Virginia Tech Wins ACCC Title

Conference Championships 4/19-20

Day 1

ACCC Road Race Championships

Coming into the road race championships, the team's plan was to have Steven (2nd overall) shadow Navy's Ryan McFeely (1st overall), while Bryan tried all he could to advance his 3rd overall spot. This kind of omnium makes for interesting racing.

Flash forward to 2 laps to go, a break of 4 gets up the road with my teammate John Zaccone. I was near the front and was able to jump onto Georgetown's Sean Barrie's wheel who towed me all the way to the break. Another group of 2 bridges right behind us, followed by Bryan, who ended up dropping Wake Forest's Eric Fonville (and fellow VT alumnus) on the way.

VT now had 3 in the break of 8. Bryan attacked off the front and John countered in the final 3 Km. The break completely shut down.

John soloed for the win. Bryan took 3rd in the bunch sprint while I forgot where the finish was and ended up last in the bunch for 8th, awhoops.


ACCC Team Time Trial Championships - 45 Km in the rain

Unfortunately, I was not apart of the TTT team. My teammates complained that they never could get a draft off me while I'm in my TT position, so I gladly obliged to not race.


Eoin getting molested by Owen


The team takes 2nd place for the TTT, trailing Navy by 1 minute. Perhaps with aero equipment, the team may have won.


Good job guys, work together! You hear these same words of motivation whether you're in the breakaway or tailing off the back with other dropped riders.


ACCC Championships Banquet

There was an ice sculpture, a slide show, and an awards ceremony. Lots of food was eaten and good times were had by all.



Day 2

ACCC Criterium Championships

Before a big race, Owen likes to get dressed on the bike.

Because of Bryan's 3rd place the day before, Steven got bumped to third place in the overall. Now Bryan was 2nd, trailing to Navy's Ryan McFeely by 5 1/2 points. We had to get Steven as many points as possible through primes and good placings for the finish, while Bryan simply had to come in front of Ryan at the finish for VT to go 1-2 in the overall.

The criterium was really fast and really hard. I had super legs because of not doing the TTT the day before.

I was Steven's man for all of the 6 primes (ouch!). I covered alot of attacks and got into some breaks of my own. We rode a super aggressive race and Virginia Tech dominated with 7 riders in the race.

In the last 3 laps, NC State's Matt Howe attacked as we were organizing for the field sprint. He got a good gap. The leadout train was set for Steven and Bryan with Eoin McDonnell, myself, and Owen Nielsen taking charge. I pulled the last lap and pulled off before the last turn. Although we didn't catch Matt, Steven got 2nd and Bryan came in behind him. It was perfect textbook Fassa Bortolo lead out techniques. I am pleased with how well we raced considering the depth of the field and speed of the race.


ACCC Championships Awards Ceremony

Tim recieved the individual title for the Men's B category, and a really big trophy.

Steven got the overall individual title, a jersey, a really big trophy, and a photo with an old woman's grandson.

We are the champions, my friend.


Overall Results
I narrowly squeaked into the top 5 for the overall (1 point difference, schwing!) I will be looking forward to applying this good form when I return to race with the JBCA this summer.

Cool pic. April 13, 2008 - WVU Men's A Road Race finish