw that the gap was pretty big. this gave me an inexplicable nervous feeling.

by the time we got to the switchback, the reality of the situation finally got through to my hypoxic brain... alessandro doesn't just get dropped like that. i moved to the front and started hammering, knowing what was coming. as i approached the 2nd switchback, alessandro was hot on my heels, having closed a 20+ second gap in about half a mile. i just barely held him off at the top.

hill #2; mt. horeb rd:
i hit this climb on the front and started pushing immediately. this climb starts off really steep and becomes moderate by the top, so i wanted to open a gap as quickly as possible. before the end of the steep section, alessandro came chugging by.

i dug deep and tried to minimize the gap, and was only about 10 yds behind as we approached the summit. alessandro sat up and coasted to the top, giving me the chance to turn myself inside out, close the gap, and do a sloppy, half-hearted bike throw. i meant it as a joke, but by god, i pipped him!

flats; mt. horeb rd:
the plan, concocted en route to bound brook, was to have alessandro attack on the flat part of mt. horeb road, so that the rest of us could form a pace line and try to pull him back. he was being a nice guy, though, sitting at the back and chatting with mike. before i knew it, i had attacked!

okay, attacked is a slight exaggeration. let's just say that i got out of the saddle, accelerated slightly, and said to chris "dude, give me a gap before you start chasing, i can't get one on my own". i managed to hold off the pack for about a minute before they chased me down mercilessly... all of the work here was done by chris and dave kim.

about a minute later, alessandro attacked. we immediately lined out and started taking 10 second pulls. suffice it to say that our line got shattered. we only caught alessandro when we regrouped at an intersection.

hill #3; morning glory:
once again, dave kim and chris showed their mettle, moving to the front and setting a wicked pace. perhaps sensing weakness, chris opened a little gap over the rest of us. having seen over the past few rides just how fit chris is, i couldn't risk letting him solo away, so alessandro and i closed the gap and sat in.

with morning glory being relatively shallow, drafting played a huge role. when chris' pace slowed a bit, i could've attacked, but i realized that alessandro could easily have latched on. the only choice i had was to wait for alessandro's inevitable move and hang on for dear life.

but the move never came! i waited, and waited, and waited, and finally lost patience towards the summit. i probably should've waited another few hundred meters, but i made my move, looked back, and saw that alessandro was spinning behind me rather comfortably. bad news for don...

and yet he never attacked! for the third time, i reached the peak in first wheel. later, on the way back, i asked him why he hadn't come around me. alessandro replied, in his customary matter-of-fact way, "it's less work to draft"

-------------------------

so here is the controversy, my friends. there is no doubt that alessandro was the strongest on the day. also, dave kim and chris did the vast majority of the work in the wind. but damnit, i reached the KOM "lines" first, on all 3 hills!

what say you? who gets the KOM jersey? who gets the "most aggressive rider" award? can there be a sprint jersey for a hill ride? where's rosener?

please post a comment... this is clearly a matter of life and death!!!

What I did on my summer vacation

As Don alluded to in his previous entry, I traded my knobby tires for some serious road racing this summer. While it didn't go particularly well, my level of fitness does bode well for the cyclocross season and the ultimate goal: collegiate cyclocross nationals.

The first part of the summer I spent visiting with my folks in New England.

The summer of fun kicked off with the Housatonic Hills road race on June 24th in Connecticut. This 27 mile course boasted a looooong and steep finishing climb. Despite a massive field and being dropped early, I hung on for 24th place.

Next, I celebrated the 4th of July with a few criteriums in Northampton, MA. In the 4/5, an early crash stopped the race for 15 minutes. After the restart, two more serious crashes led me to decide to sit up for the finish. I came in 31st. With my shiny new cat 4 license I decided to get my money's worth by racing the 3/4 race as well. Unfortunately, shortly after the start rain led to the race being cancelled.

The following weekend, I headed to Attleboro, MA for another criterium. In the 4 race I was feeling great until 11 laps to go when I was crashed in a corner by another rider. After taking a free lap and riding a few more laps, I chose to abandon.

The next weekend, I headed off to Claremont, NH for a technical and fast 3/4 criterium. Rain and a hard pace led to me leaving this race as well.

