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?
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