Welcome back from spring break everybody!
We have lots of stuff on the agenda tonight. Recaps of the past two weekends of killing it at road races and information for this weekends race in Philly. We also have vans reserved for tomorrow’s mountain bike ride so get your knobby tires on and come ride! That and much, much more.
See you all tonight!
First, all roadies interested in racing this coming weekend need to be at the meeting tonight or email me asap. asmhopwood@gmail.com
This weekend the road team raced at Columbia in New York City and Stevens in Mountainside, New Jersey. Another great weekend.
Saturday: We stayed at the Izzo’s again this year so we started the day with a fabulous breakfast. For those of you that don’t know, we race in NYC around Grant’s Tomb every year. Its pretty sweet to race around the Manhattan streets. Its definitely one of my favorite ECCC courses. It was chilly in the morning but once the sun came out, the afternoon was gorgeous. A few of our riders upgraded since last weekend so while everyone raced their butts off, most of us just managed to stay in the race. It was a challenging crit course with 4 ninety degree turns and a long sweeping downhill turn. It featured flats, sweeping descents, quick hills, and false flat up hills. All of us stayed upright aside from myself. I got laid my bike on the asphalt for the first time in a massive pile-up in the Women’s A/B field. my bike and I are ok though! It was a great day in the city.
That night we stayed at the Esposito’s house in Jersey and were treated to luxury. A full, catered, Italian dinner with a beautiful table set in their epic dining room. Although Espo himself wasn’t there, Mr. Espo definitely took care of us.
Sunday: The circuit race this day strongly resembled the soul crusher last weekend but significantly shorter. Thank goodness. It was a beautiful day, again, and the course was pretty sweet. Rolling hills with some incredible descents and one steep but relatively quick climb. Again, we all managed to hang on to our fields. Special thumbs up to our two A riders, Mike and Dom. They were seriously struggling in lap 3 of 5 and made the decision to stay in and kill themselves rather than dropping out in exhaustion. They both finished mid pack. True displays of Rule #1.
Top Scorers:
Crit -
Ashley Hopwood – 3rd womens B
RR -
Ashley Hopwood – 3rd womens B
Brian Coate – 8th mens C1
Eric Panicucci – 9th mens C1
Also, we’re stepping up the battle against UVM. If anyone has ideas for pranks, bring them to the meeting!
There will not be a meeting tonight because of spring break. Get on your bikes!
This weekend the road team raced at Rutgers. It was a pretty stellar weekend and all in all, I’d say we cleaned up.
Saturday: The ITT in the morning was flat and short and, even though it was chilly, super fun. The circuit race later that day was another game altogether. Each 13 mile loop had 1000 feet of climbing. The morning was rainy and cold and our men Intro, C, D and women C suffered through it like champs. It was soul crushing and a great start to the season.
Sunday: The criterium featured a nice little hill that, by the end, felt like a mountain. The descent of the hill was long and sweeping and everyone challenged themselves to stay off the brakes. It was a good time.
MVP: Max Nagel! Max crashed at the bottom of a long and slick descent. His rear wheel slid out from under him and he went down. He and the bike slid on asphalt until the road ended and then blew through a barbed wire fence. Max, covered in scratches and blood, finished the race and non chalantly said he thought his wrist was broken. It was. After a quick hospital visit, Max came back to the race and cheered us all on. For his first race, he proved himself an awesome teammate and all around BAMF. Now max has a cast and some pretty awesome scratches (his hand looks like wolverine’s) but he was still smiling all weekend. Like a boss.
Top Scorers:
ITT -
Ashley Hopwood (me!) – 2nd womens B
Brian Coate – 2nd mens D1
Max Nagel – 4th mens Intro
Nick Varamo – 8th mens Intro
Road Race -
Booey Hottenstein – 11th mens A
Ashley Hopwood – 9th womens B
Brian Coate – 3rd mens D1
Crit:
Booey Hottenstein – 12th mens A
Dom Caiazzo – 19th mens A
Ashley Hopwood – 3rd womens B and 4th in 2 primes
Brian Coate – 1st mens D1 and 2nd in a prime (check out his awesome bike throw in the above picture. thats how you win a race)
Great start to the season.
Hey all,
Road season starts next week so make sure you come out tonight with any last question! Anybody who has not yet signed up for this weekend’s race needs to come to the meeting tonight or e-mail Ashley at asmhopwood@gmail.com.
Also, we have a riveting presentation by the one and only Ryan Conroy on suspension…you won’t want to miss this. Exciting happenings tonight.
See you there. Same time, same place.
Just a reminder that we are not meeting tonight because the school locked us out…President’s Day. Go ride your bikes!
Good news everybody! Tomorrow is Monday, and you all know what that means. Bike meeting!
We have all sorts of happenings to talk about tomorrow so make sure you’re there. Lessons on how to sign up for a license for road season, a lesson on how to prep your bike before you ride and something you all have been waiting for!
Hint: The second word in New Jersey…
Hey Everybody,
USAC has renewed out collegiate club membership. You will now be able to renew your racing licenses for road season!
Come to the meeting tonight where we are going to talk about all things awesome. Website improvements, bike maintenance, mountain bikes, road bikes, and free money! 8pm 104 West Village G
Hey All,
In the process of trying to revamp the website a little over the next couple days. All the links still work but the appearance will be changing from time to time.
Thanks!
Bringing the cycling team to new heights! Come to the meeting tonight to meet the new officers and learn what we have in store for the coming year.
Same time Same Place. 8pm in 104 West Willage G