Category Archives: Race Reports

Justin’s Columbia/Rutgers and Philly Reports

This is my first season racing with the cycling team, and I have been assiduously following the team’s training plan since November so I was really excited to get my first race weekend in.

 

The first weekend was a circuit race on Saturday hosted by Columbia, and a Sunday criterium on Rutgers’ campus. The second weekend was at Philadelphia with a TTT and circuit race on Saturday and a criterium on Sunday at Temple University.

Columbia Circuit Race: [1/39] Strava File

The circuit race was a relatively flat 3.7 mile loop around Rockland Lake. The weather was cold and raining and the forecast for the rest of the day was the same. Luckily there was a large sheltered area outside where we could set up our trainers and keep dry. Before the race started I overheard racers from other teams talking about how there would be no chance for a break to get away on this course and that it would be ridiculous to try it. About 40mins before the race I hopped on a trainer to get warmed up. The temperature was in the mid 30s, so I had shoe covers, arm warmers and knee warmers, and long fingered gloves which turned out to be perfect since at no point in the race was I cold.

When my category (Men’s C) was called to the start line, I went to the front so I could get a good starting position. With no teammates in the race, my strategy was to stay at the front in the top 7 wheels. The race started out slow, where I could easily be in Z2 while drafting. When we hit the first little hill someone tried to attack, I knew that with the hill being only 50ft I shouldn’t kill myself to try and follow him. I kept my pace constant and a few minutes later the pack caught the rider on the flat. There is a small uphill again before a downhill that leads to a flat finishing straight (similar to the Hascom sprint). The rest of the race was similar as people would attack and then get reeled in no time, the only panic for me was that my sunglasses got covered in dirt at one point and I had to take them off and stuff them in my jersey. It was annoying having backspray and dirt coming into my eyes for the rest of the race but at least I could see. Doing this pushed me 15 riders back in the field but I was able use Coach Nicole’s lessons for moving in a pack to get back up to the front in half a lap.

 

On the final lap the pace picked up quite a bit, and there was lots of jockeying for position. I wanted to be at the front coming into the first hill so I could hop on the wheel of riders who would be going hard up it. Sure enough 2 lines formed going up the hill and I hopped on the one that seemed to be going faster. Coming into the little uphill I was second wheel, and around the last corner to the downhill I was first wheel. At this moment I thought I made a huge mistake as surely someone was on my wheel. I heard a crash of bikes behind me, so I decided to do what I did a couple weekends back with Nic Tham on Hascom where I lead out and decided to crush it hoping the rider behind me would have trouble hanging on. 200 m before the finish line I looked back and I had 2 bike length lead, so I put my head down and started sprinting hoping I wouldn’t see a someone coming up my left in the last few meters. As I crossed the line I won my first race!!!

 

 

Rutgers Crit: [DNF] Strava File

This crit was also flat and had only 3 corners that were really wide. The race organizers did a great job patching up all the potholes. I liked my chances in this race and was feeling good after yesterday’s finish. Talking with Andrea and Jeff before I had 3 goals: 1) finish without crashing, 2) win a prime and 3) win the race. I was able to check off 2) and half of 1). Again I started near the front, and the speed was much faster from the get go compared to the day before. I didn’t do as good of a job as I was leading the race for most of the first few laps, but I enjoyed being able to pick my line into the corners. On the first prime lap, I drifted to 5th wheel so that I could watch what everyone else was doing. Going into the straight before the final corner I was 2nd wheel but decided to go hard so that I could be first coming into the final corner. It was about 300m from the turn to the finish line, so I knew it was going to be a longer sprint. I won easily but other riders behind me were confused as to why we were sprinting so I explained to them the concept of intermediate sprints for points which also allowed me to recover a bit. On the second prime lap, I was second wheel coming into the final corner but this is where things didn’t go well. The rider infront of me seemed to sit up and went way to the outside around it. I was slightly to his outside coming into the corner, which I now realize was a mistake as I forced off into the dirt. I thought I could continue and try to catch back up but my tire was ripped off the rim and flatted. Since there was 9 laps to go, the official said I couldn’t get another wheel and free lap. Talking to the rider who was infront of me after the race, he was very apologetic as he said his foot came unclipped from his pedal and also DNF later on in the race when it happened again.

The rest of the day was loads of fun being able to cheer on everyone else on our team who was racing. By the time Anne was going around in the Women’s A race, I had almost lost my cheering voice.

Philly TTT: [1/8] Strava File

Driving down the Friday before, there was a pretty nasty snow storm in the Northeast so we were all hoping the races on Saturday wouldn’t be canceled. The race crew did a great job and the races went as planned. The TTT course was 13 miles and had a few 180 degree turns. Since a few of the Men’s A riders did not arrive until early morning, the teams were switched and I was with Christian and Daniel in Men’s C.

