Bikeman and the Bees - Dartmouth L'Enfer Du Nord/ UNH Live Free or Ride Harder

Bikeman ventures into the wilderness of NH, in a world where there are no taxes and just roads....

The first mass start in the Men's B and as a Cat 3 at
Dartmouth University

UVM Cycling ventured down to NH, the closest race of the season.  We had four races to compete in, the first two hosted by Dartmouth, and the final two hosted by UNH.  To highlight the weekend, UVM Cycling gained a win from the appearance of The Jamey Driscoll who stomped the Men's A field in the Criterium.  Day 2 was marked with a 3 Men's A riders within the top 10 of the road race. A spectacular weekend of racing from UVM Cycling!

Day 1 - Dartmouth L'Enfer Du Nord - ITT and Criterium

Hammering the
Criterium climb

Rocketing up the power
climb in the Criterium

After gaining an upgrade to Cat 3, I was automatically placed in the Men's B this past weekend.  Sadly leaving the hoard of C-Men, I moved into the B category starting with the on campus time trial.  Riding through Dartmouth Campus was both inspirational and educational.  As you rode through, you could feel the intelligence seeping from the buildings.  While nothing of excitement happened for me in the time trial, the 4 mile up hill grind through dirt, pavement and New Hampshire was more than grueling.  I finished in 29th place amongst the Men's B in the time trial.  Not my best result, but also not my worst.

The day progressed with the weather fluctuating from warm to cold, from windy to calm.  By the end of the day it had begun to snow, but before the snow was my time to take a stab at the Criterium.  Having watched the Men's B race before, I expected a faster and smoother pace when compared to the Men's C.

Attacking from the back of the back during
the final lap of the Men's B Criterium

Through the race I managed to hang towards the tail of the main pack.  With about 6 or 7 laps to go, a crash at corner four separated the main pack.  I managed to weave through the carnage and latch back on to the lead pack.   During the final lap, I made a move up the right side of the field and tried to launch off the front.  The gap that I opened was quickly shut down by the field, but I was not over taken.  I managed to hang on to third wheel position until just after corner four when the sprint happened.  Having exhausted myself trying to make a gap, I had nothing left for the sprint and was swarmed.  I managed to go from 3rd to 20th in the matter of 5 second.  Be faster than the things happening around you.


Day 2 - UNH Live Free or Ride Hard - TTT and Road Race
The races hosted for UNH started with torental downpour.  With no end in sight for the rain, the Men's B did not assemble a team for the TTT and instead rested in the vans in "prep" for the afternoons race.  The rain eventually let up in time for the start of the road race.  Soon after the start of the race I heard a clicking that I thought was the magnet on my front wheel hitting my sensor.  I later discovered (around mile 15 of 19 in lap 1 of 3, that I had actually blown a spoke.  I stopped and removed the spoke, after which I opted to pull out of the race.  Better safe than sorry!

Overall, I'm happy with my results and can see where I need to tactically improve as well as physically.  Not being remarkably stronger than the other riders, I am going to be forced to ride smarter and conserve energy with hopes I will have enough left for the final sprint.

Arc hard, ride fast, go plaid!

Bikeman Eats the Beanpot - Boston Beanpot 2.0

Bikeman ventures deep into the pain cave while trying to steer clear of bonksville.

The race before the race was won by the green and gold.

The weekend started off with snow.  Lots and lots of snow fluttering down from the skies in both solid and liquid forms making the drive down a less than fun experience (driving-wise, still entertaining though!).  Upon arriving we found out the planned Circuit race had been changed to a day of Time Trials, both Team  and Individual.  Luckily, Day 2, the Beanpot 2.0 Campus Criterium remained unaffected by the weather and ran as scheduled with Men's and Women's Collegiate Races in the morning and USAC races immediately following in the afternoon.

Day 1 - Westminster, MA - TTT and ITT - Boston Beanpot 2.0
Our day started with a mixture of delicious pancakes, maple syrup, orange juice and snow.  Lots of cold, white, fluffy and stupid snow.  Because of the recent accumulation of precipitation, our schedule of events had changed from a TTT and a Circuit to a TTT and an ITT, also known as a day in the PAIN CAVE.  We arrived in Westminister with classic UVM Cycling style, a style which explains itself.

Right to left: Scott Igo, Harry Goldman and Joshua Saxe
cross the finish with the fastest TTT time.

TTT - For the TTT we decided to reform teams to be equally suited in ability and body types.  For a TTT all riders work together by using the rider in front of them as a blocker, riders take turns being the lead rider and blocking wind, thus creating a slipstream for teammates to ride and rest in until it is their turn to pull. Teams of equally sized riders are efficient when riders take pulls for short amounts of time, making sure to keep a pace which all riders can maintain until the finish.  Our four-man team of smaller riders, including myself, succeeded to post the fastest time of 35:16.28 over 12.5 miles to take the win, while our four-man team of larger riders was close behind with a time of 35:29.82, resulting in a 1-2 finish for UVM Cycling!  I would like to point out the use of equipment amongst the winning team more specifically the converted Haro Mountain Bike ridden by Scott Igo who utilized road fork and drop bars to complete the conversion to a "Road Bike" and special for the occasion, an aero disc wheel for extra "badassery."

