Mens A
Womens A
Mens B
Womens B
Mens C
Mens D

Press Report

Mens A

Womens A

Not sure why, but on Saturdays race, the women's A race was first?! Right after the USCF races... so Lisa and I got there Friday night with Pam, Janet (the support crew) and Nat. Nat rocked her race and then quickly helped Lisa and I get ready for ours... we were sleepy, but excited for the fun and excitement that a course through NYC would be sure to bring.

As we lined up there were 20 women's A racers... Amy Wallace leans over and tells me that 2 are pro, from college teams out west. This should be interesting.

The start was fast and furious, but quickly got reeled in. Lisa unfortunately lost her rear wheel - literally - bad skewer locking by Amy :(. and was out of the race as there was some pit confusion. She still ended up placing though!? How cool... Back in the race, Amy kept an eye on these "pros" and pushed through the first preems for a second place finish.
There was no counter attack... so the pack got settled into a rhythm of keeping the pace high, but doable until the preems. I took a second, 2 firsts and a 4th on the preems. On the final lap I waited and made my move at the bottom of the hill after the turn... went from the back of the pack to a 3rd place finish behind Amy Wallance and one of the pros. Since the pro couldn't get ECCC points, I got points as if I placed second :).

Cool down ride = a stroll through Central Park - beautiful!

Sunday was freaking windy. A different course than last year. Swoopy turns and one mini hill... but with a 35 mph head wind that hill sucked. The pack totally stayed together the entire race. I tried to get them to pace line w/o luck. SO we rode miserably slow and sped up for the preems. I took 4th x2, 3rd x1 and first x1 due to a great lead out form Lisa! A planned attack from the hill to the finish... that was fun. The final sprint was not as fun. We tried for the lead out again, but other teams took notice and didn't let it happen. I got pushed out of the way and fought for a 4th place finish while Lisa powered through for 8th.

All in all a fun weekend. And The Harvard cheering section can not be beat!
GO HAAARVARD!!!!!

Amy

Mens B

Womens B

It was an exciting weekend of racing, especially in the women's B field. We all made it to Columbia on time, despite the great attempts of misleading highway signs to throw us off-course. At Columbia we had a great showing -- Jenna, Jannet, Pam, Laura, Sophia, Michelle, Tonia and myself. We had a blast! It was sunny, the course was great and the turn at the bottom of the tomb was exhilarating!

Jenna, Jannet, Pam and I stayed at the front of the pack for the most part. Jenna, Jannet and Pam managed to take most of the prime points along the course not only that by Jenna also won the chocolate pecan pie, which we all enjoyed later that night :). We had an amazing finish placing 5 people in the points with Jannet taking 1st, Pam 4th, Iva 5th, Jenna 6th, Laura 14th, Michelle 24th, Tonia 26th and Sophia 28th.
Everyone finished and there were no accidents or mechanical problems in our team. Made for a very relaxing day.

Sunday was windy and colder. There were even a few flurries at beginning of our warm up. The race started at a very moderate pace, no one wanted to go out and work in the wind. Jenna was getting anxious about the slow pace and again managed to take all the top sprint points. There was a bit more shoving and bumping the in field than in the previous day, a few people got ran off the course which made everyone a bit more edgy. A crash in the beginning of the final sprint took out four people, but again everyone from Harvard stayed up and finished great! Pam took 2nd, Jenna 3rd, Jannet 6th, Iva 7th, Michelle 23rd and Sophia 27th.

After our race was a over we were all lined up cheering the rest of the races of the day. Pam's enthusiasm for our team was well noticed by everyone around (racers, spectators, and random people hanging around) :). Go Pam! As a whole Harvard definitely showed the most team spirit all around! No wonder we won the weekend :)!!!!

Iva

Mens C

Harvard Men's C team at Columbia was represented by Paul Novosad, Mark Pachuki, Tim Rostunov, Stephen Maxwell (in his first race as a C rider after dominating the crits in the D field), and myself, Ramses Ayala. The field was quite large, circa 55 participants, and the course is quite technical, so we all know what this means.... stay towards the front of the race or perish. We all lined up at the front and at the sound of the whistle, Stephen immediately jumped to the front group followed by the rest of us. We did a great job of working at the front avoiding a couple of the "bumps"
that are inevitable in this kind of races. In fact, at one point I had to thank John and Ed for all of the bumping drills that we practice during the year. On the long ascent after the roundabout some guys off to my right bumped wheels and caused a domino effect of riders falling towards me....
good thing that I am about twenty pounds heavier than most of these guys because when they hit me I never went anywhere. I found myself being the sole support of about three guys leaning into my right shoulder. Not really feeling like I wanted to drag these guys around for a couple of laps, I pushed hard into them hoping to straighten them out, and then I pulled out fast from under them; the result....... big crash right behind me and I ride on unscathed. Well then, back to the race. About three laps into the race, a Williams and Cornell riders took off at the front and were never to be seen again. The rest of the pack kept on riding and the Harvard boys maintained their positions in the front group. With about three laps to go, Mark Pachuki decides to go on the offensive and takes off with about three guys chasing. Stephen, Tim, Paul and I just sit in the group waiting. When we catch on to Marks group again, thanks to the courtesy of several other riders, I advise Stephen to start pushing his way up to the front of the pack because the pace was bound to intensify. Paul led him up and I followed. As forecasted, in the last lap the pace got hard going around the first turn, where a crash blocked Paul and took him out of contention. As we came around the roundabout, Stephen jumped on to the wheels at the front and managed to come across in sixth place in a very disorganized sprint. I missed the points by one place, coming in 13th, while Tim, Mark and Paul rode in to finish 27, 28 and 30 respectively.

