Goodbye ECCC!

First, a quick PSU recap:

Easterns turned out to be a weekend to remember. BU came into the weekend with high hopes of qualifying as a team for nationals and was sitting in 3rd place overall just ahead of Columbia. With double points on the line for the weekend, I think we were all taking preparations during the week a little more seriously. On Thursday, we hit the first hiccup. No Callie for PSU = no Women's A TTT. Bummer. Luckily, our super-fast Anna had just upgraded to a Cat 3 and would race the weekend in A's to give us an outside shot. After almost winding up in Altoona, we arrived at the TTT and promptly kicked our water jug out of the van. Dave decided to take matters into his own hands and fill up his bottle in the river. There were no consequence s for this act (that we know of). Anyways, we arrived at the TTT start ready to roll. Well, not really, because we had no idea where Brian was. He eventually found us, and we were off! The TTT wasn't as smooth as last week's as I really suffered on the false flats and wasn't able to recover well in Brian's skeletal slipstream. The second to last turn we took a little too hot, and I felt my rear wheel slip a little bit. I managed to regain my composure on the bike, only to hear Natan hitting the deck pretty hard. We finished second to last, but luckily Natan was okay for the start of the road race.

I don't remember much about the road race. The first lap was awesomely hard, the second lap was awesomely easy, and I saw Jesus on the third lap. Luckily, the mercy rule was imposed and my chase group was pulled and placed without the need for a fourth. 1,8000 ft. per lap is not my style. Super fun though to test out the climbing legs with some of the heavy-hitters. Might've finished in the points had a chase group not caught us right before the last turn. Anyways, despite eating and drinking like mad during the race, I suffered from some major cramps.

I was super excited for the crit. 6 corners, flat as a pancake. The rain worried me a little bit, mostly because it was just the wrong kind. Slightly damp asphalt = oily road. Around the 3rd lap, I was sitting around 10th wheel when my bike just slipped out from underneath me. Unfortunately, being near the front meant that a bunch of people couldn't avoid me and rammed into my back. That felt fairly awful, but I was thankful that my road rash wasn't bad at all. However, I was too shaken up to take a free lap, and my helmet was destroyed anyway. Bottom line, it was my fault and that's bike racing. Not at all how I wanted to end the season, but I gave it everything I had. Brian and Natan both had to pull out as well, allowing PSU and Columbia to overtake us in the team classification.

Now a quick look back on the season:

Without any scintilla of a doubt, I can say that this is the best team I have ever been a part of. Training and racing with Brian and Natan has been an absolute privilege, and their success this year might as well have been mine. It was great to do some work for them during races, and represent BU in each race. We can be proud of the fact that BU was represented in almost every major break this year in Men's A. More importantly, however, this season was a ridiculous amount of fun. Thanks to Matty Gris, Matt C., Kyle, Garge, Preston, Rob, K-Von, Anna, Callie, Hopscotch, Ian, Katrina, Josh, Craig, Parker, JD, Chinkle, and many more for a great season. Unfortunately, I was unable to achieve the personal results that I had hoped for and will have to cheer the guys on at Nationals from Boston. However, the big picture is looking good. No injuries, tons of fun, and some new friends. Also, a big thanks to everyone who raced Men's A this year. You guys made it hard, but safe. I learned a TON about bike racing this year (even after 4 previous years in the ECCC).

Well, that's it! Goodbye ECCC! Sorry I didn't post more, but I had to do enough work to graduate at some point. I know that when I'm in my fancy lawyer office next year, I'll still look on velocity results to see who won the Rutgers ITT. Natan? Kyle?!

Finally, the picture below relates to the quiz featured on the sidebar. Natan and I are sick of you guys mixing us sexy bitches up. Can you tell the difference?

