Yale Lux et Velocitas

Finally, a race where it was warm enough to just wear a jersey and bibs. Alex M, Alex B, Dan S, Gabe, and Paul made the trip to New Haven this weekend for another weekend of racing.

The team spent Saturday morning climbing to the top of East Rock as quickly as possible during the 4.3 mile individual time trial, covering over 500 ft of elevation gain. No one made it into the points, but the sunshine made it worth it.

Saturday afternoon featured much more climbing during the circuit race. 2.5 laps for D and 3.5 laps for C, with a 350+ feet of climbing each lap. Gabe learned what it was like to overcook a corner and go over the handlebars, but still finished 15th. Paul beat out the first chase group on the last climb to finish 20th out of a C field of 60+ riders.

We returned to the park on Sunday for the crit to another day of decent weather. The field in the D2 race split up relatively quickly due to a few crashes. Our own Alex Brehm continued his crash streak for a 3rd straight week, but returned to the race with only a small scratch. Gabe worked his way through the peloton to finish 4th overall, winning 6 pts.

With the C racers feeling the pain from Saturday’s climbing, the race got off to a slow start. After 3 laps people began pushing the pace (and got booed for it), but the race quickly shifted gears. Paul made a move from last to first on the back stretch and held on to win the second sprint, capturing 5 pts. and a 12-pack of Red Bull, then finished 14th overall.

Overall, a great weekend of racing. Special thanks to the Mendelsohns for hosting the team and Mr. Schiffrin behind the camera, grabbing some great action shots.

Skidmore team Skill to Gear (STG) Power Rankings

Time for a new installment on the Skidmore cycling blog, the STG rankings.  A common disease in the ECCC is Skill to Gear deficiency syndrome, which explains the vast amounts of Pinarello Prince’s and Ridley Ex calibers in class D races.  The Skidmore rider who displays the ballerest gear, while maintaining the lowest standards of performance will top the STG power rankings and win the coveted “bike douche of the month” award.

1.  Matt Choi:  Matt comes into mid April having raced two weekends and not broken into the top 20 for any of his 4 events (except that one which had 20 riders).  While losing all these races, Matt has been sporting a slick Bianchi C2C alu-carbon compact frame, with all carbon cranks powered by his Shimano carbon bottomed boots, PIMPIN.  His bike also sports a Brooks leather seat which despite its lack of aerodynamics, screams “hipster who does this when he’s not on his fixie.”  When hes training, Matt likes to wear cycling equipment made by prestigious and overpriced cycling brand Rapha, which his grandma bought him when he went off to college.  Congrats Matt for your awesome gear and complete lack of results you are the “Bike Douche of the Month.”

2. Dan S:  Dan was close to beating out Matt in the STG rankings but his considerable effort dropped him to second.  Unlike Matt, Dan has raced four weekends, trumping Matt’s 2.  Recently Dan could be seen throwing up after a hill climb from the seat of an all carbon Cannondale Synapse frame, with Ultegra components.  Dan is seriously considering purchasing an all carbon fiber bottle holder, which was the gram difference between vomiting and not vomiting on that last hill at Yale.  Still, the multiple races under his belt drop Dan past Matt.  Sorry Dan, do less with your awesome gear and maybe you can win next month.

3. Alex Brehm:  April’s biggest climber is undoubtedly Alex B.  As recently as last month Alex was at the very bottom of the STG rankings due to his excellent race performances upon his all steel frame with downtube shifters.  Recently however Alex has made a run for the top, purchasing an all carbon fiber frame and crashing it a record three times! WOW, keep it up big guy.  The rowing shirt at races is hurting Alex’s prospects a little, no douche of the month can wear non cycling specific clothing while racing.

4.Kyle Bowet/ Dan P/Alex M:  These riders are pretty much on par with their gear level, and round out the bottem of the rankings.  Each rider is in danger of making the drop however if they continue to do well at races and don’t make 1000 dollar upgrades to their gear.

5.Gabe Herrera/Paul Russell:  Dead last in the rankings. Gabe continues to do well at races finishing top 10 each weekend, all on some Trek (its red but who knows what model it is).  The rumor mill has it that a 2000 dollar bike is is the works for Gabe from his dad, which could potentially catapult him up the ladder if combined with some poor results next weekend.  Paul Russell maintains his last place in the ladder mostly due to his consistent results in the C group.  Paul’s C classification means he would either have to straight up lose races or get a ridiculously nice bike to go anywhere in the rankings.  We can’t all be winners guys.

Hell of the North

Paris Roubaix is upon us, no conservation, no resting, no gas left in the tank, one day of hell across a cobbled road.

