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Category Archives: Race Reports

UVM 2026: From Philo to the Podium

July 31, 2026 Lorenzo Van Munoz

At the end of the ECCC 2026 racing season, MIT cycling sent its largest contingent of the year to the Catamount Cycling Classic hosted by University of Vermont.

The attendees included Emily, our noble logistics officer who was wrapping up a successful spring racing campaign; Paul, our unofficial support team lead; Lorenzo, our men’s road captain fearlessly returning from knee rehab; Sparrow, ready to wattsmax the finale to his first racing season; Matteo and Ryan, our resident hooligans and fast bois; Noah, our team photographer and gravel evangelist; and finally me (Jody), our cyclocross co-captain. After 2 years of training with the team, I was finally attending my first ECCC racing weekend thanks to overcoming my fear of racing on pavement and kicking my habit of running Spring marathons.

Our first day of racing started with a brutally steep climb up Mount Philo for the Individual Time Trial. Having heard about this legendary climb from past racers, I had prepared by doing weekly Eastern Ave repeats over the past month. In a last-minute bargain for extra watts, I also swapped out my aluminum 650b stock wheels to the carbon team wheels. I had never done any training with them, but looked forward to the mental boost of a lighter wheelset.

After shooing off the men’s 4/5 racers Sparrow and Noah, I found myself at the start line, heart pounding and staring at the concrete wall ahead of me. I got off to a slow and wobbly start, finding my rhythm after the first few turns. A few short minutes in however, my legs felt unusually weak and something was up with my gearing. Why couldn’t I downshift? Climbing had never felt this hard before. I struggled to stay upright and finally made it to the top, feeling a mix of relief and despair.

When I got back to the team cars, it hit me. My last minute wheel swap from 650b to 700c had changed my apparent gear ratio. With my 165mm cranks and wobbly legs, it was a miracle I had made it up at all. I sheepishly debriefed with Sparrow, who had also made it up the steepest Philo sections, only to accidentally dismount his bike early due to a mistaken finish line. Meanwhile, Noah had floated up the hill with his sub-1:1 gear ratio, making us regret not taking our gravel bikes too.

After some solid ITT performances by the remaining team members and some wheelies by Ryan, it was time for the road race. I felt substantially better and was eager to climb up the rankings this time (pun intended) in my first-ever road race. Things got off to a hot start, and I clawed my way into the lead group. Despite being warned by Emily about the prevailing women’s tactic of attacking mid-conversation, I was caught off guard when Middlebury riders bolted up a hill in the midst of a debate on Trader Joe’s gummy flavors. Before I knew it, they were gone and I was left with one other rider to finish out the second half of the race.

Following our race, Sparrow hopped into his car to volunteer as a follow car for the men’s 3/4 race, where he tried to help Lorenzo avoid being dropped. Noah and I watched from the sidelines and snapped photos, marveling at the pacelines, fast cornering, and beautiful Vermont scenery.

Matteo (rightmost) takes a pull in the mens 1/2/3 peloton with Ryan (2nd from left) in the back

The men’s 3/4 race peloton including Sparrow volunteering as the follow car

Emily pacelining in the road race with the 1/2/3 women

The mens 1/2/3 road race prepares to tackle more rolling hills in the Vermont countryside

Recovery creemees after dinner! From left to right: Lorenzo, Noah, Jody, Sparrow, Ryan, Matteo, Paul, and Emily

The team finished off the day with a hearty Mexican dinner and Vermont creemees for extra recovery calories. The next day, Lorenzo, Noah, Sparrow and I headed to UVM campus early for the 4/5 men’s and women’s races. I trailed the boys during the pre-ride laps, gingerly leaning into the corners and praying I would stay rubber side down in the race.

Following warmup, Sparrow and Noah immediately jumped into the men’s 4/5 race, where they were serenaded by a full brass and percussion band. Both of them put up impressive sprint performances, with Sparrow staying out of trouble until his impressive display of watts rewarded him with a top-5 finish.

The adrenaline of the men’s race had given me a newfound confidence for my race, and I lined up in the front row. The whistle blew, and I easily kept up with the front group, barely noticing the corners. When a rider made an attack with 3 laps to go, it slowly dawned on me that this was my only chance to try for first place glory. Buoyed by Lorenzo’s yells of ‘you can go faster!’, I pulled away from the peloton and chased until the finishing straightaway, where I resigned myself to second – until I spotted the first place rider ahead. I surged forward in a final effort, missing the win by half a bike length.

Jody about to take on the chicanes at the UVM Crit

The team watches in suspense as Emily sprints for a photo-finish second place

While I couldn’t finish the job, Emily tried for redemption in the women’s 1/2/3 race. After leading the race and taking a couple Prime lap points, the entire team watched as she outsprinted two other women to snatch second place in a photo finish. Lorenzo decided to skip his men’s 3/4 race due to his knee, joining Sparrow as a star spectator (‘give them hell, Emily!’) and selfie-taker.

The men’s 1/2/3 race wrapped up the day. Matteo and Ryan’s race ended early after getting stuck behind a crash, but that didn’t stop our team photographer from getting some quality action shots.

Resident hooligan number 1 Matteo takes on the men’s 1/2/3

Resident hooligan number 2 Ryan takes on the men’s 1/2/3

Emily (right) clinches 2nd place ECCC omnium!

With the racing finished, all that was left to do was wait for the awards ceremony. Although we were sunburned, tired, and running almost entirely on post-race adrenaline, the wait was worth it: Emily capped off an impressive weekend with a third-place medal in the road race, second place in the criterium, and a second place in the ECCC omnium, while I was proud to come away with fourth in the hill climb, fifth in the road race, and second in the criterium. To top it off, I was awarded the team’s Most Aggressive Rider jersey, a longstanding MIT Cycling tradition that rewards attacking riders with the privilege of wearing a bright red jersey featuring an intimidating angry face.

Overall, the weekend was one of the most rewarding racing experiences I’ve had. While I’ve raced plenty of running races, cyclocross events, and even gravel, this was my first time being at the very front of a race, chasing down a breakaway and realizing that a win might actually be possible. It’s a thrill I won’t forget anytime soon.

Whether or not I end up racing ECCC again next year, I’m grateful I finally took the leap. Between the climbs, the crits, the wheel swaps, the creemees, and the people who made the weekend memorable, Catamount was an unforgettable way to close out the spring season.

