Week one was snowed out and week two was a weathery mess!

Race report
March 14th 2015 :

Saturday at Columbia:  A day in Belgium.  A choppy, pothole lined road overshadowed by cold rain tested the resolve of the racers.  A four mile circuit with slight elevation change made for a fast race.  Races went for 40 minutes (Men’s D) to 90 minutes (Men’s A), any longer and the racers would have gone hypothermic.  Dirt covered every racer’s face as they came home over the finish line.  The Penn State team stood strong, made efforts at getting away from the pack but the lions were ultimately destined to finish with the field.

Men’s A: Brett, Joe and Kevin all finished with the field.

Men’s B: Drew and James finished at the top of the field with a 6^th and 8^th place respectively.

Men’s C: Nolan finished at the front of the field with 7^th place.

Men’s D: While not in the field, Connor was not far behind.  15^th out of 30 finishers is a testament to how hard the day was.

Full Results: http://velocityresults.com/results/546/eccc-week-1-columbia-rr-nyack-ny


March 15th 2015:

Sunday at Rutgers: The conditions eased slightly on Sunday.  The cold rain was replaced with a cold wind.  The uphill was a wind tunnel, where the strong riders had a chance to prove their abilities. The Criterium course had three turns, two of which were high speed corners over rough road.   The day was characterized by breakaways and packs unwilling to chase.  Many fields found themselves lapped.

Men’s A: Joe won an early mid-race sprint, however the effort proved too much and found himself off the back.  Kevin and Brett finished together in the field after the breakaway lapped the field.

Men’s B: James and Drew were unable to turn on the afterburners as they found their path impeded by other racers.  They finished safely in the pack.

Men’s C: The Men’s C field stayed together for the entire race, no breakaways today.  Nolan finished in the pack and Charlie Li lost touch with the field but chased hard.

Women’s C/D: Sarah put up a strong showing in a field with some very strong women.  Sarah worked with a group of 3 other riders to finish just a lap behind the breakaway.

Men’s D:  Bad luck for Connor.  He got to the start line and the row ahead of him fell over when the race started.  The lead row jumped away while Connor waited for the people ahead of him to get up.  Connor chased hard for 25 minutes and almost caught the pack, but the race was over before he could get back in touch with the group.

Full Results: http://velocityresults.com/results/547/eccc-week-1-rutgers-criterium-piscataway-nj

Coming up:

Philly Phlyer March 21^st-22^nd.  The Pennsylvania State University Cycling team hopes to show up with even more numbers and turn the pack finishes into wins.  We will be riding throughout the week to put some speed into our legs.  See you at the races!


Written by Kevin Bernstein,