HIGHS AND LOWS:
SKIDMORE CYCLING OPENS SEASON AT RUTGERS CLASSIC RACE WEEKEND

Legs throbbing, lungs burning, stomach churning and heart pounding, I crossed the line at the Rutgers University Classic Individual Time Trial in Piscataway, New Jersey, as Skidmore Cycling opened the collegiate road racing season with bang, taking two wins in men’s C events, a fifth place finish in women’s A, and numerous top 10 and top 20 finishes. With a team greatly strengthened this year by the addition of several younger riders, the season is already shaping up to be one of our most promising ever, as we currently rank 16th of school in Eastern Collegiate Cycling Conference (ECCC). Please continue reading for a full account of the weekend’s action.

Eleven members of the Skidmore Cycling Team had traveled to New Jersey’s frozen marshlands to race in the first weekend of the nine-week collegiate circuit. Racing opened Saturday morning with a “no aero-equipment allowed” individual time trial contested on a 4-miles out and back course. Racing continued that afternoon with a criterium contested on a 1-kilometer course at Rutger’s Busch Campus. The weekend concluded with a circuit race at Rutger’s Livingston campus on Sunday. As in all collegiate events no cash prizes are at stake, only points which count toward securing your team’s ranking in the ECCC. Each of the three events was contest in one of 6 categories, Men’s D through A and women’s B and A. Skidmore entered riders in four categories.

Fielding what might be our strongest team ever, Skidmore started seven riders in the men’s C category: Tom Arnold ’07, Myself – Andrew Bernstein ’07 – Scott Cole ’09, Mike Elmo ’09, Travis Roe-Raymond ’08, Ricky Silver ’07 and Thad Vickery ’09. The team had its first ever men’s B racer in Sam Mapp ’07, and Dave Brown ’07 kicked off his third consecutive season in men’s A. Anna Drakulich UWW, last year’s runner-up for the overall title in the ECCC returned to the women’s A field.

STRONG SHOWING IN THE ITT

In addition to myself, Thad, Scott and Dave all contested the individual time trial (ITT), with the rest of the team choosing to save their legs for latter events and to cheer us on. Riders in the ITT started 30-seconds apart, and were not allowed to draft off of other racers. Thad led off for Skidmore, with me a few minutes back, and Scott right behind me. The goal in a time trial is simply to ride the course as fast as you can. With the number of riders racing in the ITT – 81 riders started in the men’s C category alone – there was no way of knowing how one racer’s time compared to that of other riders until the officials announced results later in the day. Riding the race, all that I knew was that I felt pretty confident in my effort, and was encouraged when I passed three riders who had started in front of me. I saw my team mates only when the course doubled-back on itself, but even from those brief sightings, Thad and Scott both looked like they were riding incredibly well. Thad also wound up passing three riders, and Scott maintained his position, indicating that we had all had fast times.

After racing and cooling down the C-team piled back into the cars for the short drive to the site of the criterium, and Dave prepared to contest the men’s A ITT. Although most of us didn’t get to see Dave race, seeing him warming up with his long-time friend and riding partner Mike Chauner (Bucknell University) was an inspiration to the rest of us as the day progressed.

SUCCESS IN THE CRITERIUM AND ITT

Because so many cyclists had turned out for this event, organizers chose to split both the men’s C and D fields into two for the criterium. Division 2 schools would race first followed by Division 1 schools after that race’s conclusion. Under the rules established by the National Collegiate Cycling Association Skidmore is considered a D 2 school, so our men’s C team lined up for the 25-minute (or, as many laps as we could ride in 25 minutes) race. The pace was fast right from the gun as Scott attacked off the front of the field to warm his legs up. He was soon back in the peloton as we careened around the course’s 4 sharp turns. Feeling confident after my morning ride I attacked by myself into a stiff headwind on the course’s back stretch on the second lap, thinking that I would just lift the pace of the race a little. But before I knew it, I had a sizeable lead over the field, and appeared to be gaining ground.

I rode alone for 2 laps, picking up an intermediary spring on the way and gaining time before I was joined by a rider from Yale University, who was coming back onto the course after receiving a wheel change. Although initially irked that this rider had been allowed to join me off the front instead of being put back into the man pack, I quickly realized how advantageous his presence could be for me. We started working together, each taking a turn to break wind for the other, and watched our margin over the field continue to grow.

This is the beginning of my third season in collegiate cycling, and the prospect of winning a race was very exciting, but I couldn’t let myself think about winning, a fact that Dave reminded me of each lap as he yelled out the size of our gap, reminded us to work together, and above all, reminded me that race wasn’t over until it was over. Dave’s encouragement, along with that of Sam, Anna, my family and friends who had come to watch gave my legs more strength as we kept racing away from the field. My six team mates also greatly aided our efforts. Knowing that I was off the front, Scott, Tom, Travis, Ricky, Thad and Mike were all working hard to try and prevent the field from catching up by riding at the front at a slower pace and chasing down riders trying to bridge up to us. They controlled the field with an iron fist, and their efforts paid dividends for me as the race went on.