We were rotating as planned for the first 5mins, then near the first turn around Daniel dropped off, so Christian and I had to stick together for the remainder of the course. Christian did a great job, he pulled when I was really tired up front, and we finished 1 minute ahead of the next fastest team. We were also only 0.5mph slower than the Men’s A team from MIT!

Below is a video from the first 6 miles of the course. Sorry about the water droplets on the lens!

Philly Circuit Race: [38/63] Strava File

 

Since the TTT races started a bit late, we had less than an hour after we finished to get ready for the road race. It was a really nice course with a couple hills to break up the field. Philip was racing with us, and I knew he had a good chance at winning if he was able to keep up with the main group. I was dumb and decided to pull the field from the start for the first 5mins, my legs still felt good from the TTT but after the pull I could feel them starting to burn with my heart rate not recovering as it should. The field stuck together for the first two laps, judging how my legs felt climbing the hills I realized today wouldn’t be my day. On the third lap, after the descent to the flat straight along the river, I saw Philip near the rear of the field. I came by and told him to hop on and pulled him to the front, I looked back and saw that the field was now strung out in a single line and was starting to break up. Here I decided to push the pace and hope that Philip would be first coming into the next hill. At this point we were doing ~29mph. As we came to the 180 degree turn to a hill I pulled off and watched as the broken up pack went up the hill. I joined a bunch of other guys who were struggling up the climb and formed a pick-up pace line on the last lap. Philip ended up finishing 6th and took home some points for our team. 

  

Philly Crit: [8/49] Strava File

This race was the most fun I’ve had riding my bike because the Men’s C worked really well as a team to win it. We had two strategies going into it: either Christian and I go for the final sprint in a bunch with a leadout from Philip, or Philip breaks off and tries to go solo for the victory. The course was almost a perfect square with a nasty headwind in the penultimate straightaway. I tried to stick near the front half for the first few laps, and when the bell rang for the first prime I made my way closer to the front. Being hit by a car just before the race started, while pre-riding, I wanted to use the prime to see how I was feeling. On the gusty straight I came to the front to take the final corner first, there was a rider to my left also contesting the sprint. I put down the hammer and was able to get first for the sprint. Philip got second, and as I looked back the rest of the field was a good 30-40 yards behind the both of us. I was dead from the sprint and wanted to recover so shouted “Go Philip go!!” as this was a great chance for him to break off and being the beast he is, he could probably win off the front even with 25mins left. I was swallowed up by the field and saw Philip ahead with a 15s lead. As we came around again, I heard Ethan and Tom shouting at me and Christian to get to the front and block for Philip. This is where the fun for me started: I would lead the pack into a corner but not take it aggressively letting the seconds tick up on Philip’s lead. Every few minutes someone would drive to the front trying to pick up the pace, so I would hop on their wheel. A few times I would let the rider go by himself, and they would look back and see they were in no man’s land and drop back to the pack. Christian also helped out with blocking and won some points in the primes. came second With around 3 laps to go someone shouted that Philip had a one minute lead. I continued to lead the pack but knew that Philip would win. It actually took a lot of energy to be out on the front blocking, and found myself a bit zapped for the final sprint. I was able to pass 2-3 guys infront of me on the sprint to get 8th.

This was super fun and was great to cheer on the rest of the team after! I thoroughly enjoyed both weekends, and the time spent traveling, eating, and laughing with the whole team 🙂

CX Nats 2015: “Everything will change. Everything has changed.” (The Patriot)

Almost exactly a year ago, I watched CX Nats in Boulder, sitting on my trainer. I cheered on MIT’s Chris Birch racing for JAM Fund in the women’s elite race. It looked frigid.

Even though I only had two ‘cross races under my belt, I had been bitten by the bug. Sitting on that trainer, I made a goal: Cyclocross Nationals 2015, in Austin TX. Because it would be warmer.

#Tweetsfromthetrainer: Watching 2014 Nationals on the trainer got me stoked for this season.

Ha. As we packed our bikes for Austin, our race-day forecast read “ice pellets.”

My goal for cross nationals was to qualify, go, and finish. Once I’d made the nationals team, my expectations didn’t change: I knew I’d be starting in the third or fourth row, I knew it was going to be a technical course, and I knew that this was my first national-level cycling event.

When we arrived in Austin, I expected to be blasting some good pump up music (read: 1989) in our minivan as we traveled to and from Zikler Park. Joe Near had other plans: our hosts, teammate Katie Maass and her parents, owned a copy of the Patriot. This played on loop (with some worthy scenes replayed for effect).

Forget Taylor Swift, The Patriot was our pump up soundtrack. Joe Near approved.

Our races included the collegiate relay (no, we don’t all ride the same bike), and the men’s and women’s D2 collegiate fields. Friday evening’s relay was on hard-packed, near-frozen dirt. The course was so fast. There was minimal mud, next to the pits, to be avoided.

Matt Li on the relay lap, too fast for Tim Myers’s shutter speed.

