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Skidmore Cycling ranks 10th in division
The six-man racing squad of the
Skidmore Cycling Club competed in its first race this past Saturday,
the sixth of March. The race, called the Frozen-Toed Race, due to its
early-March scheduling, featured downpours interspersed with drizzle,
and 25 teams, all ready to contest the first intercollegiate race of
this season.
After the competition at Rutgers, Skidmore
Cycling is ranked 10th in division II of the Eastern Collegiate
Cycling Conference. There are 35 teams competing for the division II
title. This coming weekend, Skidmore Cycling will be competing in
three races at Penn State, and will be racing at Columbia and
Princeton Universities the following weekend. Our goal is to end the
season ranked in the top 15 clubs of division II. If you are
interested in racing with us, contact myself, Adam Cohen (a2cohen@skidmore.edu)
or Dave Brown (d1brown@skidmore.edu), and don’t forget to check out
our website,
hudson2.skidmore.edu/studentorgs/cycling, which features photos from
winter training, as well as from our first race. We will keep you
updated on our progress as the season unfolds, and we will also let
you know about opportunities to join us on upcoming recreational rides
for non-racing club members. Please keep reading for details on the
Frozen-Toed Race.
Skidmore placed 18th overall, accumulating
22 points to tie Tufts University. The University of Vermont won the
race, accumulating 266 points, followed closely by Dartmouth and Penn
State, with 209 and 186 points respectively. In collegiate cycling,
points are awarded to the top finishers in each of the six divisions.
Skidmore Cycling currently competes in three divisions, Men’s A, C,
and D.
In the A race, the
highest level of intercollegiate cycling, team captain Dave Brown ’07
was one of 49 starters in the 24.2 mile race. The late afternoon race
was marked by downpours of biblical proportions, but fortunately, no
significant crashes. Dave rode a tactically savvy race, and finished
11th overall, a scant 19 seconds behind the winner, a rider from UVM.
Dave earned all of Skidmore’s 22 points with this result.
In the C race, which was 19.8
miles long, Cycling Club President Adam Cohen '06 and I were forced to
contend with numerous crashes, caused by the slippery road conditions,
as well as several intense periods of rain. Of 73 starters, only 57
finished the race. Adam went down hard on the back stretch of the
circular course on the first lap when another rider's rear derailleur
got tangled in his wheel. Adam's front wheel was severely damaged in
the crash, and the other rider broke his leg. Adam was able to scrape
himself off the pavement, and even on a damaged wheel, finished the
race. I avoided the crash that took Adam out, but got stuck behind a
fairly major crash a lap later. Although I avoided going down myself,
there were about twenty riders down in the road in front of me, and I
had to slow down to avoid getting entangled in their bicycles. While I
was trying to get around that crash, the leaders broke away from the
pack, and stayed away for the remainder of the race. I finished fourth
in the chase group, 35th overall, 2 minutes behind the winner from
Princeton University. Adam finished 55th.
The D race was 15.4
miles long, and was won by a rider from Harvard University, Skidmore
was represented by Thomas Arnold, '07, Ricki Silver, '07, and Ian
Liptak, '07. Tom finished 21st, and Ricki and Ian finished 36th and
42nd respectively. All three put in an excellent effort, and Tom
finished with the same time as the winner. Ricki finished two minutes,
thirty seconds later, and Ian finished thirty seconds later. The
competition in the D race was fierce, and with 74 starters, was the
largest field of the day. Complete race results can be found at
http://www.eccc-info.com/2004/results/2004_03_06_rutgers_crit.html
Happy Riding!
Andrew Bernstein ‘07
VP for Communications
Skidmore Cycling
Andrew Bernstein
Co-News Editor
The Skidmore News
a2bernst@skidmore.edu
x6839
Cell: 917 685 7859
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