ITT - The ITT was less of a team event.  In fact, the ITT is the definition of a non-team event.  All riders pace themselves to produce the fastest possible time over the distance of the marked Time Trial course.  Individually I was happy with my performance.  After catching two riders in front of me, and dropping a rider who caught me on the final climb of the ITT, I posted a 5th place finishing time of 18:06.50, roughly 5 seconds behind Jake "The Hebrew Hammer" Warshaw who finished in 4th with a time of 18:01.19 over the 6.3 mile course.

Day 2 - Somerville, MA - Criterium and USAC Criterium

Tanner Haskins and Josh Saxe take a visit through the
pain cave without going through bonktown.

Collegiate Criterium - After getting a good nights rest on the most comfortable couch in the world, we traveled to Tufts Somerville campus for the legendary criterium which was last raced in 2007.  The course was technically demanding, with 6 corners and three sets of cobblestone walkways spanning across the finishing flat.  The course started with an easy left hand turn into a quick descent which led straight to a blisteringly fast 90 degree left hand corner.  The corner of death was followed by a smooth semi-flat straight away leading into corner 3 and 4, an uphill switchback followed by a brief flat into the climb after corner 5 and 6 in to the finishing stretch.

The racing was fast and furious.  The brakes were rarely touched anywhere in the course.  Coming out of turn 2 on to the flats was the most forgiving section of the race due to the helping hand of the tailwind.  Coming into the climb and on to the flats was by far the deepest in to the pain cave I went in the whole race.  The upper flat finishing stretch was tainted by a brutally strong headwind which made the apex of the climb a chore and half to push through.  I managed to finish in 16th place in the Collegiate Criterium, a satisfying placement considering criteriums are by far my weakest event.

Returning to the pain cave of Beanpot 2.0 Criterium as
an Onion!

USAC 4/5 Criterium - Later in the day I had a repeat performance amongst the USAC 4/5 field, finishing in 17th place among the 18/49 finishers.  While the pace was faster and I was exhausted, I managed to push myself further into the depths of the pain cave for a finishing result.

Coming up next...
Next weekend I will be venturing to race the legendary Battenkill, a classic race of the East Coast.  Feared by some, won by others.  Hopefully I will be able to travel to Yale to compete in the first day of races before the Battenkill Road Race on Sunday.  Yale was my first collegiate racing weekend last year, where I was pulled from all races besides the Time Trial.  I would love the chance to be able to return to Yale and put the race in it's place.  After all, no one has ever won a race in which they don't start.

Arc hard, ride fast, go plaid!

Bikeman and the Philly Phlyer - Philly Phlyer

Bikeman ventures to the home of his nemesis, the Philly Phlyer in hopes to to arrive at an arangement to be decided by the outcome of a friend competition...

No plaid seen in the Criterium at Temple University.

This past weekend, UVM cycling ventured towards Philadelphia.  Upon our arrival we encountered the illusive hipster in it's natural environment.  With a fixed gear and handlebars just large enough for both hands, but small enough to squeeze where no man has gone before (i.e. between two buses), we marveled as the hipsters zoomed through the heavy traffic of Philadelphia.  Somehow, I don't think I'll be trying it any time soon....

Day 1 - Fairmont Park - TTT and Circuit

The race before the race.

The first day of racing took place in Fairmont Park.  While the first squad for the C-men took to the road for the Team Time Trial at a blistering pace, the second squad took more time to work on team dynamics and pace lining technique.

Dropping the hammer at
the finish of the TTT

While we finished 11th out of the 19 TTT teams, we were happy with the dynamics and skills that were practiced while on the road.
After the TTT, we once again took to the road for the Circuit race.  Again racing in Fairmont Park, we completed multiple laps around a 6.2 mile loop which had short climbs and long straight aways.  We averaged 25 mph during the 3-lap race.  I managed to finish in 9th place after a lapse in judgement going in to the final climb.  While I was with the leaders going in to the climb, I was in the wrong gear to be able to drop the hammer and pull away in the way that I needed to.  With the 9th place finish, I am now one step closer to the illusive podium finish.  Hopefully I now have some additional tactics in my weaponry.

Day 2 - Temple University - Criterium

Riding to 28th in Sundays Criterium

The Criterium at Temple University did not go as well as the Circuit in Fairmont Park from the day before.  While I believe myself physically capable of placing within the top 10 of a criterium, I still remain mentally unprepared for such an event.  The course was a simple 4-corner loops which totaled 1-mile per lap.  I managed to stay glued to the back of the main field for the entirety of the race, but was unable to make the jump towards any sort of front position.  With a 28th place finish and all my limbs intact, I would call that a success!

Descending before the final climb.

Next weekend we race much closer at RPI in Troy, NY.  Hopefully my results will fair better than they have been.  This week I will be practicing my cornering abilities rain or shine.  Snow however... we'll see.

Arc hard, ride fast, go plaid!