Salad Bar

Army! Despite 3 flats, basically bonking on the TTT, and an emergency rear mech replacement, I can only portray my feelings about the weekend in this video. However, I'm still having an absolute blast. The ECCC still knows how to party, and BU had a great group of guys and gals for the weekend. The salad bar, confidence course, and beautiful Sunday weather boosted my spirits immensely. Instead of boring you with a full recap, I'll leave you with my favorite moment of the weekend:

Joe Kopena: "For every rider who passes Chris Hair on the hill climb, I'll give you a cookie."

UVM Rider: "Who the hell is Chris Hair?"

Touché,

-Chris

1 Point

Here's the quick and dirty from Philly. Very bittersweet, as it was great to see my old Drexel teammates putting on a great race but I wish I had better legs. My brother, the race director, put on a fantastic weekend that has certainly become the highlight of the ECCC calendar. As an alum of the Beanpot committee, I can now freely admit that it's just a better race. No clue what happened on the RR, but I was quickly dismissed from the group after the first few laps. I felt awful. Had a lovely chat with Harvard's Anna McLoon though. After heading home, I headed out the local pub to have a beer and put it behind me. The next day, our TTT went along okay. Due to the wet weather, we took no risks and pulled in over a minute behind the winners. Look for that to improve, as I think we have the horsepower. The Crit was fast, but mostly boring. I managed to get into the day's main break (pictured above), but found myself closing too many gaps as the group was very disorganized. I managed to get 1 measly sprint point out of the effort, but was slowly dispatched back to the main field, where I was too drained to contest the sprint.

In other news, Kyle Bruley (aka Karl, or Creme Brulee) informed us that we actually have a Nat's budget. As it stands now, I'm not even close to qualifying for D1. Temple and Rutgers have been thorns in our side, but Natan and Brian are looking good. The next two weekends are crucial to potentially changing my situation and maintaining my teammates' position, so I'm focusing on recovering during the week and trying to race smarter. See you all at Army, and keep it rubber-side down!

Bringin' down the House

Philly race in 5 days. There's been a lot of chatter via the interwebs about Drexel, Penn, and now Temple about "protecting their house" but BU is shipping down from Boston to bring down said house. We're itching for some big results, and the upcoming race weekend has it all: windy flats, short leg-burning hills, and a peloton that has long forgotten about the 'first-race jitters'. Sure, my own brother is the race director. Sure, I graduated from Drexel University. And, sure, I've lived in Philadelphia for most of my natural life. Does that mean that I'll have some unfair advantage? What?! Maybe! Just pretend not to be surprised when a rogue marshal leads the peloton off-course right after Natan attacks up Black Road.

Now for a quick recap of Delaware, so I can put a great weekend behind me and focus on the upcoming week. Really fun weekend, and I enjoyed traveling with the team for the first time this year. This group clearly had an affinity for Olive Garden, Panera Bread and Waffle House. Folks, the ECCC is treading dangerous waters when we travel far enough south to reach this food chain. I swear, the entire schedule is designed to try and convince UVM to forgo the hours of travel. We all know how that works out.

The road race was a big wild-card for the weekend, but turned out to be a blast. We drove the course early in the morning, which turned out to be very calming despite the rumors that the 'rumble strips' and narrow roads would ruin the day. From kilometer 0, I attacked straight away hoping to draw a few people willing to build up a lead and wait for a larger break to bridge. This was met with an audible moan from the peloton (and probably a few choice words). Haha. Brian from Drexel joined up, but he didn't inspire confidence so I sat up. Turns out, he was intent on joining the main break and was successful in doing so. Damn. Next up was Natan, who attacked on one of the last hills in a section of rollers after Brian and I drilled it to try to split the field. He dangled in front for a while, but UVM sent a helper his way and they were gone. At the beginning of the final lap, all I could think of was "fantastic, Natan is stealing the show and I'm forced to fight for paltry points with a large peloton with Lipka." I decided to attack about a half a mile from the feed zone, where the peloton would be less concerned with chasing and more about getting their precious water. I was smart enough to take a bottle the previous lap so I was good to go. Thanks to Preston, Rob, and Dave (Men's intro road race winner) for the feeds! After a mile or so on my own, the peloton was out of sight and I could see an Army rider in the distance. We worked together for a while, then I started to feel my legs falling apart. Thankfully, Brian bridged up with a few other riders to share the pace-making up the rollers. On the back stretch, I cramped up hard and was forced to drop off. However, I had a large enough gap to finish ahead of what was left of the peloton in 15th. Although there were missed opportunities throughout the race, I was very proud of the fact that all 3 BU riders finished in a breakaway.

