bok racin'

This past weekend the Virginia Tech Cycling Team went to race bicycles down in Raleigh, NC for its season opener at NC State University. The Men's A race was 75 miles long, so from the gun nothing exciting was really happening. After a long yawn session, I settled in and took in the sweet 50 degree Saturday morning air. I got to talking with one of my teammates from Cycling Center , a certain Scott Jackson, about being top sporter and wearing leg warmers while racing when some jokers from App Army began to attack.

After a flurry of riders going up the road, a breakaway from 5 got about 2 min on the field, near the end of the first lap. I signaled to Matt Howe from NC State that I was going to bridge and we attacked together. We put in a strong effort for 20 minutes but then we were chased down and we got back in the bunch. Strangely I noticed that my own team brought me back. I did some thinking and realized what was going on. The VT train lined up all 8 guys (Owen Nielsen, Ben King, John Zaccone, Steven Gordon, Eoin McDonnell, Bryan McVey, Reid Beloni, and myself) on the front and began to drive hard to reel in the break. After coming back from trying to bridge, I was motioned to be the gatekeeper for the pace line and made sure that no teams got in the mix to interrupt the rotation. We were really nailing it. Eoin's dad was in the wheel truck and had said that we were putting the whole field into the gutter and popping riders off the back. Eoin's dad timed the second lap at 41 minutes, while the rest of the laps averaged 46 minutes. Way to go team!

Eventually we caught the breakaway and the attacks began to fly, again as is expected. Being somewhat "fresh" from sitting behind the pain train I decided to attack with the seperation that was going on. Steven and I got into a move with like 6 other riders. We were going pretty well but then I began to hurt. Ben and Jeff Buckles bridged and I went backwards. I got into a chase group with some other riders but really couldn't put in any power. I felt kind of empty.

I ended up flatting going on the way back to the peloton. BONUS: I got to watch the finish! The break at the end was 6 riders with about 2 minutes on the field. Congrats to Steven for pinning down the win and for Ben following for 2nd. We also cleaned up the field sprint for 7th (Owen) and 8th (Reid). Our Women's A riders went 2nd (Lesley Golenor) and 5th (Sarah Hanson). Not a bad show of force for the first race of the season.

That night the team had some rockin' burritos from the Armadillo Grill.

Note: Although the burritos can be extremely good, do not be fooled by the free chips that fail to come with your meal.

The next day was a 60 minute crit on the NC State Centennial Campus. I got to speak with a number of the good 'ol boys before the race; famous creator of the Doody Bar,Chris Judy (DLP Pro), and C-Do, Craig Dodson (Team Nature's Path Pro/Am). As we lined up, I noticed we were missing 3 of our riders. Steevo had gone out for a training ride with Reid and Ben and had gotten lost on the way (Our newly appointed Officer of Integrated Cultural Experiences, Reid, did however manage to find Lilly's Pizza Restaurant, a really good joint that we stopped at on the way home).

Anyways, we had to race with 3 less Hokies and ended up having to change the race plan on the start line. The plan was to contain moves, then lead Owen out for a 5th consecutive win on the course, but it was now impossible to do with because of the depth in the field and the lack of numbers on our part.

It was criterium shannigans as usual. Attacks were flying off left and right. I stayed near the front and reeled in a few moves with Owen. I also picked up a points prime, BLING! Towards the end of the race I was on Jeff Buckles' wheel (VCU) and he began attacking the hell out of the field. I stayed on his wheel even though it hurt like hell. A group ended up countering at the end of his flurry with 10 laps to go. B Mac got into the winning move with Ryan McFeely (USNA) and some other guys. Towards 5 to go I attacked and along came Shawn Kane (NCSU) and a LMC rider. We were going pretty well. I was feeling good and conserving in case the field came charging, but was working well also. Bryan ended up getting 3rd, with Ryan (USNA) winning. They finished about 30 seconds off the front of the field with my chase group 15 seconds behind. I think I may have gotten 9th or something.

Definitely a better day for the legs than Saturday. Maybe it was the coffee that morning, interestingly enough brewed from a beheamoth such as one like this (but not necessarily)
Owen ended up taking the field sprint for 10th. 3 in the top 10, was not bad. Oh yeah and I noticed that at the end of the race, I was bleeding like a stuck pig. I must have popped a blood vessel in my nose. It was either from yelling my arse off in the breakaway or it was from putting out 800 watts/minute trying to stay on Buckle's wheel. Judges ruling?



out,

-E