In the race’s last lap, my companion, Erik, and I continued to work well together. He took a wide line around the last corner and started to ramp up for a sprint to the line, but I was ready for him, and sprinted out of his draft, coming around him to the line with a significant margin. I shouted and gave a two-armed salute as I crossed the line – my first individual win, but truly one for the team.

Back in the pack, Scott was in prime position to take the field sprint for third place, but crashed coming out of the last corner, a disappointing end to his first day on the collegiate circuit, but he opened the door for Thad, who sprinted to ninth place in his second collegiate event. Tom was 16th, leading Travis 21st and Mike 23rd, both of whom had ridden their first races ever. Tom and Thad also picked up some sprint points along the way. After working hard to help the team Ricky was forced to retire early, saving his legs for the next day’s circuit race.

We all took a cool-down lap and gathered back at our cars to celebrate the victory. While I crossed the line first, it was truly a win for the team – a win made even sweeter when it was announced that I had also won the morning’s ITT over a field of 81 riders with a time of 10 minutes, 32.43 seconds, 4 seconds ahead of my closest competitor. Thad placed 12th with a time of 11 minutes, 1.66 seconds, an incredible showing for one of our youngest riders. Scott had finished with a respectable 11 minutes, 20.26 seconds, to place 24th. In the men’s A ITT Dave placed 32nd, with a time of 10 minutes, 45.44 seconds. Our first day of racing wasn’t even over, and it was already shaping up to be a record-book season for Skidmore.

IMPRESSIVE SHOWING IN A DIFFICULT CATEGORY

Sam was next to line up for the criterium. Only in his second season racing bicycles, Sam was our top finisher in many of last year’s men’s C events, and was fittingly the first Skidmore rider to enter a men’s B race. Although I can’t speak with any personal experience, the jump from C to B appears to be the most challenging transition in collegiate cycling, a fact that I’m sure Sam would attest to after this weekend. The pace in his race was furious from the start, but Sam calmly tucked himself into the field and worked hard to maintain his form as the racers strung out around the course. But despite his best efforts the pace eventually became too much for him, and he was dropped off the back of the pack and retired. Regardless of the way he finished, we were all proud of the way Sam rode, and knew that we could expect big rides from him in the near future.

CHALLENGES FACING THE ‘A’ RACERS

After sitting through two women’s B races, Anna toed the line along with a field of 26 racers – a large turnout for a women’s A event. The race appeared destined for an eventual field sprint until Anna Milkowski, riding for Yale University, but a professional racer for the Lipton Tea team attacked the field, and in the day’s most impressive feat, lapped the field. Milkowski won the race, and Anna, setting up for the sprint for second place, crashed in the course’s final turn, a disappointing way start to her collegiate season, but one that would soon take a turn for the better.

The final event of the day was the men’s A crit. Dave lined up among 48 starters all contesting both the ECCC men’s overall points leader’s jersey and the newly minted ECCC sprint leader jersey. The pace was furious from the start, as it always in men’s A events. There were several break-away attempts throughout the race, but none lasted long and in the end it came down to a nail-biting sprint finish. Dave’s friend Mike Chauner followed up his second place in the ITT to take the win, repeating his win at this race a year ago. Only a sophomore, Chauner is already one of – if not the – best riders in the collegiate circuit. Dave raced hard, and while the pack shelled numerous riders, Dave stayed competitive in the race to the bitter end, but was boxed in by two riders in the finale. He crossed the line 23rd, exhausted from his efforts. On the whole satisfied with our first day of racing – especially with the performance of our newest riders – we packed up and headed back to our host families for the evening.

CRASHES MAR OTHERWISE SUCCESSFUL CIRCUIT RACE

The next morning saw us driving to the nearby Livingston campus for the circuit race. This race, contested on an undulating 2.2-mile circuit, saw riders coming out for their second consecutive day of hard racing, a challenge in and of itself.

The seven C riders lined up among 92 starters – a combined D I and D II field – for our last race of the weekend. We immediately noticed a difference in the field from the day before. While Saturday’s field had seemed relatively fluid and competent on their bikes, Sunday’s group seemed nervous in the corners and overly-eager to slam on their brakes. The poor quality of the riders led to several crashes early in the race, but it was not until the third lap that Skidmore fell victim to poor riding. Coming out of a left-hand turn into an uphill a rider in front of Travis hit his breaks, sending both riders down. Riding right behind Travis, there was nothing that I could do to avoid the crash and I also went down, injuring my coccyx. Tom made it about 20 feet further up the road before he too was brought down in a similar incident. Both mine and Travis’s rear wheels were damaged in the crash, but the damage to mine was not bad enough to render the bike un-ride able, and I was convinced that I could still catch back up to the field and contest the race, I put my chain back on and took off on a solo chase. I never caught the field and eventually finished 58th, well behind the winners. Tom landed head-first in a pile of bikes and bodies, hitting his head hard enough to leave him dazed and confused as he sat in the street. He wound up with someone’s handlebar cap stuck in his helmet’s vent, but was otherwise un-injured. Still, as confused as he was, Tom chose to abandon the race. Travis, who had suffered bad road rash on his hip, leg and arm, in addition to the damage to his bicycle, also chose to abandon.