I recovered pretty poorly for the next day and struggled through the ITT. Great course, but no legs. Next up was Alan Atwood's Crit of Death. Even the moto-ref crashed! To be fair, the officials were clearly concerned with our safety and used their best judgment by weighing possible alternatives and pleading with riders to use caution. However, I was not impressed with their judgment. After debating whether or not to start after watching some spectacular crashes, I decided I'd line up and at least check it out. I consider this a mistake, not because the course was really that dangerous but because you should never race half-heartedly. After witnessing some silly crashes, I sat up in the corners and was quickly left behind. Not worth it. Natan slid out on the infamous corner, but took a free lap and murdered himself to get some sweet, sweet points. Brian apparently loves these up/down crits, and killed it for the second week in a row. I still had fun heckling Drexel Timmy with Doug, and hanging with my Dad, Collin, and Denise. Their advice - "don't chance it!" Time to recharge the batteries and get ready for the total suffer-fest that will be Philly.

New Adventures on the Old New Jersey Turnpike

With two weeks of racing under my belt, I don't even know where to begin. After some quick research, I now believe that I am legally married to the NJ Turnpike. This is unwelcome news to my fiancé, pictured above modeling the enormous metal statue of the Princeton tiger. Now off to the races!

Rutgers / Princeton

It all began with the ITT. I practically soiled my new skinsuit (pictured left) when I saw Mark A. pick up the microphone near registration. Over the past few years, I've become an easy target for ECCC announcers who wish to remind everyone of how difficult I make this stuff look. I actually arrived in time to pre-ride the course and get on the trainer for a while. One soaked skinsuit later, thanks in large part to what can only be described as global warming, I was off! For wattage nerds, my goal was to keep it above 370 and meter my effort out while I kept a low profile. Well, turns out that this was woefully inadequate considering the lack of any wind and the near-perfect conditions. I finished with way too much in the tank, after pushing an average of 374 Watts. Lesson #1: Nothing can or should replace perceived effort. Leave it all on the road regardless. Natan put over 10 seconds into me, finishing 15th. How 'bout them apples?

Next, the crit. Awesome course. Took some getting used to riding in a group again at speed, but I was comfortable and was actually enjoying myself. Unfortunately, we dropped very few riders, and I couldn't find the right lane to open up a sprint. Lesson #2: Pack finishes are meaningless if you don't have to legs for the top 20. A slight disappointed, but nobody died and it was awesome seeing how comfortable Brian and Natan were riding with the A field. Natan cramped up hard, but this only seemed to light a fire under his saddle for the next day in the circuit. Not only was he involved in a significant break, but also jockeyed for a great position in the finish and held on to sprint into the top 20. I was a total waste of legs that day. Hanging around the back, basically forgetting how to race my bike. Legs felt fine, but I was mentally unprepared for the race. Lesson #3: Fitness is no substitute for mental toughness. While my legs would recover after a few hours, the disappointment in my performance lasted for all of spring break...

Spring break was busy, but not very bike-relevant. Drove down to DC to apartment search for a few days, jammed my finger in a metal door, and then spent a few days riding around Philly. Got to do the points race with all of the local hammers, including Andy and Johann from Penn, and Joe, Brett, Timmy, Dan, and Ryan from Drexel. All were intent on blowing the doors off of the locals. The gear restriction was 53-16, which felt downright weird after spinning out my 53-12 the weekend before. Moving on!