News, Photos, Race Reports, Rides, Road, Training

Winter Training Camp 2026

February 25, 2026 Aaron Vliet

The three musketeers packed their bikes and set off for another spectacular Winter Training Camp (WTC) in Tucson, AZ. In this year’s edition, the team shared Daniel’s house in Oro Valley with two pro triathletes, Marc and Gabi, making for excellent company and great mentors on life as an athlete. Our goals for this camp were to make new friends while riding bikes, to eat well and build up our base miles without overuse injuries, and to race a time trial on our last day.

The scenery of the Sonoran desert with its rugged rocks, Saguaro cacti and speedy road runners was a welcome relief from the winter storm on the East Coast. The best way to see it was to warm up our legs on an easy spin out to Gates Pass by setting out on the Loop bike path. It was Sparrow’s first time riding his new road bike and when we crossed the first road he forgot to unclip his pedal and fell immediately, sending his Di2 drivetrain into crash mode. As all three of us MIT PhD students were stopped at the side of the road to diagnose the electronic issue, we asked ChatGPT for repair instructions before eventually figuring out that unplugging the derailleur and plugging it back in would get Sparrow bike to work again. We continued to ride three climbs of increasing difficulty to help us adjust to riding outdoors and practice our descending. As we stopped for a photo, we also spotted the gang of Quinn Simmons, wearing his national champion jersey, on a post-Shootout cooldown ride. We rode home starstruck and planned our upcoming ascent of Mt. Lemmon after recovering with a big chicken stew.

Three musketeers take a team photo at Gates Pass

On day 2, we drove to Le Buzz cafe for our ride up Mt Lemmon. The weather at the summit had been snowy for a few days and at the base we were stopped by a sheriff who told us to turn around after 5 miles. Lorenzo led the climb and decided to stop after 14 miles at Windy Point Vista, when he could see snow a few miles up the road. After a few minutes, he got cold, put on all his jackets and rode down to find the rest of the team. A mile down the road, Martin asked “did you go all the way to the top?” and Lorenzo, still hypoxic, replied while descending “Yeah, just around the corner.” Martin, only hearing Lorenzo say “Yeah” as he zipped by, thought “Man, I’m really out of shape if Lorenzo had all the time to make it to the top and back.” Half a mile down the road, Lorenzo realized the miscommunication and stopped to call Martin. Having no reception, Lorenzo had no choice but to chase Martin up the climb, having already given him a mile headstart. Sparrow, who hadn’t yet been spotted, was dreaming of the cookie cabin waiting atop the mountain as he climbed to join his teammates.

Windy Point Vista with the Mt Lemmon highway and cloudy weather in view

Desperation set in when Lorenzo returned to the Windy Point Vista without Martin yet in sight. Three miles later, with snow on the shoulder, he caught up to Martin and turned around, rejoining Sparrow. As the descent began, Martin and Sparrow took off, thinking about the LeBuzz cookie and not having to pedal. Lorenzo started to shiver so badly he couldn’t steer his bike and needed to stop every 100 m to warm up. Meanwhile, towards the base of the climb, Martin was brushed against by a car and crashed, with some serious road rash. To our surprise, Martin’s Di2 hadn’t gone into crash mode. Still full of adrenaline, Martin hopped right back onto the bike without noticing the multiple cracks in his carbon frame. After about a mile or so of riding, his legs started to cramp and the extent of the damage sunk in when he got off and inspected the bike.

The team photo at their turnaround on Mt Lemmon before beginning a harrowing descent

We rejoined at LeBuzz, where Martin needed to inhale a pastry and coffee before addressing his multiple open wounds. The entire screen of his bike computer fell off, but at least the ride was saved and uploaded to Strava. Eventually, we went to the urgent care so Martin could get his injuries taken care of, including a scary swelling bruise. Already, it was clear what everyone’s rose, bud and thorn would be later, and thankfully the dinner of chicken stew and baked sausage was already prepared. Martin had a restless night between the road rash and scheming to commit insurance fraud for a new frame.

After the extreme events of the previous day, it was clear that a recovery day was needed. While Martin stayed off the bike to watch the bruise, Sparrow and Lorenzo, looking splendid in his Belgian kit, went along the Loop to Savaya, the nearest coffee shop with the best views of Mt Lemmon. While enjoying their cup o’ Joe, they saw a roadrunner snacking on meatballs from the coffee shop. Later, they went shopping at an international market with multiple aisles for each cuisine, over 20 in total, adding a lot of steps to our recovery day. While Lorenzo made a lentil stew from the leftovers, Marc “the shark” shared stories about how to race and get sponsored as a pro triathlete.

Captain “Chef” Sparrow studying the varieties of soy sauce at Lee Lee International Market

On day four, Martin was determined to ride and after he bandaged himself better than Tadej Pogacar we set out for a long ride on the Loop where there wouldn’t be any dangerous car traffic. Daniel, our host, made everyone’s day by letting Martin ride his steel 1x bike, formerly owned by Ashton Lambie, Individual Pursuit world champ. On the long, flat stretches of bike path we practiced how to ride in a paceline efficiently en route to the Mercado San Agustin. Afterwards, Sparrow, having just completed the longest ride of his life, sprang into action as chef, cooking a succulent fried beef dish with the best chili oil (aka, rocket fuel) and a pork shoulder stew for the days to come.

Fried beef, noodles, and bok choy dressed with homemade chili oil

Martin planned a route for the next day around Saguaro national park and Colossal Cave. On the way, he stopped at Fairwheel bikes, where the kind folks set him up with a rental bike. At Saguaro NP, the park loop decorated with cacti was so beautiful that all the tourists driving their cars were stopped in the middle of the road. On one such pause, Lorenzo noticed that his shifter cable had snapped and found himself doing torque intervals on his simplified 2-speed bike. We continued our leisurely tour of the park and at last made our way towards Colossal Cave. The slight uphill grade was complemented by a colossal headwind, requiring a concerted push to cover the distance. On the return, we flew downhill with the tailwind, reaping the rewards of our labor. Towards the end, Lorenzo’s rear tire went flat, finally rendering his 2-speed bike useless, as karma had caught up with him for lording the simplicity of his mechanical bike over his teammates electronic drivetrains flawed due to the crash mode anti-feature (false positive for Sparrow and false negative for Martin). On the way home, we tried out some local tamales that would have tasted better with some homemade chili oil.

