ACCC Championships

GW Cycling's rolling conquerors had an exciting weekend at the ACCC Conference Championship races, hosted (and hosted well) by VT.

Saturday
The weekend started off with a road race deep in the hills of Virginia.

The day started off cold and gray, the roads still wet from the previous night's rain. However, the Colonials were not deterred, as Dan, Catherine, and Sam all started off in the combined (OK, a couple minutes of separation) Men's B and Women's A field.

The several miles of climbing as well as an early crash (which cracked several teeth of a friend of the team) split up the fields - Dan rode with a pack chasing a breakaway in the B field for much of the race, while Catherine and Sam were caught behind the wreck and worked with another racer for the rest of the race (which was cut short after the officials elected to pull half of the Women's field after 2 laps when the race thoroughly split in two). Sam, in fact, had to "run into the grass" to avoid the crash and had to chase Catherine up the hill and down the backside of the course in order to hang on. Catherine reported that she climbed better than she did her last time on this course. Both rode the last lap of the 16 mile course anyways after the officials ended their race. Sam followed this by collapsing in the sun. Catherine cited "more bad RR karma," in light of some mismaneuvering in the pack following an encounter with some oncoming traffic and the crash, though as she said, "I kept all my teeth, so it's all good." Catherine, in a show of toughness, raced despite fighting sinus issues all week. Catherine finished 6th and Sam 9th.


Meanwhile, Dan fought hard within the pack, eventually winning the field sprint behind the breakaway and a chase group, placing himself in 10th. He described the course variously as "hard," "difficult," "terrible," "awesome," and "beautiful."


The next set of GW starters were Rich, Andrew, and Nick in the Men's C field. The race calmly stayed together until they hit the climb on the first of their 2 laps. At that point, the field broke apart, as Nick fell off the pace of the leaders, Rich passed him, and Andrew continued to ride his usual conservative and consistent pace. On the windy, winding back side of the loop, Nick caught back on with Rich and then launched an effort to bridge back up to the pack, catching up near the start/finish. Andrew caught up to Rich's group, and the two worked together through the rest of the race, while Nick tried to help keep the pack together. Eventually, Nick took second in a pack sprint, for 7th place, while Rich out-sprinted his group for 16th while Andrew rolled in not far behind, in 19th. The field was the biggest of the day, at 41 racers.
The final GW starters in the road race were Scott and John in the Men's D field. Scott found himself in no-man's-land halfway through the section of climbing, in between the lead pack and the chasing group. After being caught by a few riders, Scott worked with them for the rest of the race and outsprinted them to the line, saying that he thought back to his hard training and knew he could do it. He led his group to the line for 16th. He was very pleased with his effort on the hills and at the finish. John, meanwhile, was caught up in the excitement of his very first race. Excitement, however, can't prepare you for hills, and he found himself off the back after the climb. Eventually, he encountered another rider and the two fighting each other to prevent drafting. The other rider clipped John at the line and he finished 28th, after swerving his bike precariously in front of the crowd at the finish line. He did certainly achieve his goal of not finishing last, and had a great time doing it.


The last GW effort of the day came in the team time trial, as Rich, Andrew and Nick donned aero helmets and raced to 2nd place in Men's C. The team caught up to a squad of Navy riders within 2 1/2 miles of starting the course, and caught the NC State team not long after (they also caught Duke), while ASU's team caught them en route to first place. The three worked together well, taking advantage of Rich's swift climbing, Nick's hair-raising descent speed, and Andrew's irrepressible tenacity in holding wheels to beat several 4-man teams. GW - we're a small team, but feisty.The team then retired to their EconoLodge to find out what the problem with Dan's car was (it had required some service, and thanks to the University BP in Radford was back in action by late afternoon), find a place to eat dinner (much pizza was eaten), and send delegates to the conference meeting (GW will be hosting a race weekend in 2011!).

Sunday
Sunday was the criterium, on the VT campus.

Scott and John started the day off for GW in the Ds. Scott felt the effects of the previous day's racing and found himself falling off the lead pack after several times up the course's not insignificant hill. He did, however, get to bear witness to John experiencing his first crash due to, as Scott saw it, "not paying attention." John failed to follow rule #1, Protect Your Wheel, and paid for it by getting intimate with the pavement in the false flat at the top of the course. Bloody, jersey ripped, bike tweaked, wheel disastrously out of true, he trucked on to the finish. John (after discovering the free lap rule), finished 18th and Scott 19th, the race a promising beginning and satisfying end, respectively, to two collegiate careers.

The Men's C field rode next. Nick followed his race plan of "stay up front but out of the wind," Rich followed his of "stay on Nick's wheel," and Andrew hung on for dear life. At the end of the day, Nick's leadout was foiled by Rich's pedal coming unclipped 50 meters from the line. Nick went on to take the sprint victory, while Rich came in 7th place (screaming obscenities, possibly, and pedaling one-legged, possibly - no one is sure). Andrew came in behind the sprint in 16th. Looking back, Rich is not upset with his finish, while Nick only regrets that he couldn't physically drag Rich to the line.Dan raced next in the B field, taking 3rd in a field sprint for the line. After the race, he pulled up to the team, said the course was hard, expressed gratitude for the cheering that was going on, and said "I think I'm gonna yak," before walking up the rise at the side of the road and beginning to dry heave - a throwback to Rich's time trial philosophy from earlier in the season. His finish was hard-fought and well-earned in a very close B race. He is now trying to find a GW graduate program to apply to in order to continue racing.


Last for the day was Sam in the Women's A race (Catherine was feeling under the weather). Following an early attack by a VT rider, the field stayed together and rotated through in a battle to stay out of the wind. Sam described it as "recovery on the backside and attacks up the hill." Eventually, the race came down to a field sprint and Sam finished 5th following what she called an "awesome sprint" by a Pfeiffer rider.

Part of the team stuck around for the awards ceremony - GW was 4th in Division 2, and Nick was 2nd overall in Men's C. Many thanks are due to the GW fans who made it out for the weekend (especially to those who provided us with a tray of brownies).

All in all, it was a season to be proud of. Most of the core group of the team will be racing over the summer. The team is very excited for the opportunity to play host to the ACCC next spring. Over the summer, hopefully we can bring you updates on the team's activities both on and off the bike, on progress towards the race weekend (March 12-13, 2011! Mark your calendars! Also, please volunteer!), and on the prospects for next year.
It's been real. Keep the rubber to the road and the skin on your elbows and knees.