Tag Archives: philly

Race Reports, Road

Andrew’s race report from Philly

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 →

Photos, Race Reports, Road

Joe’s race report from Philly—with VIDEO!

First, the helmet cam footage:

Philly Phlyer 2011 Men C2 from Joseph Near on Vimeo.

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.

Now, on to the race report! Continue reading →

Race Reports, Road

Phlyin’: Captain Zach’s Philly race report

UPDATED: John Frey has posted updated season overall standings after the Philly weekend.  MIT maintains its lead in the season, with UPenn closing quickly and UVM hanging around in 3rd.

From Zach Attack:

I would like to congratulate everyone there, but I would also like to make a special point to congratulate the best performances of the weekend (in my opinion):

* Zach Ybarra taking off solo in the Men’s D crit with just over a lap to go, and finishing in style, well ahead of the field.
* Martha who lived up to the “Super Fast” title printed on the front of her new sprint leader’s jersey in the crit. UPDATED TO ADD: Martha has taken the series lead from Anna McLoon, and now holds both the sprint leader’s and series leader’s jerseys (“Super Fast” + “Series Leader” = “Super Leader”).
* Glenn Ferreira in the TTT.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone dig quite that deep in a time trial.
* Yuri, who was too polite to sprint around Martha at the end of the crit.
* John Rhoden who refused to quit in the Men’s A crit.

With that, on to the race report… Continue reading →

Race Reports, Road

This just in: MIT cleans up at Philly

This is more or less what the rest of the ECCC feels like tonight:

A cheese steak from Pat\'s

After two days of racing, the Engineers made everyone else look as out of place as John Kerry ordering Swiss on his cheese steak.

46 Schools, 407 Riders Participated
1       Massachusetts Institute of Technology 239
2       Penn State University 188
3       US Military Academy 174
4       University of Vermont 149

Penn State by 51, Army by 65, and UVM by a whopping 90.

So, far from “wit wiz”, this is MIT’s attitude at the moment:

MIT won the Women’s A TTT, the Women’s B TTT, and the Men’s D2 road race.

The Engineers came in the top ten all over the place, and Michael Hamilton (led out by Chewie and Zach), Laura Ralston, Martha Buckley, Yuri Matsumoto, and David Quinn had particularly good weekends…in fact everybody had a good weekend. A full record of the carnage is here including (just added) finishing photos. Looks like we have to work on our victory camera poses. Especially if there are more weekends like this one.

Race Previews, Road

Philly race previews, by José

Once again, José has the most comprehensive maps and analysis of the weekend’s races in Philadelphia:

U. Penn, Temple, and Drexel are hosting another beautiful weekend of ECCC racing in Philadelphia, PA, in Fairmount Park on the Schuylkill (Schoolgirl!) River. Forewarned is forearmed, so here are my thoughts on the courses.

This circuit race is one of the very few ECCC courses that I’ve done before (the other being Columbia). That long flat section could be great for establishing a break if no one is chasing, or could be the place where the pack comes back together if the wind is going the wrong way. The A field gets to go around the 6.5 mile course five times. My prediction is that a break will form early on around the course’s major climb, which may or may not get caught. No matter what, the long, uphill finish is longer than even I would like. Like last year, the attacks will start on that very last climb, and the pace will get ever faster to the line. Cornering skills will help in two places: after the start for the left onto the river, and after the hill for the right back on to the river. The Men’s A start time is about 3:20pm – so late!

The Team Time Trial course is about 8.5 miles long and dead flat, except for a section at the start and finish. Without a disc wheel to use, I’ll be riding my Tri Spoke wheels. The wind could make things interesting. Aerodynamics will matter more than anything, so I think Team MIT will do well here. The Men’s A start time is 8:30am.

This is a weird little crit course. If it is going clockwise as I believe it might, there will be a slight downhill finish. The Men’s A field will go from the gun for 50 minutes, trying to wear out as many riders as possible before the finish. A good start is key. I believe this course is so short, flat, and empty, that you can see one side of it from the other. Cornering and pack skills are crucial to conserving energy for that inevitable final sprint. The Men’s A start time is 2:50pm.

That crit is going to be nothing short of terrifying if the weather turns wet. Flats and crashes everywhere. I can only hope for the best.

Saturday: A chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 56. Chance of precipitation is 50%.
Saturday Night: Rain likely. Cloudy, with a low around 47. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
Sunday: A chance of showers. Cloudy, with a high near 58. Chance of precipitation is 40%.