Yale University Bulldog Cycling

Nittany Classic 2017

noreply@blogger.com (Yale Cycling) — Sun, 07 May 2017 16:43:00 +0000

Black Moshannon!!!! The notorious Nittany mountain race of the ECCC. Four riders came to the races and slayed Black Mo.

Returning for mountain redemption, Mike Grome (Men’s Cat A), dug deep through the onset of first-race-of-the-year cramping and seasonal cold to break away from the pack, riding steady up the dreaded Black Mo. to finish 4^th.

Matt Ampleman (Men’s Cat B) met his goals for the weekend. He found himself with just enough in the tank for the second Black Moshannon hill climb, overcoming leg cramps to roll through in 10^th place. On the criterium, he made an early attack and some well-timed efforts to get to the front of the pack for 8^th place in a final sprint.

Eager to improve, Andy Barentine (Men’s Cat C) carved out an epic solo break in the road race, going too fast to notice the turn he missed. Yet, after realizing his mistake, still managed to recover for an 8^th place finish. In the criterium, he again enjoyed some time in front, but took home a couple reminders to steer one's bike away from curbs.

Although new rider Adam Tonks (Men’s Cat D) was not initially looking forward to the hills of the road race, he found the course enjoyable in the end, filled with pride for slaying the mountain. It was first non-freezing ride in the US and he relished it, completing his first road race up the ECCC’s largest climb.

The air was thin as wheels ascend upon the back of Black Mo’s bend. With tired legs and roads that wend, the riders relieved, for the race did end. The mountain slain, the challenge won, but in the end, it was pretty fun.

ECCC Championships!

noreply@blogger.com (Yale Cycling) — Wed, 27 Apr 2016 01:13:00 +0000

by Brian Drollette with pictures from the team

Oh how time flies by. It seems like just yesterday that we were lining up for our first races down south, trying to escape the northeast winter. Here we are now, in the middle of spring, with the 2016 collegiate road season behind us.

Five weekends of competition all over the northeast led up to these final three races to decide the champions of the conference. The two-day event opened with a team time trial followed by a road race in Warwick, MA on Saturday and ended with a criterium in Turner Falls, MA on Sunday.

Team Time Trial

The 11 mile out-and-back course was fairly standard for what we've seen so far this season, though with a few more hills. The women's C team of Molly Oakley and Liz Eldridge had a few hiccups along the way as Liz had a wheel malfunction, but they recovered and finished the course in just over 40 minutes. The men's C team of Jordan Bravin and Will Botta took a bit longer to get their game together after a few mishaps on the hills, but finished strong as they crossed the line in 31 minutes. The men's A team of Michael Grome, Michael Landry, Matt Ampleman, and Brian Drollette worked an efficient paceline through the first half of the course until Brian dropped off. From there, Grome and Landry pulled most of the way and allowed Matt to hang on as they crossed the line in 4th overall out of 10 teams. Thanks to the points doubling for the championships, that was good for 136 team points!

Road Race

Last weekend at West Point, the Bulldogs were faced with the toughest road race course of the year. That all changed this weekend thanks to MIT and UMass. Racers were challenged with multiple 12 mile loops of nearly 1,500ft of climbing, hairpin turns, and dirt roads. The course was so challenging that the officials delayed the second wave of races due to the first wave taking so long to finish.

Up first was Molly in her final race of her collegiate career. She navigated the 34 mile women's C race using her mountain biking skills on the dirt sections, but unfortunately was pulled after she lost contact with the lead group. In the men's C race, Will and Brian took control on the front for the first 5 miles and tried to stay with the peloton through the first dirt climb. They were both dropped and finished minutes behind the lead group in a completely shredded field. The difference between the first place rider and last place was over 30 minutes.

In the men's B race, Landry took control of the field while Matt tried to hang on through the second lap in his first ever B race. Landry took off the front with 2 other riders on the second dirt climb and held off the field long enough to create minutes of separation. He dropped the other two riders by the last dirt climb and cruised his way to yet another victory, over 90 seconds up on the second place rider. Matt rode with the peloton as long as possible until he dropped and pedaled his way to the finish.

Michael Grome, in the men's A race, was in his prime for this "fantastic monster" of a course. He and 7 other racers organized a breakaway on lap 2 of 6, and then soloed 2 laps to bridge and catch the second place rider up the road on lap 4. The two of them worked together to hold off the field with Mike doing most of the work, ultimately finding themselves in a sprint finish. He finished 3rd on the day in a great race.

Criterium

The final race of the season took place around beautiful Unity Park in Turner Falls. The course was 3/4 mile loop with three turns and one punchy and decisive climb on smooth, wide roads. Crit Monster Jordan took the first race of the day in the men's D field. On the climb, he was caught behind a crash that knocked his rear wheel out of place and caused it to rub against his bike frame, costing him precious watts. Still maintaining his sleek aero profile, Jordan finished the race looking as good as ever.

Next on the course were Brian and Will in the C race. Their legs felt trashed from the day before, and the hill only made it worse. Brian hung on to the front group, staying to the back and doing little work. He made up a few positions at the top of the climb due to an NYU crash, and sprinted to a 9th place finish. Will wasn't able to keep in contact with the front group and was pulled with over half of the field.

Matt and Landry in the B race looked strong the entire time. They both worked the front of the pack,

trying to catch a Brown rider that had kept a breakaway for over half of the race. Landry punched it on the final climb and took a rider from UVM with him down the hill, who eventually passed him on the final sprint. Landry squeaked out a 2nd place finish, beating a rider from UMass by mere inches at the line. Matt had some mechanical issues on the final climb but was able to recover and sprint to a solid mid pack finish!

Grome, in the last race of the season, felt good after his mighty efforts the day before. He worked hard to catch breaks and bridge gaps throughout the race. He lost an opportunity to create a gap on the final hill but still managed a great finish with the peloton.

Final Thoughts

There are several key components to a successful racing season that often go unnoticed. Clipping in and beginning to pedal is the final step in preparing for a race. The entire team is especially grateful to those who work their tails off to give us these opportunities. Our captains, Molly Oakley and Michael Grome, are the heartbeat of this team. Their dedication and long hours paid off this year, as we not only finished the season strong, but also welcomed new members to the team and got first time racers out on the course. Without them, this road season would not have been such a complete success.

Another key component to the success of our team is Thomas Kempner. Mr. Kempner's generous contributions to the team allow us the opportunity to attend several races throughout the year and keep the Bulldogs as a top team to beat in the conference. We thank him for his continued support and look forward to our development with his help in future seasons.

As always, we need to give some big shoutouts to our coaches at CCNS, and our sponsors, The Devil's Gear Bike Shop, College Street Cycles, UCAN, Peanut Butter & Co., Rudy Project, Camelback, Iams, Minoura, DeFeet, Castelli, Biketag, and many more!

Thank you all for a great season!

Bulldogs can't fly.

ECCC Week 5: Army Spring Classic

noreply@blogger.com (Yale Cycling) — Thu, 21 Apr 2016 13:33:00 +0000

by Brian Drollette with pictures from the team and Jan Valerie Polk

The Yale Bulldogs took on the Army Spring Classic this past weekend in West Point, NY. The penultimate ECCC race weekend was unlike most of our races so far this season....it was warm! We were graced with 60 degrees and sunshine for both days. The weekend consisted of a team time trial and a road race on Saturday, followed by a criterium on Sunday.

TTT

The course was a 7 mile out-and-back on a rolling stretch of road, with some uphills on the way back. The Bulldogs entered two men's teams to the time trial, an A team and a D team. The D team of Jordan Bravin, Rafi Bildner, Jackson Salovaara, and Will Botta rolled out first and cruised their way to a first place finish, covering the course in 20:21.54 and finishing over 46 seconds ahead of the second place team! The men's A team of Michael Grome, Michael Landry, Michael Moore-Jones, and Brian Drollette pacelined effectively after a bit of an unorganized start. They covered the course in 18:22.96, good for 6th out of 10 teams.

Harriman Road Race

The road race covered a 14 mile loop and was arguably the most technical and challenging course so far this year. Immediately after the start/finish line, racers were faced with a 2 mile descent into a sharp left hairpin turn into a 3 mile climb. Several pileups occurred on the turn as many riders found it more challenging than expected.

To open the day, the men's and women's D races rolled out for 2 laps. Jackson and Rafi navigated the course effectively, working with others to cross the line with a few minutes back from the lead group. Liz "enjoyed a lovely scenic ride around Lake Welch and successfully kept the rubber side down after an effective warm-up of killer dance moves." Need she say more?

MJ and Brian started the 3-lap C race in good form with 86 other racers. The pack stayed mostly compact for the first lap until the carnage on the start of lap 2. MJ, in the middle of the peloton, was caught up in an 18 rider crash on the

descent at 40 mph. He suffered a concussion with road rash and bruising, but considers himself lucky compared to some of the other riders in the accident. Brian was ahead of the crash, but found himself caught up in another pileup on the climb of lap 2. He got back on his bike but was unable to regain contact with the lead group. He worked with 15 other riders off the back to cross the line nearly 7 minutes behind the leaders.

The final races of the day were none other than Captain Grome's 70-mile A race and Landry's 55-mile B race. Grome, finally feeling back in form after his crash in Philly, took charge of the A race as the primary aggressor with bridging and breaking. He pulled the field for a majority of the race and attacked at the 1km to go mark, only to be caught in the final 200m and crossing the line with the peloton. Landry attacked earlier in his race, immediately after the hairpin turn on lap

3 of 4. Three racers bridged the gap and the four of them agreed to work together for the remainder of the race. One racer went down on that same turn on the last lap, so the lead break was down to 3. With 2km to go Landry attacked and was able to hold off the others as he crossed the line in first, 15 seconds up on the chase group and over 4 minutes ahead of the peloton!

Shea Stadium Criterium

To wrap up the weekend, the Bulldogs raced on West Point's campus for the criterium on Sunday. The course was short with 3 turns and great for spectating.

Jordan and Jackson dominated the D race, or as Jordan likes to call it "taking out the kids on a training ride." His aerodynamic obsession and Jackson's natural talent worked to their benefit as they crossed the line for 3rd and 4th! Will, coming off of an injury, raced to a solid mid-pack finish in the C race.

In the B race, Landry rode aggressively at the front and worked a couple of breakaways. The break was caught with 4 laps to go, so after regrouping he moved to the front and sprinted to a 4th place finish! Grome in the A race rode at the front, scoring a few points in the prime sprints, and attempted to bridge the gap from the peloton to the breakaway near the end of the 60 minute race. He was caught by NYU's team tactics and finished with the peloton.

All in all, it was a great weekend for Bulldog cycling. The weather kept everyone's sprits lively and we had fun (except for the hospital visit).

Next week the ECCC season wraps up in Warwick, MA. Only 1 race weekend to go!

ECCC Week 4: L'Enfer du Nord

noreply@blogger.com (Yale Cycling) — Wed, 13 Apr 2016 13:54:00 +0000

by Brian Drollette with pictures from the team

The Hell of the North

On Saturday, our friends at Dartmouth and UVM welcomed eleven Bulldogs and the rest of the ECCC to their campus for the start of the aptly named "Hell of the North" race. The four-race weekend took us through Dartmouth's campus for an individual time trial and a criterium, followed by a team time trial and a road race on Sunday just south of the UVM's campus in Charlotte, VT.

The team also had the pleasure of welcoming Coach Hunter Pronovost from CCNS to the Dartmouth races. Hunter was instrumental in our warmup and pacing efforts in the individual time trial and coached us through our crit races.

ITT

This 2.7 mile course started up a modest, yet tactically significant climb before rolling through the heart of campus. Racers made their way to a stretch of slightly downhill open road before a sharp right turn and a final climb over 8%. Matt Ampleman, Michael Moore-Jones, and Brian Drollette started the day in the Men's C field, covering the course in just over 9 minutes and good for 25th, 26th, and 12th, respectively.

Following the C's was the Men's D's, led by Jordan Bravin and first time racer Jackson Salovaara. Jordan's passion for the world's best aerodynamics paid off, as he won the race by over four second on the course. Jackson came through shortly after, placing 11th in his debut.

The Lady Bulldogs, represented by Liz Eldridge and Lexi Abel, were up next in the Women's D and C races. Liz got over her numbness from the cold and rode her way to a 12th place finish in the D field while Lexi placed 9th in the C's.

Michael Landry and Michael Grome wrapped up the ITT in the B and A fields. Landry, aero as ever on his steel-framed monster, absolutely crushed the course in 7:52.14, good for first in B and the fourth fastest time of the day. Grome made his way through the course good for 11th in the fast and furious A field.

Frat Row Criterium

The criterium consisted of a 0.75 mile course with three tight turns and one slight uphill before finishing on a wide and open straight along Dartmouth's "Frat Row".

Jordan and Jackson lining up for the start of their D crit.

Jordan and Jackson kicked off the festivities in the D race. Jordan took a few pulls on the front while Jackson sat in the pack and studied the course. Their efforts paid off at the end, as Jordan sprinted to a third place finish and Jackson crossed the line for a solid 8th! That's 9 more omnium points for the Bulldogs!

In the C field, Matt and Brian worked the front of the pack while MJ sat in the middle of the 73 person field. Brian took a mechanical pit stop with 10 laps to go due to a collision with another rider, but was able to jump back in the main pack for the remainder of the race. On the final lap, a Harvard racer on the front took the second to last turn a bit too fast and slid out. Brian, 5 spots back, was forced off the road to avoid colliding with the downed rider while the majority of the pack raced on. Matt stayed upright and crossed the line with the main group. Lesson learned: anything can happen in a crit!

Liz pulling the field in her Frat Row Crit.

Liz, in the Women's D field, had a solid race and even miraculously managed to not run over anyone with her bike. Lexi also rode a strong race, but was pulled with a few laps to go.

Landry took home yet another win in the B crit as he smashed the race to bits with his tactics. His plan was to stay at the front, take the turns hard, and string the field out. The strategy paid off as he rounded the final turn and sprinted to a narrow victory over fellow racers from UMass Amherst and Army. Way to go Michael!