I returned to New Jersey in mid-July just in time to turn around and head to the Owasco Stage Race in Auburn, NY. This 3 stage, 2 day race was to be my trial by fire in stage racing. It did not begin well. In the 12 mile time trial, I finished over 6 minutes down, 68th place in the general classification. In the afternoon, we had the circuit race. I rode a great race to finish 14th in the field sprint and move to 43rd in the GC. Sunday brought the 57 mile road race with 7 "king of the mountain" climbs. Despite doing most of my training in the flatlands of central NJ, I was a trooper and tried to tough it out. I wound up finishing 20 minutes down to the race winner in 43rd place. I finished 47th in the general classification.

This past weekend I continued the multi-day racing by competing in the cat 4 Tour de 'Toona points race. Unlike Owasco, the overall classification was determined by points, not overall time. 'Toona also did not offer a TT as part of the competition, so I would be more apt to have a better race. Friday started off with the Martinsburg Circuit race; this windy, rolling 40 mile race suited my riding style well and I was able to finish in the field - 29th place. Saturday, the road race was contested. Despite being only 20 miles, the course was punctuated by a long, steep climb. I struggled early on to remain in the bunch, then halfway up the climb I came off. I found a great chase group and managed to finish 64th. Sunday, the criterium was contested in downtown Altoona. If there was one stage I was looking forward to, it was the criterium. The course is a challenging and technical affair with a slightly uphill, cobbled finish. I rode well early on but flatted. I got a wheel from neutral support and took my free lap. Shortly after I got back in, I was caught behind a crash and forced to chase. With 5 laps to go, the group I was with was asked to retire.


And thus ends my foray into road racing. In the next few weeks, the Rutgers 'cross crew and I will be checking in on our early season fitness at 'Cross Under the Lights in Augusta, NJ. Look for a large crew of Rutgers racers to descend upon the Sussex County Fair grounds and show, once again, their dominance of NJ Cyclocross.

hill-ride writeup and scouting report

for a variety of reasons, mostly cowardice, i opted to do a hill ride yesterday, rather than the rahway practice race. this is my first time on anything steeper than a highway overpass since a duathlon in april and a long time off the bike, and so i was looking for some motivation. luckily, brandi, mike, and jay were willing to accompany/pull/taunt me.

we rode hills. it was sweet torture. ride writeup over.

now here's my scouting report. this team's got a bright future.

• will: after a deal was made in a dim, smoky backroom of a small italian restaurant, cornell traded will to us in exchange for a promise to stop making fun of them. his results in the ECCC last year were pretty good (understatement), and while not many of us have had a chance to ride with him regularly this year, his ability to handle in a pack while being mauled by a squirrel are not to be taken lightly (see photographic proof, left). i expect that he will be an asset to the team, if only as a rabid sprinter (puns! on so many levels!).
• mike: so what if he doesn't technically attend rutgers? mike's been racing in scarlet for at least the year i've been here, tearing up mountain bike courses and frightening small woodland creatures. well, i've got news, boys and girls: mike's got a road bike now. i've ridden offroad with him in the past, but he and charlie would drop me too fast for me to really gauge how fast he is. now that i've ridden hills with him, i can see that mike may be pretty freakin talented. i'm calling it now: mike will podium in one of his first few 'cross races.
• brandi: after a year of mixing it up with a crooked helmet, sneakers, and exercise-induced asthma, brandi has established herself as one of the tougher members of the team. i hope i'm not spoiling the surprise when i inform you all that brandi has circumvented all of these obstacles. that's right, with a new helmet, an official diagnosis, and CLIPLESS freaking PEDALS, brandi is going to be a force to be reckoned with.
• mark: because of (perhaps despite?) his rampant success at spring crits, our mutton-chopped, angry-faced friend has turned himself into a stage racer. now he uses words like "GC" and "ITT", neither of which are actually words. dude was fast before... now i'm just plain intimidated. my prediction: success on the sunday of every weekend; whereas everyone else will be burned out from saturday racing, marky fresh will have learned to recover quickly.
  