Daniel’s arrival had been delayed a day due to a snowstorm on the East Coast. When he arrived that afternoon, he complained his back hurt from shoveling snow all day on his driveway. He needed to stretch his legs and went for a spin with Lorenzo to catch the sunset. Back at the house, we feasted on pork stew and were joined by Gabi and Marc. At some point Marc commented that Lorenzo had been rocking his bib shorts all day, to which Lorenzo replied, “when was the last time you trained for a 12 hour ride?” Practice makes perfect.

MIT cyclist rides into the Sunset on the Loop

With the recovery day completed, we were excited about the upcoming ITT and drove out to the mining town of San Manuel to recon the super-fast course. We flew along the downhill stretch to practice a TTT paceline and at the 9 mile turnaround, we stopped to regroup and saw that both Martin and Sparrow had punctures. Sparrow’s sealed, however it took us three MIT students 10 minutes to convince Daniel to stop Martin’s puncture with 2 plugs. Feeling very accomplished, we took a group photo with the festive cacti in the background.

Three cyclists pose as Saguaro cacti in the Sonoran desert

The ride continued with a long false flat followed by a climb up the far side of Mt Lemmon that led to the zipline adventure park. We were sure to stock up on glycogen and refueled with burgers, chicken tenders, and fries at the restaurant. The scenery of the Sonoran desert was truly stunning and thankfully was enjoyed with minimal interruption from cars.

Back at the house, the team joined Marc and Gabi for a barbecue with their triathlete friends. The group traded training stories and placed bets on the winning times for the Saturday ITT.
The plan for day 7 was to taper for race day and get a decent recovery ride. We rode out on the Loop to a coffee shop when Sparrow got a message from his advisor requesting that he go to the U of A to meet with research collaborators. While Sparrow rode to the campus and gave a chalk talk in cycling kit, Martin, Lorenzo and Daniel rode back to Oro Valley and watched some Polish TV shows on an old LCD. It soon became clear that a better TV was necessary for the house so Daniel went to Best Buy to embarrass Martin with Polish humor in front of the employees. A few hours later, we procured a TV and fit it into the minivan together with Sparrow’s bike and all the cyclists.

On our last day, we got ready to race the time trial in San Manuel and calmed our nerves by stress-eating costco gummy bears. We all set out around the same time and rode quickly to get the fastest time on the course and get a solid FTP estimate. While the three musketeers swept the podium of the collegiate C race, Daniel took the win in the masters category. Martin and Sparrow felt extremely dehydrated, and bartered their only remaining gummy bears for two cans of red bull from the race organizer. All in all it was a great success and a fun way to wrap up camp.

MIT cycling takes on the race against time in San Manuel, AZ

On the following day, still gleaming from our podium sweep, we all watched MVDP ride away with his 7th cyclocross world champs on the beautiful new TV before backing our bags and flying home from Phoenix. WTC was a huge success despite the difficulties that came our way and managed to do good training while growing as a team. Everyone finished WTC feeling stronger and excited about the upcoming riding season!

Finally, we owe a huge thank you to Jeff for driving the team home all of these years!

Nationals, Photos, Race Reports, Track

Biking in a circle: Track Nats edition

September 17, 2025 Aaron Vliet

In the wee hours of Wednesday, a sole MIT student embarked on a journey to bring MIT back to its fame of yesteryear: track nats. The mission: race for the third time ever on a track. The destination: the sun kissed plains of Indiana.

Descending upon the home of the famous Indy Speedway, the once hazy ground reveals its colorful checkerboard, devoid of undulation or really any vertical features of any kind. A track cyclist’s dream. The term “watts per kilo” is yet to be coined here. It’s quite fitting they built a velodrome here.

Thankfully Indiana has bike lanes on their highways

Thursday morning kicked off with the match sprints. As well as my first impressions of the Major Taylor Velodrome. Not only a place of history, but also located on Marian University’s campus and coupled with an impressive BMX course and concrete bleachers to enjoy the festivities. Maybe most importantly, the gorgeous cote d’azur and 30º bankings.

The match sprints are seeded by a flying 200m attempt: a 2.5 lap attempt in which only the final 200m are timed. Of the 34 athletes registered, only 18 would continue on to the match sprints. So I knew I would need to do something to even compete. And so, with the firm push of my bike holder, I lurched towards the walls of the velodrome.

The first lap is a bit of a prance. You work your way up to the boards, expending as little energy as possible. At first you flirt a little with the blue railing, and after descending the back stretch you climb the banking and really rub elbows. Having made acquaintances, and drifting into your final lap, you lay down the hammer up and around the banking with all your legs can handle, then shoot down the slope to siphon all the kinetic energy you can and then just hold on for dear life as your legs spin your cranks off (or vice-versa) and the g-forces pull your heart into your stomach.

I crossed the line in 11.531s. At 62.440 kph, or 5 thousandths the speed of sound, I finished 18th. I’d be up against the top finisher, who finished nearly a full second ahead of me (10.740s, which is pretty unbelievable on an outdoor track). I drew the short stick, so I would be leading the two of us out.

I started it slow from the gun. It felt less like a game of cat and mouse, and more so a walk around the park maintaining an awkward amount of eye contact. Coming into 200m to go, my opponent finally decides to attack from behind. Using my elevation, I dive into his slip stream waiting until the last second to try and pull around. Well against competition like that, all you can really do is try. Next up is the 4km TT in the morning.

It’s my first time doing the 4km, and truth be told I’ve opted for the gravel riders most-loved companion: clip-on aero bars. This time, twelve laps around the track. The first four felt fast, I tried not to start too hot but after a 1:15 kilo I realized I might need to ease the gas pedal. The second four laps thanked that decision. The last four laps were nothing but searing pain. My 4km ends with a time of 5:07. I might not write home about it but I’ll put it in this blog post.

That evening is the points race. It’s a 90 lap race (30km), with points up for grabs every 5 laps. I’ll keep the summary short and sweet, akin to my race. The race starts fast. A break goes. The race remains fast. The legs beg for mercy but people aren’t here to make friends. And so the thunderstorm of disc wheels keeps booming around at break neck speeds, as riders trickle out one-by-one. It’s very much a game of survival.