The final race of Day 1 was Grome's A race. He found himself in great position near the front of the pack for the majority of the race. On the final lap, a gap opened up on the outside of the lane on the climb and he worked his way up the pack. His plan to jump on the wheel of a Syracuse and KMS rider as they rode on fell short, as the KMS rider's foot unclipped right in front of Grome and slowed things down. He crossed the line mid-pack in the fastest race of the day.

A big thanks to Coach Hunter for working with
us this weekend!

TTT

The team time trial course was a supposed-to-be-8-but-actually-10 mile course in a clockwise loop with nearly 1,000ft of elevation gain. The Men's C team of Jordan, MJ, Jackson, and Rafi Bildner took the first hill easy, making sure to not go into the red too deep early on. They played a game of cat and mouse with Dartmouth, as each team passed one another a few times on the course. Their finishing time was 30:14, good enough for 7th. Then the women took turns pulling one another in the D field. Lexi tackled the hills while Liz kept the pace on the flats and downhills and their efforts paid off for a second place finish! The Men's A team of Matt, Brian, Landry, and Grome started easy up the first hill before ripping into the paceline. At mile 2, Matt dropped and Brian began to die. Three racers need to cross the line for the clock to stop in the A race, so they had to keep chugging along. Grome and Landry were the heroes of the race as they took monster pulls in order to give Brian some rest. They crossed the line 6th in 27:12 and not without a few tears and gasps for air from the third, struggling finisher.

26 degrees for the start of Day 2? No problem!

Road Race

The fourth and final race of the weekend was a circuit road race on the same course as the team time trial. Rafi and Jackson stayed close, working together in the 20 mile D race. The field began to split on the final climbs and Jackson hung on while Rafi had to pull due to a flat tire. Jackson finished 22th of 72, wrapping up his first race weekend and arguably the toughest weekend to date. Great work, Jackson!

The Men's C race rolled out next. Matt, MJ, and Brian started the race tucked in the pack, trying to save energy for the hills. Halfway through the first lap, MJ's chain dropped right in front of Brian. They both stopped, fixed the bike, and tried to regroup with the main field. Unfortunately, they couldn't regain contact and pulled from the race. Matt, however, stayed strong and finished 18th in the race.

Lexi took on the women's D race impressively after she was momentarily dropped mid race. She worked successfully to get back to the main field over the remainder of the course. Lexi placed 20th in her final race of the weekend!

Landry, coming off a solid Day 1, tried to make his 50 mile B race difficult for everyone. He and a guy from MIT did most of the work over the length of the course, but it sapped his legs for the final climb and sprint. Still good enough for an 8th place finish!

Grome again ended the day with the A race. The 60 mile course saw a sizable breakaway in the first lap. Grome placed himself right in the middle of the break of 8 riders, but was unable to hold on to the swift pace. He dropped back to the peloton and rode a smart race with the rest of the riders. He crossed the line with the peloton.

Next week, the Bulldogs travel to West Point for the Army Spring Classic. This will be the last race weekend before the ECCC championships at MIT, so stay tuned for the highlights as we push towards the end of the season!

ECCC Week 3: Shippensburg Scurry

noreply@blogger.com (Yale Cycling) — Wed, 06 Apr 2016 02:01:00 +0000

by Brian Drollette

The Yale Bulldogs were back at it this past weekend for the third ECCC race of the season. Three racers made the trek to Shippensburg, PA, looking to continue their strong season amongst other racers in the northeast. The weekend's races took us through rural farm roads, the Michaux state forest, and 1,000+ foot climbs.

The Shippensburg Scurry race weekend proved to be quite unique. Instead of the typical circuit race, criterium, and time trial that we've grown accustomed to so far this season, we were faced with a timed circuit race, a mass start hill climb, and a longer road race.

Circuit Race

The circuit race felt more like a criterium with more hills, due to the short laps and timed duration. The course was a 2.1 mile loop with three turns on farm roads. The back stretch was a slightly downhill, freshly paved road with a bit of a tailwind that allowed racers to push the pace well over 30 mph.

Less than half of a bike length secured the victory for Brian in the Men's C circuit race.

Up first for the Bulldogs were Matt Ampleman and Brian Drollette in the Men's C race that lasted 40 minutes. The short yet punchy hills kept the field on their toes and allowed for a bit of separation in the field. All attacks were eventually reeled back in and the last lap was a perfect setup for a sprint finish. The backstretch was speedy as everyone fought for the best position. Matt worked his way to the front 10 riders while Brian stayed tucked in behind the fifth wheel. Less than 1km from the finish, the course made a sharp left turn into a hill, with the finish line down on the backside. Brian began his sprint with 200m to go, passing all five racers before the crest, and held off a fellow racer from Princeton by a mere inches for the win. Matt passed ten racers on the last stretch and secure a solid 5th place, securing 8 more points for the Bulldogs!

Mike Grome in the A circuit race.

Captain Michael Grome, in his first race since a crash at the Temple Criterium, raced the 60 minute Men's A race. Mike put in a solid effort to get himself back into racing form. He crossed the line in 19th in good spirits, ready to go for the next two races!

Hill Climb

Typically, hill climbs are treated as individual time trials, where everyone races the clock and starts in 20-30 second intervals. Not this one. The folks at Shippensburg decided to mix things up a bit by turning it into a mass start race. At 6 miles long with 1,300 feet of elevation gain, this race was sure to thin out the field.

Matt and Brian, in a pack of 47 other racers, stayed with the main field until Brian dropped off at mile three. Matt fought hard, climbing much of the race out of the saddle, before dropping at mile 4. He was able to finish with the help of three other racers for a respectable 15th place in the extraordinarily fast field (the C winner had the fastest time of any category!). Brian crossed the line in 24th, just over a minute behind Matt. Mike spun his way up the hill in under 23 minutes, taking 17th in the 29 racer A field.

Road Race

After racing in mild, sunny weather on Saturday, Mother Nature had other plans for Sunday. We woke up to temperatures in the 30s with 25 mph sustained winds and gusts over 40 mph. Everyone packed into the community center at the park, trying to stay warm, while waiting for an update from the officials on the status of the races. Due to downed trees and power lines, as well as ice on parts of the course, the officials reduced the 11 mile loop to 8 miles and detoured around a significant climb.

Matt and Brian again started the day in the 4-lap C race. The first few miles of the course were modestly sheltered by trees, deceiving racers into thinking that the conditions weren't too bad. That all changed once the road opened up, cutting straight through flat farmland without an ounce of shelter from the wind. The field was quickly shredded, dropping riders left and right. The cross winds were so strong that Brian and a rider from Army were both blown off of the side of the road, though they both stayed upright. After the second lap, Brian pulled himself from the race due to the conditions while Matt toughed it out. He worked with a group of 10 on the front to pull in a small breakaway, and with less than two miles to go he lost contact with the group as the outside of the lane offered no protection from the wind. He rode the rest of the race solo, crossing the line 11th in arguably the toughest race of the season so far. Good work Matt!

Mike wrapped up the day in the A race. He quickly realized the strategy needed to shelter himself from the wind within the pack, saving precious watts when needed. A five-man breakaway formed while Mike and 8 other tried to bring them back in over the 66 mile course. The breakaway held off the field, and Mike sprinted to 11th.

In his first race weekend back from a crash, Mike shared a few lessons learned: 1) recovery from an injury takes a lot of time, 2) don't be too hard on yourself if you can't pick up where you left off, 3) positioning saves watts! A good wheel to follow, especially in heavy winds, can make all of the difference.

Next weekend the Bulldogs will head to a combined race hosted by Dartmouth and UVM in Hanover, NH and Charlotte, VT. Only 3 race weekends left in the ECCC!

ECCC Week 1: Philly Phlyer

noreply@blogger.com (Yale Cycling) — Tue, 22 Mar 2016 00:27:00 +0000

by Brian Drollette with pictures from the team

This past weekend, the Bulldogs attacked the first ECCC road race of the season in Philadelphia, PA. We went into the weekend with confidence in our abilities after dusting off our rusty gears in two early preseason races. Its now time to start scoring points in our own conference with eyes on the championships next month. The Bulldogs landed multiple podium finishes and scored plenty of points in this conference race.

The Philly Phlyer consisted of a team time trial and a circuit road race along the Schkuykill River, and a criterium on through the streets of Temple University's campus.

Mike and Jordan, thankful for our sponsors
Castelli Cycling, UCAN nutrition, and DeFeet!

Day 1: Team Time Trial and Schuykill Scramble Circuit Race

TTT

The team time trial began bright and early at 8am on Saturday. The course started at the children's museum before descending down to the river, where racers would complete a few laps back and forth along the road before climbing up to the finish. All in all it should have been just a hair over 11 miles.

The Bulldogs entered three separate teams into the race: a Women's C featuring Captain Molly Oakley and Sam Andrade, a Men's C with Jordan Bravin and Alex Bruch, and a Men's A team with Mike Grome, Michael Landry, Michael Moore-Jones, and Brian Drollette.

Jordan and Alex getting ready for their TTT. Can you
guess who had the best drafting advantage?

The Jordan-Alex duo took off for their race aiming to catch as many teams as possible. Each team rolls out in 30 second intervals, and seeing the next team up the road is a huge motivator to keep pushing. The two faired well in the heavy competition, placing a respectable 9th out of 15 teams and clocking in an average pace of 21 mph.

Up next was Molly and Sam in a smaller 5-team field. The two raced smart, saving energy where they could and pushing where it helped. They crossed the line in just a touch over 41 minutes and scored 14 points for the Bulldogs in the Women's Team Omnium!

Capping off the early morning sufferfest was the Michaels (+Brian) A team. The group started behind the UNH team and ahead of Harvard. The goal? Catch UNH and keep Harvard off our tails. We rolled out and got into formation swiftly, working smoothly together in a rotating paceline and communicating effectively (though three Michaels on a four-man team got a bit confusing). After mile 8 or so, catching two teams and averaging a quick 25 mph, a race marshall motioned for us to turn right up the hill towards the finish line. The team crossed the line, 3 miles short of the true course distance, and wound up disqualified. Unfortunately it could not be undone. If anything, it was a lesson in pre-race logistics and a warm up for the road race later in the day.

Schuykill Scramble Circuit Race (with the Humiliation Helmet!)

The course for the circuit race traversed a similar route to the TTT. The 6.5 mile loop included flat sections along the river, a few moderate climbs, and technical descents and corners that thinned out the field.

Captain Grome sporting the Humiliation Helmet before his
very serious A field circuit race.

The Humiliation Helmet was displayed loud and proud during the races. Awarded to a rider that does something humiliating, either to our team or to themselves, the Humiliation Helmet must be worn in that rider's next race to honor their blunder. This week it was donned by Michael Landry (for his water bottle hand-up last week relegating him from 2nd to 3rd) and Captain Michael Grome (for his unjustified self-belief that the earlier TTT disqualification was his fault).

Michael Landry (yellow Humiliation Helmet) and Brian Drollette finishing the Men's C race in 1-2 fashion.

The Men's C field kicked off the race with 85 starters for 4 laps. Representing the Bulldogs were Michael Landry, Michael Moore-Jones, Alex Bruch, and Brian Drollette. Through much of the race, the two Michaels and Brian stayed towards the front half of the pack, navigating around crashes and pileups that plagued the large field. With a few miles to go, the pace picked up on the final climb. Michael Landry found himself in perfect position near the front while Brian worked his way up through the pack as they passed by the final turns and roundabout. They both popped out to the right with the finish line in sight, sprinting to a 1-2 finish and scoring a combined 56 points for the team omnium. Michael Moore-Jones finished mid-pack while Alex used his first race of the season as a warm up for big things to come!

Just a few minutes after the start of the C race, Jordan Bravin clipped in for the Men's D race. He quickly found himself in the middle of another large field, this time of 86 starters. Multiple attacks split the field and Jordan finished the three lap race in the second group with a 21 mph average!

Up next was the Women's C and D fields. Molly Oakley geared up for the four laps in a field of strong riders from Princeton, Brown, and Queens Universities. Our fearless captain rode a strong race and ultimately finished 22nd, one lap down from the leaders. Not once did anyone see a smile leave her face! Sam Andrade wrapped up the circuit race for the women's team in the D race alongside 66 other racers. She finished the 3 lap race in great form, placing 28th in her first mass start race of the season.

Wrapping up Day 1 of the Phill Phlyer was arguably the most exciting race of the day. Captain Michael Grome tore up the Men's A field in true Bulldog fashion while wearing the Humiliation Helmet. Within a few miles of the opening lap, a racer from KMS broke off the front and Mike took chase. To make himself useful against a rider stronger than him, Mike said that he wouldn't contest the finish if they worked together.

The two of them had a 2+ minute gap on the rest of the field when the KMS rider's tire flatted with 30 miles to go. Mike knew he had to stay away long enough for another breakaway to catch him, since the peloton was a mass group. After another lap or so, a racer from NYU and another from KMS crossed the gap and Mike said "Finally, I've been waiting for you!" They all worked together to keep the breakaway going for the rest of the race. The three racers held off the main field by 30 seconds across the line, with 1-2-3 going to KMS-NYU-Yale. Good work, Mike!

Day 2: Temple University Criterium

On Sunday we found ourselves at the heart of Temple University's campus for the final race of the weekend. The crit was classic four-corner course with a slight downhill on the back stretch and uphill to the finish line.

The team was happy to welcome Coach Aidan Charles of CCNS to the race. Aidan provided insight into the course and warmup tips to get the team prepared for the day. We were grateful to have him there with us and proud to show him how all of our hard work is starting to pay dividends.

Jordan on the front of Sunday's crit.

Jordan started the day in the Men's D race. He found himself on the front in the first few laps of the 30 minute race, and narrowly missed a chain derailment on some uneven pavement. A hard fought battle resulted in 14th in the field of 66. Not bad for the first one of the season!

