Gopher Cycling Blog

Last weekend saw a return to collegiate racing in the NCCCC, as the University of Nebraska played host for three races as part of the Lincoln Plating Classic, a three-stage race, consisting of a road race and a team time trial on Saturday, and a criterium on Sunday. The overall results may be found here, but are too confusing to be reproduced here from a Gopher perspective. Please peruse them at your own leisure, and refer to the race reports, which will be filled in below as they become available. NCCCC-specific results have been posted here and are much easier to comprehend and break down the results nicely.

The resultant overall standings are summarized here.

Women's Road Race:

Ann H submitted this race report:

"The women were started with the Men's B field. Julie and I went off the front hoping that the group to catch us wouldn't have any collegiate
women and it worked. Jenn came along with the men's B group, but the
rest of the women were left behind. The three of us then just tried to
find a place in the pack but lots of changes in the pace made it hard
to stay comfortable. The course took us around the lake and into our
second lap on the same circuit. Julie and I both spent some time
setting the pace, but unfortunately were back in the pack when there
was a crash on the second of three laps. Julie was run off the grassy
embankment on the side of the road and I saw her flip over her bike as
I narrowly steered through a gap in the carnage. I looked back to see
Julie on the road but doing something to fix here bike so I got back up
to pace and continued. I worked for several miles on my own to try and
catch some of the guys ahead of me but ended up working with a pack of
5 or 6 who came up from behind. We caught Yorgos too and took turns
setting a brisk but very sustainable pace. I pulled up the last
rolling hill into the finish and sprinted all the way in to the line.
Julie had a hard last lap on her own to get 3rd, and Jenn came in
strong to finish 2nd. Hannah had a good race alongside KU and finished
5th with Miriam also finishing strong to complete the Gopher women's
success."

Women's Team Time Trial:

Julie K submitted this race report:

"After completing a hard Women's/Men's B 38-mile road race in the Nebraska sun and heat and then waiting around for a couple more hours in our
chamois, the team time trials were underway. The women's team had decided
that whoever felt good to ride an additional 12.8 miles after the road race
would be the four that would compete in the time trial. After a short
discussion, it was decided that Ann H., Hannah P., Julie K., and Jenn H.
would represent the Gophers. None of us had ever had the experience of
competing in a time trial, individual or team, before this event.
Therefore we went into the event thinking of it as a learning experience
and an opportunity to get to work together in a pace line as a team. We
went to the line one minute after the Nebraska team, our only other
competitors due to the lack of women riders from the other colleges and
started at the sound of the gun. We got into formation and were off.
Everything was working well and each of us took turns taking decent pulls
throughout the race in order to keep us moving at a respectable pace. We
caught up to Team Nebraska just after turning out of the park and passed
them on the first leg of the lap.

We continued to work well together, mainly due to the fact that we made
sure to communicate throughout the race. However, there were a couple of
times after turning on the course where we became slightly separated and
had to slow down in order to get back into formation.

After turning the final corner and beginning the last leg of the race, I
realized that we had gapped again. Determined that this wouldn't happen
again I shouted up to Hannah (as I was catching up to her) to slow down a
bit so that Ann and Jen could also get on. In the midst of my concern and
effort to get the team together, Ann and Hannah exclaimed simultaneously
(almost) "There's the finish--sprint!!" Once I heard that, looked up and
saw the tent at the finish line, registered what they had said, and finally
engaged my tired legs and stinky body into a sprint, Hannah and Ann had
quite the jump on me. Ann and Hannah crossed the finish, followed by me
and Jen.

Unlike the Men's A team all of us knew that the finish was on the last
leg of the outside circle (mainly due to the fact that before we had
started we had heard a rider who had just finished complain about it).
Like the Men's A report, the finish line came up much quicker than I had
envisioned. Thanks to Hannah and Ann, I quickly realized my misconception.

Overall, we were glad we entered and all of us agreed that the ride was
extremely helpful, allowing us to work together and most importantly,
really communicate as a team 100% of the time (except for the last leg; my
25% contribution was lacking). It also was great to get a good,
comfortable "spin" in after the road race that had occurred earlier in the
day. By the end of it all we were exhausted and I think I can speak for
everyone when I say that we all slept soundly that night."

Editor's note: A quick glance at the results reveals that the women's time trial team actually beat both KU's and ISU's male "A" teams by over two minutes! That lends a certain credence to the expression "moving at a respectable pace."