• jay: it's fun to make light of jay, because he's so good natured. when you mock his hairy legs, he doesn't get angry. when you attack his handling skills (who crashes at six mile run?), he doesn't seem hurt. when you threaten him for not riding aggressively enough at a mountain bike race, he doesn't brood. what does he do instead? he gets fast. uh oh... jay learned how to ride a road bike. his cadence is higher, his line is smoother, and he's turned into a hairy little mountain goat! now if he can just lift the bike before going over the barriers, he's going to terrorize the MAC 'cross races.
• dark horses: apparently we have a million new team members. as soon as we get them jerseys (i'm working on it!), there is going to be a swarm of scarlet all over central new jersey. based on absolutely nothing more than emails, i'm predicting that one of the incoming freshman is going to be the next tyler hamilton (minus the blood doping).

so there you have it. now all that's left to say is, "is it 'cross season yet?"

back from injury

in honor of my return from a long few months of not riding (stupid stupid wrist surgery), i've compiled the following:

DON'S TOP 10 SIGNS YOU'VE BEEN OFF THE BIKE FOR TOO LONG

10. you're tempted to put a big cushy saddle and suspension seatpost on your new ti bike
9. you convince yourself that to be fast, you have to grow muttonchops and look angry
8. your knees sound like a door opening in an old horror movie
7. your heart rate goes above lactic threshold just from watching the tour
6. you lose the sexy tan lines on your thighs
5. johnson park seems really hilly
4. you pop on the monday night recovery ride
3. you lose a half-dozen spots every time you corner... on the recovery ride
2. little old ladies powerwalk past you on the climb up to hp cyclery
1. it seems like a good idea to attack while ralf is pulling

see you out on the roads!

12 O'Muchy Report

First a big applause to Rosener and his 4 man team on their 2nd place. Rosener was a beast and kept riding at the beginning so that he could get his laps in and get to work by 2.

Mike and I entered the duo competition and felt very good about our chances. Mike has been jogging a bit and decided he would do the LeMans start. We arrived at Allamuchy around 5:45, checked in, and set up our bootleg hobo tent consisting of a metal frame and tarps that did not quite fit. Upon meeting our neighbors, we were informed that of 12 times the 24 Hours of Allamuchy was ran, it had rained 10 times. Looking at the sky we knew the rain would not deny us today. So over to the start we go. I watch the start and then head back to the "tent" to get ready. The race went off at 7, so people with fast laps would start coming in around 7:30. Hoping for a fast lap from Mike, I went to the transition tent and waited. A few people come through and I hear the promoters saying "Michael Phelan". I assume they are calling the riders a bit further back to help in the transition, so I ask, "Is he coming through?" They ask if I am his teammate and when I tell them I am they tell me he has dislocated his shoulder. So they call the ambulance and send one of the hosts to go find him.

I am not to concerned since Mike dislocates a shoulder every year. In the interest of telling the story and using some good literary effects, I will continue with Mikes story. So some other racers stopped to help him and he decided he had to start walking or he would pass out. Not to mention he had about 1.5 miles to walk until the fire road where the ambulance could get him. So the ambulance arrives to pick up Mike and they help him in with his two dislocated shoulders. When the EMT went to put a sling on his right shoulder it popped back in. The left popped back in thanks to a pot hole. So he continues on to the hospital for X rays. At the hospital he takes of his jersey (did not get cut off) and his red old school see through Rutgers bibs. Well, with red tights on it is hard to notice the blood coming out of you hip. So six stitches later, that is fixed. Assorted other scrapes and some Percaset and Mike wants to get back to the race (if it weren't for the stitches possibly ripping open, he probably would have kept racing). How did this all happen?

Recently I had been telling Mike that he needs to go faster on downhill if he wants to win. On the first lap he was sitting 4th in line at the front with the eventual Solo winner, and the two Spot teams that would tie for first in the duo competition. He tell me he was going close to 25 mph. Whatever speed he was going he hit a small rock hard enough to taco his wheel (the wheel he was borrowing from me, so my broken wheel count is at 2 in 2 races). A tacoed wheel usually ends in a endo and this was no exception. So 3 minutes later, the next racer comes through (maybe not three, but a long time). Mike walks out of the woods with someone kind enough to walk his bike out (his bike with no problems other than the wheel). He tells the promoters via radio that I am to keep racing.

8:04 and they let me start. I go flying through the trail passing many a folk and not realizing that I have 11 more hours of this. The first lap was like riding through a river. The rain started around 7:30 and the trail was flowing with water. I hit the fire road and see the ambulance driving up ahead and start chasing. Not the best race move, but I wanted to wave to Mike, so I caught the ambulance. I'm not sure what team they were racing for, but they had some great blocking tactics. Finally we got to a wider section and the 5 of us stuck behind went around. I do two more unpleasant laps and decide I need food. I went with the Ted special and a bagel (figuring the donut would hit first and then the bagel). I enter lap four and am still feeling good. Unfortunately the rain had stopped and the course dried out slightly. The mud had turned to cyclocross style peanut butter mud and every pedal stroke was an effort. I get to the downhill before the fire road and am stuck behind two people. Looking at them I know they are going to fall. I hit this hill to fast on the second lap and and wiped out into the mud. The first guy goes down and the second guy crashes to the left of him. I somehow manage to float through the gap between them and get to the fire road. I decide to do my fifth lap and the condition were either ridiculous wet or wet and peanut buttery (not sure which).