Next up was the Men's C race. This race included Michael Landry, Alex, and Matt Ampleman. Michael and Matt stayed with the front group for the majority of the 40 minute race while Alex worked with other racers off the back. With four laps to go, Matt pulled off to the pit with a mechanical, however he was unable to rejoin the race as there were less than 5 laps to go. Unfortunately it was only a minor brake rub! Michael remained in contention for the sprint, and as the field rounded the final corner he took off and secured the victory. Two wins in two days!

Molly and Sam raced the Women's C in great form. From the start, two racers took off and created a sizable gap. The main field became strung out, and both Molly and Sam had to find other racers in order to share the work. By the last few laps they found each other, crossing the finish line together in 20th and 21st.

Molly doing work!

Sam pulling the three racer group.

The final race of the weekend was the Men's A. Mike Grome, coming of an impressive podium finish the day before, looked solid throughout the race. A few breaks tried to form without success until the last half. Riders from Delaware and Queens took off and managed a 1+ minute gap on the field, claiming the first two podium spots, while another in the gap took third. The rest of the omnium points were still up for grabs as the main field barreled down the final stretch in a bunch sprint. Unfortunately, Mike got tied up with another racer and the two of them went down across the line at full speed. Race coordinators and EMTs rushed over to find both racers pretty banged up, but thankfully with no serious injuries. Thank goodness for helmets!

All in all it was a successful weekend for the Bulldogs. We went home with several omnium points, a few podium spots, and a ton of good experiences. The rest of the ECCC season is looking good!

Five of the Bulldogs headed south following the race to Asheville, NC for a spring break training camp. Stay tuned for training camp reports as well as race reports from our next conference race at the NYC Metro Showdown.

Afternoon snoozin'.

No caption needed.

Gateway Circuit Race 3/13/2016

noreply@blogger.com (Yale Cycling) — Tue, 15 Mar 2016 15:19:00 +0000

by Michael Landry, with pictures by Andy Barentine and Michael Landry

As the sun rose behind heavy gray clouds over the eerily deserted corporate park that was to be the site of Sunday's races, Michael Moore-Jones and Andy Barentine rolled to the line to race with the Category D Men. Andy churned the pedals relentlessly at the front in the early going, carving grimaces into the faces of many in the strung-out field. Michael M-J was also an animator, attempting a couple breakaways that did not succeed. Both of them put in numerous turns at the front attempting to whittle down the field, but a group of 12 riders entered the final lap together.

Our D Men before their start.

Ultimately Andy paid for his early efforts and lost contact with the leaders on the final climb heading into the sprint, coming home with a mid-pack finish. Andy says his pre-race anxiety gave way to post-race excitement, and "can't wait to race again." Moore-Jones secured 3rd place in a fiercely contested sprint after leading the pack for the final half-lap, but thinks he could have improved on that placing by meting his efforts out more conservatively.

Next was Liz Eldridge in her first race ever with the Category C Women. Liz rode like a seasoned pro, and gapped her field with ease to snag a win for the Bulldogs, our third of the weekend.

Liz, preparing to decimate the field.

In the Category C Men race, Michael Landry stayed tucked in the 25-man peloton. He attacked the field with 500 meters to go on the final uphill, but was caught and passed by the eventual winner from Shippensburg on the level finishing straight. Landry was able to salvage second place with a bike throw, but ruefully tells us he "went too early." Unfortunately, he was later relegated to 3rd place for taking a water bottle hand-up from a spectating teammate.

The final competitors of the day were the Category A Men, and our Captain, Mike Grome, had a tough race ahead of him. The field was stacked with several pros and semipros, and a deep Virginia Tech team was hoping to leverage their numbers to secure the win. Additionally the dark clouds, which had been threatening all day, finally opened up and proceeded to release their watery payload upon the riders starting around mile 5 and continuing through the finish. Combined with dropping temperatures and an average speed of 40+ kph, the meteorological misfortune reduced even the hardest in the field to shivering post-race wrecks.

Mike Grome charging.

Virginia Tech sent their strongest man off the front early as the rest of their team ran interference, doing their best to stymie any attempt by the peloton to organize and chase the leader down. Mike was a part of numerous breakaways, all of which were reeled in by the boys in orange from VT. The leader succeeded in staying away to the line and took a well-earned victory, while some 40 seconds in arrears Mike mustered a mid-pack finish in the field sprint.

After the moist and hypothermic affair, the Columbia team treated our racers to pizza at the local Whole Paycheck. We all excitedly relived the weekend's races before starting the convoy back to New Haven. Next weekend the ECCC season starts up with the Philly Phlyer, and with our solid preseason results we will be entering the fray with confidence and know-how.

Storming Hyattsville: Route One Rampage Criterium 3/12/2016

noreply@blogger.com (Yale Cycling) — Tue, 15 Mar 2016 14:02:00 +0000

by Matt Ampleman, with pictures by the team

The Bulldogs stormed through Maryland this weekend, landing multiple podium appearances for the team’s first criterium of the year. Despite its pleasant, arboreal residential setting, the “Route One Rampage” in Hyattsville, Maryland was not your granddad’s criterium. With a half-mile-long 80-foot hill, the course featured just enough climbing to make breakaways possible.

The Yale team used this pack-splitting ascent to its full potential. Michael Grome harnessed it to ride ahead for a premium lap win in the A race, and Michael Landry and Michael Moore-Jones attacked it to garner 1st place finishes in their C and D races, respectively. Biting at the heels of “the Michaels” were Andy Barentine, who finished 4th in the D race, and Matt Ampleman, who finished 12th in the C race.

Michael Grome pulled double duty, finishing in the pack of two high-speed races: the Pro/1/2/3 and Category A criteria. These 60-minute races clocked in at 24.7 and 24.9 mph: not too shabby for a relatively hilly crit. Seeking to gain early-season race experience, Matt Ampleman also got an early 4/5 race in before the collegiate field started.

Captain Mike Grome mixing it up in the Pro/1/2/3 field

These multiple looks at the course made it clear to Yale riders that the hill would dictate the victors and victims of each race. After climbing for half of this 4-turn course, racers stood up for a (purportedly) 14% grade at the top of the hill. The following downhill section and high-speed turn in the 4th corner made sure that any lead gained at the hill crest could be kept: riders merged single file, leaned-in for the turn, and then sprinted out on to the flat, stringing out the pack each time.

Coming back to the first turn, racers began the long ascent again, reshuffled, and with the tail end of the pack struggling to stay in the draft of more aggressive racers. “Stay on his wheel!” Michael Grome could be heard yelling near the alleyway to the famed Hyattsville Vigilante coffee.

Of course, uphill surges cannot be repeated indefinitely. The race director’s choice to throw in “premium” sprint laps meant that racers would have to forfeit some challenges and surge ahead for others. Michael Moore-Jones opted to forfeit a prime with two laps to go, a move that allowed him to power through for a win in his first race this season.

Teamwork and patience also paid dividends. Andy Barentine and Michael Moore-Jones worked efficiently throughout the weekend, teaming up with Johns Hopkins and Shippensburg riders to press the field in both races. Matt Ampleman and Michael Landry also worked together early in their race, nudging the C field to track down a breakaway and stay within striking range of other attacking riders. “Yale is getting this group organized!” the announcers exclaimed.

Matt Ampleman looking tough

In the end, it was patience and power that won the race, as Michael Landry held back until less than 2 laps to go when he made his move, attacking the hill, bridging the gap to the first-place rider, and then surging ahead on the final climb to win.

Michael Landry hoping that guy from Liberty doesn't clip his pedal

Likewise, Michael Grome’s power led him to a few breakaways in his A race. They didn’t stick, but the race was still “super fun,” and the day was all-around very competitive including attacks by pro riders.

Fun was also had – as with all races – in idiosyncratic and gastronomic endeavors. One collegiate team raided the nearby yard sale of Hawaiian shirts and used the warm-up area as if a model shoot for retired high school science teachers. Uber-friendly neighborhood children sold lemonade and taunted riders with unrealistic promises that they “could still catch up and win!” Granted, such words were true for the Yale team: with two first places, cactus tacos, milkshakes, board games, skipper hats, premium wins, first crits, and a general domination of the Atlantic Conference riders, Yale can say with confidence that it won the weekend.

Preseason Week 1: William & Mary Tidewater Winter Classic

noreply@blogger.com (Yale Cycling) — Tue, 01 Mar 2016 02:14:00 +0000

Race Roster: 1 Women's C, 1 Men's A, 1 Men's C, 1 Men's D, and an open Cat 5

On Saturday, our friends at the College of William & Mary and the rest of the ACCC welcomed a few Bulldogs to the Tidewater Winter Classic road race in Williamsburg, VA. We had the chance to shake out our cold winter bones and get in the groove of road racing preseason style, as ECCC races are still a month away.

If our racing skills are anything close to our car packing
skills, we'd be in the TDF.

Rise and Shine!

After a 6am wakeup call, we made it to York River State Park and set up camp. Unfortunately, we were unable to fit a trainer in the car so warmups consisted of a few laps around the parking lot in layers upon layers. The south is supposed to be warm, right? Not so fast! 32 degrees for the first race.

The course was a 9 mile loop with a few hills in the beginning. Compared to the roads in New Haven, this was a fairly flat race. The kicker came at the end, with the last 200m uphill to the finish line.

8 AM: Men's Cat 5, 2 laps

Michael Landry, coming off a 6th place nationals performance in CX, started his first road race in the open Cat 5 field. He stayed tucked in the middle of the pack for most of the race, with a bit of difficulty finding a wheel to suck in the last part of the race. The uphill finished worked to his advantage, though, as he passed a dozen riders in the last 200m to a 3rd place sprint finish! Not a bad way to start the season!

8:05 AM: Men's Collegiate D, 2 laps

Brian Drollette road his first collegiate race in the Men's D field. Liberty University took charge with multiple riders and Brian kept on their wheels near the front for the majority of the race. With less than 2 miles to go, he saw a Liberty racer jump off the front and quickly pursued. As they worked together to keep the rest of the field from chasing them down, a rider from the University of Delaware crossed the gap. The three of them rounded the final turn to the finish line with Brian on front. At the sprint finish he wound up in 3rd place behind UDel (first) and Liberty (second). ECCC riders going 1 and 3 in a 57-rider ACCC race? Awesome!

8:10 AM: Women's Collegiate C, 2 laps

Nerea Cal was the sole rider for the women's team, racing in the combined open 3/4 and collegiate B/C field. Unfortunately, she was caught up in a crash early on in the race. Thankfully she wound up uninjured (both rider and bike!) and was able to still finish. She helped a fellow NC State rider fix her bike and they along with a few other racers pacelined together and finished a few minutes behind the main field.

Although the day didn't go as planned, Nerea said, "I am thankful I wasn't hurt and, by working with a girl from another team, developed a relationship that may bear fruitful for future races. Other than that, I was happy to spend a day riding my bike, cheering on my fiancé and teammates, and am looking forward to future (warmer) races." That's the attitude we need on this team!

Michael Landry racing in the Collegiate C field.

10:10 AM: Men's Collegiate C, 3 laps

Thought he was done? Think again! Michael Landry clipped in one more time for another stab at a win in the collegiate C race. By this time, it was a bit warmer outside and fantastic racing weather. For the majority of the 30 mile race, Michael stayed with the main pack of 43. With less than 2 miles to go, he attacked off the front, hoping a few others would follow for a successful breakaway. The main field had other plans, though, and accelerated to catch him. By the sprint finish, he had burned most of his matches and finished 14th in the main pack. A respectable finish by any means!

Captain Michael Grome racing in the Collegiate A field.

3:05 PM: Men's Collegiate A, 5 laps

Team captain Michael Grome burst onto the Collegiate A cycling field in great form (though not without a few nerves) for the last race of the day. By this time the wind had picked up and the temperature dropped,which only made for a more interesting race.

Following the neutral rollout, a breakaway took off that included a Virginia Tech rider. Mike worked at the front of the peloton with other riders to reel in the breakaway with success, even though other Tech riders would make their way into the paceline and slow down in order to help their rider.

Once the breakaway was caught, a rider Mike had been working with took off. In a split-second moment of indecisiveness, Mike chose to play it safe and stay with the group. The racer was ultimately chased down but still managed to sprint to the win. Mike said, "I just wonder what would have happened if I decided to join him off the front instead of playing it safer, but that might be a lesson learned for another time." Still, Mike finished right with the main field (20/45) in what was an awesome A race. Good work Mike!

Final Thoughts

For all of us, the Tidewater Classic was an opportunity for new experiences. Landry and Brian got their first taste of road racing, Nerea got her one and only crash out of the way for the season, and Grome got over his anxiety of racing with the big dogs in the A field. The ECCC better get ready for the Bulldogs, because we're here to kick some butt.

Our next race weekend will be March 12 at the University of Maryland/Johns Hopkins Route One Rampage Criterium in Hyattsville, MD. Stay tuned for a race update!

As always, we need to give some big shoutouts to our coaches, CCNS, and sponsors, Kempner, The Devil's Gear Bike Shop, College Street Cycles, Skratch Labs, Peanut Butter & Co., Rudy Project, Camelback, Iams, Minoura, DeFeet, Castelli, Biketag, and many more. We wouldn't be off to a great 2016 road season without their help!

New Hampshire Highlights from the Yale Peloton!

noreply@blogger.com (Yale Cycling) — Sat, 25 Apr 2015 21:57:00 +0000

This weekend's roster: 13 Yale racers. 1 Women's A racer, 1 Men's B racer, 2 Men's C racers, 1 Women's D racer, 7 Men's Intro racers. AWESOME.

What happened? The boys from SOM decided to storm the field for a day, dominating their category while the other 5 racers had epic, eventful, and adventure-laden weekends.

Some reflections - favorite moments, funny accidents, funny victories, unforgettable details - from the racers:

Mike and Tim's bike - a friendship forged on the podium!