Saturday morning brings us the well-anticipated kilo. Also a first time for me. An all out effort for one minute and change. The timer starts at 15, and slowly beeps down to zero. And you just give it your all. I had opted for the awkward aero bar set up, but never found myself able to grab them lest the bike buck and pull like a wild beast. Entering the third lap, my vision merges into two, the back stretch four, and the final 50m nothing. Sheesh. My time was ultimately the same as my opening kilo the day before. Something something pulled my cleat out. On to the next.

The final race of the day would be the scratch race. However, we had one more hurdle to face: Mother Nature. After a string of rain and lightning delays, the hopes of a twilight race dwindled and we’d have to settle for a Sunday morning race. On the bright side, I chatted with the many friendly and lovely people who race track around the country for their universities. This was maybe my favorite part, and all the new friends I made.

As the old adage goes, clouds out thighs out

In place of racing, they did shoot off fireworks

Sunday morning, I had a better idea what to expect. I foddered the scratch race and avoided using my matches for as long as possible. Eventually, as the gaps opened, the choice was no longer mine and the matches were being burnt. Unfortunately for me, the rate exceeded the rate at which the laps were being counted down. This left me watching the final sprint from the inner circle.

Nevertheless, the weekend was full of lessons, experience, smiles, fun, and new friends. And so, we now look to next year.

Lessons learned:

In the match sprints, be the one to cause action, don’t just react and don’t wait till corner three
In the mass starts, the draft a) sucks and b) is hard to fight your way into, so don’t expect much recovery after a dig
In the TTs, for the love of god cinch down the pedals on your shoe.

Cyclocross, Race Reports

2024 Cyclocross Season Recap

December 22, 2024 Aaron Vliet

We are the (Omnium) Champions!

What a season! MIT Cycling capped off a relentless cyclocross campaign this fall with a team omnium victory.

Racing to Victory

The team poured their all into every race, and this year’s unusually dry conditions let racers take corners faster than ever and boldly leap barriers with no fear.

Women’s road captain Tatem came roaring onto the cross scene this year, snagging seven (!!) podium finishes. Her participation in a whopping 16 races (including 4 two-race weekends!) also earned her the individual Women’s B omnium spot. Newcomer Joy snatched 2nd in the omnium with her strong racing in the latter half of the season. Seamus rounded out MIT’s dominance with a win in the Men’s C omnium.

Brooke and Bianca dove headfirst into their first cyclocross race at our season finale at Shedd Park, fearlessly tackling the course on their heavier gravel bikes with very little CX practice beforehand. In fact, the women and non-binary members of MIT cycling finally outnumbered the men this season. What better way to show off team spirit than with an (accidental) off-camber team time trial?

Also captured is the finishing order in reverse: shortly after this photo, Jody crashed and rode the remainder of the race with handlebars bent at a 15-degree angle. Meanwhile, Joy and Chen engaged in a spirited battle until Joy overtook Chen with 1 lap remaining. Chen proceeded to fail to remount after running up the steps and somehow ended up on the other side of the tape. From Chen: “Always remember to practice CX basics, kids!”

One Last Hurrah

We were joined mid-season by former member Andrea, who took a week-long break from studies in Norway to race one last time with MIT Cycling. She was met with one of the toughest courses of the season at Keene Pumpkin Cross, featuring beachfront sand dunes and a root-studded run up into single-track mountain bike trails.

Also making their final hurrahs were former captains Nick and Hannah. After an impressive tenure as cyclocross captain over the past 3 years, Nick capped off his MIT Cycling career with a thrilling sprint for 5th place at Keene in addition to three more top-10 finishes in the highly competitive Men’s Elite field.

The team will sorely miss Nick’s leadership, whether it be hosting skills practices, leading team pre-rides, or planning minute-by-minute logistics. We will also miss Cami’s presence as volunteer cross team manager, dedication to cheering at every race as seriously as the racers were racing, and even joining for a few races of their own this year!

Nick and Cami will continue racing with West Hill Shop, and we hope to see them both next year in their new kit!

For former team mom Hannah, Tree House CX was her final race as a member of MIT. “It was great to race with so many MIT women after spending the last few years working to build up the women’s community in the team,” she writes. “Congrats to Tatem, for beating me like everyone except her knew she would, and to Joy and Yanyang for having a fun race. And thank you to Jody for chasing me down so I didn’t stop pedaling. I can’t wait to continue cheering everyone on from the sidelines next season!”

Seamus completed his third and final CX season for MIT (although he is looking forward to racing road in the spring!). Despite a few ups and downs throughout the seasons, his persistence won him the season Men’s C Omnium this year and inched him closer to a coveted Cat 3 upgrade. His season highlight was finishing 12th and 10th in crowded fields at his “home” race weekend in Northampton.

Fresh Faces, Big Dreams

With Nick, Seamus, and Hannah graduating, new talents will be taking the reins on the cyclocross team in the coming years.

Max joined the team after leading the mountain biking season, proving that his bike handling and speed were top notch, even without suspension or big downhills! From Max: “It was my first season racing cx and I had a blast! It’s very fun to be able to race two completely different courses in a weekend and get to see such a wide variety of conditions.” Thanks to his camera, we were also treated to professional-level photos this season!

Recruited by Max, initially for mountain bike racing, was Joy. While she first joined CX this year as a way to get outside on the weekends, with Nick, Cami, and Tatem’s mentorship, she went on to compete in a whopping total of 8 races and joined Tatem on the Individual Omnium podium! “I started off with just trying something new, but after finding an amazing community and realizing I could actually do well, really pushed myself and am so proud of my accomplishment and season this year!”

Also joining Max and Joy for his first season was fellow mountain bike co-captain Tim, who took his mountain bike for a spin on the treehouse course after an injury left him out of summer racing. The newcomers list was rounded out by Alex, whose quote summarizes the essence of the sport: “Racing cyclocross for the first time as part of the MIT team was a memorable experience! The team was very welcoming, and the experienced riders shared helpful tips that made a big difference. Even though I had a small crash, I had a lot of fun and felt supported throughout the race. The mix of challenge and encouragement made it a day to remember!” Alex regaled the team with tales of attending CX races back home in Belgium after the muddy travails of Secret Squirrel.

