Season Opener

Race Season Starts!

This year’s ECCC race season was kicked off in Nyack, New York this past weekend at the Columbia Rockland Lake Circuit Race. All was well and good on Friday evening when seven of us piled into the van and made it to our swanky destination (a Best Western complete with world renowned cheesecake and cheeseburgers, not to mention a disco dance party), but come Saturday morning, things were starting to look a little rough. Throughout the day, the RISD van was no stranger to old (and cold) friends looking for a sanctuary from the chilly weather.

With a constant, steady rain throughout the day and a chilly temperature reading of 38 degrees F, the day ahead did not look too promising. No matter! Women’s C/D was up first at 9:40 am, and Lizzie, Yueping, and I were eager (nervous may be more accurate) to start our first race as RISD team members. Lizzie and Yueping held their own amongst the combined groups (despite a small chain mishap for Yueping), while I was dropped on a climb before the last lap. C’est la vie.

13 - Lizzie - 50:02

15 - Yueping - 50:47

16 - Tia - P&P

Next on the team’s roster was Men’s B, where Brian, Nik, and Henry had their go at the rain and mud. This race being 33.3 miles, the boys got extra exposure to the steady stream of rain water and gravel. Regardless of the elements, though, the course proved to be a fun one with great views and a steady pack, though Nik found himself ending with six broken spokes from a minor crash.

11 - Brian - 1:29:05

DNF - Henry (I’m assuming he cramped up)

DNF - Nik (wheel of misfortune)

And last but not least, Men’s A proved to be a great ride for Jules. Though the race was shortened to 90 minutes from it’s original two hour length, the group had its fair share of the terrain as well. No one was spared from the post-race-mud-mask.

4 - Jules - 1:41:38

So ended the first day, and by that evening we were in New Jersey, enjoying late night junk food and washing our muddy kits and socks for Sunday’s race.

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Another Criterium race, Sunday found us completing a one mile circuit on Rutger’s campus. With significantly less potholes and no sign of rain, this race was already looking to be more manageable. Everything really came down to the flats in such a short course, and lapping did occur, as well as placed sprints in each race.

In Women’s combined C and D, I was once again dropped earlier on but finished with the others this time. Lizzie held strong with the pack for a good while, and Yueping held tight with the pack till the end (she was also able to place 4th in the second sprint—way to go Yueping)!

7 - Yueping - 31:58 (1 point)

13 - Lizzie - 1 lap

16 - Tia - 2 laps

Once again, Men’s B gave Brian, Nik, and Henry a good run through the 21.6 mile race. For the whole of the race, Brian and Nik remained in the top 10 keeping their pace towards the front of the pack. And though Henry was pulled, he made sure to get in his work-out, going hard on the trainer for the remainder of the race.

5 - Brian - 51:05

10 - Nik - 51:05

32 - Henry - P&P

The Men’s A race of 24 miles ended up with a strict divide of a five person breakaway group, the pack, and two groups of three that fell behind. Holding steady for the entirety of the race, it proved hard for any other breakaway groups to form despite Jules’ best efforts, and in the last pull the leading group lapped the pack as a whole.

10 - Jules - 1 lap

Overall, the weekend proved to be a great start to the 2015 ECCC race season. Us newbies got a good first taste of the racing world, while the hoards of stolen fruit, muffins, and bagels stolen from The Met kept us all fed throughout the three days of travel and racing.

Looking forward to the races that lie ahead for RISD Cycling!

Old School Cyclocross

"This is old school cyclocross” we were told when we lined up for the Hannover race.

“Old school" turned out to involve a sand pit, tree roots, and a steep rutted descent into a covered picnic area. For me it also involved cramping and falling off. Over and over again. The Hannover race was hard, and it beat me up.

Jules and Jane had no such issues though: Jules took advantage of a blunder by a UVM rider and made an early escape, winding up on the top step of the podium (his first P/1/2/3 win) with a 30 second margin. Jane took third in the women’s elite, and was also the top placed collegiate rider, scooping maximum points.

We returned to Nashua for burritos and beer (that cycling diet though…) and made an early start for Saratoga in the morning. The course couldn’t have been more different: a grass crit with lots of flat and generally smooth switchbacks.