From Captain Mike:

Saturday races at Dartmouth: 3rd in ITT, lost shifters on final uphill, borrowed bike from Tim, but didn't figure out how to use it in time for crit.
Sunday races at UNH: Adjusted Tim's road bike, took 2nd place in road race after 7 man split and an uphill climb to the finish.
Lesson learned: if you're in front of the pack with a mile to go and no one is pulling, sprint and leave them behind.
(He placed 2nd in a very hilly road race at UNH. Way to go, Mike!)

Nominations For the Humiliation Helmet:

A snapshot from before the ITT:

Travis: "Hey, guys, you should probably go to staging."

Jordan: "Okay. Hey, Rafi, let's go to staging."

Rafi: "No, we've got a couple more minutes on the trainers."

Any bets on who missed their race? No worries - these two intro dudes rode with the A men! A new nickname is born: Tweedle Dum + Tweedle Dee!

Travis on a roll!

Teamwork 101 / Notes for Next Time:

Pin your teammates' numbers - not your teammates.
Someone will need more Gu. Peanut butter (& Co) saves lives. Cafe Romeo sandwiches are heavenly.
It was awesome having a large team.
Check your teammates' tires.
Ask for help when you need it. We're here for each other!

The Dynamic Duo! Men's C crit at staging.

Lessons Learned the Hard Way:

The scene: College Street Cycles, days before the race weekend

Rodolpho: Excuse me, I would like to know if one layer of glue on my tubulars is okay since I am only re-glueing it?

Howie: Well, you need at least two layers in the rim and one in the tire. Have you wiped the old chunks off first?

Rodolpho: Ohhh, no... Will I survive at least one crit this weekend?

Rodolpho in the crit - pre-flat-tire!

Howie: ...good luck!

The scene: Crit racing, 7 laps to go. In the leading peloton!

A voice from the rear: Hey, Yale, there is something funny with your rear tire.

Rodolpho's inner monologue: This guy is playing mind tricks. Keep pushing. (but in Portguese)

The scene: Two fast corners later.

Rodolpho's inner monologue: Ohh, wait, he can be right...

Flat tire... 6 laps to go!

Moral of the Story: Always trust your mechanic!

A Recap of Highlights from Noah,

Men's Intro representin'!

a First-Time Racer!:

I had a great time. Loved the fact that Yale made up about 90% of the Men's Intro group, and getting to chase each other in the Crit was great. I also really loved our random ride we did between the first and second races where we went up to this little town East Thetford and got breakfast sammies at this little café called Isabell's. Not sure that's a really great racing anecdote, but was a fun part of the weekend. I also just generally enjoyed the camaraderie at the Super 8 the night before and during breakfast. Oh and the Maple PB on an eggo waffle was a great way to start the day :)

Rodolpho and Alex bringing the Team Time Trial home!

Alex's Favorite Moment of the Weekend: the TTT!

featuring two C racers and two intro racers

Did we win? Not at all. Did we lose? Definitely not. I'm proud to say Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum led our Navy-cadet-bearing team to beat Army! When in doubt, bring up the guys from intro!

Some Reflections from Tweedle-dum - or is it Tweedle-dee?

High of the weekend: Stepping up to Cat C in the Team Time Trial to help Alex and Rodolpho, despite nearly puking post-race. Also, beating Jordan twice :)

Low of the weekend: Screwing around with Jordan, and thus missing our ITT start time by 15 minutes, so having to race with Mens A, meaning total humiliation for a good 12 minutes.

Corners are fun.

Shout-out: Big big thanks to David McCormick, who maintains a fleet of loaner road bikes. Check out this Caad10 teaching Lee some lessons about crits!

noreply@blogger.com (Yale Cycling) — Fri, 24 Apr 2015 16:00:00 +0000

University of Vermont, Green Mountain Race Report

“Bikes”…..“Check”

“Race Kit”…..“Check”

“Sandwiches”…..“Check”

“Car Keys”…………. “They’re in the trunk”

Well, it was time to take the bikes of the rack and retrieve the keys. Business as usual with ‘Captain Mike’ Michael Grome, John ‘Hill Climber’ Wen and Oscar ‘the Injured’ Benjamin.

Our destination was Burlington, Vermont, and what lay ahead of us was a Saturday race route filled with dirt roads and a 20% gradient hill finish; and a technical Sunday criterium. Thankfully, there were rumors that the course had been ‘modified’ and we suspected it was to our advantage. Thus, it was with slightly less trepidation that we pulled into our Travelodge late Friday evening ready for tomorrow’s race.

Saturday. First up the road race.

Arrival time at the local school parking lot was 9:30 am. We started warming up on the trainers and no preparation was spared………except when John realized he forgot to pump his tires just before race staging. John was up for his first race of the season in the men’s C category. As a hill climber, it was with a heavy heart that the race organizers informed John the final hill finish was cancelled because of snow at the top. Oscar was delighted with this news. John weaved his way through the peloton on the climbs to finish in a respectable time of 1:27:31 over a 30 miles course. This placed him 21^st in a field of 39 riders. Oscar was racing in the men’s D category over a 20 mile route. He took the race steady after a slight Achilles tendon injury mid-week. The turns were smooth and fast but unfortunately the hills were slow. Despite being dropped on the big hills Oscar finished in 1:00:34 placing him 20^th in a field of 52. He even earned 2 points for the team. Captain Mike Michael was next to take the stage in the men’s B category racing for an epic 51 miles. Placed 7^th.

Army Weekend Recap! (& Lee's first race weekend!)

noreply@blogger.com (Yale Cycling) — Thu, 23 Apr 2015 03:32:00 +0000

Though it’s been a while, don’t let the elapsed time fool you: the Yale racers who went to race at Army had a fantastic weekend! Four Yalies drove out to Highland Falls on Friday night for the race hosted by the United States Military Academy.

Saturday morning rolled around early, cold, and windy - so windy! The team bundled up, set up Trainerville, and started warming up to the playlist of our parking-lot neighbors, Boston University. The D2 men, Alex and Will, took off bravely into the wind for the team time trial, for Will’s first bike race ever.

Will's First Bike Race! Photo cred to Jan Polk.

They had a great ride — except for that one time when the home team’s support vehicles, a caravan of Humvees, ran Will off the road! He recovered quickly … and then another Humvee roared by just as Alex pulled out to take his turn pulling. They made it back in one piece, carefully timing their final sprint for a 7.75mi race — and then realized the line they’d passed at the 7.19mi mark! Quote of the Day: “Dude, if we knew where the finish line was, we woulda won!” Watch out, ECCC. They’re gonna KILL IT next time.

Army chase vehicles. Yes, really.

The wind picked up across beautiful Harriman park, with bikes occasionally clattering to the pavement and random wheels flying across the parking lot. Mike and Lee hung out on the trainers in Minoura-trainerville to keep warm and awake - and teammate Matt Ampleman appeared as the Saturday-morning arrival for the Men’s C Road Race. He went out and had a great race, finishing 12th of 40! The D2 men also conquered the hills of Harriman State Park with gusto, Alex in 11th and Will in 22nd overall - all three bringing home points for the team!. Just after they left, I headed out for the women’s intro clinic. We headed out along the TTT course, and all had a very nice time riding with the coaches and our fellow intro folks, and had a very pleasant race back to the finish line. And then a well-intentioned but misinformed observer/marshall/random person

on the sidelines sent me off to the left instead of home to the right … and I was in for a surprise lap of the course! Besides the initial overwhelming fear of the first downhill drop — mostly because “I’m not supposed to be going this way! I can’t turn around! What am I doing?!” — and secondary fear of the subsequent climb back up to the top of that hill, it was a great lap. Harriman’s beautiful, with patches of sun shining through, some lovely hills, and even waterfalls along the roadside. Matt, Will and Alex all reported back to the parking lot, and we all collapsed into a car, where there was no wind. No wind! So quiet! We all decided we’d never leave the car again, and then descended upon a bag of Cafe Romeo sandwiches, and a variety of Peanut Butter + Co flavors spread on apples. That bag of food was the most beautiful thing we’d seen all day. We love our sponsors.

Meanwhile, Mike prepared for the Men’s B race in Trainerville. We supported him wholeheartedly from the car (“Mike's using the portapotty. GET IT, GROME.”) and then saw him off at the line. Almost three hours later, he returned, exhausted and hungry, immediately eating as much food as we could feed him. If you’d ever like to see a human being consume an incredible amount of food in seconds flat, find Mike after a race. All that FAST takes an awful lot of energy! We packed up and headed back to the hotel, exhausted & happy & pretty pleased with the day’s racing. Mike summed up the day nicely: "I know exactly why I ride bikes. 1. I like riding bikes. 2. It's like playing a video game where you can level up."

Hungry, hungry bike racer!

Sunday was another early morning - we were actually the first to the course, having hit up the hotel breakfast before MIT’s racers. As it turns out, West Point is a military base as well as a good old college campus, so we’d left extra time for the checkpoint process. The criterium course at Army is beautiful - a three-cornered loop around Shea stadium, next to the Hudson river, with one short hill at one of the corners. From the parking lot at the top of the hill, it’s possible to see almost the entire race play out. We pre-rode the course early, figuring out smart ways to take the corners and how to avoid potholes and sewer grates, and watched the Men’s D1 race before sending Alex and Will, our D2 men, to the starting line, to the tune of Alan’s “D2 Men to the line! Party time!” They raced well, with Will winning a sprint and both finishing strong. Will has fallen in love with riding crits - they include all the parts of racing he loved in Track + Field — the sport in which he competed until this spring.

Party time!

We watched the Women’s D and Men’s C races from the tricky corner, eavesdropping and analyzing and learning from the racers who’d done this before, watching race strategy from the top of the hill. I trundled off to the women’s intro clinic, where we practiced pack-riding tactics on the grass in the infield. It was a nice refresher of Mike’s skills clinic earlier in the year, practicing bumping and high-fiving to improve our bike handling. We rode three practice laps with our coach, and then she sent us off on our own. The corners were fun, the course was fun, and even that little hill was fun. I worked hard to tuck myself behind a racer from Team Mineola until the final lap and had a nice sprint to the line. Winning is fun, too. (And I made some new friends with the UNH team, who adopted me in their cheering squad!)

My first spokes-from-space photo!

By the time I was off the bike, Mike was off for the Mens B race, putting in good efforts at good moments. His family had driven in to cheer for him from the sidelines. Travis had arrived, having struggled with a dead car battery in the morning, and was watching Mike’s race from a trainer on the hill. We hooted and hollered and cheered Mike on. Shortly after were the A women, including a special appeared by our very own Easter Rabbit, recovering from a hip dislocation at the Tufts crit the weekend before. The field was fast and recovery was hard; Travis rode a good race — in aero rabbit ears! We all have a fantastic time, got a couple new addicts to crits (:D! ), had some interesting adventures, and can’t wait to do it again.

Vroom! That's Grome on the left in the hi-viz.

Da boyz.

Easter Rabbit!

Also, West Point is beautiful & bike racing is fun.

Philadelphia Phlyer Report from Michael "Captain Mike" Grome

noreply@blogger.com (Yale Cycling) — Mon, 20 Apr 2015 21:19:00 +0000

Philadelphia Phlyer:

Day 1: TTT

Men's C pulled through with the fastest average speed in the field. Problem was, they took a wrong turn and held that speed for an additional 5 miles, doing 19 miles vs the actual 14 mile course... Live and learn.

Day 1: Circuit

Women's C/D Molly and Lexi finished top in the field, taking home the gold with Lexi in first and Molly close behind. The first remark they both made after finishing their race: "We feel bad. We didn't do any work." Champs.

Men's C stuck together for much of the race with Matt Ampleman coming out in front on the final sprint, only to be taken out by a fellow rider with meters to go. Picking up his bike, he runs to the finish to complete his race. An unintentional dualthlon. He's okay, folks.

Day 2: Criterium

3 men rode the criterium in the center of Philadelphia. 4 corners, many holes, high wind. Our D racers, Alex and Oscar, maintained a steady pace and kept on wheels through the wind as the field was stretched to a broken line as it squeezed around tight corners.

In the C field, Suffer-Muffin Mike broke off the front and finished the last 8 laps solo with a 40 sec lead on the peloton, taking second... Apparently another rider broke off prior and stayed 30 seconds out of sight the whole race. Bittersweet.

noreply@blogger.com (Yale Cycling) — Sun, 12 Apr 2015 00:37:00 +0000

The Bulldogs Head South: Spring Break Training Trip in North Carolina

Eight adventurous Bulldogs headed south for an epic spring break training trip in the beautiful (and steep!) Blue Ridge Mountains. The team rode hard on the scenic Blue Ridge Parkway and made some friends along the way including Dartmouth and Maryland riders who joined the fun.

We made a 3,500 foot climb, while enjoying incredible views, to the summit of Mount Mitchell, the highest peak east of the Mississippi. Following a wicked descent, the exhausted group was left smiling ear to ear. When we were not on our bikes, we explored the area, stumbling upon waterfalls, beautiful hiking trails and breathtaking sunsets. North Carolina, we will miss you!

Columbia and Rutgers: ECCC Race Weekend #1

noreply@blogger.com (Yale Cycling) — Tue, 24 Mar 2015 17:29:00 +0000

This weekend was the first in Eastern Collegiate Cycling Conference (ECCC) race series. Nine Bulldogs drove early Saturday morning to Rockland Lake where Columbia University held their race.

Yale's first racers off were the Matt and Rodolpho in their first Men's D race: They braved the rain and worked with the pack to pull 5th and 8th place respectively.

Matt and Rodolpho doing swimmingly well in Men's D

Next off Lexi, Oscar, Alex, and Andrew attended the intro clinic before rolling off in the rain for their first ever mass start road races. Despite the rain and a Andrew sliding out in his race, everyone said they had a blast, learned a lot and are excited to race in the D field next weekend.

The intro gang. Ready to be D's

I went off in the Women's C/D field combined field, it was slowly paced, extremely wet race. Primarily to stay warm I attacked on the final hill climb the final lap, then when it came to the end of my race I felt great and won my D race and placed second overall in the C/D field.

Molly (Me) Taking the C/D field very seriously....

