Knowing that this will be a hard race, I tried to get a good bit of sleep but wasn’t able to as Iwoke up quite a bit during the night.  Race started ludicrously slow as i think we may have been going 18mph on flat roads.  Anyways, race got a bit more lively on the first ascent and on the downhill i opened up a pretty large gap despite not really pedalling.  The pack actually let me go, and a Princeton rider bridged up to me.  I told him that i really wasn’t interested in taking off and was content to see him go off as i got reabsorbed.  We’ll see him again, or so did everyone thought.

Pace picked up somewhat on the second lap, but everyone was still together.  I didn’t really want to chase as Vermont and Penn State were well represented, and I was thankful that Ben and Michael took the mantle of setting the pace during the second lap when the other schools were punting.  My legs weren’t feeling so good before the second time up the climb, but i thought, wtf, let’s see what happens.

Someone put in a stinging attack on the 2nd time up the climb and field was shattered.  I made it with the front and we are now down to 15 ish riders.  Princeton apparently has a 90 second gap.  We started chasing a bit more seriously and the speed picks up.  Third time up the climb and more people gets shelled, we are now down to 11.  Right after the start of the final lap, we caught Princeton.

Right around this point, a PSU kid started dangling off the front.  Although I stuck onto his wheel and never pulled through, he was content on just chugging along.  This went on for a good mile or so (mostly downhill).  On a slight uphill he put in an effort (harder than before, but hardly an attack), and i let him take off in the name of “conserving energy.”  That’s the last time we saw him.

The rest of us put in a half-hearted chase as we drove toward the bottom of the climb.  The pack really splintered this time around, and although i thought my legs were going to give on the early sections, i got a bit stronger as it went on.  I was really glad that i had a compact crankset and a 28t cog as i was able to tap out an okay-ish rythmn sitting in the saddle and managed to crest the hill with the survivors.

At the bottom of the hill, we are now down to Penn State OTF and 6 of us chasing, and we weren’t chasing all that well.  Of the six, we had representation from 5 teams, with UVM having 2 riders.  I sorta figured out that things were done for at this point as we were very unorganized (being on the receiving end of a race-winning break ain’t fun) and just prepared for the sprint.  At one point, a rider from UVM attacked and i closed the gap, but ended up dragging everyone with me.  On the corner leading to the finish, i was in first position due to fear of not cornering correctly and having to sprint to get back on, but this just left me stuck out front as i had trouble drifting back…

Inside the last 1k quite a few people went, and i was right there with them at the beginning, but begin to tire toward the end.  It is most likely at the 300 to go point, when i was quite spent, that i drifted into the path of another rider.  We hooked bars, tumbled at 20mph, and i distinctly remember hitting my right knee pretty hard.  i got up, tried to mount the bike, but realized the front wheel won’t turn and had to cross the line carrying my bike CX style.  Ended up 7th out of 25+ (number here is indefinite as there were a few people whose names didn’t show up in the results).

The referee had a lengthy talk with me, and i basically said i had no recollection except for the tangling of bars and then crashing.  Apparently another official said i veered quite a bit.  I must have been too gassed to notice i was drifting.  I’m rather disappointed at this as i’ve prided myself on being safe, and here i am, taking out another rider because of my inattentiveness

Post Script.  Special thanks to Ben, Michael, and Anna for helping me post crash.  As for the damages, i broke a spoke on my front wheel, and the stem was knocked out of alignment; otherwise, nothing on the bike is broken.  Although X-rays turned out to be negative, I was told that i probably have a bone contusion on my right knee, which would require rest of 6-8 weeks.  I had been looking forward to the Army and Penn State races, and chances are, I have just done my last collegiate race.  As they say:  you do the crime, you do the time, and while 6-8 weeks seem a bit long, i guess this may be just comeuppance for taking out another rider.  Certainly lots to think about both in terms of safety and tactics.

Otherwise I am quite glad to have spent a quality weekend with the team in the middle of nowhere in Pennsylvania.  If this were indeed the last time I participate in a collegiate race, I can at least take solace in the fact that I spent the race weekend with a quality group of people.

Photo below courtesy of Jan V Polk.

There are too many things in cycling in which i excel, but i am pretty damn good at being low and aero, even if the climb is 15%.  This is the last time up the climb.  Also see Ben’s previous post about me climbing in the drops.  My philosophy is that if you can’t race good, at least you can look good by being A-E-R-O.