New Jersey State Track Championship

After a long summer of track racing, I headed down to TTown for the Regional/NJ Track Cycling Championships (One event, NJ Track Champs taken by the best results from people from NJ). Mike Jenks, Andy Singson, and myself were registered for the 4K TTT and the Olympic Sprint. In the individual events Mike was doing the Elite 4K, Andy was doing the 40+ 1K and 3K, and I was scheduled for the 1K, 4K, Scratch Race, and Points Race.

We started with the 1K, I was first up. My first track event with aero bars, it was a little shaky, but I finished in 1:17:22. Andy bested me with a really smooth ride for 1:17:00 (giving him a bronze in the state). After a bit of a wait, Andy was up for the 3K. Andy was on the track against a really good track trialist (they ran two at a time), but Andy held his own with an awesome ride for silver in the state. Next up was the 4K. Jenks and I ended up racing together. I thought I was doing fairly well, but when Jenks past me with a little less than half the race to go, I felt like I was standing. Lucky for me Jenks is just that fast, Jenks got 2^nd in the region and 1^st in the state, and 30sec later I got 3^rd in the state.

My attempt at a 4K (college student = no carbon wheels)

Next up were the team events. With the help from Tom from Verge, we headed out for the 4K TTT. Jenks and Tom took full lap pulls, with me and Andy taking half-lap pulls. We stayed together and rode a smooth race, coming apart a little at the end because we couldn’t hold back Jenk’s speed. We ended up 4^th in the region and 1^st in the state. Next up was the team sprint (1K with each member leading one lap) with Andy, myself, and Jenks. Andy had an excellent start and got us up to a blistering pace. After Andy pulled off, I didn’t think, I just wanted to spin as fast as possible. I pulled off and Jenks did his thing (went fast, went REALLY FAST). We ended up with our best time yet 1:12 (which got us 2^nd in the region and 1^st in the state).

After a long day, there was one more race, the 20 lap scratch race. After just getting my Cat 3 I was eligible for this race. This race was kind of intimidating for me, most of the guys I was racing with had either coached me or I had watched race the Friday night pro races. The race was fast, really, really fast. I held my own, bridging a couple of gap and taking a few laps off the front. I finished in the back of the pack, but I was the only one of the few guys from New Jersey to actually finish, so I got about 10^th in the region and 1^st in the state.

So a successful day at the track for hermrutgers (10+ medals). The Points race the next day . . . ugh. I waited around for 5 hours watching sprints to have them cancel the race b/c all but 3 guys left.

So the state championship went well and gave me some good confidence going into the next two weekends of collegiate weekends before nationals.

Here is a pic of the hardware (State Medals: 3 gold, 1 bronze Regional Medals: 1 silver)

Rubber Side Up - Neshaminy Race Report

photo by Don

This Sunday was the Neshaminy MTB race, part of the Mid Atlantic Super Series. It was also my birthday! Jay and I drove down to Langhorne, PA, for the latest installment in our amicable rivalry.

photo by Todd Strauss
This report will be short, because there isn't much to tell. Neither of us felt particularly fast, and neither of us started particularly well. Jay was in 4th or 5th wheel going into the woods, and I'd moved from 15th up to 6th. I passed him at the end of the 2-mile "prologue" lap, and some dudes with geared bikes were able to get past him when we crossed a field, so he was a few riders behind me going into a relatively simple log obstacle.

photo by Todd Strauss
The guy in front of Jay bobbled. One thing led to another. Jay landed on his shoulder and leg and head.

About an hour later, I was by myself in the middle of nowhere, on totally smooth trail. Somehow, while setting up for a corner, I went over the handlebars. It will never make sense to me. They don't call me "the Ninja" for nothing, though, and I rolled as I hit the ground...

...and then my bottom bracket hit me in the face.

I ran over my own face. Didn't think that was possible, did ya?

photo by Todd Strauss



Jay and I finished the race about 1 minute apart, placed 11th and 13th (at least according to the official results). Bloodied and bruised, we were just glad it had ended.

photo by Jay

Next up for Jay is the 24 Hours of Allamuchy, teamed up with Captain Chaz and other friends. Next up for me is a return to road racing, sweet sweet road racing.

2007-2008 Team Photo

We're once again proud to present the 2007-2008 Rutgers University Cycling team.