Micheal rode with the Men's C field and after making many attacks throughout his race was caught behind a bad wheel and went down. Fortunately, Mike and the other riders were alright and Mike was back on his bike and finished right behind the main pack (a very impressive feat).

Travis raced with the in the Women's A field while the rest of Yale's racers went off volunteer and cheer on the course. Travis stayed with the pack and managed to stay warm in the rain.

Travis on the Front of the Women's A Field

Volunteering with Mike Grome

Sunday was the criterium, where Yale had an AMAZING showing! Our intro racers Lexi and Oscar, WON both their races after their intro clinic. Matt and Rodolpho got 2nd and 4th in Men's D race and both won many prime laps. I upgraded to Women's C and got 3rd overall and got 2nd in every prime lap. Mike was having pedal problems in his race and smartly withdrew for safety reasons. Travis stayed with the pack until the finish and placed in two of the race's four prime laps against some fast women.

Oscar. One of Our Intro Winners

By the end of the weekend Yale had racked up a huge number of points as a team and nearly every Yale rider upgraded from intro to D or from D to C, if they weren't already in that category. It was a such a fun and successful weekend to start the race ECCC race season.

Crashing the ACCC: William and Mary Tidewater Classic Race Report

noreply@blogger.com (Yale Cycling) — Thu, 12 Mar 2015 18:32:00 +0000

Crashing the ACCC: William and Mary Tidewater Classic Race Report

With the ECCC races being cancelled due to continued snow and dangerous road conditions in NJ, 3 Bulldogs who were unwilling to give up so easily ventured down to Virginia for the William and Mary Tidewater Classic crit and road races.

Promises of 60 degree weather, sunshine and green trees motivated Mike Grome (Men’s C), Molly Oakley (Women’s D) and Travis Rabbit (Women’s A) through a 6 hour drive and a very early wakeup.

Saturday: Criterium racing!

Upon arriving at the Saturday crit course, the sun was out but it was not the promised 60 degrees! After a single pre-ride lap around the course, Molly wisely decided to opt for more layers, and questioned a funny wobble in her rear wheel. Upon close inspection we realized that her tire bead was not seated properly, and her tube was poking out between the tire and the rim! While it’s unbelievably lucky that she didn’t blow out her tire completely in that first lap, three tire change attempts later, this wheel would serve as the voodoo doll for a weekend complete with 12 tire/tube changes!

After warm up, feuling, and a little chat about race strategy for the combined men’s C/D crit (stay towards the front but not on the front, use the straights to move up, be aware of the lap card count, other secret tactics we can’t mention here…. etc), Mike’s race was off. All of the practice and secret, sneaky crit strategy talk of the winter payed off immediately! Mike rode a smart race, saving energy wisely and expending a few watts just on time to drive crucial splits in the field, narrowing it down to a select group of 8 racers off the front and lapping the straglers. Sadly, after seeing incredible improvement in his crit racing from last year, Mike dropped his chain coming over the bump of the last corner and had to sit out the sprint for fourth place.

Molly was up next, in the combined women’s B/C field (the ACCC doesn’t have a women’s D category, so Molly was bravely racing up!). With a relatively large field of 26 racers, Molly found her stride in one of the segments of the main field, and used the race to find her headspace and racing legs for the season. Riding outside after months of rollers only can be a real shock! And, racing up a category in a large, combined B/C women’s field was certainly a new experience for Molly.

Last for the day, ten minutes before the Women’s A race, Travis’s rear wheel started feeling like it was running through sand. With only time for a last minute brake adjustment, and hoping that eliminating brake rub (which, also didn’t work) would alleviate the issue, the race was off to a roaring start. The ACCC race leaders drilled the pace from start to finish, spitting racers out the back of the field and suffocating those who desperately hung on. Unfortunately, that riding-through-mud-and-sand feeling never went away. Pushing through above threshold (new threshold!?) wattage for the body of the race, Travis settled for finishing 8th in a very elite field. After immediate disappointment and shaken confidence due to the greater than expected struggle of the race, and the lower than expected final placement, Travis was greatly relieved to find that there was indeed a major hub issue and that his data for the race showed incredibly good numbers, despite the lack of matching results.

Sunday: Road Race

Molly kicked off the day again, with the first road race start. This time, the women’s C field was combined with a non-collegiate women’s cat 3-4 field, adding excitement and numbers to the pack. She raced a strong race, putting in a great amount of effort on the front of an animated and chatty field (everyone is eager for those early season upgrade points!) for a strong finish with the C women’s pack, after an attack ripped the front of the 3-4 women off of the peloton.

Up next, Mike raced with the C men, in a strange race combined with B women! After feeling strong in the crit, Mike was shocked to see the difference that team tactics can make in a race. Coming from the ECCC, where there are very many small teams with tactics often aren’t present until higher categories, versus the fewer larger teams with well rehearsed strategy, this race was a lesson and Mike was the student. Following this race, there was a great deal of disscussion and debriefing. We have great hopes of implementing some of those same tactical weapons in the ECCC races later this season, once the whole team is present.

As the final race of the day, Travis was off with the A women, combined with a women’s P12 field. Despite the attacks on the hills and aggressive pace throughout the body of the race, the field stayed largely intact for a photo finish field sprint at the end, taking 10th. Confidence rattled by the difficulties of the previous day, Travis played it safe and raced an extremely conservative race - hiding from the field for the entire body of the race until emerging at the end. In fact, Travis hid so well, we can hardly even see the top of his helmet in this photo!

Cycling Along the Sino-Tibetan Borderland | Interview with Yu Luo

noreply@blogger.com (Yale Cycling) — Sat, 11 Oct 2014 22:43:00 +0000

Name: Yu Luo

Years with Yale Cycling: 0.5

Hometown: Guiyang, southwest China

Major/course of study and year: 6th-year PhD in socio-cultural anthropology

Bicycle(s): One road bike (Giant Avail 5), and a second-hand Mongoose mountain bike as commuter

1- Do you remember your first time on a bicycle? How was that like?

If I remember correctly, my dad was hoping to teach me using his adult bike when I was 13-ish. The bike was like a monster that’s out of control. Seriously. I fell hard, and never dared to learn to bike again until early 2013. I am not a person born with natural balance, so it felt really wobbly.

2- What brings you to Yale Cycling? How did you find out about the club and what made you join?

Early this year, I moved back to New Haven after my year-long fieldwork back in China. And I needed a new bike. Since I have never ridden around Yale before, I had no clue what kind of a bike to get, and what routes are good. I heard some words about Yale Cycling from friends, and googled it. Then I joined with less intention of racing but of looking for a community with a shared interest and learning more. So far as cycling opened up a brand new world to me, it has introduced me to some great friends.

3- Describe the best bike ride you’ve ever been on: where was it, when was it, what was the weather and scenery like?

The biking trip to Tibet is, without a doubt, unbeatable. I could go on and on about it. But I’d say, my favorite ride I’ve taken most recently is the New York Century bike tour on September 7th. A friend and I took the 75-miles route, which started in Central Park, down to the southern tip of Manhattan, then crossed to Brooklyn, and once we hit Coney Island, we rode along the shoreline all the way to Bronx - Rockaway Beach, and finally circled around in Bronx back to Central Park. The weather that day was amazing, with beautiful blue sky and breezy air. The route was carefully designed to avoid heavy traffic and cut through many scenic spots and greenways. It got me to places in the city where I would probably never reach otherwise.

3b-You had told me a bit about your summer biking through China and Tibet on a bike ride,

- Where did you start, what route did you follow, and where did the trip end?

From mid-August to late September 2013, we made a tripartite trip: First, we took a train to Chengdu, and started our cycling trip there. We went along National Route 318, which is one of the most popular routes among Chinese cyclists. After riding about 1300 miles over 25 days, we reached Lhasa. Second, we made a 380-miles roundtrip between Lhasa and Shigatze. The first half of the route is quite popular among international cyclists traveling from Lhasa to Kathmandu. Third, we took a train from Lhasa to Xining, and cycled from Xining to Qinghai Lake (the biggest lake in China, where there is an annual professional road bike racing tour). We then circled around the lake and went back to Xining to hop on a train back to our hometown. This part of the trip, which was the easiest, was 340 miles.

-What were some of the challenges and highlights of your trip?

The biggest challenge is to ride for long distance almost every day at high altitudes. Most of the ascents to mountain passes were around 6000 feet, and twelve of the mountain passes were more than 13,000 feet above sea level. It was very easy to get sunburnt and dehydrated, if not worse high-altitude reactions. The ways downhill were not easy either -- it was quite risky if one didn’t control the speed and fell down the cliffs. Also, the weather could be less predictable -- we had been cycling in showers for some days and it was snowing one time in early September. (There were people who encountered hails when climbing.) In addition, some of the roads were not even paved yet, and one day we had to go along a path above the roaring Yarlung Zangbo river with mudslides.

These challenges were pretty much highlights, in my opinion. It was like experiencing all four seasons within a few weeks. Besides, there were motorcyclists, backpackers and other cyclists along the way. Most would greet and cheer for you with their thumbs up. When I was going downhill one day, a local girl who was returning home from herding her yaks yelled to me, “Be safe, sister!” These moments were super warming and encouraging. And you would feel very accomplished once you reached a mountain pass after several hours of climbing, and especially if there’s a Sacred Lake right underneath your gaze, or a gorgeous glacier not far from you.

-Who was the coolest person you met on the trip?

When my dad and I climbed to a mountain pass that’s over 16,000 feet above sea level, we saw a backpacker sitting and resting in a temporary tent set up by local Tibetans. We asked him if he could take a photo for us, and he came out on his crutches, with only one leg. I was completely speechless. He was doing a trek from Tibet to Yunnan, as part of his plan to travel across China. He would take rides with drivers passing by, but still, I couldn’t imagine how much it took to go on such a journey.

-What was the food you ate the most of on the trip?

We tried to eat well along the way to guarantee our nutrition, so we ate as much hot food and especially veggies/fruits as possible despite the limited availability at times. There were a number of restaurants along the route opened by migrants from Sichuan and other provinces. In the Tibetan regions, we mostly had yak meat which was great to restore energy - yak meat buns, yak meat noodles, etc. We really loved the self-made milk tea and yogurt by some of the Tibetan households. But there were also times when we could not find food within a fair distance, and had to rely on bread and canned ham/fish.

-Are you and your dad planning any other trips- if yes, where would you want to go?

Oh yes, for sure ;) We’ve been talking about crossing the States from East Coast to the West Coast, or making a trip across European countries, upon my finishing this graduate degree. And we always discuss or dream about trips all over the world, such as in South America, New Zealand, etc.

4- Describe your dream bike: what features does it have? Wine bottle holder? Heated seating? Self-cleaning bar tape?

Tubes that would never ever be pinched. A device on top of the bike for protection against sun and rain with special design that would not cause resistance or imbalance. And maybe, an automatic gear-shifting system that’s contingent on the terrains I encounter.

5- If you could go on a bike trip with any person in the world (could be anyone real, imaginary or dead), who would you take with you?

To be honest, I hope to go on bike trips (not just one) with my future husband and kid(s) -- both imaginary for now. I don’t mind my dad tagging along if he’s up to it, and my mom if my dad could ever successfully get her on a bike.

6- Favorite bike snacks- list all of them!

These might not be “snacks,” but tomatoes, cucumbers and bananas during our cycling trip in Tibet were not only delicious, but extremely helpful in rejuvenating and hydrating. I also take gums and candies including cough drops (not the kinds that melt easily under the sun) for long-distance trips. And lately, Luna’s lemon zest energy bar (a little too sweet, but so good) and GU’s tri-berry flavor have grown on me.

7- Least favorite cycling clothing item (ie, mine are arm warmers because they always slide down to my elbows):

I used to have a pair of knee pads in China. They helped at times, but it was a pain in the neck because they kept sliding down to my calves (and even to my ankles) and I just couldn’t pull them up while riding.

8- When did you last grease your chain? (Come on, be honest)

Okay...hmm well, the bike store people helped me grease the chain when I had the first tune-up in June-ish. And then, I bought a small bottle of chain cleaner/lubricant. I was actually thinking earlier last week that I should grease the chain soon. Thanks for reminding ;p

Yu, thanks for the interview and for the amazing photos from your trip!

Track Nationals 2014

noreply@blogger.com (Yale Cycling) — Fri, 03 Oct 2014 00:03:00 +0000

Track Nationals 2014

by Travis Rabbit

Yale Cycling returned to the track in 2014!

I competed at 2014 Collegiate Track Nationals, in a last minute decision after crossing it off my calendar and re-adding it more times than I can count, due to academic scheduling, travel concerns, and major health events of the summer months leading up to the events, followed by a surprisingly strong performance for 3rd place in the NY State Track Championship omnium.

Due to my PA student clinical schedule, I was only able to attend the weekend events; the 500 meter time trial, and the scratch race. Unfortunately, the pursuit, which was the event I had been targeting was scheduled for Friday morning. But, hey, quality over quantity, right?!

So, with that in mind, I left clinical on Friday and headed straight to Indianapolis rehearsing these two events over and over in my head:

500m TT… the count down, focus, the standing start, go go go! stay low and go!

The scratch race… stay in the top 15 but keep it cool in the qualifying round races, then give it EVERYTHING in the finals. race smart, race safe. Follow anything that Marion does.

And, considering the competition. Who would I try to follow if they initiated a breakaway? Who was worth chasing down? Who would I watch out for?

The major players and a few choice facts:

Coryn Rivera: 6th at La Course, Tour De France; 1st Pro Criterium Championships
Anyone from Marion: they’re all fast, well trained, a cohesive team and smart. Varsity
Nicole Bruderer: 2013 scratch winner, too many top results to list
Anyone from University of Colorado: also fast, smart, cohesive. Varsity
Anyone from MSU: do I need to repeat this?
Colleen Guilick, regular top omnium placer in UCI track races, criterium destroyer
Monica Volk: my USAC teamate and a product of the T-town elite youth dev program

CSC sticker as valve stem hole cover!