After a night of rain, we arrived for Saturday morning’s pre-ride, to the sound of a military marching band on the DVD player. Matt wanted to do “at least one lap to see what had changed.” Everything had changed.

Oily. Tacky. Slick. Heavy. Slippery. Mud. This called for major changes in equipment (“get me the horse blanket”), but also strategy. While Friday’s race involved two or three dismounts for barriers and stairs, Saturday’s conditions favoured running.

I thought this was a biking race (Photo: Ali Engin)

The conditions led me to change my expectations: it was going to be a gong show, and it was going to be fun. Whatever happened, happened. And what ended up happening was fantastic, for me.

Our trip to Austin involved change and surprise for all of our teammates: Corey could not have expected her race to finish in the emergency ward, where she had a broken wrist re-set. Joe got a USA Cycling neck tattoo (ok, temporary). Chris had a surprise visitor, walked away with a fancy new necklace, and didn’t expect to be racing the elites on Monday (postponed from Sunday).

Chris Birch with the bronze in Women’s D2
Corey’s wrist… enough said.
Joe Near on one of the slickest and steepest elements of the course. Zoom in for the neck tattoo… (Photo: Andrew Davidhazy)

What else did we do in Austin? We hit the off-season hard, with the flagship Whole Foods, brownie sundaes, breakfast tacos, lunch tacos and dinner tacos, and of course some brisket (“dog is a fine meal”). We went bowling in a bar (Corey won, single-handedly). We watched the Patriot, twice.

But that didn’t stop her in beating us at bowling.

Now, we’re back, our bikes and kits finally clean. We finished 7th in the relay, and 7th in the omnium. Lucky numbers for next year. And for me, everything has changed. I placed ninth in my first cyclocross nationals, when all I wanted to do was qualify, go, and finish. Who knows what next year will bring. See you in Asheville, where I’ll be praying for mud.

Concerned face, loose brakes, and lab gloves. (Photo: Andrew Davidhazy)

PSYCHLOCROSS 2014

(courtesy of Joel Hawksley)
(courtesy of Joel Hawksley)

With the 2014 cyclocross season over, we can all finally take a breather from the relentless string of races and reflect on the past four months. For those of you unfamiliar with cyclocross, think of it as offroad criterium racing on a knobby tired road bike with obstacles (logs, barriers, stairs, flyovers, run-ups, sand, endless turns, yadda yadda).

Sound ridiculous? It is.

Fun? Most definitely.

Julie van der Hoop demonstrating a perfect bike remount.
Julie van der Hoop demonstrating a perfect bike remount on a bike that’s not even hers. (courtesy of Chris Trabulsie)

I’m obviously biased, but I feel that the cross season is arguably the most challenging discipline to train and race. As the season progresses, the temperature begins to plummet, the sun starts to avoid us, and the skies have a tendency to spitefully open up. Throw in a healthy mixture of fitness and high technical skills, this sport is not for the faint of heart or for those watt factories terrified of turning.

Colin Kennedy slaying the finish of a race (Shedd Park).
Colin Kennedy slaying the finish of a race (Shedd Park).

To put it another way, it’s not a matter of “will I crash?”….it’s more akin to “when will I crash?”. The unpredictability of the terrain, obstacles, and the riders around you makes this statement more true than other sports and in doing so, adds an intense hyper-vigilant mental aspect.

Don’t follow that dude’s wheel, he crashed you out last race.

Use that rut to the right of roots before the third turn after the second run up.

Yet even with all these potential deterrents, this season has been one of the most well attended in recent memory. Not only has this season had returning vets, but more substantially, newcomers. I stand by my statement that it only takes one race to get hooked, and if you ask anyone that first tried it out this year, I think they’ll agree – even if they mechanicaled out of their first race.

The MIT team participated in a circuit of races in the New England ranging from Hanover, NH down to Stony Point, NY. While you can practice in a field with cones and barriers all day long, the best way to really hone your skills is during a race. We raced in both ECCC and regional USAC races to get as much of this battle hardened experience as possible.

Morgan Hennessy gettin' up and over a steep section (Canton, courtesy of Geoff Martin)
Morgan Hennessy gettin’ up and over a steep section (Canton, courtesy of Geoff Martin)

The culmination of the regular season happened in Warwick, RI at the ECCC Easterns. In true spirit of the season, we had a strong showing at all skills levels and it was fantastic being able to heckle so many people throughout the day. Some of the notable results of the day and season included:

Easterns
MIT – 2nd
Men A – 6th, Joe Near
Men B – 8th, Ben Eck
Men C – 2nd, Matt Li
Women B – 2nd, Julie van der Hoop
Women C – 3rd, Katie Maass

Overall
MIT – 3rd (2nd Division II)
Men A – 6th, Joe Near
Men B – 7th, Ben Eck
Men C – 2nd, Matt Li
Women A – 4th, Chris Birch
Women B – 2nd, Julie van der Hoop
Women C – 6th, Katie Maass; 8th, Morgan Hennessy

Turns upon turns at Rapha Supercross, Gloucester (courtesy of C.Mcintosh)
Turns upon turns at Rapha Supercross, Gloucester (courtesy of C.Mcintosh)

While the regular season is over, the new year still holds one more capstone race, nationals. We’ll be sending 5 riders: Christina Birch, Julie van der Hoop, Corey Tucker, Joseph Near, and Matthew Li. Nationals will be held in Austin, TX this year and based on preliminary course previews, it will prove to be a fast race. Stay tuned for a report in the new year.