(left to right: Tom, Anthony, Matt, Diane, Aaron, Chris, Mark, Christian, Don, Charlie, Andy (advisor), Joe, Rich, Andy, Will, Rob, and Charlie)

We look forward to a successful summer road season and another amazing cyclocross season in Fall 2008! Thank you all for your continued support.

Tour of Somerville Race Report

I made my return to racing from my hip injury at Monday's Tour of Somerville. I was joined by the ever-fast ProfessorAndy and Craig from the Hermes for a cat 3 criterium slug-fest with 135 of our best friends. It's always a great idea to choose the biggest race of the calendar for your first race of the season.

The race started well enough as I managed to sneak myself into the third row. Andy was a little farther back and Craig even farther. At the whistle, the chaos began. Much jostling, bumping, and missed clip-ins ensued.

I've never done Somerville. Did I mention that?

A few laps in, and I remembered what criterium racing felt like - ouchy.

A few laps more and they announce a $200 prime. The mad dash for cash results in a huge crash at the finish line. It goes down right in front of me, and by a miracle I stay upright and get through the crash and chase back to the field.

Another lap in and another crash goes down in front of me. Again, I keep it upright and get into the field.

With 3 to go, Andy rolls by me and tells me "my bus has arrived." Andy delivers me in great position at the front for the last two laps, but my lack of fitness is evident as I can't hold it and get shuffled back to mid-pack.

On the bell lap, I sat way too far back to have any shot at the finish, but I had a good idea of how the finish would play out: the left would open then close down, then the right would open up. I came out out of the last turn in maybe 70th wheel.

I went left. I went right. The field opened up. I found myself in the top 15 and in the midst of the chaos that is the Tour of Somerville field sprint.

I'm told I had a few near misses in the finish. I kept it upright but decided not to go full bore and risk crashing on my still-injured hip. I rolled in for 26th place just 6 places out of the money.

All told it was a pretty good day of racing on a beautiful Memorial Day. A big thank you to everyone who came out to support us!

-Mark

Granogue Report

This past Saturday, Jay, Charlie, and I raced in Delaware at the beautiful Granogue estate. Between the fall 'cross race and the spring MTB race, this is one of my favorite venues of all. The weather was cooperative, the ground was mostly-dry, and we were ready for combat.

I should probably mention that Jay and I have an ongoing rivalry that is simultaneously amicable and fierce. Every ride so far this year has been sharpened by the impending race season, every climb was an unspoken yardstick. We even pushed each other to first ad second in a spontaneous karaoke-night limbo contest! Whether we'd find ourselves riding in 1st or 21st, we would be racing each other.

Charlie, with an upcoming wedding and a mid-day race start, wisely pulled out of the 3-lap Expert race after difficulties on the second 7-mile lap. No need to get sick before the big day!
CaptainChaz crushes the road climb at the end of lap 1
Jay and I started well in the Sport Singlespeed race, hitting the singletrack in 2nd and 3rd wheel - exactly where we wanted to be. Our field worked its way through slower traffic from other Sport fields, and I yielded a spot to another racer. By the end of the first big double-track climb, though, I was riding in first!

Then I went kaboom, crashing hard on a slippery descent. I immediately lost 2 spots, and another two singlespeeders passed me as I rode over-cautiously for the next few minutes. I finally got back in my rhythm and raced hard for the ensuing 45 minutes, but I couldn't catch the leaders, who rode superbly to a fantastic finish.

I was pretty spent on the last climb, the sort of spent where I stare at my front wheel and nearly ride off the road. I was hurting bad enough to entertain the thought of walking up the steepest section... until I heard a spectator say "oh, it's a Rutgers jersey! GO RUTGERS!", a cheer that was taken up by a bunch of the spectators. It's amazing how a simple cheer can buoy a tired rider to the top of a climb, and how widespread pride in Rutgers has become.

Awesomest of all has to be Jay's performance on the day. He rode to a strong 10th, which is made all the more impressive by the fact that he executed a hard-fought pass on the final climb... immediately after taking a PBR-feed at the bottom of the hill!

Next is Neshaminy. Last year, it was the first race where I successfully beat Jay, although his flat tire and the helmet-cracking crash it caused made the result a controversial one. This year, the racing will be even more intense, and hopefully our rivalry will continue pushing us toward the podium!