Saturday morning, 500 meter time trial: cue a 5:30am start to the day, salted carmel GU on top of hotel oatmeal for breakfast (seriously, try it!), followed by warming up on the track and rollers for an hour and a half prior to my start time, and discovering that sunrise over the velodrome in Indiana is beautiful. The less beautiful discovery was that I had stiff, leaden legs after spending 12 hours driving and not as much sleep as one would hope for ahead of a nationals event. This necessitated a rapid gear change to something lighter than my usual (in track racing, you cannot shift, as the bicycle is a fixed gear with one chainring and one cog which must be set up ahead of your races), in the hopes of getting out of the start gate as quickly as possible, anticipating a lack of opening snap. The anticipation of lack of force in my standing start proved to be a wise one, although the light gear handicapped the top speed of the remaining meters, landing a 35th place finish.

With plenty of time to recover before the scratch races, it was nap time. The track was promptly exited, aero wheels repacked in their bags (thanks to College Street Cycles for setting these babies up!), and Minoura rollers in the trunk.

Big news from USAC on waking from my nap! What luck! The qualifier has been removed from my schedule and I will proceed straight to the scratch race major finals - the big race for the national collegiate scratch title!

Pack racing at it's purest!

A note about scratch races: Think of it as a criterium on a track, with fixed gear bicycles. It’s fast, with the same surges and breakaway attempts as a criterium, but minus the primes. The scoring is based on the final finish line, with no intermediate sprints. Like a criterium, anything can happen. Team tactics matter.

This is when it starts to hurt...

Notably, out of the scratch race finals field, there would be only a handful (litterally, I could count on one hand) of nonvarsity athletes present, including myself. Track nationals is a notably varsity-heavy event, with the majority of teams present having full squads with specialists for different events, coaches present and well rehearsed strategy at play. I would also be the only Ivy League athlete in attendance at 2014 Collegiate Track Nationals, and I was proud to represent the Ivies with a Yale logo on my speedsuit!

Keeping to the front, while we spit women out the back.

Sunday morning, Women’s Scratch Race Major Finals: 6am start, more oatmeal with GU topping (magic, I swear…) followed by Peanut Butter and Co packets in the car on the way over to the track, roll around the track in a warm up gear, rollers on the road bike while Brandon puts the disc wheel on my track bike with a whopping 92.4 gear inches. That’s heavy for a slow and windy track like Indy, but we anticipated the cruising speed to be at least as high as the UCI rac

A disorganized breakaway attempt...

es at T-town (The Valley Preferred Velodrome).

The prediction of fast cruising speed was spot on, with the body of the race hovering around 30mph with surges early and often, as the major teams exchanged attack for attack. MSU, Marion and Colorado dominated the field, with Milligan making a showing at the front. Hoping that one of the many attacks would split the field and form a breakaway, I followed almost anything that moved, riding aggressively and near to the front of the pack for the opening 20 laps of the race. All breakaway attempts were reeled in, including a seriously threatening attempt by two riders from dominent schools (leaving the rest of the front of the field unmotivated to chase) that I reeled in myself, dropping the hammer for a full lap to pull the field back together with 4 laps to go. This proved to be an error in judgement on my part, as I drifted backwards, vomit rising in my

Momentarily fracturing the field = doing too much work.

throat and legs on fire, to try to quickly recover before the sprint finish. Unfortunately, as these things sometimes go, in the final lap I found myself pegged into the sprinters lane and out of contention, surrounded by struggling racers in the second half of the pack and with nowhere to move. Despite the result not being what I had hoped for intially, it was an amazing experience and I learned many important lessons about when to move and when to stay when racing in a field of that caliber where EVERYONE is smart and strong and skilled - where EVERYONE is the best. I’m proud of my performance in the Scratch finals! I competed at a national level, against some of the undebatably fastest women on the planet! I feel honored beyond belief to have had this opportunity to represent Yale University at a national sporting event, and hope that I’ve represented our team well.

Thank you, Yale Cycling and our sponsors and friends, for making elite competition on the track a reality for our team this year!

No, my speedsuit isn't baggy, that's a vest!

Cycling is Wild! - Even in New England... blog post by Mike

noreply@blogger.com (Yale Cycling) — Fri, 04 Jul 2014 16:26:00 +0000

Cycling is Wild! - Even in New England...

Cycling inherently places us in contact with the outdoors and anything that runs, slithers, or flies around out there. While you're almost guaranteed to come across the occasional stick or broken glass, it is the fauna (that biological stuff that walks around) that seems to give us primary concern when riding on a wooded road. Little did we know that even in New England, the roads can be a little wilder than we think.

So, let's begin our bike-related animal safari.

1) Rodents (this includes chipmunks, mice, and the bane of all rural and suburban cyclists; squirrels)

Sciurus carolinensis - scourge of the roadways.

These frantic critters have a wonderful habit of blindly running across roadways and paths, directly in front of bicycles and vehicles. On a short ride with Yale Cycling Captain, John Wen, we had an unfortunate run-in with a squirrel that crossed the road, saw a car, and sprinted all the way back across the street, only to be met by my back tire as it ran beneath me. Generally, the cyclist merely feels a bump when he hits a squirrel (and some remorse), but we can only hope the squirrel felt nothing.

Animalia muerte - reminding us to stay alert

2) Roadkill (generally the unluckiest of the animal kingdom, including skunks, opossums, rodents, lagomorphs, and the occasional bird or fox).

Animals that have met a cruel fate often litter the shoulders of highways and present an unfortunate obstacle for cyclists that may join the critters along the roadside if they do not remain alert while passing them. Sad to see...

3) Deer (T-bone venison)

Odocoileus virginianus - mobile roadblock

A little over a year ago, riding home at dusk, I road my bike through a suburban neighborhood in Ithaca,

NY, and came across a family of deer (a doe with four fawns) huddled together in a front yard. One may think the best defense to avoid danger would be to run away from it, or hide... but deer beg to differ. Upon seeing my bicycle, the deer quickly reacted by scattering in all directions, one in particular dashing into the road before me.

T-bone! As my front wheel collided with the deer's side, it was repelled to the right of the bike, and in one smooth motion, the deer was wedged between my right handlebar drop and the frame. Amazingly, neither of us fell, but as the deer ran, its wedged backside pulled me along like Santa's sleigh. All I could do was coast (to avoid hitting its legs) until I slowed enough for the deer to pop loose and run away. I stopped my ride, confused, thankful that I didn't fall, and hoping that the deer wasn't too badly injured, while "silently" cursing its poor judgment.

Ursus americanus - fuzzy harbinger of death

4) Bears (they're waiting for their dinner)

During a pre-race course ride of the ECCC Black Moshannon road race in Pennsylvania, MTB boss Molly Oakley and I were within meters of a joyful little black bear playing in a forest clearing. I yelled to her as she left the car, unaware of the creature off in the distance. It wasn't the little guy I was wary of, but of the potential aggressive mommy, hiding in the bushes nearby.

5) Peacocks! (Yes, an actual peacock; not a ring-necked pheasant)

The peacock: These highly venomous, native birds of Connecticut have a strong taste for leaping out in front of bicyclists, challenging them by waving their brilliant plumage in the rider's face as they fly.

Racing along, I hear rustling and squawks from a nearby bush, only to find a rather large peacock leap in front of me, gliding and fluttering as I cruised, pacing the bird. It's brilliant blue neck shown bright as its extravagant tail trailed behind, like an ornate kite. As it moved off to a nearby yard, I watched to ensure I wasn't crazy. My initial reaction was indeed "What the #%&$?" and my bewilderment stayed with me minutes after. I would guess it was someone's pet, seeing as peacocks are native to eastern Asia and the Indian subcontinent...Last Sunday was the CT State Time Trial up in Durham, CT. Most of the course actually overlapped the Yale Saturday ride by several miles. However, with three miles to go in the race, I found myself in the wooded section of the course where, to my reality shaking surprise, I nearly collide with... a peacock.

6) Humans (Homo oblivious)

Potentially the most dangerous and most often encountered of the wild beasts, this half organic, half mechanical creature (whether on a bike or in a car) is well known for its prolific breeding, invention of the tootsie roll, and terrible driving. These creatures are to be carefully watched and respected, as you may never know when one decides to turn right, from a stationary position, into a CVS, without a turn signal or checking the mirrors, cutting you off as you ride on the shoulder so that you impact the side of the vehicle (Too specific? Well, it happens).

Revelations on riding a bicycle, not racing. By Elif.

noreply@blogger.com (Yale Cycling) — Thu, 19 Jun 2014 00:00:00 +0000

1- Anything I thought I knew about cycling from three years of collegiate road racing is practically negligible in the context of navigating the streets of a foreign city by bike. Ie, I'm learning how to ride a bike all over again.

2- Anything I thought I knew about a bike is practically negligible in the context of navigating Tokyo on a second hand, single speed, basket-and-rack-laden cruiser that likely weighs more than a tugboat. Ie, I'm learning how to ride a bike all over again.

3- The point of cycling so far, for me at least, had been primarily athletic: getting into something slightly closer to race shape than the your-endurance-pace-is-me-wheezing shape I'd been in most winters.

I've realized how drastically the reason I ride a bike has changed once I became a commuter, that getting from point A to point B has become my main goal now (okay, and maybe passing a few people with lighter bikes on the climbs). My bike, previously a tool for self-inflicted torture interspersed with scenic escapes from New Haven and the campus bubble, has suddenly become the most essential functional component of my daily routine, my means of getting to work every morning and back home at the end of every day.

Granted, the mechanics of biking are the same in either case; the number of hours I spend on the saddle are likely the same and I spend no less time thinking about the next season of ECCC races and missing the last, but my relationship with my bike and identity as a cyclist has shifted (pun maybe intended) entirely. It's a weird feeling and I like it.

4- Riding in left-hand traffic (and especially making right turns) takes a few close calls to get used to, but has ultimately tuned up my awareness of surrounding vehicles to a level of CONSTANT VIGILANCE!

5- The fact that it's legal to ride on the sidewalk in any direction, combined with the fact that most roads have no bike lanes and there is only so much space before you're riding in the gutter, results in a hectic crisscrossing of cyclists, walkers, schoolchildren and grandmas that turn Tokyo sidewalks on rush hour into a bike handling skills clinic that would make any race promoter jealous.

6- Since my bike is now my only means of getting home at the end of the day, I've realized that any excuses I previously had for ditching bike rides ("it's raining," "it's dark out," "there's a biblical thunderstorm," "my brakes are making a weird sound," "I'm still drunk," "I haven't done laundry yet," "my handlebars aren't pointing the same direction my front wheel is," "my shoes are still wet," "I have too much homework," "I didn't eat enough," "I ate too much and now can't move," "it's 3.00 am," "when's the last time I pumped my tires?" "I can't find my gloves," "I haven't charged my garmin," etc.) are entirely invalid. If it has wheels and they spin, it's good to go.

7- The bike I'm riding right now is worth 1/80 of the bike I currently have locked up in New Haven, is probably 80 times heavier and makes the slightest incline feel like a cat 1 climb, fits me more awkwardly than the red corduroy pants my mom got me in second grade, and yet I love it just as much, simply because it's my dependable friend and irreplaceable travel companion.

8- I'm glad I had to give up being a road cyclist for the three months I'm spending in Tokyo and became a bike commuter instead, because I'm falling in love with cycling all over again. Riding bikes is amazing, in any form or size or shape, for any reason, anywhere on the planet.

Mike tries a new kind of bike! Report from the T-town Showdown!

noreply@blogger.com (Yale Cycling) — Fri, 23 May 2014 18:14:00 +0000

Track Cycling (Valley Preferred Velodrome Clinic - Trexlertown, PA)

Walking upon the Trexlertown velodrome, it was certainly an intimidating sight. The track was less than a mile around, comprised of smoothed concrete, with what appeared to be incredibly steep

banking on the turns for someone who has never seen a velodrome in person before. Not only that, but the bicycles we had to ride were "fixed-gear," meaning there were no handbrakes (you stopped or slowed by back-peddling) and only one gear (so no switching). Needless to say, I was intimidated... until I tried it.

Coming from a first year cyclist who spent the entirety of this past year working to overcome the many fears of potholes, sharp turns, steep downhills, and riding in large groups at fast paces, track cycling was by far the most fun and simplest form of cycling I have tried (and seemingly far safer than road cycling).

How? Well, aside from having Olympic medalists teaching us the fundamentals, track cycling at Trexlertown, PA removes most of the "scary features" from road cycling, such as steep hills and

potholes, while the sharp turns are barely noticeable due to the banking of the track. Don't let people scare you about the banking, either. I rode almost 5 miles an hour on those turns without even a sensation of falling. It's EASY. Just imagine riding sideways on a hill. You probably do it all the time when riding outside without even noticing. "Oh, this hill is too steep. I'll just pull over to the side," and there you go! You just rode on a banking slope.

Concrete often sounds intimidating as well. Being a hard surface, it's often associated with things going SPLAT. However, compare sliding your butt on a smooth surface to the rough asphalt of the road. I'd choose the former. That said, wheel traction on the track is still great, and not a single person fell off their bike while riding during the two days I was at the velodrome. Not ONE!

This was surprising to me, seeing as it was the first time that many people had ridden a fixed-gear bicycle, at least since they were young kids. However, once you figure out how to mount on a fix-gear, which isn't bad, the rest is easy. On the track, you slow down by moving up the slope or by slightly applying pressure back against the pedals. To speed up, simply pedal faster. Due to this, you seem to have a lot fewer instances of people slamming on the breaks in front of you, so you ride with a little more peace of mind. Also, when you want to move off the track, you can chill and ride around slowly at the top of the banking until the track clears, or gently glide down to the inner floor of the track to dismount.

However, there are two major safety rules that must be followed (other than the usual "wear a helmet") and these are:

1) Always look behind you when moving up or down the track banking (no one wants to be side-swiped)

2) NEVER stop pedaling, until you're slowed enough to stop. Supposedly, the vast majority of accidents that occur on the cycling track happen at the finish line, when someone just finished a hard race or achieved victory and decided to just stop pedaling... KICK, and the bike bucks them off. This spinning, just keep spinning, just keep spinning, spinning, spinning."