It’s been been a fantastic season. There have been enumerable good times with early morning drives and stinging heckles that have really brought the CX family close together. Although there’s still one more race coming up, I’m already eager to fast forward to next season!

We won!! MTB D2 Omnium

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2014-10-12 17.15.21 We won!!!  Yes, the MIT Cycling team has done it again – we’ve brought home a trophy. But this time, we’ve won in a discipline we haven’t done well in historically – Mountain Biking! Our team was awarded Division II Team Omnium at the Regional Championships at Highland, meaning our team earned more points in total this season than any other Division II team.

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One big happy team

But what’s so impressive about this win is really HOW we won, and WHO raced this season. In following good MIT tradition, results demand analysis:

  • Total MIT student racers this season: 21
  • Average number of participants per race weekend: 6.7
  • Average number of race weekends per participant: 1.95
  • Percentage Female: 33%

To put these numbers in perspective, last season 10 students raced mountain bikes in total, and races averaged around 3-4 people per race.

And now for an analysis of our newbie population:

  • Percentage students whose first race was this season: 67%
  • Percentage students who raced on a borrowed bike: 57%
  • Percentage students who raced on a borrowed MITOC bike: 48%
  • Percentage students whose first time on a MTB was in their race: 33%
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Ben Eck – who’s been a dedicated MIT mountain bike racer for 4 years and advocated to purchase the MITOC bikes

What do these numbers indicate? That the MIT Mountain Biking team strongly encourages new members to try out the sport. We facilitate this by renting out MITOC bikes (mountain bikes owned by our outdoors’s club). A few years ago Ben Eck (former team captain) advocated to purchase 4 MITOC bikes, and they were certainly well used this season. We hope that the students who tried mountain bike racing for the first time this season will continue racing in future seasons, especially given our tremendous achievement.

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After racing Sunday, we headed to the trails to enjoy riding together and learning from our Coach

Now you may still be wondering how is it that we managed to win team omnium? Well, every point matters and we had many participants. But we also had many, many strong finishes throughout the season. I’ll leave that list to another blog post…coming soon. But finally, our team won because we function as one cohesive unit. We enjoy spending time together, sharing advice with eachother, and cheering for eachother. We race because that’s what we enjoy doing, and we are an excellent example to other teams in our division because of it.

As captain, my proudest moment was not standing on the podium or winning team omnium. It was being able to watch so many MIT racers cross the finish line with a smile on their face. I am proud of the joy I have brought to each and every student who raced this season, because Mountain Biking is truly a unique sport and one that I’m so happy to be able to share with so many of my teammates.

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It was a very happy day for all. Thank you team. ~Beth

 

MIT MTB Race – A Smashing Success!

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Just a handful of the 25+ MIT racers, volunteers, friends, and family who joined us this weekend

 

This blog post brought to you by, yet again, a first-time MIT racer, Lucy Archer:

The Bruises Mean I’m Doing it Right… Right?