Boston Beanpot

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Five Skidmore racers made the trek out to Massachusetts for arguably the hardest weekend of racing so far.  Paul, Dan P. Dan S, Matt, and Alex started off the weekend in Westminster Mass for their first team time trial, run by everyone except Paul (who was ineligible due to his baller c class status).  The four Skidmore riders ran the first lap of the TTT beautifully, using some great team work to keep all four riders in the pace line until midway through the second lap when Dan P and Alex pulled ahead to finish the race.  The team time trial was followed by an individual time trial which Alex finished an impressive sixth to grab Skidmore its first points of the weekend.  Paul held his own with the C’s, finishing an agonizing ten seconds away from points with an impressive display.  Flirting with Mcgill girls, Pizza, and Pasta at Dan’s house followed before an early bedtime to prepare for Tufts.

Sunday saw the team compete in the legendary Tufts Crit, a highly technical course with several downhill turns and a straight away sprint at the end.  The pace was fast and riders were dropping like flies either taken out by mechanicals or the whistle of the official in charge of pulling riders.  The D riders struggled after a tough ride the day before and all three were pulled before finishing.  Paul had an excellent race, pace-lining with several opposing riders to ride out the entire 35 minutes of racing after nearly being taken out by a crashing Bucknell rider.

Overall an excellent learning experience for the team which ran its first TTT, and another excellent showing from president Paul.

Le Tour de Troy

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The Skidmore boys returned to the roads at the Tour de Troy for their second weekend of racing in the spring 2011 season. The team faced bitter cold through a time trial and a long road circuit on Saturday, and a criterium in downtown Troy on Sunday. Nonetheless, man did we improve from our last race.

Saturday we had Paul Russell stepping up to Class C, and Kyle Bawot, Alex Brehm (riding a brand new racing frame), Dan Pinnolis, Tim Russell (no relation to Our Fair Captain), Alex Mendelsohn, and Gabe Herrera holding it down in Class D. Congratulations to Kyle for taking 4th in the D2 field.

The circuit ran on a 7.5-mile loop: 3 laps for 22.5 miles for Class D; 5 laps for 37.5 miles for Class C. At the D race, Brehm and Tim quickly got to the front, attacking and briefly leading before fading back into the pack. Brehm got on a break in the last kilometer of the race, chasing two well-organized Dartmouth boys, but fishtailed at the bottom of a sandy steep hill, crashed, and lost his place.

The criterium was a great day for the team, where Dan Schiffrin and Gabe Herrera joined Mendelsohn in Intro. Paul stayed with the front pack in his C race to take some early sprint points, but the day was big for Gabe, who manned it out to win the Intro race.

Gabe started out strong, sucking the wheel of a Stevens rider. The two built a continually growing lead over the pack, ahead by about ten seconds at the race’s end. In the final two laps, Gabe broke out the afterburner and left Stevens behind, screaming out ahead for the big win at the finish. Mendelsohn, not too far behind, won a sprint to take fourth.

For full results click here.

In short, the weekend brought two things: cold, and points. Congratulations to our riders—we’re proud of everything you do. We’re looking forward to warmer week, clear skies, interval training, and next weekend’s Boston Beanpot, offering—ooo—a team time trial.

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Vintage Cyclocross

SGA Yay, Snow Nay

The ups and downs of Skidmore cycling.

Low: Another 1 ft+ of snow…one of the problems with going to school in upstate NY. We were hoping of getting out on the road after a taste of beautiful weather this weekend at Rutgers, but  it looks like it’ll be another week on the trainers.

High: SGA has been incredibly supportive of the team, demonstrated by the passing of a second supplemental grant tonight. Go senators! Maybe now we can invest in something like this for the weekends:

Rutgers Rain Race

We’re proud to announce after a short hiatus, the Skidmore road team officially returned to the ECCC competition. We proudly sent six guys down to the Rutgers Scarlet Scurry, racing in the D2 & Intro categories.

Saturday’s time trial was the first time out on the road for two of the three men competing in the event. The course was a short 2.2 miles — a slight incline on the first half, a quick turnaround, then back down to the finish.

The racing continued on Saturday with a short, fast crit around a 0.6 mile course. The pavement was pretty torn up, but the sun was out in full force to make up for it. Paul raced in the D2 field, placing 11th. Alex and Dan P. rode in Intro, gaining some valuable knowledge and experience. Skidmore Cycling alum Andrew Bernstein stopped by on his way home from a day of racing with his team to show his support while sharing some useful tips.

Kyle, Dan S., and Matt joined up for Sunday’s points race. The course was a 0.9 mile loop — up the first real climb of the season, then back down the speedy downhill. Kyle and Paul took on the D2 field, fighting to stay with the leaders. The hill broke up any hopes of a peloton and the pack strung out with a lap or two. Alex, Dan P., Dan S., and Matt competed in the Intro race. We saw some nice teamwork from the Dans, pulling each other through the flat for several laps.

Also, a big thank you to Gina and Molly from the Rutgers team for graciously hosting us this weekend! All in all, it was a great first weekend — the intros familiarized themselves with race technique in the group, and we all learned that Alex has the tracking abilities of a Native American hunter.

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