Supposedly, the vast majority of accidents that occur on the cycling track happen at the finish line, when someone just finished a hard race or achieved victory and decided to just stop pedaling... KICK, and the bike bucks them off. This did not happen with anyone when I was there, but as long as you keep pedaling (and you'll realize how difficult it is to forget anyway) you'll have a blast. To make sure, I just kept singing that song from Finding Nemo (with a slight modification), "Just keeping spinning spinning spinnning spinnnnnning....!!!

Track cycling is a sport about positioning and power! I loved it. Not only would I confidently claim that I feel safer doing track compared to road, but I had more fun, too. Fast speeds, few people, straight lines, and no one does track standing at this level, so don't even worry about it. Just ride! If you haven't tried track before, are worried about trying, and/or on the fence, TRY IT! I was scared, but there's nothing to be scared about, and once you try it, you'll see. There are more clinics coming up for the ECCC (Kissena in NYC and Trexlertown, PA). Give it a try.

2014 Collegiate Road Nationals!

noreply@blogger.com (Yale Cycling) — Sat, 10 May 2014 04:34:00 +0000

2014 Road Nationals

Braving treacherous weather, Erik and Travis made their way from New Haven to Richmond, VA for the 2014 Collegiate Road Nationals, with amplification of pre-race excitement provided by the legendary Brett Houser (cape included).

Who wouldn’t want this guy on their team? In the absence of a Yale jersey, Brett borrows the stars and stripes for feedzone duty during the road race. We couldn't have done it without him!

The cobbles! Dangerous? Nah... Scary? Nah... Pro? Yes.

Arriving late Wednesday, the crew got busy with preparing for what was sure to be an epic race weekend. After several jars of Peanut Butter & Co. peanut butter, Travis' Marky Mark Pandora mix station, and multiple hours of Cartoon Network, they were ready for anything. After spinning the legs out on the scenic and shockingly warm roads of Glen Allen Virginia with the MIT team on Thursday and braving the lines and ego-strutting of racer check-in and packet pickup, they steadied themselves for the first event of the weekend: a 31-kilometer time trial on Friday.

“Can you overdose on caffeine? Are you sure?”

The course for the time trial was mostly flat, very much exposed to wind, and significantly longer than any solo effort of the year. Additionally, the course had several “cobble-light” sections, two 180 degree turnarounds (on cobbles!), and sharp turns that would require both technical skills and raw power.

First to race the ITT was Erik. After several weeks of nervously anticipating the event, Erik decided that the best way to approach the race was to consume about three coffee cups worth of caffeine before the race, thereby totally disregarding all reasonable nutritional advice (sorry, Molly!) and listen to Eminem on full volume and repeat. Several trips to the bathroom later, it was go time.

Why the hell do people sign up to do this? Success!

The setup for the ITT was super legit (starting ramp + bike hold = PRO). Rolling down the start ramp, Erik somehow managed to appear composed, gaining speed quickly, and flying into the first corner and out of sight. Because this would be his last time trial for several years, he decided that the best strategy for the race was to ride hard enough so that bike racing would cease to be enjoyable for several years.

He doesn't remember asking if he should smile for this photo.

Erik managed to post what would turn out to be the fastest time of the day, 41:47, single-handedly beating nearly all of the men's team time trial times. He wishes he could elaborate on the race, but has blocked it out of his memory and really doesn’t want to think about it any more. The quote we will remember of this epic effort is, "I have never felt so terrible before in my life".

Calm and composed.

Gears make road standing starts far easier than on the track!

Travis was up next. Although overly pessimistic of his chances, given minor foot surgery on Monday of that week, antibiotics and time off the bike, Travis would take to heart the invaluable advice he received from his teammate (“Pedal really hard. Be aero.”) and go on to ride a very impressive 52:48 despite a mishap with an errant pedestrian, good enough for 9th place, and acquiring a new taste for long ITT efforts.

To cap the day off, the team went to the award banquet that night with two goals: load up on carbs (ziti = delicious) and express as much support as possible for the ECCC. Both goals were well achieved, and Erik returned with a medal and sporting the stars and stripes of a newly crowned national champion.

Should’ve gotten a haircut

Saturday featured Travis racing a technical rolling criterium in downtown Richmond. Erik, still convinced that criteriums are an exercise in self-loathing, decided to skip the event in favor of Sunday’s road race.

When life gives you lemons, you ignore it and bike harder

Unfortunately, as is often the case in bike racing, luck was not with the Bulldogs today. After getting stuck behind a rider having problems clipping in at the start, Travis then found himself coming to a dead stop behind two crashes and having to chase back on to the pack, giving everything in an attempt to counteract his misfortune and burning many matches. Unfortunately, upon catching the pack after a one and a half lap chase the second time, the prime bell was rung. Without reprieve from his hard chase effort, Travis found himself behind the split as the field fractured. By sheer grit and determination, Travis eeked out a strong 28th place finish, solo-ing away from his chase group for the final two laps of the race.

A glance down the Libbie Hill cobble climb. No big deal, right?

Hoping that Sunday would go more smoothly, the team aligned their focus with the final event, a road race circuit intended to serve as a preview for the UCI World Championships in 2015. Naturally, this race would need to feature multiple cobblestone sections, including a downhill portion that is more suited for a mountain bike and capable of ejecting not only bottles but also the contents of jersey pockets.

Travis rode first, using his technical skills (why everyone should ride all the bikes: track, mountain, cross) to navigate the challenging rough cobblestone Libby Hill climb and rougher cobble descent, jumping two ejected bottles on the first lap cobble descent. The front half of the D2 women's road race remained largely cohesive for the first two criterium-fast, sub-25 minute, ten mile laps, before finally shattering with an attack on the third climb.

Was this a downtown criterium or a road race? We aren't quite sure...
it was FAST! Finishing with MIT friends.

After regrouping in the chase group along with some fellow ECCC racers from MIT and Mt Sinai, Travis fought hard in an effort to close the gap, putting in more work than he knew was sensible on his way to a 29th place finish, wrapping up a solid all-around performance for the weekend in each event. His advice to Erik regarding the Libby Hill cobbles was, "Avoid the fight for the gutter. Take the worst line, nobody wants it and it's all ridable".

Erik started strong, but two mechanicals, a mid-race bike switch, and crippling leg cramps served as a reminder that things can go from perfect to disastrous in a matter of minutes. After two successful attempts of bridging the gap to the field, the third would prove too far, and Erik was pulled with a lap to go. Deciding that he wanted to finish his racing career on a high note, he proceeded to give high fives to spectators and pose for the camera.

Going out in style!

All in all, the weekend was a positive one, with Yale bringing home the stars and stripes!

Memoirs of a Newbie Cyclist. Part 1!

noreply@blogger.com (Yale Cycling) — Fri, 25 Apr 2014 04:07:00 +0000

Memoirs of a Newbie Cyclist

- Michael Grome

The race! But, first, I had to learn to ride a bike...

Part 1

Here's a bit of background about me, concerning bikes, of course:

Fears:

Every milestone surrounding bicycles for me has been filled with dread. As a kid, I was one of the last boys in my neighborhood to learn to ride a bike. I was scared to death of it. My father would take me up to the top of grassy hill, set me on a bike, give me a push, and yell, "Pedal!" Fearful of learning this way, I took one afternoon, when no one was around, and rode in circles in my driveway until I could stay upright. I don't know if it was my desire to ride, or my fear of learning from my father again, but I learned. In all seriousness, both were excellent motivation.

Several years later, still a child, I loved riding bikes down hills. The thrill of speeding down steep gradients at fast speeds drove me one day to try an extraordinarily steep downhill road that ended in a 90^o turn. I started at the base and rode down. Eh, not high enough, I thought. Let's go a little higher, I told my bike. So I did, and then higher, and then higher, and then I was halfway up, holding my bike steady with a single foot on the ground. Excited to test my metal, I lifted my leg and began my descent... but it was too steep. The inertia drove me straight between two trees, with the handlebars caught between them, while I continued through. I didn't break anything, but it was enough to scare me from riding quickly down hills until age 22 (Yeah, I'm serious; last fall).

But I wanted to cycle.

Conquering them:

The reason why is unknown. I just felt compelled. That moment you feel an unrelenting urge to try something for seemingly no rational explanation. Maybe it was the long lost thrill I wished rekindled. Maybe it was the realization that this is only way I'd actually tolerate working out. Maybe I just liked the spandex. Who knows if I don't?

Then I came upon the glory of East Rock (New Haven). My first year of graduate school at Yale, coming from Ithaca, NY, a land fraught with roads, but too nervous to take many of them, I looked at that glorious East Rock and I knew, this was my chance. Just as I conquered my fear of learning to ride by simply doing it, I saw this as an opportunity to conquer my fear of hills and corners. Every afternoon for two weeks, I road to the top of that 366ft behemoth and road down it, over and over and over again; each time taking the turns faster, and faster, and faster.

The tricks were simple, but important:

1) As you descend, move your butt back. Shifting your weight back on a downhill keeps your weight where it should be and gives you traction, like putting sandbags in the back of your car for icy or snowy roads.

2) As you turn, put your outside foot down, your inside knee facing out, and lean away. Remembering to put your feet in the right position soon becomes habit, but its important to allow you to keep your center of gravity upright and away from the road. To turn sharper, you can even lean the bike inward beneath you, keeping your body leaning out. IF you haven't been doing this yet, try it, and you'll notice the difference.

3) When entering a turn, always keep your eyes pointed at the exit. This allows you to see where you're going next, and focus on shifting your weight.

4) For turns, brake before the turn, not during. Slow to a comfortable pace and then turn. If you brake during your turn, you're taking traction away from your wheels on the road, and that's never good.

5) When going really big hills or over potentially slippery surfaces, DON'T BRAKE!!! This I'm still learning because it feels counter-intuitive, but it's definitely important. I cannot stress this enough (see MIT XPOT Race).

Eventually I conquered my fear of hills (well, most of it). I felt confident enough to join the team.

Organized Rides:

October: my first Yale Ride: 54 miles around the North Branford (East Rock to Hamden to Durham to Guilford and back). This was the longest ride I had ever even conceived of trying, and if the novelty wasn't enough, everyone pace-lined. Everything started easy enough. From the fast to the slow, the rookies and the elites; we all road together in an easy, even pace for several miles. Then, at the end of this preliminary ride, we all stopped as group and divided into smaller groups based on one's own supposed abilities. We had an A group, a B group, and a C group. The A group were the elites, the Cat A men, the pro riders, the foolishly daring. Eh, maybe one day, I thought (if I ever decide to take riding too seriously). The C group seemed to be newbie riders, many just learning to ride with cleats. Eh, B works for me.

I started in B... I ended in C. You see, the Yale Ride is generally divided into 3 parts:

1) The Warm-up Social Ride: As described before, everyone rides together at a calm, easy, sociable pace for several miles, just get the spirits up, the legs warm, the heart pumping, and meet some fellow riders.

2) The Pace-Line Sprint: Not really a sprint, but this section takes place on a long, single stretch of road that leads to an inn on a corner (can't miss it). As mentioned, people divide up into groups based on one's level of performance or experience on a bike. The B group consisted of experienced riders who were fast, but not insanely fast (they're not paid to ride; they're just awesome for fun). I started here, not quite sure what I was in for. It wasn't bad, but I was dropped. After a few miles, neither the mind nor body was willing. I continued riding, catching up to a fellow rider who dropped just moments after me, and we rode to the inn together, with the C group moments behind. The first two sections total about 18 miles together.

3) The Long Ride Home: This part consists of a moderately hardy ride; not too tough, not too fast. Everyone splits again and readjusts to find others with like levels of endurance. When the groups are made (usually consisting of 3 to 6 people per group), the groups head out in a pace-line fashion. Single file rides for the remaining 36 miles. The person in the front pulls the group at a constant pace and then pulls to the side, slowly drifts back, and continues riding at the back of the group. This cycle of pulling and drafting continues throughout the ride.

At first I kept my distance behind the other riders, starting about a wheel's length behind. Both cautious and fearful, I fretted about potentially running into the person in front of me, hitting their tire, not seeing the road in front of the people before me, braking too hard and hitting the person behind me.

As I rode, I was given tips and advice from many of the riders in my group. They told me:

-You're doing an awful lot of wobbling. I think you're bike's too big. You might want to size down.

-Use a speedometer to track your speed while pacing. When you pull, you want to keep the same speed as the pack.

-When drifting back, stay close to the sides of the other riders, and always look for cars before you pull out to drift back.

-Pedal in circles, don't push down. You'll save energy.

-When pacing, look at the shoulders of the rider in front of you. This way you can better gauge your distance from them instead of looking at the wheels.

-When pulling, to each his own. Pull only as much as you can.

-Drink more water! Eat! Speaking of which... I found an educational video for you.

While all of this was extremely helpful, it did make me nervous, too. I thought I knew much about riding a bike. It seemed easy once you figured out how to pedal, but road racing is a different animal. Definitely a fun one, though. After several more Yale rides, the distance between my front wheel and wheels of the riders in front of me grew smaller as I grew more confident.

Of course, confidence is not without its hiccups. In my first several rides, I had two flats that I was too slow to fix, and a more experienced rider fixed them for me to save time (a little embarrassing, but now I fix them faster). On another ride, my handlebars fell forward on a downhill because I didn't tighten them enough. No crash, but embarrassing. On a later ride, my seat knocked itself backwards when I hit a bump. I spent the last 10 miles riding on my thighs because I didn't have a tool. Lessons learned: bring the right tools, bring a hand pump, bring extra water, check your bike before each ride to avoid accidents, and fill your tires past 80 psi (they should be about 100-120 psi for a typical road bike, but I didn't know that, and I flatted twice because of it).

With much learned about group riding and how to prepare for racing, thanks to the support of experienced riders on the Yale Cycling team, I was ready for the beginning of the Eastern Collegiate Cycling Conference season! To be continued....