Community in the Chaos

While the podiums and prizes are sweet, the true highlight of this season was the bond we built as a team. Cyclocross is as much about pushing limits as it is about cheering on your teammates from the tape line, helping with bike repairs, and sharing stories at the end of a long race day.

As we celebrate our team omnium triumph, we’re already dreaming of new challenges, bigger goals, and more team bonding in the coming road season ahead. See you all at the next race!

Race Reports, Track

MIT Cycling takes on Northeast Velodrome

July 22, 2024 trios

On this bright and sunny day the MIT crew headed out to Londonderry New Hampshire to check out the Northeast Velodrome to learn what it is like to ride on a track. When we arrived, Mark and his volunteers, Wolf and Jed got us set up on the bikes quickly. We all got to match black and red bikes which match our MIT kits (how cute), except Tatem who is a traitor and wore a Minnesota kit for some reason?? Her excuse was that “her MIT kits were dirty” but that’s lame, tell her to do laundry.

Mason getting ready to be fitted on the track bike

Michael checking out the narrow handlebars

While we were getting set up, Mason and Tatem overheard Michael exclaim “These handlebars are so narrow! How wide are they?” and next thing you know Mark whipped out the tape measure while Michael was still in disbelief. Rumor has it that Michael is still learning what it means to be “aero”.

After getting set up on the bikes, we all sat down and received a pre-ride talk from Wolf to learn about the mechanics of a track bike as well as track etiquette and the meanings behind the lines on the track.

There weren’t quite enough seats for the lecture but that’s alright because clearly Mason and Felix did not mind.

After the lecture we got to hop on the bikes and learn how to get comfortable riding the fixed gear. To be honest, it was quite frightening at first to ride a bike with no brakes and getting used to the fact that your legs must move at all times and there is no coasting, but we managed to get the hang of it rather quickly. We even did some fun drills which included bumping into and hugging a buddy.

Once we got comfortable riding the bikes and doing drills we got into the fun action of racing. We split up into two groups and ran through a full omnium of scratch, tempo, elimination, and points. We think Berk may have had the most fun of us all and may have a calling for track racing? To be determined.

Overall, we had a very fun day on the track and hope to return. We also would like to challenge other ECCC teams to try the track and have an ECCC omnium day??? That would be a blast, y’all better get on it!

And of course the day ended with a gatorade stop on the way back and of course Hannah and Mason are enthusiastically twinning, well maybe just Hannah, but I think Mason just needs some more electrolytes.

This post would not be complete without another big THANK YOU to Mark and everyone who supported our clinic. We learned so much and could not have had a better set of instructors. Your care and excitement were obvious and we loved being brought into the fold of going fast and turning left. Can’t wait to come back!

Nationals, Race Reports, Road

Albuquerque Road Nationals 2024

June 7, 2024 Hannah

What do you get when you combine a rose, bud, and thorn? Apparently Albuquerque, New Mexico for the 2024 Collegiate Road National Championships. Who knew?

Eight members of the road team traveled down south to go up in elevation, competing in four national events over three days – the team time trial, individual time trial, road race, and criterium. Let this blog serve as proof that we figured out how to breathe without oxygen, and let’s walk through what our week of races looked like! Of course, since we’re in Albuquerque, and because it’s Seamus’ favorite activity, each day will be presented in rose/bud/thorn fashion. Don’t know what that is? You’ll figure it out (no one ever explained it to me so idk either).

Team and Individual Time Trial day

Rose

Hannah, Melissa, Chen, and Bianca (left to right on the start) set off for the team time trial to the sweet sounds of the commentator trying to recruit us for jobs. Apparently Los Alamos, NM has the highest number of PhDs per capita or something, little did they know that none of our riders have a degree yet. Regardless, they had a blast in their first team time trial and finished 7th in the nation and Melissa finished the individual time trial with a top 10!

During the individual time trials, Hannah and Mason zoomed every rider into Lee Lopez’s thesis defense, continuing our time honored tradition of embarrassing one another when they’re hyper-focused on becoming a doctor. (We have only found his masters thesis online so far but will update this once the doctoral thesis is up too). Rumor (heard here first) has it Los Alamos is in his future.

Bud

On the men’s team, Derek (pictured here in a totally legal aero position), Felix, Seamus, and Mason spent most of the warmup worried that Seamus wasn’t feeling that great and then spent the second half of the race worried about him dropping the other three. A faster time than last year was a great result, and with three of the four returning for next year we’re looking forward to the future. Inspired by the marginal gains acquired by the TT helmets and skinsuits (both new experiences for some of the team!), the whole team is looking forward to a future of aero gains. Gains are gains.

Thorn

After the races the real adventure began, as the team headed to the Petroglyph National Monument so that Seamus could stamp his national parks Passport. A rather thorny adventure awaited us, with lots of sharp scrub greeting the hikers. The worst part of the day was definitely Derek and Melissa going an extra walk at Petroglyph and lording it over everyone else at dinner. After dinner, it turned out the shower’s hot water wasn’t working. Since the nearby volcanoes weren’t very appealing (editorial comment: what volcanoes? Clearly this post is not being written by a geologist), team mom and most senior mechanical engineer Hannah disassembled and reassembled the shower to make hot water!

Road Race Day

Rose

Only Mason and Hannah competed in the road race, which was more or less a forgettable experience for Mason. Hannah, on the other hand, won her small group’s sprint and was probably top-5 among the sea-level folks. Meanwhile… the rest of the team was on the essential duty of shuttling around the two of them, handing up bottles and food, and huddling around Hannah at the end of her race to keep her warm. This was hard work, and required at least three trips to Sprouts (Melissa’s favorite place on earth), beans, cuties (the citrus, not Derek) a few extra USAC water bottles, and more than one trip down the musical highway to the tune of “America the Beautiful.”

Bud

Dinner this evening was, well, challenging. We’re still waiting on the cornbread to finish cooking… In the interim, everyone has now made it their goal to match Hannah’s t-shirt choice without her knowing, as Mason managed to accomplish at least once on this trip.

In addition to this admirable goal, some, more, intrepid (?) members of the team proposed the aero-enhancing camelbak skinsuit as a startup idea. Their slogan? Hydraero 3000! Or maybe Watersuit! Bianca is workshopping still but regardless, catch us on Shark Tank next week!