Following on a theme, Beth managed to convince me to come out and race the event MIT hosted this year, the Sliderule Shredfest, last weekend.  Honestly I didn’t need that much convincing, mostly encouragement, but I got what I needed and with about 45 minutes of practice along the Charles I headed out to Charlemont on Friday evening.  I had been promised rain, bbq, beer, fun, mud, and bruises (not necessarily in that order, of course), and the weekend definitely did deliver!
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First-time MTB racers Jen, Lucy, and Gabriel hang out before their race
Provided we don’t count the weekend with my parents in Tahoe when I was 12, or the 45 minutes along the Charles last Thursday, my first time on a mountain on a mountain bike was Saturday morning’s cross country race, the second time was for short track, and the third was for the team relay.  I’m not quite sure what I was expecting, though I don’t think it involved quite as much climbing as the XC course started with!  Luckily I was behind most of the other Women’s B racers and, following their lead, I walked (I’d rather say I sprinted, but it wouldn’t be true) up the mountain with my bike in the hope that it would get better.  It definitely got better, and I managed to almost fall off the mountain only a few times!  The second lap went better and faster (I think…), though apparently once a little too fast, as I learned my first lesson of non-road riding: the endo.  No harm done to either me or the bike though, and apparently I came in third!  Not too bad for my first time on a mountain on a mountain bike.
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Check out those MITOC bikes! These MIT racers were able to race thanks to the bikes they could rent from MIT’s outdoors club.
After three hours standing in the rain watching the A and B racers race, and a brief visit to the six inch deep mud puddle that was the bottom of the Dual Slalom course, it was back to the lodge (yes, there was real shelter for the weekend, it was nice and dry), we made the discovery that there was both a washing machine and a dryer, which meant that I’d have clean, dry kit forSunday!  The hot showers were also a wonderful, glorious thing.  The evening was beer and lots of bbq, including burgers, chicken, brats, and ribs.  There was a reasonable amount of social time, until I realized that I was curled up in a corner falling asleep and retreated upstairs to sleep.
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Yup, we tired Lucy out [see far left]
Sunday dawned wonderfully clear and sunny (though a little cold), and we all headed out for short track.  The course was fun, though it did involve me learning the meaning of ‘off camber.’  I made it through nearly all of the course at least once (out of four laps) reasonably successfully, and didn’t walk the bike once on the last two laps!  I’m quite proud that only three of the Women’s A riders (including Beth) lapped me twice (women’s A and B were combined because there were only 3 B riders).  I also had a lovely moment when a root shoved my bike out from under me and dumped me off the trail at exactly the right time for Beth to get past me, which was quite convenient.  MIT ran both A and B teams for the relay, since we had enough people to do so, and MIT won the B race!  I’m not especially responsible for that, since I did 1 lap out of 8, but I think I can still share in the awesome.
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Katie lookin’ legit in her first ever mtb race!
I’m not sure when it happened, but over the course of the weekend I decided that this mtb thing was far too much fun to not do again, and I’ll be heading out to race next weekend too!  That said, I’ve figured out why the Club level memberships come with one race weekend: it’s a devious plot to get us hooked so that we can’t do anything other than go back for more.  Don’t fall for it!  Wait, what am I saying.  Fall for it, really, it’s a ton of fun.
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So many smiling faces post-race!

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Message from Beth: I’d like to specifically recognize and thank Ben Eck and Luke Plummer for organizing this race weekend. They demonstrated tremendous initiative to propose the race months ago and worked all summer long to prepare the courses and ensure the race run smoothly. We are very proud of Ben and Luke and the entire MIT team of volunteers and racers who helped make such a great weekend possible.

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~Beth (plus my new horsey friend I found on the race course)

Drexel – A Wicked Good Time

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Start of Women’s A race

This past weekend we fearlessly headed down to Pennsylvania to race probably the most technically challenging courses of all season. Beth, Meg, and Alex were our courageous MIT racers, and we were joined by Simon who races for Harvard. This weekend proved to be quite an adventure for each of us, making the weekend one we’ll be talking about for many months to come!

The following blog post brought to you by Alex Springer, who raced his first collegiate race this past weekend at Drexel! Congrats Alex for a great first race weekend!

MTB Racing; A Rekindled Passion for an Abusive Relationship

I completed my first (of many, hopefully) cycling races with the MIT Cycling team this weekend at the Drexel MTB race. Without a bike or any excuse to say “No”, I accepted MTB Captain Beth’s (frantic) request to come out and race with the team in Drexel, PA. Despite the course being 5.5 hrs away, it turns out that the old adage; “Good things take time” is true, because I had an absolutely epic time mountain bike racing this past weekend.

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Alex looking strong during short track

I had raced MTB a few times while in high school, but since coming to college I had not touched a mountain bike in just over 3.5 years. Nevertheless, that didn’t seem like a good enough reason not to race so I hopped on a borrowed bike (Thanks Ben Woolston!) and set off for the races. I started with the XC course and I was riding pretty strong sitting in 3rd or 4th place until I hit the downhill section and thought my technique was much better than I actually was. I completed the endo and fell down the hill twenty feet with my bike. Luckily, I was fine…the bike was not. I snapped the rear derailleur hangar and had to DNF the race. However, I found a local bike shop with the correct derailleur hangar and was back in business by the afternoon for the Clusterhuck which was a team relay with me and Beth. I did the hill climb and she rode the downhill portion. The race was less than seven minutes, but I started to feel the excitement of racing that I recalled from high school bubbling up inside.

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Best part about racing downhill? The helmet. Molly [left] from Yale (and adopted by our team) and Beth get ready to tackle the clusterhuck.
On Saturday night the team took a jaunt over to the Tiki Bar which was an eclectic bar situated at the base of the ski mountain and bike race course. The bar certainly played up the island theme which was an odd feeling being in the middle of a ski resort. After many games of rummy (the card game, not the drink), we decided to turn in for an early night with racing the next morning.