Women's Criterium:

Ann H submitted this race report:

"Again race tactics were shaken up by being combined with the Cat 1,2,3 women's field. Julie and I took advantage of those 3 women going hard
at the start and then easing into a good pace at least a half lap ahead
of the field. Although they easily accelerated away from us for the
primes, we both caught back on and worked with them to lap the
entire field over the course of the 45 minutes. Both Hannah and Miriam
played strong roles in their respective packs, leading the way to a
solid pace (and adding a lot of cohesiveness to some unexperienced
racing from girls on other teams [Ed.: "Take me home, girlfriend. Take me now!"]). The finish ended up really confusing as the lapped field was right behind us and wasn't sure if their final lap or not. I came in just in front of Julie and we were both far enough ahead that we didn't hear Jenn's crash in the final turn. A
lot of roadburn and a cut near her eye had us all concerned but she got
home in one piece and is no worse for the wear :-)"

Men's A Road Race:

Nobody submitted this race report:

"Race report coming soon."

Men's A Team Time Trial:

Ben R submitted this race report:

"The team time trial started only a couple of hours after the finish of the road race earlier that day, and enthusiasm did not run very high among the male Gophers. Since time in a team time trial is taken off the third rider, we needed at least three riders, which proved somewhat difficult, as Steve G was already off to work on some bogus project at home, Eric S had wrecked his derailleur by diligently neglecting it for the past three years, and Chris M wasn't feeling it. That left Andrew T and myself as the possible "A" Men, which, as a quick calculation that has been omitted here for clarity would reveal, was not quite enough to field a complete team. Luckily, Peter F stepped up to the proverbial plate and saved the day by offering to upgrade his fast legs to the "A" category. Why he ended up having to ride as a "B" again on Sunday is somewhat unclear, but in any case not subject of this report.

We left, as the results show clearly, at 6:14:00pm CDT, and were off to a good start, that saw us convert the team ahead of us (Nebraska's "A" team, no less) into the team behind us before we even took our turn onto the main course. From there we started to work together as a team should, ironing out problems as we went, since we had never raced in this configuration before. In fact, Peter F had never ridden with aerobars before, a fact that left Andrew T in a perpetual state of near-panic, but did not result in any crashes or even near misses. That is not to say that Peter F did not almost crash, but that was while he was coming around a corner on a downhill riding in his drops. After a brief second of fear during which he showed off his off-road skills to successfully steer back onto the pavement, it was all over, and the racing resumed.

From there on the ride went smoothly until the very end when we did not realize that the finish actually came a couple of miles before we had expected it. On the last mile Kansas State passed us, and I remember thinking 'Huh, these guys are going fast. It almost looks like they are sprinting, not bad. But why are they not drafting off each other, and why are they sitting up now?' And suddenly the race was over, just as I was preparing myself for the final push. I dare say that we could have avoided being overtaken by KSU, had we known where the finish really was. Nevertheless, we finished a strong second, at 31:19min for the 12.8mi, 1:18min behind KSU, but 4:01min ahead of Nebraska, and over 10 mintues (!) ahead of KU. Next time, at our conference championships, we should all race the team time trial, as it is probably the most satisfying event you can do as a team."

Men's A Criterium:

Nobody submitted this race report:

"Race report coming soon."

Men's B Road Race:

Peter F submitted this race report:

"Things started out interestingly enough, with a combined men's B and
women's field leaving the start. The pack stayed cohesive until early
in the second lap when Boris took the offensive with an attack off the
front. After being reeled in, an Iowa rider launched an offensive of
his own. I pursued him and luckily missed out on the devastating crash
that ensued.

Leading off solo at the end of the second lap, I was caught by a mixed
group that had also missed the crash. We worked together for the last
lap, creating a paceline to prevent any of the stronger crashed riders
from catching up. This group stayed together until the last few
hundered meters where I narrowly won the field sprint against a KU rider."

Men's B Team Time Trial:

Ben R submitted this race report:

"The B Men were all too soft to race a team time trial on Saturday, so it didn't happen."

Men's B Criterium:

Andy C submitted this race report:

"The crit on Sunday started out pretty normal. Me (Andy), Pete, Boris, and Yorgos showed up to represent the U for Men's B. I moved to the front
immediately, hoping to avoid crashing (again). The left handed rectangular
course offered little chances for breakaways, but people tried anyways. I
chased down a few, and even went on one myself. I was reeled in within a
lap. Then, an accident occured when an unaware youngster attempted to cross
the road in front of the pack. Later, another crash happened on the last
corner when the rider in front of me had a blowout. I avoided him by riding
up on the slanted curb. Taking advantage of the slowed pack, I attempted
another breakaway, which also failed. Meanwhile, Peterman was working his
way up towards the front, conserving his energy. Boris and Yorgos were
working hard in the pack, when unfortunately they were gapped off the back
and pulled from the race. As the race drew to a close, Peterman shot to the
front, I was swallowed by the pack, and Peterman made a lightning dash to
the finish, scoring valuable points for the team."