There were some fun sections that wound through trees, and a superior spectating/heckling area with a fire pit. Jane fought off a larger field than the previous day’s, and took sixth – once again the top collegiate rider.

Jules put in another stunning ride, and rounded off the day with another podium – this time 3rd place.

All in all a great weekend of racing that took in five states, excellent host housing courtesy of the Babala’s (thank you again), and some motor pacing and bottle handout practice with the RISD van. Most importantly, Jules and Jane now each stand at the top of their respective collegiate categories.

-Marcus Peabody

Photos by Franciosa 

Shippensburg - A Weekend of Upgrades

We made the long trek down to Amish country for the Shippensburg Scurry.  These races were new to the ECCC calendar.  The climbers amongst us were looking forward to the mass start hill climb and the road race which included a steep climb on a road aptly named horse killer.  

Army Race - Race Recap in Tweets

Saturday was the 14 mile loop road race with long decent and a nice climb. (74)

MIT XPot - Day 2 - Points on Points on Points

Another great day of racing for the RISD team but this time Jules had the mechanical issue. It seems like something always has to happen to someone.

Sunday - Mid 50's and sunny for a moment then cloudy

The course for the road race was an 11 mile loop with rolling hills and a pretty steep 1k climb to the finish of each lap. Each race started with a mile and a half neutral start before we got onto the course.

MIT XPot - Day 1 - The Asterisk Race

Today was probably the best day of racing for the team that we have had so far. We got points in the Men's D ITT and Crit and got points in the Men's C crit. Jane had a mechanical issue in the Women's C but I'll get into that later.

Saturday - Sunny and in the 50's. An awesome day for a race.

A few of us (Alec, Lukas, Karan, and I) did the morning hill climb ITT before the crit. It was Karan's first race for RISD and there is no better way to start racing than 5 miles and 900 feet of climbing. The race went uneventfully for everyone except me. I cleaned my bike last night and wiped down the tires and noticed by back tire was in pretty bad shape but couldn't get to a shop in time to get new ones so I road with the hope that nothing would happen. Well about a mile and a half from the finish my back tire went flat and I cruised to the finish and promptly went and bought new tires. Alec got points in this race and became the first D rider to get on the RISD points board this season.

Bard Crit & Training Camp Day 1

We packed up the van with a lot of stuff because after the Bard race, we were heading to our spring break training camp in New Paltz, NY.

It was a really nice sunny day, not many racers, maybe because no one wanted to travel very far for a one day race.

After watching Sandy and Tom in the D’s, we could see the course was going to strain the field out on the hill, and people would have to work hard to catch the front of the pack. Jules and I warmed up while they were racing, got ready at staging, sandwiching KMS in the start. He freaked out because his tire flopped up to the side of his rim and needed a quick wheel change before the start.

Philly Phyler - Snow, Hail, and Team Omnium Points

We got on the Team Omnium points board! (I’m still not sure exactly how those points are calculated but who cares because we are on them!)  The Philly Phyler is a joint race put on by at least Drexel and Temple and maybe more Philadelphia schools but I'm not sure. It was a long drive to get there and the looming forecast of snow and rain for Saturday's race didn't help.

Grant's Tomb - A One Day Classic

A solid day of racing for the RISD team on a beautiful day in New York.

The Grant's Tomb Crit is put on by Columbia and they apparently worked pretty hard the day and night before to set up and clean up the snow from the course. The course itself was a nice L shape with 4 left hand corners and a nice sweeping turn at the top to put you back on the finishing straight. There was a little kicker of a hill between turn 3 and turn 4 and a false flat up the finishing straight.

Rutger's Recap - A Race to Remember

Not to brag but man that is some alliteration in the title for this post. This past weekend was the season opening race at Rutgers for the ECCC. Friday, eight RISD riders and five Brown riders piled their bikes, gear, and clothes into 2 vans and the trip was underway. Saturday's race was a relatively flat .8 mile Crit with no terrible corners and a good race to get the season underway with. I won't go into too much detail about each race but just know much fun was had by all.