H2H#1 - Wawayanda:FarmerAndy's report

Even though I love the collegiate road series and I love racing and hanging out with my teammates on the road, I was pretty amped for the first mountain bike race of the season.
Rolling out in the morning it was foggy. So foggy that we almost missed the turn into beautiful Wawayanda (say that 3 times fast) state park.
Luckily, when the spot class race started at 10:30 the fog had cleared and the sun was starting to come out. I tore though the first few miles of the course sitting in second wheel where there was not too much technical stuff and my fitness from the road season definately came in handy. Once the rock gardens started I slowed down a bit and ran a lot of stuff. I made it though the first lap feeling pretty good and really amazed that I did not flat though some of the technical sections. The second lap went pretty much like the first lap, except it hurt more...still I finished at about an hour thirty min, which was good enough for 4th in the 19-29 sport class. I'm pumped for the rest of the season!

Shout-outs to Jim, Kat from Bard, and James from Effingers/Colavita for tearin' it up in the expert race and to Olivia for taking sweet pictures and cheering!

H2H#1 - Wawayanda: CaptainChaz's report

Today, FarmerAndy and I headed up, with Olivia, to Wawayanda State Park for the first race of the USAcycling MTB series, and oddly enough, the regional championship. I needed to place well in this race to qualify for MTB nationals at MtSnow later this Summer.

The course was balanced, yet completely unbalanced. There were ~3.5 miles of fast smooth trails (almost completely contiguous), then ~3 miles of rocky, technical trails with some impassable sections. So, you spend the first half of a lap reaching for all the power you have and making yourself a bit delirious, then, you try to finesse your way through the rock gardens and technical climbs.

I took the hole-shot and lined things out, for there was a single-file bridge over ~40 meters of flooded trail about a half-mile into the course, and I wasn't interested in throwin' 'bows and risking a mechanical on the first lap.

Feeling pretty good yesterday and this morning, I kept the pace up, but soon realized that I was overcooking my legs, for there were no technical sections in that first 3.5 miles to let the legs recover, unlike most places I ride. After going backwards for a few miles, I got back into rhythm and regained a number of places on lap 2, especially where it got technical. I was able to clean a number of climbs that other riders were having trouble with, and I was quicker down the descents and over the rocks. On lap 3, I got in a bit of trouble, as my legs were starting to fade in the long power section. By the end of it, I could feel some previously distanced riders about ten seconds back. Digging really deep, I put everything that I could into holding them off, but they were closing on me even through the technical sections! Some delirious bobbles in the rocks held me from opening the gap back up, and I was sure that at least one of them was going to catch me. He was only ONE meter from me before the final climb before the descent to the finish line. I remembered the sport singlespeed victory that I took on the last climb at Granogue two years ago, upshifted, and cranked out the last climb out of the saddle. My opponent was not able to chase, and I blazed down the final descent to a second place finish in the expert 19-29 category.

Special thanks go to Olivia, who kept me well fed with moral support and sport drink.
You can see here, can't you? She's the one holding the bottle. Oh, and she also saw a bear today!

Special thanks also goes to Efinger Sporting Goods, who built a really tough rear wheel for me (thanks Dustin), provided a last minute bearing adjustment (thanks Chris), and had a high-end tire in stock (thanks MarcC) for the back of my bike to help me over the climbs and rocks that most couldn't seem to manage.

Last, but not least, thanks to FarmerAndy, for allowing me to drench his helmet in sweat. The temperature increased dramatically from 11am to 12pm, and Andy had removed the bug net from his helmet, replacing it with the other pads and increasing ventilation. My helmet was still in cold-weather mode, and I would likely have gone deeper into delirium on the course if not for the good Farmer.

After seeing Andy's performance (more on that from him later), and looking forward to the performance of other team mates, I expect this mountain bike season to be pretty great for the Rutgers University Cycling Team!


PS - I was asked if I was on the road team after the awards ceremony. A rider wanted to congratulate you guys on some recent performances in the region. RutgersCycling is becoming a force to be reckoned with!

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"

March Photos

With some of our most active and most successful racers being a bit taciturn these days, the blog has been mighty quiet. Here are some photos from the past few weeks of racing. Stay tuned for more writeups!


















Photos are by Tom Moroney and Will Cukierski. More photos are available on the Rutgers Cycling webpage.