Having had the DNF the day before, I approached the short track race on Sundaymorning with fresh legs and a goal of completing the race. I ended up exceeding my goal and took first place which was quite surprising for me. I raced pretty conservatively having taken the lead during lap two of four and rode steady throughout the race in order not to break myself or the bike. The weekend concluded with the team relay which I raced with Beth which we won by default because no other teams had a girl. Despite a few cuts and bruises gained over the weekend, and a ripped jersey from a too-close encounter with a tree, I was happy to be in one piece and end with the team win in the relay to cap off a great weekend!

Simon looking good in short track!
Simon looking good in short track!

As I write this, I’m already looking forward to the upcoming Sliderule Shredfest hosted by MIT. Having not touched a mountain bike in over three years to winning the Men’s B Short Track certainly instilled my love of mountain biking once more, and I can’t get wait to get out into the mud once more.

— Alex Springer, MIT

One of the highlights of the weekend for me was dinner Saturday night – we found this historic and adorable italian place that was clearly the “place to be” on a Saturday evening in Schwenksville (yes that IS the name of the town). The portions were enormous and delicious, and we really enjoyed just hanging out, resting our legs, and chatting.

Meg, Molly, Alex, Simon enjoying the beautiful sunshine
Meg, Molly, Alex, Simon enjoying the sunshine

And the dessert…oh, yes, the dessert….

Dessert heals all wounds
Dessert heals all wounds

Grilling, Chilling, and Racing @ UVM

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Our UVM Team, including two new racers! (Ben, Emele, Dirk, Beth)
This post brought to you by new MIT racer, Dirk Stahlecker.
This past weekend I got to experience something I’ve been looking to do for years now: race something with wheels! I’ve mountain biked for years, but never had the opportunity to race before, and it was so much fun! There’s nothing like feeling the competitors at your back to motivate you to pedal harder and go faster.

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Ben Eck clearly enjoying his race!

I will say, however, that I really had no idea what any of it would be like when I signed up. I knew I enjoyed mountain biking, especially the going downhill aspect, so I signed up for three events: cross country, short course, and dual slalom, figuring since I was there I might as well try everything out. Cross country was first. As we lined up at the starting line and raced toward the first corner, I found myself on the outside about 4 or 5 wide going into a downhill grassy turn. Next thing I knew, the person on the inside had clipped my handlebars and both of us were sent flying into the ground, collecting probably 6 or 8 others behind us in the wreck. The rest of the race was uneventful (other than a few wrong turns on the poorly marked course), but definitely a good ride. Nice and flat and fun.

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Emele and Dirk just before their race!
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Beth – smiling, because racing is fun!

I couldn’t wait to check out the dual slalom course next. It’s a side-by-side track downhill, with jumps, whoops, step ups, step downs, and tabletops, and it’s so much fun to ride! I loved the technical element – you had to set up perfectly going into each element to make sure you cleared the double or held enough speed through the corner. It was a full adrenaline rush down, and very technical, which was really fun. I crashed pretty hard a few times (and unfortunately in my seeding race as well), but it was definitely my favorite event!

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Proof of Ben’s tasty and much needed cheeseburgers. Ben – kudos to you for some serious grilling skills.

Beth and I were the only two competing in the slalom. One of the highlights of the day was when Ben showed up at the top holding hamburgers for us that he’d just grilled! It was a precursor to a fantastic dinner at the campsite that evening after the race was over. I’d forgotten just how much better food tastes when eaten while camping.

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Dirk and Ben just chillin at the top of Dual Slalom
The next day was the final event, short course. I didn’t really know much about this event going in, all I knew was that it was shorter than cross country, which I was happy about. Turns out that the course was only about two and a half minutes long, and we raced it for 20 minutes. It was fast and fun, but there were a ton of rocks and roots to contend with. It made me really wish I had pedal clips, as I had trouble keeping my feet on the pedals on the downhill.
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Emele tackles the sketchy descent

The race was a lot of fun though. The starting line was set back in a very rocky, rough area, and it was a short sprint to the essentially singletrack first corner. There was a mix of pedaling and just running off the start. I decided to pedal, and actually managed to get the holeshot, as I was the first one to the corner! I actually held the lead for most of the lap! That was definitely the highlight of the weekend for me. I still don’t quite know how I managed it, but it was super cool.

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Dirk leading the pack!

Overall, the entire weekend was a great experience. It was awesome to get out racing mountain biking again, and especially be able to be around others who enjoy it as much as I do. I’m definitely looking forward to my next race!

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Yup – that’s Emele just chillin with a beer and ear of corn. #mtbracesaresochill

Great turnout for Northeastern MTB Race!

