This is the first of many reports from the Boston Beanpot road weekend, in which MIT took an unprecedented victory…
TTT: The women’s B triple t had many very good moments before its overarching bad one. Andrea Love and I made up the team, since we had the “problem” of having too many women in A’s to form a complete B team (great problem to have!) We started out on the gently rolling course behind the Army 4-person team, not expecting to beat them because of their sheer numbers but figured we were guaranteed at least 4th place overall because there were only 4 B teams. Well, we passed Army pretty early on, and with Andrea giving me very nice rests by leading up the hills we made very good time for the first 9 miles of the 12-mile race. Actually, we passed quite a few of the A teams, and the other B teams were several _minutes_ behind us by the time Andrea crashed. It was her first race, and unfortunately turned out to be a terrible start to the season; she hit my rear wheel and went down, breaking her collarbone (clavicle) So sad 🙁 At least all of the other MIT teams did well, and hopefully she recovers quickly! Continue reading →
There’s so much good stuff to report from the weekend at RPI. First, the result: MIT won the weekend with 267. Franklin & Marshall came in second with 155, and Bucknell was third with 153. Penn State, the previous overall leader, was seventh, with 114.
Overall standings after RPI
There are so many race reports to post! [Apologies for the formatting issues, working on that.] Continue reading →
I thought maybe some of you would be interested in getting some insights of the Men C Criterium as seen by one of the racers (i.e. me). Our victory was a great combination of being at the right place at the right time and team effort. Here it goes: Continue reading →
There have been some great examples of teamwork in the past week in European professional races, but I think what our men’s C team pulled off in Philly is even better.
Hi Everyone,
There has been a lot of very excited banter about the Philly weekend and I wanted to throw in a few comments. First, the weekend was a blast. Rutgers had been a fun race but Philly blew it out of the water. Within races the MIT riders worked amazingly well together and it was the first time I understood the power that teamwork can have in this sport. Outside of races it was fantastic to hang out with such a great crowd of people. Continue reading →
Here’s what ECCC director Joe Kopena had to say about it:
If you dared think Men’s C races were not infused with tactics, strategy, teamwork, and drama, you would be wrong, my friends, as the video clearly documents! More seriously, Joe has tagged the whole video with running commentary of what’s going on as he makes his way to a 2nd place finish (and edited the race down to a watchable 12 minutes). I think it’s a great video to pass on to newer riders as he makes a lot of good observations and really covers what he’s thinking about throughout the race. Great stuff.
Worth reading! Joe is one of MIT’s new road racers who’s going to take the ECCC by storm. (You can see his photos on his Flickr page.) From an unpromising start to the day, Joe goes on to annihilate the D field:
Having done cyclocross but never having raced on the road, I went into the weekend feeling super strong but nervous. I have been obsessed with tactics during the past few months, but worried about the fact that I haven’t had much chance to practice them. I felt strong enough to race in the Cs, but Spencer asked for volunteers to do the D races, giving me a good excuse to give in to my doubts.
The ITT on Saturday was a blur. I arrived before any of the other MIT cars, it was still dark, and I had no clue where registration was. Continue reading →
The MIT cycling team traveled to Rutgers this weekend for the first ECCC race of the collegiate road racing season. Having won the event last year, the team knew it would be an uphill battle this year, as none of the men’s A or women’s A riders were in attendance. Additionally, Spencer Shaber, the men’s captain and the sole men’s B rider in attendance, had injured his Achilles and could only compete (very carefully) in the individual time trial. The team of mostly rookies, aided by a few seasoned veterans, was able to capture the Division II omnium, and place second overall in the conference, just behind Penn State University. This feat obviously bodes well for the continued success of the MIT Cycling Team.
The Rutgers weekend consisted of three events, the traditional individual time trial (ITT) and criterium on Saturday, and the first ever points race contested in the ECCC road season on Sunday. The MIT team showed that they trained hard through this year’s incredibly snowy winter by taking three first places in the ITT: Katie Quinn in women’s B, Christina Birch in women’s C, and Adam Bry in men’s C. The excitement of the weekend really began, though, when Katie Quinn joined A rider Anna McLoon from Harvard to lap the field in the women’s A/B criterium. Thus, in her first ever B race, Quinn not only won her race, but beat all but one of the A riders. Christina Birch and Joseph Near also brought home victories in the women’s C and men’s D criterium, respectively. In the points race on Sunday, Quinn, Birch, and Near did a repeat of Saturday, each taking home the gold again. Quinn and McLoon lapped the field again, but this time Quinn initiated the winning break, leaving McLoon to bridge up, knowing that Quinn had the legs to win if McLoon let her get away.
Next weekend, the MIT team travels to NYC for the Columbia Grant’s Tomb criterium and a new road race hosted by Stevens.
Since I joined the cycling team less than a month ago, most of you probably don’t know me. However, I still jumped (literally) at the opportunity to tell you all about the fabulous training trip we had in Tucson during IAP! I am very new to cycling, and before the trip I was not planning on racing much in the coming season. While the rest of the team were following Coach Nicole’s fall training plan of riding Zone 2! Zone 2! Zone 2!, I mostly rode my bike as a means of getting from A to B. However, despite my lack of training in the fall, after riding with the team for only a week during truing camp, I could not be more excited about the upcoming season
According to Katie, the current women’s road captain, the rides we went on during the trip were “Not that far”, “Not that fast”, and “Not that hard”. Haha! These rides were the farthest, fastest, and hardest rides I’ve ever done. And although this trip was one of the most physically challenging experiences I have encountered, I have absolutely no regrets about going on the trip! Below are a few reasons why this year’s Team Training Trip was the best trip I have ever been on:
1. THE TEAM: As you all know, everyone on the cycling team is awesome! After going on a few rides with the team in Boston I quickly picked this up. The rides at training camp are vey similar, but instead of running off to lab after the ride, in Tucson we had time to hang out with the team for the rest of the day. You really get to know your teammates, and this is just as valuable as the training experience you get on the trip.
2. THE TRAINING: As I mentioned above, I had never trained this hard before in my life. The rides on the trip were not only the most difficult rides of my life, they were also the most enjoyable. This is not only because I was in a place where the weather and views were fantastic, but rather (like everyone else there) I came on this trip to ride. So I rode, and I rode, and I rode! The best part is: for one week, you don’t feel guilty about having your life revolve around your bike! 🙂 My biggest worry was holding the others on the team back, since I lacked the base training they got during the fall. However, this was never an issue. I stuck with them for as much of the rides as I could, but everyone is always free to ride at their own pace and cut the ride a little shorter if need be. Everyone is at a different level of fitness, and you gauge the trip to meet your training needs. Everyone understands and respects this (did I mention the team is awesome?) But don’t worry! – the team is still there to push you harder than you ever thought you could go! Even after a week of hard training, the last few rides were some of my best!
Triumphant Engineers at training camp
3. THE TRIP: We all know how much better it is to bike in nice weather. Unfortunately this time of year, Boston has little to offer. Although the sole purpose of this trip was to bike, it was so much more than that! I couldn’t have asked for a better vacation, or any cooler friends to spend it with! I know, I know! I’m preaching to the choir. You alumni already understand the joy that comes from cycling and how amazing the MIT Cycling Team is. Still, I hope this report reminds you of the awesome times you had on the MIT Cycling team, and makes sure you don’t forget how incredible this team really is!