Princeton Circuit, Men's B

Well, that was intense. I finally have a computer on my race bike, and the numbers don't lie. something like 25 mph average, close to 30 into the headwind when the racing heated up... I have no idea how fast we were in the tailwind, because I was too busy trying to keep my heart from bursting through my throat. It was hurty.

The Rutgers men worked well together the whole time. Chris and Rich never strayed more than 10 people from the front, and they were active in chasing the dangerous breaks. Alex and I took turns attacking and counter-attacking for a while, even working together in a group of 6ish for the 30 seconds before we got caught. Rich, who had been blocking for us in a display of extraordinary teamwork and patience, took a few stabs at breaking away himself. The pack stayed together.


Going into the last few corners, I was on Chris' wheel. Rich was somewhere ahead of us, and I have no idea where Alex was. I tried to stay with Chris, but that man knows how to move through a field in the last kilometer, and before I knew it he'd put himself in great position. Typical Chris.

Alex finished 29th, Rich got 12th, and I eked out my first top-20 of the season in 20th place. Chris got 3rd, but he's 1st in our hearts.

Pheonixville Phlood

Mens C cirCRIT race

So, I was disappointed that the road race was flooded, for I was really looking forward to a tough, rainy, hilly road race. But, immediately before the C mens category, the race was reconfigured to be a circuit through downtown. In the process, the start time was delayed by 30 minutes, followed by a 45 minute experiment on how to turn cyclists into popsicles. Then, the announcement came that a 25 minute circuit race on a crit course would begin shortly.

Short race, cold and whining cyclists, inclement weather, downhill entrance to turn 3 with a snowfence barrier separating a sliding cyclist from oncoming traffic, and a slippery manhole cover in apex of turn 4... the perfect recipe for a breakaway from the gun. A strong guy from Navy took advantage and shed the field save me and a NCSU rider. Keeping that pace from a cold start HURT! The three of us worked together quite well and put lots of time into the field, especially after being joined by another strong guy from UVM. Simply, the four of us could move through the turns much faster than the field. Strength: Navy, UVM, me, NCSU Finish: Navy, UVM, NCSU me. I followed Navy in the paceline order, and he successfully shed us by accelerating out of corner four approaching two laps to go. I pulled for half a lap merely 15 feet off his wheel, but at the exit of turn two, it was over. I was hoping the increased pace might drop UVM and NSCU bringing me to a second place finish, but UVM kept my wheel. You'll never know until you try, right? I was spent after the effort and came in last of the break.

I was quite happy, for my goal for the day was to get in a break and make it stick. That happened, and I have grown as a cyclist. The only way it could have been better, is if DK had finished in 5th. He was feeling fantastic and was well placed in the chase group (where he did much more disrupting than pulling, thanks Dave!), but he unfortunately found the slippery manhole cover on the last corner and hit the pavement. Worry not ladies, DK is alright... sexy need not be brought back, Dave's still here.

Thanks to everyone that was outside cheering in the deluge. And, thank you to theJenksster and CoachKen for helping me visualize what scenarios could play out in a break.

Don's Rutgers Classic Report

What a weekend! It is definitely a challenge to put together a race, then compete in it, but I'd say our team came through with flying colors.

The highlight for me wasn't even related to racing. Set up in a long row of trainers, the Cs and Bs were warming for our criteriums on Saturday. Normally, while spinning our legs out, we would be talking strategy over the din of whirring trainers and the chatter of the race announcer.

On Saturday, though, we had a special treat... a live band! Feel It Robot drove down all the way from Bangor, Maine, to rock while we rolled. It was a rare treat, the first of its kind in the ECCC (we think), and it was a big hit with all of the teams.

Cycling Team alumnus DanFlan, featured on the keyboard and vocals, showed some alma mater pride as he sang of bicycles, parties, and of course robots. What better way to get us pumped up for our races?

As for me, I would've loved to tell you about how great my races went, but I don't want to mislead you. I got dropped like a rock in the Men's B Criterium, organizing a chase that never managed to catch the pack, but did manage to finish the race. Serves me right for riding at the back of the pack!

On Sunday, the Circuit Race went much better for me. After an hour of hard surging, aggressive cornering, and elbow bumping, I managed a respectable (relatively speaking) top-30 finish. If you squint, you can just barely see me hiding from the wind in this picture:

I'll offer my congratulations to my podium-earning teammates, but I won't tell you who they are... they'll tell you their stories in upcoming posts, here at the Rutgers University Cycling Team Blog!