Columbia / Stevens

Just like the weekend before, this race consisted of day-trips from my parents house in PA due to family visits. Lesson #4: The ECCC is way more fun when you sleep over. I missed out on hanging w/ my teammates, and pre- and post-race discussions. Great way to feel like an outsider. With Rutgers fresh in mind, I actually raced my bike at Columbia. Attacked hard at least once, hit the front a few times, and gave it my all in the end. At the end, I got caught behind a group content to sit up - my fault for choosing the wrong wheels. Brian rocketed to the end, easily finishing in the top 20 in front of his fam, including his brother (who immediately answers the question, "what would Brian look like if he ate a sandwich?"). Nice.

Stevens was the nail in the coffin for me. After arriving late, struggling to find parking, and warming up for all of 5 minutes, I breathed a sigh of relief at the start line. Everything had worked out. After the not-so neutral lap (weren't we supposed to stop at the bottom?), I found myself lying on the ground after Drew from Rochester took a bad turn and hit the curb in front of me. Not even thinking twice, I untangled my bicycle and hopped back on. I was too interested in downshifting to realize that I was passing the wheel pit and completely forgot about a possible free lap. Rookie mistake. I was soon pulled, forced to watch as Brian absolutely threw down the gauntlet on the course. Taking some sprint points, and finishing 6th in A's! What of Natan? 8th! They can absolutely smell the sweet air of Ft. Lewis, but I need to get my act together and get some results. Delaware and Philly are up next, and I'm giving it full gas.

Thanks for reading, and see you in Delaware!

Tech Tips: 3rd Eyes, Bats, and much more!

You never stood a chance against this. Sure, you've purchased mass quantities of eBay quality aero frames, fancy wheels that even lawyers can't afford, and you've consulted with Dr. Lim from Garmin Slipstream. However, my bike make yours look like it's going backwards. My bike makes yours tremble with fear. Why? Because MY BIKE SPAWNED A BAT. I don't know how it happened, but who am I to ask questions of this sort? I refuse to elaborate. Deal with it.

I don't suppose that I can dissuade any of you from disassembling your drive train a week before the season, can I? When I was first starting to race, I remember one of the senior riders telling us not to pull a "Joe Kopena" and take our brakes apart the day before the race. Ask him how that worked out. If it works now it will work in a week. Lube and clean until you get dizzy from the fumes, but please try not to play mechanic the day before the race. It keeps us all safe.

Something I would recommend would be to make use of a "chain keeper." It involves an uninvasive procedure whereby you slip a plastic ring with a knob underneath your front derailluer which prevents your chain from "dropping" off of the little ring onto your bottom bracket. You're not Christian Vande Velde, and you likely can't catch the peloton after a dropped chain. So if you've got $10, get yourself a "Third Eye" or "Dog Fang" or whichever brand you like and save your race. In case you think it's not pro to rock one of these, look closely at some of the pro bikes featured on cyclingnews.com.

Also, I have to mention how excited I am to start the season. Thanks in advance to Joe and Caitlin, the race directors, John Frey and Velocity Results, the USAC officials, the riders, and everyone else who makes the ECCC possible. Special thanks to Rutgers and Princeton for being awesome and keeping this thing real (and no aero!). Remember, it's a long season so BE SAFE. Be smart, keep your head up, ride predictably, don't be unnecessarily agressive, hold your line (BU!), and don't forget to get the hell out of your team van, put the Calculus book down, and watch the other races! See you there.

Goin' back to Philly

Just got back from an awesome weekend in Philly. Long story short, Philly is better than Boston. I have many reasons for this statement, but I'll limit my explanation to four letters: BYOB. Philly has plenty of 'em, and it's always fun to find a great place and have an awesome dinner on the cheap. This past Sunday we discovered an excellent Greek place called Effie's on 11th and Pine. I was lucky enough to have the company of two ECCC veterans; Caitlin Thompson (the real brains behind the ECCC, pictured above) and my former teammate and cycling life-coach Adam Leman from Drexel. We walked into the place with an entourage of 9, and instantly clogged the "waiting" area, which was a 10' x 8' room that contained 4 small tables, a cash register, and the....uh, kitchen. SMALL. However, after a few minutes of dodging the wait staff, we were taken away to a private dining area which seemed like a converted stable room with independant heating and music. How sweet is that? Three bottles of wine later, Caitlin told me how lame my blog is while Adam and I complained about the disjointed schedule for the upcoming Rutgers / Princeton opener. ITT at Rutgers, then a crit at Princeton? Really? Later, a few of us wound up at a natical themed bar called "Misconduct." Really?