Don't be fooled by the 'cross bike - we're the MIT Mountain Bike Team!
Don’t be fooled by the ‘cross bike – we’re mountain bikers [Zeb, Ben, Marcos, Jeff, Beth, Coach Psi & Spiro, Simon]
We had a fabulous turnout for our second mountain bike race of the season hosted by Northeastern in Western Massachusetts. MIT racers included Ben Eck, Jeff Duval, Beth Hadley, Zeb Hanley, Anna Cheimets, Marcos Esparza, Corey Tucker. We were also joined by Simon Chaput, Harvard’s MTB captain and Matjaz Humar, who raced in the open category. Our mountain bike coach, Coach Psi, also joined us Sunday. He was a great motivator during races (especially as he stood on the uphill section and urged us to pedal faster), and we thoroughly appreciated his presence. He brought his son, Spiro, who loved to explore the woods!

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Coach Psi and his son, Spiro! Thanks for coming out to cheer us on, Coach!!

One of the highlights of the weekend (other than the 10+ hours of sleep we enjoyed Saturday night and the ample consumption of s’mores Friday night) was the dinner location we found on Saturday night – Ben Eck found a quaint rustic restaurant with hearty food and delicious hot chocolate. Dessert was irresistible – two cinnamon donuts and pumpkin ice cream drizzled with caramel. The first bite was like having Fall in your mouth. Overall, a great weekend had by all!

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Beth Hadley tackling the mud during dual slalom

The following entry is written by Anna Cheimets, who talks about her experience during her first ECCC Mountain bike race. She and Corey had a rather unexpected bee encounter during their first race, and both were quite courageous to drive home with smiles.

“I’ve done enough casual mountain biking to know that you haven’t had a successful day of riding unless you are bleeding, bruised or both. This weekend turned out to be exceptionally successful for me by that standard and also quite a bit of fun.

On Friday night we drove out to Dalton MA and pitched our tents in a field right next to the cross country racing course. The Northeastern riders had built a bonfire which we gleefully took advantage of to make s’mores- delectable fuel for the day ahead. Thanks to Beth for bringing the most important ingredient for camping. As I hunkered down in my cozy tent that night, I thought about my race the next day with nervous and excited anticipation.

The whole camp awoke at 7 a.m. sharp, initially roused by an errant car alarm and then coaxed outside by blaring music that set the mood for a weekend of racing and chilling with mountain biker bros. There wasn’t much time to do more than register, eat a quick breakfast and get on the starting line for the Women’s B cross country race. Corey and I sized up the racers on the starting line and then we were off!

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Our courageous racers, Anna [left] and Corey [right].
I was immediately winded as the course turned sharply uphill and stayed a bit hilly for much of the first part of the loop. Then all of a sudden, we were all attacked by a swarm of angry wasps who were incensed about being trampled on. Boy did that get me moving! Soon after I had sped away from their reach, I started to get more into the rhythm of racing. The swooping downhill sections were flow-y and fun and as I got towards the end of my second and final lap I was closing in on the second place rider in front of me, hoping I had enough steam to overtake her at the end.

On the final turn onto the gravel road, I decided to make my move into second place. Unfortunately, I didn’t heed Corey’s wise advice about how bumping into other riders frequently bumps you off your own bike as well. I squeezed too close to my rival and wiped out in the gravel. Covered with dirt and sand, and hazily aware of my thoroughly skinned knee, I grabbed my bike and ran it past my startled opponent and across the finish line!

Bleeding, bruised, stung, winded and feeling fully accomplished, I cheered Beth, Zeb, Ben and Marcos on in their cross country races.

 

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Simon, Jeff, Marcos, and Beth hanging out between races!

As soon as my knee heals up, I’ll be back on the bike and into the woods for more adventures in mountain biking. Great job to the MIT cyclists for riding hard this weekend!”

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Ben Eck showing off his serious pain face!

 

 

When in doubt, just race! Quadcross 2014

Somehow I got it into my head that I wanted to try cyclocross.  I suppose all the stories about bacon and beer handups and ridiculous photos of people leaping onto bikes wearing cat leggings finally seeped into my brain.  So I purchased a tiny black, red and blue Crux with sweet disc brakes and after a few frustrating and bruise-filled mornings in Danehy Park learned to mount and dismount the bike, and somehow stumble over the practice barriers.  Naturally, after about two cumulative hours of ‘cross practice, I was already itching to race despite being woefully underprepared (the best training is racing! -JVDH).  So off to Quadcross I went.

I arrived on race morning  to pre-ride the course with our captain Matt Li, who explained the best way to approach each section of the most technical course I had ever ridden (uhhh, where’s the pavement??). I was in turn both exhilarated and completely terrified at what I was about to do.

We were the first race to go off, and I lined up at staging with my four other MIT Women teammates, feeling excited and mentally focusing on two goals – don’t get hurt, and have some fun!  I am still nursing a shoulder injury from road season so I was especially concerned about the first one.