2nd Annual "Accidental" Century

Last year, the Accidental Century was named because none of us realized we'd be riding 100 miles that day. Yesterday, almost exactly 1 year after the first edition, Rutgers Cycling put together a Century that was "Accidental" only in name. We met at the Brower, making this a very Rutgersy ride.
There were 10 of us on the ride. DK had proposed the idea, and Jay#1 had mapped out the route to improve on last year's. The Kassassin and BeastMasterChris, both of whom had gottenn monumentally faster since last year, were intent on getting plenty of time in the wind. Grizzly Ray and NinjaDon made sure the ride had enough beards, because if nothing else, Rutgers is a team of style. AlumnusTed joined too, having wimped out (and having been mocked for it) last year. Anthony and Charlie, both new to the team, need nicknames.

In an unexpected treat, Ken joined us for the first 30 or so miles. Ken, an alumnus who races for K2, spent more than his share of time on the front, talked training and tactics with us, and helped make the first couple of hours fly by. You're welcome back any time, Ken!

Somewhat miraculously, we only had 1 flat tire! Even better, it occurred during the steepest, longest climb, which gave us a nice opportunity to regroup and recover.

Anthony, a 1st year student, was clearly enjoying himself. By watching some of the more experienced guys and asking the right questions, he was able to noticeably improve his handling skills over the course of the ride. Now that he's got the technique to match his fitness, Anthony will be ready for the Spring Road Season.

Grizzly Ray dug deep, but he stuck it out to the bitter end and impressed us all! He says he's racing D this spring; let me the first to officially call him a Sandbagger!

This is Charlie's first semester with the team, and he's a welcome addition! Having finished his first summer of road racing, Charlie is using rides like these to prepare for the rigors of the ECCC.

DK is perhaps the most fashionable Rutgers cyclist since AngryMark... but he didn't wear a Rutgers jersey. That made us sad.

Still, the red train rolled on. More than once during the day, we were informed of how great our kits look. Even lined out on a hill, they are stunningly pro-ish.

The red train in action, on the rollers circa Mile 40.

We arrived at Bucks Coffee Shop in Frenchtown, ready for pastries, bagels, and coffee. The place was packed with cyclists and bikers, so we opted to eat outside. We're tough like that.

Just as we were leaving, the Princeton team rolled into town. After a quick exchange of pleasantries, we were on our way... but not before photographing ourselves in Pennsylvania.

(l to r): Chris, Ray, Don, Jay, DK, Anthony, Ted, Charlie, Rich

Notice that DK put his Rutgers windvest on outside his jacket. He may have overheated, but at least he got the rest of us to stop hassling him for being "too cool for school".

For the first 15 or so miles of the return trip, we were joined by another alumnus and his riding partner, neither of whose names I caught (can anybody help?). They took their turns at the front, chatted with us, and even took a jab or two at the Princeton team - that they were stopping at Bucks Coffee Shop for their tea break, for example. The Rutgers Alum was wearing the new official Rutgers Cycling kit, and it looked as impressive as you'd expect.

The pace on the way home was spirited, to put it nicely. Jay explains, "We gave The Kassassin and BeastMaster coffee, then showed them the Princeton team... of course they're going to go fast!". The two spent probably 60 miles at the front of the group, and the average speed over the 100 miles was impressive. Thanks for the pulls, guys!

We rode through beautiful farmland on the way home, encountering the roadkill versions of every animal common to New Jersey. Riding down Hamilton Street, we ran some double-paceline drills, riding in tight formation... looking so pro-ish and riding so close to campus, we were greeted by an unprecedented number of "GO RUTGERS!!!" shouts and honks.

When we got back to campus, we'd only ridden 91 miles. Like last year, we couldn't just stop short of the century, so we rode a Monday Night Loop. Another tradition from last year was the victory salute; as we crossed 100 miles, we all Look-Zip-Balled.

That this was the sort of training day for which recovery is as important as the actual ride. With that in mind, Jay, DK, Rich, Chris, Aaron, and I went to an all-you-can-eat dinner at Round Grill. The restaurant may soon enact a "No Century Riders" policy... For us, all-you-can-eat was a challenge that we were happy to accept.