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."

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."