Thorn

The team really needed dinner that night, since most of the riders ended up doing longer rides than Hannah or Mason between shepherding us around the course and concluding their rides with a big climb up Sandia Peak (which gets above 10k feet at the top). This was particularly accentuated by the fake truce Seamus tried to make with Felix near the top, as the two of them slowly ramped up the pace on the way up the climb. Melissa, Bianca, and Chen followed at a more reasonable pace and it became almost everyone’s biggest climb ever! Opinions differed on how enjoyable the descent was: Melissa tore down like a slalom ski champ, Chen honed their apexing skills thanks to WTC cornering day, Bianca got in her arm day pulling brakes.

Derek, although he didn’t race or do the big climb and only eventually got cornbread, was still left out to dry. Hannah went to “””lay down””” in his bed to get away from the hullabaloo and woke up there the next morning, Derek banished to the couch and woken up at 5am by the rest of the team. Her only excuse? Sorry, it was very comfortable! (editorial comment: Hannah had also set a best 20 minute power during the road race… at 7,200’… tiredness was justified.)

Criterium Day

Rose

The crit was a hard day out for everyone with the only rose-worthy race mention being Hannah winning her second mini sprint of the weekend (albeit for 12th overall/top 5 of the sea-level schools after crashing earlier in the race but a sprint win is still a win!). Jealous of the Sandia Crest outing by the group the day before, Derek motivated Mason and Hannah to go peak bagging in the afternoon. We missed out on the glorious sun and instead were treated to 30+mph wind gusts and temperatures on the top to match the remaining winter snow. Despite the cold, the views were still stunning and the group photo ended up way cuter than expected!

Bud

With the rotation of the Nationals venue every two years, it might actually be at sea level next year! #bringontheoxygen!

Thorn

For the second year in a row, the Rio Grande Celtic Festival was happening inside the crit course throughout the race (to be clear, this is not the thorn, keep reading). This led to a constant soundtrack of bagpipes throughout the day and to some stellar intermingling between the cycling fans and the Celtic fans. A thorn for some was a rose for others when Hannah quickly abandoned Mason to explain to someone’s grandma how bikes haven’t changed much in 70 years. Mason had just been pulled from his crit, was not amused, and Hannah, of course, documented the occasion with glee from afar.

Travel Day

Rose

Half the team headed back on Sunday morning, leaving Derek, Hannah, and Mason to fend for themselves at the criterium. It’s hard to find a rose on a travel day, but Seamus convincing all four of his NUMTOTs to take public transport home, bike bags and all, was by far the highlight.

Bud

One way to travel, and that we’re looking forward to seeing more of in the future, is Dartmouth’s chosen method. Helmets in the airport (easily identifiable), paceline walking at all times (drafting is important at 2.5mph), and extra compact use of porta-potties (don’t ask) are all admirable travel methods we expect to see more of from them at the next ECCC race. Teams from other conferences at nationals did not understand but Dartmouth, we see you and appreciate you.

Thorn

Unfortunately, travel day 1 ended up hanging out in the great city of Houston for six extra hours on Sunday. Bianca chose to pass the time alternating between her newly acquired USAC water bottle and napping, while Felix returned to the working world. Seamus, Melissa, and Chen were nowhere to be found (probably joyriding on the airport tram if we were to guess though).

Final Thoughts

Rose

Overall, nationals was a huge success. MIT was one of 5 Club teams to send both full men and women’s teams and have racers in every event of the weekend. We had fun, we challenged ourselves, and we looked pro while doing it with nail polish to match our kit. What more could you ask for? (editorial comment: the Gatorade Guy is what more. Mason’s favorite volunteer from last year was back again this year, enthusiastically forcing ice cold hydration on us at every turn. We needed him, and he delivered. Thank you, Gatorade Guy.)

Thorn

Marking the end of the season is bittersweet as friends graduate and we wait a whole year to do this all again. On the bright side, the best riding months in Boston are just arriving and some might say #crossiscoming or maybe even track season?!

(Fancy) photos credit: Craig Huffman Photography

Text primarily by Mason

Race Reports, Road

2024 Easterns

June 1, 2024 Aaron Vliet

2024 UVM Race – Easterns!

Things started off slow in beautiful Vermont. Some cleats were forgotten at the hotel, some shifters needed adjusting, some porta potty lines were long. All signs of just another classic race weekend. Did we warm up? Who’s to say…

ITT Highlights

Max got last place in the ITT but first place in the bike mechanic competition. In just under 39 minutes, he was able to 1) start the ITT 2) return to the start line to fix his front derailleur and 3) finish the ITT. We don’t think anyone else could have completed the repair as quickly as he did.

UPDATE: We managed to convince the one and only Alan Atwood to give Max the time from his second go at the ITT, netting him a respectable midpack finish. Maybe Alan’s gone soft in retirement…

Michael got 2nd place in the men’s C/D ITT rocking the sweet TT helmet. He only had access to the big gear in the front, but we think that made him faster.

Michael, Alex, Felix, and Bianca all looking pro during the ITT.

Michael went full Roglič Monte Lussari for the mountain TT, while his fellow men’s C/D riders opted out of the extraterrestrial look…

Melissa and Chen put in strong efforts in the ITT, getting 4th and 5th respectively.

Max, Seamus, Felix, and Bianca hung around at the top of Mt. Philo for some scenic photos. Disc brakes got hot and ears popped on the way down.

RR Highlights

Melissa and Chen rode in a peloton of ten or so riders throughout the women’s C/D race, after two smaller breakaways took off early on. This pack worked together and had great energy. At one point, a UVM rider even commented on the mountains in the distance and there was some oohing and ahhing in the group. Chen and Melissa, along with two Army riders, pulled the group for a good chunk of the time. Chen made the mistake of pulling through the final windy sections with less than five miles to go, leaving very little gas in the tank for the final sprint. Melissa, the smarter one of the two, had a strong sprint to the finish.

