What another great weekend for MIT Cycling! Not only did we come away with the D2 team omnium title, but we had a great set of individual results and so much fun defending our title together.
As a 5-time Road Nationals attendee (plus a couple of track nats, one cyclocross nats and one MTB nats), I am something of a seasoned veteran to collegiate racing and I have seen the team change over the years. While it has been sad to see my older teammates graduate and move away from Cambridge, I also feel very lucky to have be able to take part in so many years of collegiate racing and share the experience of national competitions with all so many different people. Every year the captains have done an amazing job of leading the team throughout the collegiate season and I am always impressed by how they exude enthusiasm despite the hefty time commitment that comes with the role. This year was no different and Shaena and Zack were wonderful team leaders. They did a stellar job coordinating logistics and were steadfast riders who could be relied upon to ensure the best team performance for each race.
Individually, I really enjoyed nationals this year. It was great to spend some time with my team mates after what has been a very busy semester for me. In the last few months I have been finishing up my PhD thesis and deciding what to do next in my life. I had my advisers sign off on my thesis 2 days before I left for Nationals and about a month ago I accepted a position with a development organization in DC, so getting to come to Nationals in my last year, really was the icing on the cake for me! The highlights for the weekend were seeing Chris on a solo break for almost all of the women’s criterium, seeing Shaena race so strongly despite a nasty crash at the end of the criterium, getting to share the experience of racing with Katie for one last time and watching Kate prowl the front of the pack to close down any moves for us during the road race. Of course, it was awesome to stand on the top step of the podium one last time, but I know I would not have gotten there without my team mates support, both on and off the bike, so getting to share the team omnium with them all was a very special moment.