After lap five, they tell me that Mike is back, so I head to the tent. I take a short break and head out again. Mike decides to make coffee and pasta for us. After lap six my body is done. I stopped for too long and am now trembling with cold. I eat the pasta that has been prepared for me and sit around for a little under an hour wanting to put on warm clothes. But I have to finish and cannot afford myself such luxury. I head back out for a lap around 4PM. Immediately my thighs are being chaffed by the muddy chamois. Eventually I stop feeling it. This is the pain lap. Every pedal stroke hurts, but I am still powering through mud. I have been able to maintain my brake, but have neglect cleaning the mud off my bike since it just keeps appearing. Most of the race my bike had 5 to 10 pounds of mud on it. I stop to shake off some mud and give a push to Tyler (the 12 year old single speed kid) to keep him from falling. I hop back on and at some point am walking up a hill behind Mark Vittori (Fat Marc) and another single speeder. I don't feel so bad since these guys are in the lead and bad ass.

So the pasta must've kicked in because I decide to do another lap. I'm sure Charlie can tell you the amazing power of hot pasta. On lap 8 I am almost at the fire path and my bike is caked in mud. It tears my derailleur back, which in turn grabs a spoke and rips it out of the rim with part of the rim still attached (so the broken wheel count is at 3 in 2 races) I am able to wrap the spoke around another spoke and get the derailleur (which has provided me between 1 and 2 gears on the last 4 laps) back into place. I get to the start/finish with enough time to start and finish another lap, but I am in no position to win and don't feel like trashing another bike so I stop my race.

The final count is 9 laps as a team and 8 done by me. If I had been riding solo and actually in the mindset, I could have squeezed in 3 or 4 more laps (enough for a podium), but oh well. The promoters were very proud of me for my "heroics" and were very impressed with Mikes rapid recovery. They invited us to ride Allamuchy with them, so we will be heading out there once Mikes stitches are out (come join us).

Corner House GP - Princeton, NJ

While Jay and Mike were suffering in the rain for the 12 o' Muchy at Allamuchy State Park yesterday (race report forthcoming), Will and Mark were suffering for much less time in the Corner House Grand Prix in Princeton cheered on by Rutgers racer and supafan Brandi.

Coming off a successful Somerville weekend, Will and Mark were pumped to do the 4/5 race despite the ominous clouds. The race started fast with a WBI Investments rider hammering off the front at the whistle. Mark gave chase after struggling to get in his pedal. After the first corner (a slick downhill corner with lots of paint) everything came together but the pace never slowed. Will and Mark rode well in the front group as people fell off and selections were made half way through the race. With two to go, Mark popped off the back of the front group and was left to chase solo. Will hung tough on a course that suited him and finished 12th just a little of the front group. Mark rolled in for 19th.

Looking at the results list, it looked like a collegiate race with Rutgers, Bucknell, Columbia, and Princeton all represented in the top 20.

In the coming weeks, look for more mtb results, race reports from Mark's great New England adventure, and building excitement for the 2006 season debut of the RU Cyclocross Team at 'Cross under the Lights on August 11. Just because classes are out doesn't mean Rutgers isn't racing!

tour of somerville

not much to report, since rutgers didn't have any racers. we did, however, have a bunch of spectators. decked out in jerseys (which are as stylish off the bike as they are on), mark, jay, rob, blake, ted, alicia, mike, scott, jen, and i were there to represent the team.

we hung out at the colavita bbq tent, where we got to meet a bunch of junior racers, including steve, who will be joining the rutgers team this coming year. at the encouragement of the colavita parents, we also ate a lot of food.

during the women's race, we decided that the rutgers team's presence, while larger than usual, could be boosted by a little bit of love from the announcer. a few minutes later, we'd pooled enough to have the first ever (as far as i know) "Rutgers Cycling Prime" during the pro women's race. our prime's sprint was taken by Sarah Tillotson of the Colavita/Cooking Light team, teammate of the overall winner Tina Pic.

