Gopher Cycling Blog

The second weekend of racing in the North Central Collegiate Cycling Conference ended with a clear sweep of the first three spots by the women, as well as strong performances in the Men's B field. The Men's A field struggled against Nebraska, which took the top five spots, and the fight for a Nationals qualification will now be a hard one, with six races remaining. The full results of the NDSU road race may be found here. Pictures of the event are in our galleries.

Women's Road Race:

For the Gophers raced: Jennifer H (1st), Ann H (2nd), Julie K (3rd), Hannah P (5th), and Miriam W (7th). Julie K submitted this report:

"The weather on Saturday at the NDSU road race should have been partly
cloudy with a high of 65 degrees (as predicted) but instead was much cooler
and cloudier with the ever-present ND wind. The collegiate women's race
started five minutes behind the Men's B race. It began with a neutral
start from the Cormorant Community Center to the Roadhouse Bar and Grill.
From there we turned left, heading west, onto the first leg of the race.
We started with 11 women. The U of M had the best representation with 5
women. We had decided that we were going to keep the pace up from the
start so that hopefully we could knock off a few riders in the pack. On
the first leg we dropped 4 riders and the lead pack was down to 7 women: us
5 from the U, Andi from Kansas State and 1 St. Olaf rider. Half way into
the first leg Jenn rode off the front and KState and St. Olaf seemed to be
fine with letting her go. Eventually we caught up to her again and turned
into the second leg of the first lap as a pack. Halfway through the second
leg we found ourselves catching up to the Men's B pack. Before the end of
the first lap we had caught up to the Men and were waiting for them to let
us pass or to speed up so that we keep the groups separate. Eventually a
few B's yelled at the other B's and they moved over just enough so that we
could ride single file just right of the center line to pass. The race
continued on at a medium pace with several of us taking turns pulling. The
toughest part of the course was the final few miles leading up to the
finish line due to the strong head wind. Mid-way through the first leg of
the second lap Jenn slowly rode off the front again and we let her go
thinking that KState or St. Olaf would chase. They didn't and so Jenn was
well on her way to a 1st place finish. KState took her place in front of
the pack to pull and so that is what we let her do--pull as much as she
wanted--and then for some that she didn't want to pull. It was obvious
that St. Olaf was struggling throughout her pulls and so it was important
that we let KState pull as much as possible while we were conserved our
energy since KState seemed to be feeling just fine. The ride continued at
a medium, if not lesuirely, pace and we had hoped to start making things
happen a little past mid-way of the second lap. However, due to the wind
and how our competitiors were faring we decided that an attack in the last
lap would be best for a good all-around finish for the U. Towards the
third leg of the 2nd lap Miriam attempted to go off the front a couple of
times but KState and St. Olaf pulled her in. In the last lap we increased
our pace and everyone was waiting for the other to make the decisive move.
With about 5 miles to go Hannah and I began to move to the front of the
group and Hannah accelerated into a monster head wind and a slight hill
with Ann right on her wheel. I followed trying to get on Ann's wheel and
KState was fighting the wind right beside me. I caught on and we tried to
increase the pace (as much as we could with the wind) in order to drop St.
Olaf and possibly KState. At 3 miles to go we began to take turns taking
pulls into the wind in order to keep the pace up and form a gap from the
other women. Once I pulled off from the front in order for Ann to take her
pull I glanced back and realized that we had formed a sizeable gap from
KState. Unfortunately we lost Hannah and she was left to battle KState for
4th place. Ann and I continued to rotate taking short, hard pulls until
the last 500 meters or so, where we began our sprint for 2nd and 3rd. Ann
placed 2nd, finishing a couple bike lengths ahead of me. After a little
while Hannah and KState neared the finish battling every meter, ending with
a throw of their bikes at the finish line. Nice job ladies! Now, onto
Nebraska!!"