More importantly, the weekend was the end of our last "build" period of our training schedule. My legs are wrecked. Saturday I decided to do some cross-training by running around a park for an hour, and Sunday I went out for a hilly ride with Adam. I could barely keep up with him on the infamous Philly rollers as my legs felt absolutely swollen. We thanked God that Joe Kopena wasn't with us, as we fondly remembered how much he loves to ride casually for a few hours only to bury himself up hills to embarras us at the top. However, he was busy "UNH-proofing" the house for some visitors later that night. I hope nobody was harmed.

Finally, I decided to warranty my Cannondale frame. The "cosmetic" cracks around the top and down tubes are unacceptable for such a high-quality frame. I've owned 3 Cannondales now (2 deceased thanks to a car and an Army rider), and I'm starting to doubt their quality control. Thankfully, my brother is lending me his sweet Bianchi carbon frame in the meantime. However, I forgot how much of a pain it is to build up a bike in a day- brake bolts need to be swapped, housing doesn't fit neatly, and the front mech is a narrower diameter...bummer. $35 at Landry's solved most of my problems this morning, but I'm sure more issues will come up. Who needs brakes anyway? Either way, like Andy Schleck would do for his older brother Frank, Collin has surrendered his machine for the taller, better-looking older brother. Thanks.

My own personal Zabel

I'm absolutely ashamed to admit I've never seen "Hell on Wheels," the documentary about Team Telekom's 2003 Tour de France...until now. Highly recommended for several reasons. First, it's mostly in German, which is a language that clearly lends itself to suffering. Second (and I'm going out on a limb here), there is no Liggett / Sherwin commentary whatsoever. I love them both like English fathers, but watching the tour without them is sobering to say the least. Third, the massage scenes are both gratuitous and thought-provoking. Whether Zabel is speaking of his 'bromance' with Rolf Aldag or crying about Ale-Jet's recent victory, his wisdom shines through like Kloden's farmers tan.

Without doubt, today's ride must be dedicated to Zabel-esque sprinting. The schedule must be cleared, all climbing must be heavily frowned upon, and elbows must be placed firmly outside of the vehicle. Only one question remains: what to sprint for? In the great state of Massachusetts, there are so many town lines suitable for such an endeavor. But Zabel would demand something special. Perhaps this would provide that extra motivation:

You down with FTP?

It's pained me not to go outside today, with temperatures hitting the HIGH 30's in Boston. However, I needed to test my Functional Threshold Power (FTP) once again to see how things are going. The results were somewhat encouraging, with a 20-minute average of 311 Watts. Subtract 5% to get a FTP value of 295.5 Watts. Hopefully I can bring that number up a little bit before the season, but I'm much more concerned with topping off my shorter efforts (5 sec, 1 min, 5min) for the upcoming ECCC races. For that purpose, we have Natan here at BU. He's got a mean sprint right now, but I'll have his number the next time we cross those much-feared Dover town lines...

Cracked! Ok, so not really- it's just the clear coat. But do I really need to worry about a possible bike frame warranty a month out of the season? Perhaps I'm making a mountain out of a molehill, but the crack happens to be right where the carbon and aluminum are bonded. Boston winters are brutal on bicycle frames and components, but I've never considered riding a "beater" frame when the temperature drops mostly because of (1) cost and (2) significant changes in geometry. Thankfully, I shouldn't miss a day on the bike so no worries!