Ricky, Thad, Scott and Elmo all rode well and managed to avoid further crashes while staying with the pack to finish well. Ricky launched a solo attack on the last climb to the finish line, but was reeled in as the race went to a rider from Rutgers University. Thad finished 23rd, just ahead of Scott in 24th. Ricky wound up 42nd. I eventually passed Mike, who finished just behind me in 62nd. For me it was a disappointing way to follow up the previous day’s wins, but all of the veterans took heart in seeing the way in which our new riders handled themselves in the pack. While a few of us had our races truncated by the poor riding of others, we were proud that all of the Skidmore riders were able to ride competently and safely. We all look forward to riding with better races as some of us get ready to move up to higher categories.

HUGE RIDE IN A DIFFICULT CATEGORY

Sam knew what his mission was before lining up for the B race: stay with the pack. And although the pace in his race was fast right from the outset, Sam rode strongly, staying safely tucked into the field, even as other riders started to get dropped off of the back. Sam looked confident as the race proceeded, and we were all impressed to see him beginning to move toward the front of the field. A rider from UNH eventually went off the front of the race, riding with Earth-shattering speed, and eventually taking the win. But that solo break was not the most impressive thing we saw that day. On the penultimate lap Sam was moving up to the front of the field, about 4 or 5 bikes from the front, and we all bit our nails, wondering if Sam would be able to pull off an upset in the sprint for second place. When the field came around for the last lap Sam had dropped toward the back of the field, the UNH rider took the win well ahead of the filed. But in finishing just behind the main pack, Sam had shown how strong he is and that he has the skills to ride with the men’s B field, an impressive feat, and clearly an indication of bigger things to come.

DUPLICATING OUTCOMES IN THE A CATEGORY

Anna lined up sore from her crash the previous day, but eager to make a statement in her second race. We were all disappointed when the race began to unfold exactly as it had the day before, with Milkowski taking off on another solo attack. Anna rode with a chase group between the leader and the main body of the pack, but they were never able to bring the Lipton pro back. Milkowski eventually won the race, and Anna was boxed in on the final sprint, but was able to hang on for 5th place, a huge showing for her second race of the collegiate season.

Finally Dave got set to race the men’s A event. This race was sure to be fast from the start, but Dave was eager to make a strong impression as he lined up with 49 other starters. This event was both the longest event of the day – as it would be contested over the course of an hour and a half – and the fastest. It was also the most exhilarating to watch. Tom and I walked the course in the opposite direction of the racers, watching them zoom through the corners with their bikes held only by the forces of inertia, friction and gravity at acute angles to the pavement. One rider who dropped out of the race reported to us that his top speed on a slight downhill had been 48 mile per hour, a speed that would have been unsafe on this course in a car.

About halfway through the race Mike Chauner and a handful of other riders managed to break off the front of the pack, but Dave was not able to make the initial split. Because the University of Vermont’s William Dugan was in the front group, the ECCC powerhouse was not inclined to work with Dave to bridge up to the lead group. Out of sheer frustration, Dave launched a solo attach in the race’s final third. The site of Dave pulling ahead of the field, legs pumping up and down so fast that they were visible only as blurs, will surly be an enduring image of this season. But when no one joined him to help him bridge he eventually gave up and returned to the security – and frustrations – of the main field. In the end, the lead group wound up putting time into the field on every lap, a testament to the fact that individuals or small groups can negotiate technical courses much faster than can a large group.

Chauner eventually beat out Ryan Morris from Cornell to take his second win in two days, ensuring that he will wear the ECCC point’s leader’s jersey at the University of Pennsylvania/ Drexel weekend on March 11 and 12 in the city of brotherly love. Dave finished in the field for a impressive 27th place.

On the whole, it was a very successful weekend for Skidmore, and a great way to kick off our season. With our success this weekend, Skidmore was able to accumulate 133 points, and currently ranks 16th in the ECCC, among both D I and D II schools, tied with Boston University. The weekend was won by UVM for D I schools with 575 points, and Yale for D II schools with 506 points. On the whole, it was an exciting weekend of racing, and we look forward to bringing back more good news as we contest the rest of the season.

Be sure to check out photos of all of the action at www.skidmorecycling.com.

Happy Riding!
Andrew Bernstein
VP of Communications
Skidmore Cycling