Men's A Road Race:

For the Gophers raced: Ben P (6th), Steve G (7th), Andrew T (10th), Chris M (11th), Satoshi I (13th), and Eric S (14th). Satoshi I submitted this race report:

"It was a chilly and windy day when we had the NDSU road race. The course was a
little shorter than the last years, but basically what we did was to ride
around Pelican Lake for 4 laps (60 miles?). Some rolling hills, but
mainly flat. The Men's A race started at noon with 19 participants. From the U of
M, we had Ben P, Chris M, Ed, F'n Steve, Screech, and me (Satoshi). In the
last road race (KSU), I attacked three times and used up my energy, so this
time, I was thinking to stay in the field until some movement would happen.
Soon after the neutral ride was over, Ben P, Ed, Screech, and two Nebraska
guys including DB (the word I learned during the Track Nationals 04)
escaped from the field. The main field let them go. After 10 min or so,
Ed came back, but the other four continued to work together. In the main field,
three other Nebraska guys controlled the pace. F'n Steve pseudo-attacked
to try to help Ben P and Screech in the escape group, but it was not
successful due to the Nebraska guys and a miscommunication between F'n Steve
and myself. I'm still not clear what we should do in that situation.
Later, about 3/4 lap down, three Nebraska guys attacked from the main
field. That was a very dangerous situation for the U of M; therefore, Chris M
and I chased them. After we two reached the three Nebraska guys, five
rotated to keep up the pace in the strong head wind. Unfortunately, the U of M
folks were dropped just after 1 lap, and came back to the main field. The main
field was slow and the pace was not steady. I still had a hope to chase
down the Nebraska guys, so I tried to keep up the pace, which resulted in the
break of the main field. F'n Steve, ISU Mike, Carlton Sean, and myself,
worked together. I used up my energy, and could not follow when F'n Steve
increased the pace. I came back to the rest of the field (Chris M, Ed, ISU
Luke, KSU Gerald) and stayed there for 2 laps. I got hunger knock during
this ride, but Ed saved me by giving me his PowerBar. Thanks, Ed! At 1
lap to go, Chris M made a break stick, followed by ISU Luke and Ed. I was
too tired to chase, so just stayed with KSU Gerald. Ed came back soon, and
we three worked together almost until the end of the race. The wind got
stronger and stronger, and the pace dropped to 15 mph. KSU Gerald was dropped
1-2 miles before the finish line, so Ed (14th) and I (13th) finished
together, with a little sprint.

After the race, I heard that the three Nebraska guys reached the top
group and kicked Ben P off. I felt really sorry for him that I couldn't
help him against the Nebraska guys. As a result, Nebraska took places 1-5.
Ben P got 6th. The third chase group (F'n Steve, ISU Mike, Carlton Sean)
caught Screech, who was exhausted by working too hard in the top group.
F'n Steve took 7th and Screech took 10th. Chris M's 1-lap solo gave him
11th.

Overall, we were all kicked off by the Nebraska guys. We need to talk more
about race strategy to prevent some stupid things like I did, and work more
effectively for our team. We should seek revenge at the Nebraska weekend.
Unfortunately, I cannot join the Nebraska races, but I'm wishing good luck to the U
of M racers. Thanks for reading this."

Men's B Road Race:

For the Gophers raced: Peter F (1st), Andy C (7th), Nick D (12th), Boris K (20th), Cody A (22nd), Sam F (28th), and Yorgos A (dnf). Nick D submitted this race report:

"The race this weekend was ok, the field was huge, 37 in mens B and the pace
was pretty slow. The girls started 5 minutes behind us and ended up passing
us at the end of the first lap, pretty embarassing. Pretty much the entire
field stayed together, minus some crashes and flats, until part way through
the third lap when I attacked up a hill and split the group but there were
14 still in the lead group. No one wanted to lead, if you did get up to the
front you probably had to slow to 13 or 14 mph to get someone else to take
the lead. It was pretty frustrating and ridiculous, not to mention that I
am not too comfortable inside a pack. With less than a minute to go the
pace started to quicken and I got trapped by 2 Iowa guys, hit one guy's back
tire and swerved into the ditch and stayed upright but probably caused a
Kansas guy to crash. It wasn't all bad because Pete F won the race. I came
in 12th after manuvering out of the ditch. I was pissed at myself for
riding pretty stupidly. Also I did some pretty sketchy things during the
race like not keeping my line throught turns and moving around in the lane
when I was leading, and not being very smart about drafting and getting out
of the way so other people would lead. We did have 6 or 8 guys there but
didn't really execute any stragegy or work together at all which was pretty
dumb. That is about it."