Powering through a flat section of the course at Quadcross
Powering through a flat section of the course at Quadcross

Before I knew it the gun went off and we were sprinting down the chute into the first turn.  For anyone not familiar with ‘cross, the start is the most important for positioning yourself in the race, and is an all-out sprint and shoulder/elbow/hipcheck-fest.  Since I was a n00b, I totally botched this part and managed to end up in last place because I dismounted on a hill and couldn’t clip back in.  Meh.  During the course of the race I was able to pass a few riders by motoring up the steepest parts of the course and staying upright in the tight, technical turns.  The most difficult section by far was a sandpit containing 2 tight turns which I (VERY STUPIDLY and to the amusement of all watching) tried to ride, but which everyone else figured out was necessary to run through.  I fell on the first two laps and then finally realized I had to dismount and run for the last two laps. I was able to complete the entire race without being lapped by the leaders and was incredibly proud to cross the finish line.

Cyclocross is a gut-wrenching, exhilarating, terrifying experience which pushes you to your limit both mentally and physically. I did things on my bike that I never thought I could do, and that was truly awesome.  The spectators were incredible and the atmosphere friendly, plus there was ample food and adult beverages to enjoy. I learned more in that 40 minute race than I probably could have learned in hours of biking around in a park or on trails.  CX is something you have to experience firsthand… you can’t train for all the obstacles you’ll find in a race.

The ladies of MIT Cyclocross celebrate their finish at Quadcross!
The ladies of MIT Cyclocross celebrate their finish at Quadcross!

Finally, perhaps my favorite part of the day was cheering on my teammates after my own race was finished – CX is a really, really fun spectator sport! If you can’t tell, I’m already hooked and signed up for my next race, Rapha SuperCross in Gloucester, MA!  I definitely recommend checking out a ‘cross race – I guarantee you’ll have a fun time, whether you race or not!

Clarkson Season Opener – A Muddy Good Time!

This past weekend, Ben, Beth and I hit the road for the long trek up to Potsdam, New York for the first mountain bike race of the season. This would be my first experience racing in the ECCC, and luckily I had two seasoned vets to show me what these races are all about!

We arrived at the campsite around 1am, which gave us just enough time to set up camp and snuggle in for the night before the torrential downpour began. On Saturday, it rained… and it rained… and then it kept raining. After dropping Ben and Beth off at the Clarkson campus for their XC races in the morning, I headed back to the camping area with the uber-friendly team from Lehigh. After some deliberation, we decided that biking in the rain would be considerably more fun than freezing our butts off in the tent, so we saddled up and went to check out the dual slalom course. After two hours of churning through cake batter-like slop, the three of us looked like we had been in a girls-gone-wrong mud fight and lost. Miserably. We decided to take a break when we could no longer change gears due to the accumulation of nature in all of the used-to-be-moving parts of our bikes. Fortunately, there was a small lake (swamp?) nearby where we could bath ourselves and dunk our bikes. For future reference, I don’t recommend fully submerging your bottom bracket in the Seven Springs swamp.

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Day 2 was gorgeous, Day 1 not so much 🙂

That afternoon, our comrades returned from the XC race looking mildly soggy but cheerful as ever. Beth finished a strong 4th in the women’s A and Ben kept up with a fast men’s A field. After much chocolate and a chance to recover our core temperatures, the three of us suited up for some dual slalom action. Ben kicked butt and finished 2nd in his race, and Beth and I claimed 1st and 2nd in the women’s B category! Okay, okay. We were the only two women racing in the B dual slalom. There may or may not have been some running with bike in-hand. It still counts. After the racing finished, the sun emerged in time to dry out our sorry butts and convince us to camp a second night instead of retreating to a motel.  The rest of the evening was filled with Ben’s amazingly delicious hamburgers, a few s’mores by the fire, and some entertaining shenanigans provided free of charge by a few rambunctious RIT riders.

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Megan getting ready to dominate at downhill!

We woke up to blue skies and sunshine on Sunday morning – a welcome treat! After stopping for the sweet caffeinated elixir of life at a local coffee shop, the endurance riders suited up for the short track XC. The Lehigh team adopted me once again, and we went back to get in a few practice runs on the downhill course. The downhill was super fun and fast, with the quickest men’s riders finishing in just over a minute. It had a good mix of flow and technical features, with a loose and precarious rock garden thrown in to keep things spicy. On my third run through the course, a small error in judgement resulted in the butt-end of my handlebars attempting to make a shish-kabob of my spleen, at which point I was gently reminded (a) why helmets were the best invention ever, and (b) why it’s important to plug the ends of your handlebars. Fortunately, a little adrenaline and some Hershey’s chocolate from Beth’s secret stash had me sorted out by the time the racing started. I lucked out with two relatively clean runs and managed to claim second in the women’s A race! Woohoo!

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Michelle (from Northeastern) grabbing a dozen ears of corn for $3 #becausewecan

On the drive home, we stopped for some sweet corn and zucchini at a roadside stand. It was a long trip, but time flies when you have good company and fresh veggies! Overall, I was incredibly impressed with the quality of riders out this weekend and am so pumped for the rest of the race season. Happy biking 🙂

— Megan O’Brien, MIT