Don, Sarah Tillotson, Rob, Ted, Mark, Melissa Holt, and Sima Trapp

it was really fun to hang out with the colavita people all day... it meant that we were able to hang out with juniors, eat food, meet the Rutgers Prime winner and her teammates, and cheer for a Men's Pro rider in the day's main breakaway. We also cheered for (and apparently surprised) Adam Hodges-Myerson, our team's coaching sponsor, who pulled off an exciting top-10 finish.

while walking around after the race, we also encountered a family of rutgers supporters. the parents were rutgers alumni, and the kids, aged 5 and 7, thought we were rock stars. don't believe us? photographic evidence will be uploaded as it becomes available.

expect more race results as the summer continues, as mike and jay try to survive a 12-hr mtb race and mark becomes a stage racer.

US Bicycling Hall of Fame Criterium

Today Brandi, Will, Ted, and I headed to Somerville for the Hall of Fame
criterium. Will, Brandi, and I opted for the warm up by means of riding.
We missed the rain fortunately, but we hadn't planned on a 45 minute
break between races for the Hills of Somerset finish (Davide Fratini
won, btw) so we spent a little more time hanging out than planned.

Ted opted to drive over because he's probably smarter than us.

Eventually, the 5 race started. The pre-race plan was to work over the
small 5 field and send Will off to do his fast bike riding thing with
Ted and I hanging out in the field for the finish. I did my usual fast
start thing, then something funny happened. The field went fast. It had
to have been the fastest 5 race I've ever done. There were two CRCA guys
and a couple of guys just working over the field on the slight uphill.
Will attacked with 6 or 7 to go with Ted blocking (though I'm not sure
he knew he was blocking), but the CRCA guys were having none of it and
pulled him back in less than half a lap. So, I just hung out near the
front, covering the attacks from the CRCA guys on the uphill every lap
and realizing that I was going to be done by the time the finish rolled
around.

With two to go on the uphill, we heard the terrifying sound of carbon
fiber hitting pavement (why do these crashes always happen uphill?).
Unfortunately, Will got taken out in that crash. He's no worse for the
wear aside from a scraped elbow, but the crash did split the field.
Fortunately, I made the split. With one to go, one of the CRCA guys took
a flyer on the uphill with a few others following him, I just didn't
have the legs and/or commitment to cover it. They got a little gap to go
1-2-3, I sprinted for 5th. I got a medal. Cool.

Post-race I found out Ted suffered a mechanical that knocked him out
before the crash. Ted had an awesome day and looked quite comfortable.

We also got a lot of props for the RU team and talked to two juniors who
are coming here in the fall and represented the team well. Good job all
around.

I'll see you all monday.

-Mark

neshaminy soigneur's report

dave, mike, jay, and i drove out to neshaminy to represent rutgers at today's mass race. with a still-injured hand and sans-mtb, i was going along to play soigneur again. the three racers would all compete in the Sport 1 race, with 35 starters.

everyone's race prep was different. dave had enough bananas in his bag to feed a small zoo and spent a lot of time doing some pretty impressive trials-esque tricks. mike planned out his in-race nutrition, then ate a couple of sodium tablets they were giving out at registration, because "this way i'd have an excuse if the race didn't go well". jay, whose bike had v-brakes, spent a while debating whether run a disc-specific wheel in front would be more likely to crash him than his cracked, ready-to-fail v-brake specific wheel.


it's pretty cool to watch the start of a race if you're not in it. everyone is talking and joking, but as the start approaches, everyone's game face goes on. it was a very sudden and dramatic change, and these guys looked like badasses. despite flawless clip-ins, all three rutgers racers took the start easy, planning to save their matches for the singletrack.

as a soigneur, i was worthless during the race. dave, wearing a camelback, wouldn't need me to pass him any bottles, although his blocked legs forced him out of the race after about a lap. neither mike nor jay needed either of the bottles they'd given me - they seemed delighted to have the bottles after the race, though.

with a six-pack at stake, the battle between jay and mike heated up. after two laps, jay had about 2 minutes on mike. even as they pushed hard, they were able to respond to cheering, and threats, from teammates.

jay held his gap over mike, and even managed a late surge to pass three other riders in the last 200m. mike finished strong as well (although i think he was pissed that we lied "they're about to catch you!" with 50m left), leaving everything out on the trail. it was a technical, demanding course that sapped all riders, and their strong finishes (15th and 21st, respectively) are all the more impressive.

mike then dominated the schwag toss, towering over the crowd of junior racers to catch a saddle, gloves, and bottle cages. i think he made one of them cry.

Escape from Granogue (MASS #2)

RU Cycling travelled to Delaware for the Escape from Granogue mtb race (round 2 of the Mid-Atlantic series). Last year, RU went 1-2-3.This year, we once again came home from Granogue with some hardware. With a talented bunch of sport racers (Charlie, Jay, Mike, Dave, Mark, and Alessandro) we were sure to make something happen and indeed we did.

Dave, Jay, and Mike toed the line for Senior 1 sport. Alessandro for senior 2 sport, and Charlie and I for Open Single Speed.

The morning had looked ominous with scattered showers and hard rain at times, but by our 9:30 start things were looking pretty good (although quite slippy).

The mtb course borrowed the long road start from the CX course and led to the tower climb. Tight, slick single track was the order of the day, punctuated with fast field sections and some long climbs.

Despite being on the fence about racing today, Charlie took home a convincing win in the SS class, finishing 3rd overall! I rolled home for 6th after spending most of the first lap falling all over myself. Alessandro fought back from some technical difficulties and a nasty crash to take 11th. Jay rolled in 25th, Mike 26th, and Dave in his first MASS race (and first Sport race) came in 29th!!!

The open single speed podium (Charlie and Co. mid arm raise)





What a rocking bunch of results. Everyone who raced today put in some amazing efforts on a wickedly hard course. Well done!

A very sore,

Mark

Easterns wrap up

What a crazy weekend!

The intrepid RU crew made the trip to Ithaca, NY for the Eastern Collegiate Cycling Championship this weekend.

The road race on Saturday was promised to be difficult and difficult it was. 1600 feet of climbing per lap took its toll, but Brandi had a breakthrough ride for 16th in the womens C. Dave also had an amazing ride to finish 12th in the men's D. In the Cs, Mark decided to take it easy and finished 48th. Lori had a difficult day with some cramping to finish 7th.

Sunday, Dave and Brandi headed back to NJ. Lori and Mark remained behind to contest the criterium. With the brutality of the road race, Lori was afraid she had gotten herself sick again and opted to sit the crit out. Mark found some legs to finish 12th in a blisteringly fast race.

Special thanks to Cornell rider Vanya and his family for putting us up and feeding us this weekend.

With this race, the RU collegiate road team wraps up another successful season. Racing continues next week as some of the team head to Wawayanda State Park for the first Campmor H2H mountain bike series race.

Easterns!

We're just one weekend away from the Collegiate National Championships in Kansas, and the ever eager RU team is in action once again in hilly Ithaca, NY for the Eastern Collegiate Championship weekend hosted by Cornell and Ithaca College.

Looking to tackle the hills this weekend, Lori, Dave, Brandi, and Mark look to be in good form as they tackle a brutal road race course on Saturday (1600 ft of climbing per lap!) and a fast and technical criterium on Sunday.

Both Dave and Brandi have had a spectactular first season on the road for Rutgers Cycling and this weekend will bring a close to their first collegiate season. Look for Dave on the mountain bike in the Mid-Atlantic Super Series this spring and summer where he'll join the rest of the RU mountain bike crew.

Coming back from illness that kept her from racing Army, Lori returns this weekend still in the hunt as she is ranked 9th overall in the conference. With one week to go to Nationals, this will be her final test of form.

This weekend is a sort of a homecoming for Ithaca College alumnus Mark who is also returning to collegiate road racing for the first time since the Grant's Tomb Criterium in March. After this weekend, Mark will turn his attention to the dirt and join the dominant Rutgers Mid-Atlantic Super Series team in its 2006 campaign for even more podium spots.

Army Day 1 race report

From Chris' race report:

"

So Brandi, Ted, Dave, and myself headed out to West Point despite
the not so joyous weather conditions. We all finally got there
around 9ish and set up our trainers in what we thought was a primo
spot, which turned out to be right in the cross wind of the spot-a-
pot. After The TTT, and a hour delay on all of our starts, we were
ready to get going. As it turned out all races were cut by one lap
of the 14 mile loop, accept for the C's, I think they were scheduled
for 2 laps and I know they did 2 laps. To prevent any headlines in
tomorrows paper reading, "Mass Death of Beginner Cyclists on Hill at
West Point" the Men's D and C racers, as well as the women's B
racers, had to take the dreaded downhill behind a pace car going a
blazing 10 mph, this was possibly harder than actually taking the
hill at speed, but did prevent any accidents. So after the downhill,
we began the climb back up and then endured the rolling hills of
West Point. All and all, we fared pretty well, keeping to the
rutgers motto, "We may not always come in first, but we never come
in last". The best result of the day was ted, taking home 38th in
the C's (he did it for his mommy!!!). Dave was around the middle of
the D pack with 49th place, Brandi also did very well in women B's,
although I don't know here exact place (sorry brandi), and I
finished 57th, after crashing due to massive crampage in my legs, I
forgot my banana this morining (damn bananas!!!!). After we changed,
ate some awesome vegitarian chillie made by ted's parents, who rock,
with a very cold team from Hamilton, and watched an awesome sprint
finish by a huge group of B riders, we decided we better head home,
which was probably wise since we had no place to stay tonight.
Chris"

Running of the Dogs Results

It was a long time coming, but the RoTD results have been posted and RU cycling did very well. Dave tied for first in the beginner solo men, Charlie finished 4th in the super competitive open single speed, Alicia and I apparently won the coed duo category, but the results don't seem to bear that out.

This weekend Charlie, (maybe) Alessandro, and I head to French Creek for the first MASS race of the season while the road crew of Blake, Ted, Lori, Dave, Dan, Brandi, et al. head to West Point for the Army Classic Weekend.

On the road and on the dirt, RU is poised to have another great weekend!

what i learned this weekend

having attended both races this weekend (Running of the Dogs as a soigneur, the Ten Dollar Duathlon as an untrained competitor) with absolutely zero ambition, i made it a point to learn as much as possible. the following is a list of lessons i compiled over the course of the weekend.

Running of the Dogs
- gritty mud will destroy disc brake pads, says dave
- ramming into a tree is not an acceptable alternative to braking, says mike's hip
- knee warmers would be good things when racing in sub-freezing rain/sleet, say alessandro and ted
- "sexy cream", aka warming lotion, is a misnomer and should be used sparingly, lest an uncomfortable, unsexy burning sensation afflict the user, says (nay, screams) ted
- mud breaks bike components and sleet breaks spirits, say the majority of saturday's racers
- anyone who finished the race (Charlie, Alessandro, Dave, Mark, and Alicia) is awesome and deserves congratulations
- anyone who started the race is a brave fool and deserves a combination of congratulations and pity
- anyone who spectated the race is just plain stupid
- i am NEVER soigneuring again unless it's 60+ and sunny, says don, emphatically

Ten Dollar Duathlon
- starting 2 minutes after everyone else because you slept in takes a lot of pressure off
- running is fun when you have a cross bike on your shoulder
- running is not as fun when you've run twice so far this year (but it's still pretty damn fun)
- there's a reason triathletes practice their transitions
- losing time to help another racer fix a flat in transition is totally worth it
- losing time because you made a wrong turn is just plain embarrassing (thanks for the save, heather!)
- it's really hard to not draft when every training ride and race has been crit or crit-oriented... you just latch on without even thinking
- running 2 miles is an improper post-TT cooldown
- heather can sprint! she chased down some other girl over the run and took her in the last 10m with a killer kick
- a chamois is great for riding, but is, um, sub-optimal for running
- our jerseys look pretty freakin awesome

Dan's Race Report

From Dan:

"I guess I'll take this opportunity to write a report for the weekend. So first of all, let me start by saying that everything driving oriented in Mass. is a catastrophy. I stayed in Cambridge at my friends dormroom. On the way there, there was one instance where I went down a one way street. At the end of this street, there were only other one way streets, and they all pointed the wrong way!!! I was trapped! With such haphazard road planning, naturally the drivers in this state drive in an equally confused and perilous fashion. . .
but I digress. . .
this is about cycling.

