Bucknell/Lehigh, March 26-27 2005


Yale's riders read "mountaintop" on the race flyer and prepared for 
some outdoor activity this past weekend.  Necessary and present 
accessories: tent, a pair of reclining camping chairs, portable stove, 
cycling shoes with built-in crampons, and some cheese shots (supplied 
by peter.chiu@yale.edu, probably with the Saltines girl in mind).  
Result: good spirits and gutsy races over the two days.


Saturday's Bucknell crit, a 1.1 mile curving course that was 
approximately 65% uphill, witnessed some gritty Yale racing.  MD: Rich 
and Jorge started in the last row but swiftly moved up in the ranks.  
Both were especially strong on the uphills, and although Rich got 
caught behind a crash in the final sprint, he still finished in 10th; 
Jorge followed soon after in a solid 22.  MC: Pete was caught behind a 
crash early on but, like Dave Kappa, determinedly kept racing while 
less hardy men pulled off in droves.  Meanwhile, team entertainer 
Eric "Spooky" Becker sped up the hill on his "custom made to 
accommodate my lopsidedly muscled legs" 'cross machine and attacked the 
pack multiple times.  Final finishes: Spooky 9, Dave 20, Pete 28.  
Next, the MB quintet put in a good effort.  Brooke, Jon, Zach, and 
Bryan all rode tough races off the main pack, but persisted for most of 
the race.  Bryan was especially resilient since 1) he was full of Avis 
pie and 2) he dragged around riders from other schools after his bad 
start.  Doug represented Yale in the front pack, and barely missed 
being in the points with his 16th place sprint finish.  A Women Michele 
and Kim then busted out their moves.  Kim had an early freaky deaky 
crash on a sandy corner, but immediately got back on her bike and kept 
going.  Michele had a strong race in which she chased national track 
champ Sarah Uhl and picked up sprint points in the first and fifth 
sprint.  In the final pack sprint, she picked up an awesome seventh 
place, and scored major points for the team despite staying in her 
saddle the WHOLE TIME.  A-Man Eric, who was still ailing after his 
superb Princeton race, hung tough for most of his race before being 
pulled.  But the entire team recognized his mighty effort and drive—
over 30% of his field DNFed while he kept going.


Post-race, in honor of Bryan's big day, the team downed some digestive-
tract-friendly Indian food.  Post-dinner, peeping-Tom Yale men 
surreptitiously lined the balcony but were thwarted when Kim curled up 
in front of the fireplace with her senior essay, sans Johnson-stud A 
man.


Easter Sunday's Lehigh crit was the usual uphill (bisected by a speed 
bump)-downhill four corner course.  D-men Jorge and Rich both had 
amazing races: Jorge sat at the front of the pack for most of the race 
and consistently pushed the pace while teammate Rich, whose warmup 
consisted of DVD-watching in his plush car, helped him shell men off 
their pack.  In the final sprint Rich attacked a little late but still 
had a great 4th place finish (three packmates later admitted he could 
have won if he'd moved sooner).  Jorge also had a strong 16th place 
finish (he thought it was a prim, not the final sprint), and commented 
that he's finally learning how to push his body without feeling the 
pain.  Watch out for consistently higher finishes from these two!  The 
C trio then put in great efforts during their race.  Pete (31), fueled 
by vegan cheese shots and hot chocolate, attacked on the first hill.  
Even though he was unable to sustain the effort, he definitely put the 
hurt on the field and dropped a passel of riders.  David, after his 
cycling hiatus, quickly regained his legs and rode a solid race, while 
Spooky sat in front of the pack, attacked, and had a stellar 5th place 
finish, which we're sure the hot MIT gal noticed.  David was also in 
the points with his 9th place.  The B squad then muscled up the hill: 
Brooke chased down an early break, while Bryan gave himself a birthday 
gift by soloing off the front peter.chiu@yale.edu style.  He sneaked 
off about 20m from the group for a lap, but was then swallowed up like 
a big fist full of birthday cake by the relentless B mob.  Jon rode in 
the front pack for most of the race, but was caught behind a crash with 
4 to go and was barely unable to catch back up; Zach's front-pack 
finish was marred by hill-induced calf cramps.  Med-squad-star Doug 
improved on his Saturday race and put himself in the points with his 
15th place finish.  The over-eventful WA race featured multiple packs 
and chase groups and midrace cessations, but both Michele and Kim 
persevered.  When a vicious crash halted their race, Michele was in the 
front chase group and Kim was in the second pack.  After the race 
restarted, the two put out full effort while some women DNFed.  In the 
final pack sprint Michele got OUT OF her saddle and picked up a solid 
9th place.  Kim rolled in soon after in 19th.  Superhero A-man Eric 
then rode a powerful race with a tragic end.  Throughout his hourlong 
race, he attacked often and singlehandedly reeled in two BU guys who 
were chasing the break duo of UVM's Dan Cassidy and Cornell's Malcolm 
Richardson.  He was well positioned after a jump to the front of the 
pack on the bell lap, but a freak crash took him out at the bottom of 
the hill.  Still, the A pack knows he's a fearsome force when well.


And finally, a belated congrats to Fall Century leader Dave McCormick, 
who picked up a prim in the USCF (cat 5) and had a super overall 6th 
place finish in the recent Columbia crit.


Quotables*:
"I'm the seated sprinter!" ­ Michele (before Sunday's race)
"Gimme some of that panty water...oooh, I want some panty water" ­ 
crooned by a gyrating Spooky


*ask Jorge the difference between a hotel and motel.  It didn't make 
the G-rated recap cut