Chen and Melissa upping the pace in the women’s C/D field

Bianca, Melisa, Vinh, and Chen practiced feeding Seamus during the road race. While waiting at the feed zone, Chen was hit by a USAC P/1/2 rider’s bottle flying at 50 mph and ended up with a bruise on their forearm that did not go away for a week (cycling is a dangerous sport!). On the third try, Seamus was able to hold on to the bottle, but he forgot to make space in his bottle cage, so the effort was in vain. We should practice holding bottles with our teeth. Bianca is glad she got shoulder surgery last summer to withstand the impact of the bottle pass. We are feeling ready for feeding at nationals next week!

Felix gracefully parted the peloton like the Red Sea when his chain snapped. A friendly stranger donated a spare chain link so he could wander around Vermont. Seamus pushed through crosswind chaos in the last lap to finish 7th.

Vinh took the feed zone seriously, even post-race

Chen practicing feeding technique (under Coach Berk’s step-by-step instructions during Nationals pre-race meeting), moments before being hit by an almost-full flying water bottle

Women’s C/D racers on the start line

CRIT highlights

Max “aero be damned” Katz-Christy channeled his MTB bike handling skills into grabbing third place in his first crit (men’s Intro), bringing home MIT’s best result on the day. Indefatigable, he then went on to take some cool pictures and video of the rest of the team’s races (see below).

Melissa got 4th in the women’s C/D Criterium after realizing on the final sprint that she did not in fact know how to sprint. Melissa later joined the women’s Intro race with Chen and friend of the team Tatum Brown from Yale, turning this race into a fun TTT and cornering practice. This podium may not reflect who crossed the finish line first in the intro crit, but we’re all friends, so who cares?

Seamus notched his highest power for the men’s B/C race off the start line in true cyclocross fashion—the holeshot was essential for the extremely technical sequence of downhill corners on the first half of the course. From there it was simply a “keep the rubber side down” kind of race: always an achievement in its own right.

Sun’s out tongue’s out

Michael and Alex were not impressed with the ability of the 50+ rider men’s C/D field to navigate the corner sequence and got caught behind splits. The course was so short that they weren’t given much of an opportunity to chase back on before the officials began pulling riders. Nevertheless, they both got some valuable experience with cornering and handling in the pack.

Day 2 squad prom photo

Easterns also means double omnium points! After some frantic and flawed tabulations, the ECCC team announced that we got third place as a team in both the championship weekend and season omnium standings! In the individual standings, Seamus won the men’s B field this season (“podium” picture notwithstanding)!

Michael’s second place in the ITT was recognized by getting to stand atop a metaphorical representation of Mt. Philo

We found out later that Seamus had actually earned first place, but then he wouldn’t have gotten to stand in the shame bucket 🙂

Alex’s Belgian instincts kicked in as he zipped up his jersey for the sponsors

To recap the weekend (and as an assignment for his documentary-making class), Max made this really cool video!

MISC

Photo credits: Max Katz-Christy, Tatum Brown, Felix Knollmann, Nolan Rogers, Bianca Champenois

Race Reports, Road

2024 Garden State Stage Race!

May 23, 2024 trios

We kicked off our first day of GSSR with team time trials! The boys (Derek, Mason, and Seamus) went out first, sporting their fancy Imperial Trooper helmets. It was a wet and wonderful TTT, with Seamus dropping just before the top of the climb and Derek accidentally selecting the blindfold setting on his Remco helmet visor. They couldn’t quite keep up with the New England Devo kids 😬 but snagged possibly 3rd place (out of 3 teams, 😉). One theme of the weekend was unknown/incorrect race results.

Tatem and Hannah followed, with Hannah insisting on a coffee ride pace to save energy for the road race later. Tatem struggled with the slow pace and later quipped, “I now know what it feels like to be a dog on a leash.” They placed 2nd! (Out of two teams… but who needs to know that detail?)

Hannah and Tatem going on their coffee ride

Next up, the road race! Tatem kicked off the Women’s C/D race and finished 4th, stoked by the result on the hilly course. Seamus got a flat tire 15 minutes before his race but, with lightning speed, fixed it just in time to start. He placed 4th in the Men’s B/C race and, of course, we got a notorious photo of him sticking his tongue out at the photographer.

Seamus showing off his tongue as per usual

Derek and Mason raced in the Men’s A field. One rode at a coffee pace enjoying the beautiful New Jersey (I know, right?) scenery, while the other decided the race wasn’t worth the struggle. Ask them for details!

Tatem couldn’t miss the opportunity to BeReal iykyk

Hannah had a fun photo op at the start of the Women’s A/B race but planned for a short ride due to feeling under the weather. She achieved that goal, but not in the way she intended, possibly overcooking a corner (who let her cook??).

The evening ended with us eating Indian-Mexican fusion for dinner, the boys convincing Tatem that shaving legs makes you more aero, and Tatem receiving the “most aggressive rider” jersey for the weekend (which was actually Hannah’s jacket).

Most aggressive rider of the weekend. You know the drill.

Sunday morning, we headed to Rutgers for the criterium race. The course had one technical corner, which was mostly technical because of the giant potholes on the racing line.

Seamus kicked off the Men’s B/C race, with an audience from the intro clinic watching to learn crit racing technique. Confusion surrounding the breakaway catching the peloton on the last lap ended up netting him 5th place, despite more ineptitude with the results.

Tatem’s goal in the Women’s C/D race was not to get dropped immediately, and she succeeded, aided by Seamus’s sideline yelling. She even stuck her tongue out at the photographer in true Seamus fashion, finishing 4th.

Tatem learned a thing or two from Seamus

Lastly, Derek and Mason in the Men’s A race placed 6th and 10th respectively. Mason even got a sick start line photo, now his Strava profile pic.

We wrapped things up with a long drive back to Cambridge, stopping for dinner at Five Guys, and finally taking a team photo while Tatem wrote a logistics email for next weekend’s race. #Candid

Race photo credits: Luis Bastardo

Mountain, Race Reports

Mountain bike racing returns for 2023!

November 6, 2023 mgoss

I (Matthew) may have forgotten to write up a season recap for 2022, but now we’re back again for 2023! MIT cycling returned to the slopes this fall, with a couple of adventurous weekends of racing in western MA full of new faces, shredding, bonfires, and a bit of mud.