UVM RR Success! Dartmouth Disasters!

noreply@blogger.com (Yale Cycling) — Thu, 17 Apr 2014 02:23:00 +0000

- A short race report by Jan Wilk

A much diminished squad of the 'dawgs headed up north for the UVM/Dartmouth race weekend, carrying a combination of sunscreen and short sleeves and rain gear and thermal baselayers.

Dartmouth Hill Climb ITT, Frat Row Criterium

We swore an oath to never speak of this racing day again - a day riddled by epic fails in every race, to the point of being absurd. We said we aren't going to talk about it and we sticking to that. Why on earth are we even posting photos of any of this disaster? Because we are at a loss for words.

Going backwards off of the break...

Uh oh, there's something wrong here...

UVM Road Race: minus Mt. Philo due to 8 feet of snow!

On Sunday, the usual race procedures got mixed up. Instead of taking a shower after the event, the Vermont weather showered Jan and Mike in the 8am Men's C road race. Barely noticing the beautiful Vermont landscape along the 11mile rolling course with two serious climbs, the two were trying to see as much as possible with water spraying from all sides. On the first round, Jan went down in a turn when a UVM riders cut the corner. Fortunately without any damage to body or bike, he jumped back in the saddle and managed to catch up with the field again. The pace picked up throughout the race and the rain started taking its toll, with many riders hydroplaning of the road or - lacking the superior protection of the Yale thermal jackets - succumbing to severe hypothermia. In the end, the race was to be decided on the final climb up to the finish, when Jan, after almost getting dropped from the front in the previous lap, mobilized his last resources to pass many riders shortly before the finish line to come in fourth. Mike, who was struggling with his pedals and fell back behind the peloton, braved the wind and rain without any protection from the field and crossed the line shortly after the lead group, finishing 18th and twice as high as in his first C race.

The super-car carries so many dirty bikes and humans, plus one canine.

Week 5: Army quadruple-race, triple-victory weekend!

noreply@blogger.com (Yale Cycling) — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 11:17:00 +0000

Happy Triple-Victory Birthday, Erik!
Inhaling the cake after the road race, so fast we fear he might eat the candle.

ITT Hill Climb

The Army weekend started with the Stony Lonesome, quad-gelatinizing hill climb ITT on Saturday morning, featuring switchbacks punctuated by grades steep enough to make you wonder why you have so few teeth on your biggest cassette cog. And, then make you wonder why you ever started this ITT. And, then why you came to this race weekend. And then, why you bicycle at all. And then, why anything really matters at all because your life hurts so much at this very moment. And… then, it’s over. And, you’re at the top clutching your cramping stomach and trying not to topple over sideways. And, then you’re trying to catch your breath in a hurry and be cool about it when you ask the racer behind you in still stilted speech, “Hey, how’d it go?”.

First off in the chilly, river-side, morning temperatures, the D men cranked out some serious wattage with Danny taking 6th (ahem, upgrade time?), with Siyuan and Matthew B not far behind in 15th and 17th. After donning their fresh C numbers, Michael Grome and John Wen cooked some serious quad meat, made a few grown men cry, and finished 8th and 12th respectively, further validating their fresh upgrades. Nice job, C men!

Shortly into her climb in Women’s D, Elif caught the UNH girl in front of her, and the two were thereupon directed by a helpful and attentive Army marshall down a turn that took them on a 3 mile, scenic tour of the army base, in the opposite direction of the ITT. As Joe Kopena, our conference director said, “It is the racer’s responsibility to know the course. No matter what anyone else tells you, always study and know the course.”

Saddlewitches: fuel of champions.

In Men’s A, Erik, as always, showed that hill who's boss and won his race with a beastly time of just over 10 minutes! We actually don’t fully understand how this is possible, and thus cannot further describe this effort. Sorry, it was too fast to see.

Our Women's B team convinced the conference that Yale is actually on the Appalachian Mountains, and not in New Haven: Kelly finished 3rd, missing 2nd by just 0.01 seconds to a McGill woman who apparently bike-threw at the top as a joke. We really aren’t sure about bike throwing as a hill climb ITT finish strategy, but hey, Dominique (McGill rider) is a friend, so we’ll take it. Colleen put in the work to finish a rock solid 6th place, staying true to her triathlete background and stating, “This is my race! I love time trials and climbing!”

In Women’s A, Travis continued to provide pre-TT comic relief with a wardrobe malfunction, nearly flashing a squad of cadets with 5 seconds till his start time when his jersey zipper burst open, before proceeding to take 10th in the field, putting nearly a minute on the next finishers. “Why me?!”

Circuit Race

After the ITT, the team relocated to a part of the base that appeared to be a bit too close to a target range for comfort, complete with troops of men in tanks with guns, for the circuit race. The circuit race, a vast improvement from previous circuit races, featured a lumpy but entirely ridable start-finish stretch complete with a gentle chicane, into a slight downhill 90 degree bend over a small stone bridge that served as a pinch point, up a 10 foot rise with gravel on each side, into a swooping slight downhill leading to a short and gentle uphill, into an off-cant corner onto the side of a blocked off minor highway like a wind-tunnel, through another 90 degree corner with rough surface on the inside and outside, and back into the finishing stretch.

In addition to real corners, even off-cant corners, this course also had the added fun of a few choose-your-own adventure “A lines” for those willing/insane enough to optionally hop grass and gravel for some off-road action to move up in the pack. (Can you guess which of our racers was engaging in this nuttiness? Seriously. Guess, then read on.)

First up, the ECCC canaries in the metaphorical coal mine, the combined, 75-man, Men's D field rammed itself into the bottleneck of the off-cant turn onto the highway. Skidding out and plowing through the turn cones and each other, the turn was promptly widened. Luckily, Danny, Siyuan and Matthew avoided cone-bike collisions. Danny hung in the front pack, racing smartly and looking comfortable (cough. upgrade. cough.), to finish top of the field in 3rd place! Matthew B and Siyuan finished 12th and 13th, rotating through the pacelines of their chase group until the sprint.

In the Men's C field, John Wen and Michael Grome hung in with the front pack, until Michael was taken over by stomach cramps (we blame the questionably fresh motel breakfast). John was left alone for a respectable mid-pack, sprint finish for 28th place in is massive new field, now with more strategy and speed to adjust to. Michael powered through the pain to finish 50th place, and pick up a few more Yale team suffer-muffin award points for the season.

In the combined Women's C/D field, Elif worked together with a UVM racer, who - in classic UVM “merica” style - was sporting stars-and-stripes shoe covers, for a solid 12th place finish.

Travis, Kelly and Colleen set off in the Women's combined A/B field, which was undoubtably the most action-packed and exciting race of the day - with no breakaway attempts succeeding, and a large and cohesive pack attacking every sprint lap.

In the Women's B’s, Kelly hung in with the main pack to finish a respectable 4th place, and took prime points in the repeated blur the B race sprint laps! Colleen made friends with the wonderful Anna from Columbia, working with her to finish the race in 9th.

In the Women's A’s, Travis finally showed his crit racing fangs on this flat and just-technical-enough course, contesting all prime sprints in a tight front group so furiously fast that nobody was really sure who had taken 3rd and 4th place points till the results were posted; taking points in the second prime and decisively winning the fourth and final (double points!) prime lap. Still not convinced that women’s A races are aggressive? Yes, there was grass and gravel off-roading for the sheer joy of it, and to regain lost positions. Still not convinced about the seriousness of the Women’s A field? At the demise of a breakaway attempt following the third prime lap, our conference’s national crit champion looked under her arm and vomitted backwards onto Travis, who had been working hard to reel the two riders off the front back in. Suprisingly undisturbed by this mid-race shower of GU and gatorade upchuck, Travis thanked Rose for blessing him with her crit champion powers in the form of vomit. Apparently the crit-champ-vomit-power worked for something, because he then proceeded to throw down a whopping sprint for first place in the final prime lap, burning enough matches to be concerning with two laps to go. And, womp womp, what do you know? Coming through the final corner at the front end of the surging field, Travis wound up his sprint far too early - overestimating his remaining legs - and lead out the whole field only to be overtaken and finish mid-pack in 11th. That’s racing. It’s a learning experience.

As a note on crit racing strategy, the reason the first two prime laps are double points for the A field instead of the middle two is because they are the highest risk. By putting out a real effort in either of these sprints, a racer risks being promptly shuttled to the back of the pack with a new surge or out of contention for the finish.

We would also like to thank Black Inc wheels (an ECCC sponsor) for the demo of their sick carbon tubular 50’s that Travis used in this race, which he described riding through the wind-tunnel of a highway stretch as, “like sailing”! We also think it’s pretty cool that this race was the first time ever, in the world, that Black Inc wheels have been raced in a women’s field! Rad!

In the final race of the day, Men’s A, Erik's legs experienced amnesia, bearing no trace of the morning's uphill time trial as he promptly broke away from the main field with a Bucknell rider in tow. Erik and the Bucknell rider (but, mostly Erik) then proceeded to time trial into the wind and through the corners for the remainder of the hour, expanding their gap on the field to 3 minutes and sweeping all of the top prime points. As a new twist, Erik won in a FLAT SPRINT FINISH, with enough of a gap to show off his best on-bike dance moves for the finish photo. Or, was that HULKAMANIA?!?!

That night, the team trekked over to the Neptune Diner (where the manager recognized us from past years!), and discussed strategy for the next day's TTT and hilly road race at Harriman State Park over the unlimited salad bar (literally -- multiple servings of cottage cheese and beets were part of our team strategy).

Team Time Trial

Sunday morning, we drove to Harriman State Park for a second, very full, day of racing. During the Men's D TTT, Siyuan experienced his first and hopefully only wheel-overlap crash, reminding us to schedule some bumping drills into team skills clinics this week!

The Men's C TTT team, made up of Michael, John and Danny put their strenuous 7:00 am weekday training sessions to work and placed 6th in a field with very narrow margins between finishing times.

The Women's A TTT, made up of Travis, Adele and Kelly posted a respectable 3rd place despite getting lost and starting cold, without a warmup. Heartrates from 40’s to 170’s in 60 seconds, anyone?

Women's B TTT consisting of Colleen and Elif rotated gracefully to also take 3rd!

Road Race

In Men’s D, Danny again demonstrated his mastery of the field, finish at the front for yet another top five for the weekend! Shortly behind his 5th place, Matthew B put in the hurt for a mid-pack 16th! Nice work sticking with it, D men!

In Women’s Intro, Alex completed her first road race, finishing in 7th, with a grin, saying, “That was so much fun! I was so nervous, but it was great!”. She even, in an excessively kind gesture for a race situation, got off her bike and helped another racer put her chain back on mid-race.

In the Men’s C race, Michael and John stuck together through the course to finish solidly mid-field in 30th and 32nd. Michael learned some lessons about descending at speed, creeping backwards through the field while braking on the way down the long windy slope, only to catch the field again each lap on the following uphill. In their chase group, Michael and John proclaimed themselves the most tactically sound men in the field, and proceeded to organize a paceline, scooping up or passing other racers on their way upwards through the shattered field - determined by their assessment of the racer’s ability to contribute to the pace. Way to grow into your category overnight, guys!

The Women's A/B field starting the first climb.

In the Women’s A/B race, Travis put in work on the front and revelled in hitting a scorching 49mph on the fiercly windey descents until the middle of the third lap, when the knee pain returned. In a decision to not end his road season right there and then, he then eased up and drifted backwards for the remainder of the race, soft pedaling the majority of the last lap with the company of a fellow track-racer who found the elevation less than agreeable, and then one-legged pedalling the final two miles for 12th place in A. Kelly and Colleen regrouped with their friend Anna from Columbia after the first screaming descent, which was not to their liking, to stick together for a fun day of riding until the completion of their races for 9th and 11th places in the B’s.

During the 70 mile Men’s A race, Erik thought he wanted some alone time on his birthday (or, maybe he just got bored soft pedaling up the 3 mile climb with the field?) and early on in the race put in a hill attack to launch the solo breakaway that would rip apart the chasing field and win the race well ahead of the collection of fragmented chase groups. At the finish line, he inhaled his suprise birthday cake before the candle was even blown out - more fire power for next time! Happy birthday, Erik! And, for your birthday, you can also celebrate a triple-win weekend!

Yale University Bulldog Cycling

Nittany Classic 2017

ECCC Championships!

ECCC Week 5: Army Spring Classic

ECCC Week 4: L'Enfer du Nord

ECCC Week 3: Shippensburg Scurry

ECCC Week 1: Philly Phlyer

Gateway Circuit Race 3/13/2016

Storming Hyattsville: Route One Rampage Criterium 3/12/2016

Preseason Week 1: William & Mary Tidewater Winter Classic

New Hampshire Highlights from the Yale Peloton!

From Captain Mike:

Nominations For the Humiliation Helmet:

Teamwork 101 / Notes for Next Time:

Lessons Learned the Hard Way:

A Recap of Highlights from Noah, Men's Intro representin'! a First-Time Racer!:

Some Reflections from Tweedle-dum - or is it Tweedle-dee?

Army Weekend Recap! (& Lee's first race weekend!)

Philadelphia Phlyer Report from Michael "Captain Mike" Grome

The Bulldogs Head South: Spring Break Training Trip in North Carolina

Columbia and Rutgers: ECCC Race Weekend #1

Crashing the ACCC: William and Mary Tidewater Classic Race Report

Cycling Along the Sino-Tibetan Borderland | Interview with Yu Luo

Track Nationals 2014

Cycling is Wild! - Even in New England... blog post by Mike

Revelations on riding a bicycle, not racing. By Elif.

Mike tries a new kind of bike! Report from the T-town Showdown!

2014 Collegiate Road Nationals!

2014 Road Nationals

Memoirs of a Newbie Cyclist. Part 1!

UVM RR Success! Dartmouth Disasters!

Week 5: Army quadruple-race, triple-victory weekend!

A Recap of Highlights from Noah,

Men's Intro representin'!

a First-Time Racer!: