Mens A

Womens A

With Lisa away it was just me this past weekend... and I dragged Jenna into the mix for the TTT. IN the women's field you just need to finish with 2, so we figured why not just do the whole thing with 2?

Jenna rocked, and together we took on the course blowing by our competitors along the way. Despite our small number, we finished only 23 seconds behind the first place team (that had > 2 riders!) and 40 seconds over the 3rd place team (that had 4 riders!). SO we were psyched....

On to the crit... this course seemed to get the most of Harvard bikes for the weekend. Beginning with Ed Sassler's crash in his debut return to racing that severed his Seven's chain and set stays!, and then taking 1 life per race there after... it was indeed a tough day.

We had a record number of starters for the women's A field (>20). I had a timid moment or 2 going round the first couple of corners for some reason and lost the initial break. But I led a chase with Dartmouth and we caught them. Then "Stealth - the black Lemond" began susceptible to the bad mechanical luck of the day. Apparently ~2500 miles on a bike requires a new chain at some point... well she decided the crit was the day for that. She let me know it too as every time I pushed hard up the hill past the pack she would jump her chain from the 53 to the 39 and Amy would go a flying forward. 4 times I did a front wheelie going up hill... and 1 time I actually went right over. It took me 30 laps to realize that if I put it in my 39 to begin with then that may not happen... my black and blue knees remind me that education is painful. Somehow I managed to win 3/4 primes, but due to the 39 then not wanting to go into the 53 on the final lap, I missed the finish sprint and took 4th.

The road race was PAINFUL! Can you say 10 hours of sleep for 3 days is not a good idea? 4 laps. Ugh... I led the first lap to put the hammer on a bit to drop dead weight and cuz, well I love this course. :) ON lap 2 up the hill, Brown looks over and says OK, let's go. And I would have but somehow at that moment I got boxed in on the hill. Choices = stay where I am, take out a rider, or take a dip in the waterfall. Oops. I got up the hill having missed the break and tried to organize a chase, but the women;s field although strong riders, do not have the luxury of coaches like Ed and John and they had no idea how to pace line! After a half of lap of trying, there was a crash at the feed zone that took out half of the chase group. 5 people now, I can manage that. SO I taught them how to pace line and we chased for 1.5 more laps. I had nothing left by the end however, and 3/4 girls I had been dragging around beat me at the finish. I took 7th. But had a ton of fun! :) And perhaps next weekend the women's A field will know how to chase a bit better, unless I happen to be off the front, then I hope they have amnesia... ;)

Amy

Mens B

Womens B

Women's Bs

After an early morning start in Concord we all headed out to Tufts to do the 6 x 90 degree corner criterium complete with false flats, a mini up-hill and a mini-down hill that came complete with a 6 foot haybail to protect us.
Fortunately the weather cooperated and there was no rain, however that did little to make the course safe. After arriving at the race site not more than
5 minutes pre ETD of the B race I had some wondering if I indeed was going to make it. The B field as usual was quite large and with the dangerous corners to manuever we were advised to try to get out fast to avoid the masses. I bolted at the line because we all know how much I like to ride in the pack.
The field separated relatively quickly as Ed screamed at me to "get off the front." HUCA power was in full effect with Janet, Iva, Laura, Sophia, Michelle, Olivia and Margaret in the mix. There was an early break, me and a tufts rider decided to push the pace, not knowing who was ahead Janet, Iva and Olivia pulled us back to the main group. The pace was rather quick as we wound around the tight corners. Another attack was made which separated the pack.
After about lap 5 of 18 the field was so spread out (and the judges tried to minimize the riders that they were pulling) that it became difficult to tell who was where, who was leading and who was being lapped. I spent almost the entire race sitting alone off the front so I easily collected all three prime wins. However, some ghost rider came attacking from behind and the sprint to the line she took the win by a centimeter or two. Janet and Iva were nestled in the main pack and managed to avoid all crashing taking prime points and both finishing in the top 10, 4th and 8th respectfully. Olivia went down on the deadly corner and took the tufts girl with her... sending her up and over the haybail. Margaret, Laura, Michelle and Sophia all had solid rides finishing the race unhurt.

The Road Race. Sprinkly, chilly and dirty it was an hour and a half of tactics and lactic acid that resulted in a 1-2 Harvard finish. With the road races starting so close together we ran out of trainers so half the women were riding in place and half were riding in circles to warm-up. The rain started falling only minutes before the start so we knew it was going to be a long day. Harvard B Women were in full force with the likes of Margaret, Janet, Michelle, Sophia, Carmen and me. The pace was moderate and often rather tame throughout the first lap as everyone tried to size up their competition and the very challenging course. The large pack stayed together through mile 9 or so at which point we hit the lovely "hill". At this point the field separated and the main pack dwindled down to roughly 15 riders. At this point no one in the lead pack wanted to attack and every attempt was pulled back in. Janet and I started talking, no really- we had quite the lengthy conversation going as we tried to convince a poor UNH girl to go on a break with us. However, despite our efforts we couldn't break the field so we would just have to wait.
There were a lot of "teams" still together (Dartmouth, Princeton, Penn State) and with just two of us Janet and I knew that we would need some serious tactics to ensure that we got away before the final sprint. Luckily the home court advantage prevailed (as Janet ever so kindly kept a Dartmouth girl from going left into a driveway at one point- Good Work Janet) and we took charge after the second climb up the "hill" (rrr mountain) where 3 of us got away.
The paceline began and Janet, an unsuspecting Penn State rider and I took off down the road determined not to get caught. We succeeded finishing in 1st
(Jenna) and 2nd (Janet). Margaret(28), Michelle(30) and Sophia(35) all had solid rides finishing right in the thick of things. Carmen beat the Yale girl and finished with a smile on her face, even though she had to be coaxed to cross the line after stopping only feet short of the line to comment to the judge about someone who needed help.