Our first weekend led us to an old favorite: Holiday Brook Farm in Dalton, MA. The XC course is an ECCC classic, with lovely winding trails through the woods, and a small drop in the first hundred yards that never fails to cause total chaos in the Men’s C field. Our team for the weekend consisted of relative old-timers Matthew and Josephine, newcomers Max, Amine, Omar, and Tim, and new-to-MTB-racing-but-old-timer-with-respect-to-MIT-cycling Nick.

After rolling in after dark (and after Amine, Omar, and Matthew’s memorable first trip to Olive Garden), the team awoke from their tents to a glorious morning, and in an extremely unusual turn of events, decided to actually pre-ride the course. Nick showed that cyclocross prowess translates well to MTB, taking the win with Max not too far behind. All the other Men’s Cs conquered the course successfully, rolling through the finish line smiling. Josephine suffered the unlucky fate of an early puncture and got to take a more relaxing morning. The afternoon was enjoyed sessioning and spectating the dual-slalom course, and griping about bracket and timing errors. It’s not bike racing unless you have something to make excuses about. Proper ‘murican pub food and bonfire spectating sent us to bed with sweet dreams.

Max learned to do this stuff on a blue bike

Sunday featured some solid short-track XC racing, with Nick and Max taking W’s. After some relaxing suntanning and a cup-noodle lunch, the team packed up and headed home. One solid weekend down.

Nick leaving everyone in the dust as always

For our second weekend of racing, we returned to Western MA to check out a new race course at Thunder Mountain in Charlemont. Though the week was wet leading up to the event and rain loomed in the forecast, a fresh crop of new mountain bikers turned up. First-time mountain bike racers included Maaya, Andrew, Varsha, Melissa, Gabriel, and Julius, while Matthew, Tim, Max, and Felix returned for more time on dirt. This was the largest group that MIT has taken to a mountain bike race in at least the last four years!

Rain, rain go away, come again some other day that isn’t right before a mountain bike race. After a damp night of camping the team arose, expecting a relaxed bike ride down the hill and across the river to Thunder Mountain. We were surprised to see so many teams piling into cars for a distance that should take less than ten minutes on a bike… until we saw the bridge closed sign. A four-mile detour finally got us to the foot of the mountain, only a few minutes before the race was supposed to start from the top of the slope. Luckily ECCC does not run on time and we made it just fine.

Now I had promised some of the first-time riders that the ECCC race courses are generally rideable, even if you’ve never ridden a mountain bike before, but this was a new course and I couldn’t be sure. At the start line we received a dire message: “Sooo I rode the course, and it’s pretty techy… and everything is super wet and slippery which makes it harder. Also, there’s half a mile of bog.” To add to this, the course was 30% longer than it was supposed to be, and featured multiple opportunities to get lost. Needless to say, it was not the easiest introduction to mountain biking. Still everyone toughed it out through the mud, with a few folks smartly withdrawing after an hour-long lap. Kudos to Melissa, who was the only first-timer to complete both laps, and style points to Andrew who put his full MIT spandex kit through the mud!

Post-race, the day turned around as the weather cleared, with the team spending the rest of the afternoon hitting the flow trails. I had a lot of fun seeing Varsha and Maaya build confidence throughout the afternoon, and seeing the grin on Gabriel’s face after our first lap. Tim and I had some good runs on techy stuff, though Tim managed to bend his second brake lever of the season. A great bonfire hangout with some clutch late-night grilling supplies from Julius capped off the day.

The sun came out for day two, and remarkably there was no mud to be found on the short track course. What was to be found: a tricky tight turn fifty feet after the start involving a sharp dip to avoid a rock garden, and a challenging uphill rock roll that made this perhaps the most technically challenging ECCC short track course I’ve ridden. Great for new mountain bikers…

While the race went off well for some, with an exciting sprint finish between Felix and Max to take first and second respectively in the B field, it also carried hazards, with Gabriel taking an unfortunate crash. The team rallied to field two mixed relay teams; we may have come in second-to-last and last, but I’m sure we had the most fun.

While most folks headed home after the short track races, Felix, Max, and friend-of-the-team Emily hung around to ride a couple of the enduro trails, which featured gorgeous views across the valley. It was a memorable weekend for sure.

Thanks to all those who came out to the races this fall, and thanks as always for the hard work from the folks at ECCC who made it possible. We’ll be back next year.

– Matthew Goss

MIT Cycling MTB Captain

Photo credits: Team members Max KC, Matthew G, and Andrew D.

Race Reports, Road

Championships and champions

May 8, 2023 Hannah

Closing out the blogs for this road season with a few notes and photos from the ECCC Championships at Dartmouth two weeks ago. For updates on 2023 Road Nationals, check out our instagram.

When Derek and I (Hannah) were planning for this road season, we budgeted for an average 8 people joining per race. We didn’t know who the 8 would be, but we were being optimistic! By just halfway through the season we had entirely blown the budget: 12 racers at URI, 18 at our home race, 9 at UVM and 17 at Easterns. For 14 of the folks joining, it was their first season road racing with the team (and for 10, their first time road racing at all). I am in awe of the enthusiasm and momentum we were able to build throughout this season, and how much fun we all had along the way. There were Life Hacks by Bianca, passionate discussions about the best pop tart flavors, hype playlists, and chaotic lunch runs mid race-days.

Thank you to all the parents, siblings, friends and partners who showed up along the way to cheer us on, volunteer, and provide snacks. “Go MIT” is one of my favorite things to hear when I’m out racing because I know that the person cheering came out for someone else, but is still showing up to support us all as a team. And thanks also to our team sponsors (Thoughtforms and Exponent) for their generosity that allowed Derek and I to horribly miscalculate our team size, but still be able to support every person who wanted to join this year.

In these blogs it is easy to list off placements and stats, but these are only a small part of every weekend we spend together as a team. In case it wasn’t clear, I am the resident “team mom” (what I get for returning to a PhD after working for a bit, I guess). I’ll fully embrace that now to close by saying how proud I am of every single racer who came out this season. I admire everyone who talked to me about being nervous before their race, and came away at the end with a huge smile, because regardless of where you finished, you gave it your all and enjoyed the process. I applaud everyone who tried a new category, improved their placement, or simply showed up when sleep/work/life wasn’t in your favor. Well done conquering brutal courses, bad weather, early mornings, and tough competition.

I can’t wait to do this with you all again next year!

– Team mom (and women’s road captain) Hannah