So after following pretty lousy directions, I found the road race and met up with Lori. The start to the race was just as confusing as everything else so far encountered. About 300 some riders from every category gathered into one big formless mass. I stayed around some other C riders to make sure I was in the right place, and before I knew it a start had happened, and we were off. . .and I was in the very back of the pack unfortunately. The yellow line rule was in effect, and with 100 riders, it was awful hard to advance.
The course was very nice with many ups and downs (you know... hills), and lots of really fast sections. Unfortunately, it was FULL of potholes, ditches, and various other obstacles which undoubtably claimed a few cyclists). At the beginning of the second lap, (each of which was 14+ miles, the total race coming in about 45 miles), there was a GIGANTIC crash on the uphill. It separated the field, and with my unfortunate starting position, I was one of those cut off from the lead group.
The rest of the race was devoted to playing catch up, and I did just that. I think I was in about dead last place, and I forced myself to suffer as much as possible until I caught some people. Before I knew it, I had a collected an Army guy and a Umass guy and we started a paceline taking about 30 second pulls. The Army guy had no legs for hills, but was really fast on the flats, so I ended up pulling on most of the hills (but trust me, this was not that much better. . .if it weren't for washington rock repeats, I'd have been in big trouble) By the third lap we caught another group of about 7 riders, and things were looking up.
Anyway, those in charge of this race thought it a good idea to add an extra uphill sprint before letting us finish. When approaching this hill, I thought back to the lehigh crit and the cycling workshop I attended with ted. We had discussed when to attack. Following their advice I waited until we were 3/4 up the hill, and I put the proverbial pedal to the medal. At this point I passed about 5 guys or so, and maintained it most of the way to the end riding next to a really nice guy from Delaware who had this to say: "Well, looks like it's just you and me, ready to duke it out?" . . . to which I replied :
" *gasp*, *cough*, *grunt*, *pant*, "it's. . .all. . .you. . .buddy. . "

He went on to finish of me, but fortunately I maintained most of the space I created on that hill.

After all of that. . .I got 48th??!?!? Doesn't sound so great, but I'm more than happy with it. I had a great time, and I kept my bike up during the race (although I did take an unfortunate spill in the parking lot of all places, re-injuring my elbow in the exact same spot as the Bucknell incident. . .this, I'd rather not discuss any further!)
As for the Sunday crit. I was pre-reg'd, but staying with friends I had a little bit too much fun that sat night. Ended up sleeping in and getting dim sum in the morning. I think it was for the better.
And that, dear team, is my race report.

See ya'll on the road (mountain?) this week.
Dan"

What a weekend!

Wow! Rutgers did an awful lot of racing this weekend.

On the road front, Lori and Dan headed up to the legendary Boston Beanpot Classic. In the crit, Lori once again had a heck of a ride to finish 5th. In the road race, she put in another great ride to finish 11th. Dan put in a brave ride in the road race to finish 48th.


In the dirt, the Rutgers mountain bike team tested its endurance and cold weather toughness at Kittatinny State Park at Team Bulldog's Running of the Dogs. Cold rain greeted the 9 deep RU crew. Early on rain turned to sleet. The sleet gave way to snow. Mechanicals were the order of the day as Ted lost his derailleur in the mud and snow, Mike lost his brakes, Jay lost his brakes, Alicia lost her brakes, Dave lost his brakes. Charlie rocked out 5 laps on the single speed. Alessandro did so many he lost count. Alicia and Mark finished 2nd in the coed beginner category with 2 laps. Dave put in an impressive 3 laps. Mark was so smitten with the course he took an extra lap.

Dave and Ted rode their first mountain bike race in brutal conditions. Way to go!

Biggest thanks on the day go to Don for braving the weather as soigneur extraordinare and he wasn't even racing!

Next weekend RU is in action on the road at Mercyhurst College... featuring a race on a NASCAR track!

RU Split weekend

For the first time this season, RU Cycling will be dividing its forces between road and mountain bike racing.

Dan and Lori continue the collegiate road campaign and are heading up to Boston for the Beanpot weekend.

Closer to home, Charlie, Dave, Alessandro, Alicia, Mark, Mike, Jay, Ted, and soigneur Don head to Kittatinny State Park to kick off the mountain bike season in style with Team Bulldog's "Running of the Dogs."

On both fronts, look for Rutgers to ride strong with Lori continuing to tear up the road races and some of the furry-legged set coming out of winter hibernation and looking to lay the smack down in Kittatinny.

Penn State Weekend

With most of the RU crew at the Sandy Hook TT this weekend, Lori was flying the Rutgers flag solo at PSU.

Without her fabulous cheering squad, Lori still put in impressive rides to finish 5th in the women's A criterium and 19th in the women's A road race.

Way to go Lori!!