All in all it was an awesomely wet and wild trip through Grafton. In the end the Harvard B Women represented as usual and had a great time doing it. Good work Harvard Women, keep it up!

That's all from me,
- Jenna

Mens C

Mens D

The weekend started out grrreat with a slightly wet morning time trial. After a loop around to warm up, we decided the pace order should be me, Stewart, Nathaniel, Zach (big, medium, small, medium) to get the best "aerodynamic efficiency". The start happened better than we first practiced, and we cruised with even pulls till about halfway to the Carlisle rotary, where the gremlin that lived in Nathaniel's knee decided he wanted to hurt our beloved el chinito. So we were off down the road sans Nathaniel. In Carlisle we began adjusting pull lengths (I used my weight to careen down the hills, Stuart paced up, and Zach pitched in when Stew and I were gassed). Besides some interference from a pair of T$%@#s riders, things went smoothly to the end for a third place finish!

This, of course, left us nicely rested for the Tufts criterium. You all know the details of the course... Stew and Zach started out right in front with the pelloton, but Johan and I got stuck waaaay at the back. (Darn you Mark Abramson, you said we had time for 2 more warm up laps!!!) Stew stuck the pelloton through the course, but Zach got stranded out a few yards behind, where he paced the rest of the race. Johan and I got stuck in the second pack, from where I tried to organise a failed bridge (10 seconds from the front for 11 laps). Kudos go to Stew for nabbing an 8th place finish. Zach came in with a 30th, I made 19th, Johan 52nd out of 76 starters.

But we were all saving for the Grafton road race. We began with a "neutral start" (read: everyone gunning it for position from the count). Stew, Zach, and I all began moving up to the front for the first lap. Unfortunately, just prior to the first turn (?) someone in the pelloton decided the ground looked inviting and took out a bunch of riders, including Saturday's 8th place finisher. Zach narrowly missed the crash, and caught back on to the pack, where we hung together in a big group up through the monster hill. Coming over the hill, Nathaniel zoomed past everyone right to the top. But coming down the hill we all separated, with Nathaniel stuck behind a slooow Army (?) rider, and Zach split off the back of the group. This was sort of the defining break of the race. I had the good fortune to stay with the leaders through the rest of the lap. Stew, Zach, Nathaniel, and Johan - you should fill in here because I was separated for the remainder of the race. From here some UNH sandbagger ran off the front of the group, got a 1:00 lead, AND stuck it for the rest of the race. Things were pretty uneventful until we got back to the monster hill again, save a couple failed breaks (these Rochester riders never want to help me). Back on the monster, I fell way back off the pack, getting to the top about 0:05 behind the leaders. Fortunately, the combination of George yelling at me and my reckless disregard for personal safety allowed me to make up time and speed on the downhill. I was able to catch the lead pack at the second set of tracks. Off the last 90 turn (1 mile to go), a UNH guy and I made an ill-fated break that lasted about a third of the way to the finish. Once the pack caught us, it was a mad dash home. I found UVM's wheel and took 5th for the race.

Thanks for the awesome weekend HUCA!

Johan, Stew, Zach, Nathaniel - you rocked. Make sure to fill in the gaps in my "Saga de Men's Beanpot"

-El tiburon

**

Ciao HUCA Nation,
Well, Nathan gave the most awesome D men recap any of us could ask for. The only thing he failed to do was indicate exactly how amazing he, Zach, Stewart, and Johan were!

Let's start with Jaws (Nathan (El tiburon)): After getting an awful starting position, he moved halfway up the peloton in the first few laps and chased the front group _on his own_ for the entire race. Every time he came by the start-finish line, we'd see Nathan pulling along a whole string of guys from various teams. Pulling all by himself around the entire course, he kept a steady time gap on the leaders for the whole race. One can only imagine how he'd have done if he hadn't been shafted at the starting line!
Then, in the road race, in addition to being an awesome rider, putting in a breakaway, and taking fifth place (way ahead of the guy who finished sixth), he was an extraordinary boon to his other Harvard D riders. Among other things, he knew I'd get spat out the back of the pack descending Brigham hill, so he suffered even more and put in a monster effort on the last stretch of the climb just so he could pull me all the way down the hill. GO JAWS!

After "Seatpost" Zach put in a monster ride in the TT and crit on Saturday, he rode well in the road race DESPITE having tires so under-inflated that they were essentially running flat. GO SEATPOST!

Having worked his way from the back of a fast-moving "neutral" start all the way to the front, "Foobah" Stew got caught up in the big mid-pack crash...but only momentarily, for he quickly righted himself (so quickly, in fact, that it looked to me like he'd crashed and landed on his feet!), remounted his chain, organized the riders around him, and launched a major effort to chase back on. He sustained this major effort for the rest of the two laps...and only upon finishing did he realize that he'd made his awesome chase DESPITE the fact that his brakes had been rubbing on his rims ever since his crash. GO FOOBAH!

Having been off the bike for weeks, "No nickname yet" Johan nonetheless came out both Saturday and Sunday to ride for his team, and stuck it out to the very end in both his races (despite the pouring rain and ugly conditions). GO JOHAN!

Good luck at Army!

Regards,
Nathaniel