At the Princeton race we were minus one Mark Pachuki and the wind just seemed intent on making the riders in the pack very "friendly" with each other. This time there was no break away since the wind made it quite imposible for anyone to stay out alone. The Harvard Boys sat very happily in the middle of the pack during the first couple of laps.... this was quite litteraly a sunday stroll. During the second of the prim laps I decided that it was as good a chance as any to try to score some points, so I pushed my way to the front of the pack, on the back stretch of the race we had a small break away with five guys and I just let them take me in to the line; I gladly thanked them as I came across in 2nd. During the third of the prim laps I tried it once again, except this time they werent as charitable and only let me take the fourth spot on the sprint; and then Paul Novosad jumped to the front to push the pace. He tried to drag a couple of people to see if they wanted to break away but nobody really wanted to follow so we quickly caught him. In the final lap, Paul again pulled Stephen to the front and I jumped on their train. We setled in quite nicely behind the first group of riders. In the back stretch, one rider tried to jump the gun and took off followed by a Yale rider and Stephen. Of course the pace quickened as we came up over the hill, and then a crash separated the front 15 from the rest of the group. In the final sprint, Stephen came across in 2nd place establishing himself as one of the dominating sprinters in the C field, while Paul and I came in 8th and 9th, respectively. Tim just missed the points coming in 14th place. Four riders in the top 15 places is not a bad day's job and shows that the HArvard Boys are ready to take the C field out for a ride.

Untill next time......

Mens D

Saludos a todos,

Despite a low numbers weekend for men's D, we still managed to crash, get cramps, and finish in the points. Johan Tabora and I represented (and I mean we REPRESENTED!) huca on Saturday at Columbia. We got off to a good start. I had good position in the lead pack and Johan was workin' the second group after a few laps in. Unfortunately, we both had bad luck. Well, Johan's was bad luck, as a rider touched wheels with him and took him down. He was uninjured (c'mon, dudes, he's Johan; he's made of steel) and continued the race and came in 36th just behind the main group. A good ride, considering the crash. I had begun the race feeling a bit ill and with a twinge in my left foot. By lap four, that was a full-blown cramp in my left calf that was at its worst on the short steep climb (unfortunately this was where I was able to move up--this ability was hindered by the cramp). I should've taken Amy's offer of fluids at the start line! She's somewhat psychic, I think. Anyway, fought the cramp the rest of the race and came in 13th as I was unable to get out of the saddle coming into the line. Ok, so we only sort of represented.

Sunday was just as Amy said: very, very windy. I was the only men's D racer, so Nathalie and I went early. Nathalie did an awesome job of taking care of me and making sure that I remembered my pedals, helmet, shoes, and then setting me up for my warm-up. Thanks Nathalie! I felt better than Saturday, and I got my first points of the season, taking 4th in the first prime. Once again I avoided a crashed rider in front of me on the only nasty turn of the course, a turn which led into a short step uphill. That's four avoided crashes this season. I assume I have five lives left, but hopefully the luck will continue. I kept decent position in the pack, had great teammates cheering for me every time around, and I nipped a UPenn guy at the line by doing that "throw your bike forward under you" trick and finished 9th, scoring 1 huge point for Harvard.

On the whole, a great weekend. Our team has a great attitude. Paul Novosad pointed out that he when a rider from another team who was warming up on the trainer said, "Hey guys, can somebody pin on my numbers," they replied, "1, 2, 3 NOT IT!" Sure, it was a joke, but that's the exact opposite of the men and women of huca. It's great the way everyone makes sure people are taken care of, whether it's setting up a bike on a trainer, pinning on numbers, cheering softball cheers adapted for cycling (Pam, ahem...), or making sure people get fed in the diner when some folks haven't gotten their food yet (Amy), huca has a great community spirit.

Peace out,

Zach

addendum:

Here's an addendum with more details from Johan: He was in the group of scragglers behind the front
pack and ahead of the second pack following a squirrel from Wentworth who rode into Johan's front wheel and took him out. His derailleur cut two of the spokes and the chain came off. Johan got the chain back on and then realized the wheel was busted...ran to the pit, got a new wheel and rode and finished the race. To quote the man of steel, "I came in 36th, but after that crash, my goal was just to finish not dead last!"