Columbia/Princeton, March 19-20, 2005


Grant's Tomb Crit
Balmy weather and great crowds rewarded the 19 Yale riders who've been 
riding in less favorable conditions throughout the winter.  Saturday's 
1.2 mi. course was the usual boot-shaped course with a fast 
start/finish along a false flat, three quick left-hand turns, a short 
rise, then a right hand turn into a sweeping slingshot-like 180-degree 
(boot toe) back onto the straightaway false flat.  WA: Michele revved 
up the racing in her incident-free race.  She rode comfortably at the 
front of the pack for most of the race, and took 16th in the final 
sprint.  Next, our A men mixed it up.  Various A-men attacked off the 
front, but were all sucked back in.  Adam kept tabs on UVM's Dan 
Cassidy, while Eric slipped in for third in the first prim; both chased 
down their share of breaks.  Diesel-engine Curtis, after racing well in 
the USCF 1/2 race an hour earlier, protected the two throughout the 
race.  Final finishes after the massive pack sprint: Adam 13, Eric 21, 
Curtis 27.  B-women Rachel and Kim then dominated their race.  The two 
averted sketchy crashes and riders throughout (Rachel was so strong she 
rode beside, not IN the pack, while Kim pulled most of the back 
stretch).  Although momentarily halted by a Harvard rider who BRAKED 
around the final curve, they swept past over half the pack for side-by-
side 14 (Kim) and 15 (Rachel) place finishes.  Next, our sleek 9-man B 
squad intimidated their field.  In a trend that continued throughout 
the weekend, Stefan grabbed points in the first prim, while the Steve 
duo posed for multiple photos at the front of the large B pack.  Even 
though Brooke's roadie was in Montreal, he hopped on Curtis' bike and 
also helped out the squad for much of the race before pulling out of 
the race due to technical difficulties (a malfunctioning bottom bracket 
resulting in synchronized cranks).  Brooke surely would have butterfly-
kicked his way over the finish line if he weren't on a borrowed bike.  
Team bagel-supplier Mike Richter was simply too strong for his gearing, 
and despite spinning 120 rpms, slipped off the pack.  Still, he gamely 
continued for most of the race.  Final results: Steve-O 11, Doug 
Jacobson 19, Stefan 27, Big Steve 28, Jon 30, Ryan Quadri 32, Hains 
36.  C-man Pete Chiu then determinedly hung onto the pack in his race 
while 40% of his field was lapped and pulled.  He finished in a 
respectable 29th out of the 52-man field.  In the final race of the 
day, D-men Rich and Conner rode in the front pack while Jorge shook off 
visions of the taxi that struck him earlier during his warmup around 
the city streets.  Connor was later caught behind a crash, but team 
freshman Rich burned through the finish and took 4th in the pack sprint 
for 6th overall.


Half the squad then traveled to glorious New Jersey, where they feasted 
at a BYOB eatery and enjoyed hot tub intervals while 8&un cheerleaders 
cannonballed into the pool beside them.


Princeton Circuit
Sunday's race weather was ominous: sleet, hail, and snow were all on 
the forecast.  Still, the final results proved Yale's mettle: despite 
having a small 10-person squad, we took FOURTH overall out of the 26 
schools racing (in large part due to Eric and our B men).  The 
Princeton circuit featured a 2.2 mi loop with an S-turn, salt, mud and 
pooled water along the back stretch, and a short uphill before the fast 
downhill finish.  Med-squad D-men Connor and Jorge generously set up 
the team tent and trainers before their race, then proceeded to mix it 
up in their race.  Although he forgot his windshield-wiper glasses, 
Connor still made a thrilling attack along the back stretch midway 
through the 7-lap race.  He was eventually caught, but his move set the 
tone for the rest of Yale's races.  Both D-men finished midpack: Connor 
24, Jorge 26.  Next, C-man Pete again hung tough after attempting an 
attack with a Williams and BU rider and finished in 22nd.  B-women 
Rachel and Kim then got their share of mudface during their 10-lap 
race.  Kim again pushed the pace at the front for a significant part of 
the race, while Rachel contemplated attacks from her position in the 
pack.  Rachel took 12th after she made a superb move in the final lap 
for a great sprint position, while Kim attacked early and shot up the 
outside line for 5th.  Hardy trio Jon, Stefan, and Doug then hogged 
sprint points and high finishes in their MB race.  Stefan won the first 
two prims handily: no rider dared contest him when he sped ahead of the 
pack (we did notice Stefan had a smirk on his face when we later spoke 
about Cippo and his sprint-victory salute...perhaps Stefan also has a 
secret tactic?).  Jon Tan also picked up prim points in three of the 
four spints, while Doug rode strong with the pack.  Final results of 
their 14-lap race: Stefan 9, Jon 13, Doug 30.  During Michele's A race 
Harvard riders conspired against the pack and split the field by 
sandbagging Michele's half of the field.  Still, she had a strong 
sprint and took 9th overall.  Captain Eric Diamond then capped off the 
torrential day with an AMAZING race.  After jumping off the front and 
winning the first sprint uncontested, he then sat in the swiftly-moving 
pack and plotted his next move.  Soon after winning yet another prim, 
and with 9 laps to go in his 20 lap race, Eric decided to capitalize on 
the gap he'd made.  After winning the 5th (of 6) prims, he told the 
second place BU rider to hop on, but the BU rider just shook his head.  
Taking a deep breath, Eric put his head down and solo-ed off the 
front.  The exhausted pack didn't respond, and he quickly gained 15 
seconds on them.  The enraptured poncho-clad crowd went wild.  When he 
later told the hot-cocoa-sipping team his race recap in front of the 
crackling fireplace, he admitted he thought about sitting up and 
letting the pack catch him.  Fortunately, he instead pushed through the 
pain/grit/rain and continued soloing out in front.  After a number of 
riders tried to bridge up to Eric and were reeled back into the chasing 
pack, a young Skidmore rider finally made the gap with six laps to go, 
and the two worked perfectly together for the remainder of the race.  
They opened and held the gap to over 25 seconds, and even though 
multiple riders tried to chase the two down, none succeeded.  Eric 
picked up the final prim, and in the final sprint, shot past the spent 
Skidmore rider and crossed the line in picture-perfect victory salute, 
well over 35 seconds ahead of the pack.  Proof of his dominance: Eric 
won both the A race and the most A points for the day because of his 
prim prowess.


The hypothermic team then thawed at Eric's girlfriend's house before 
journeying home triumphantly.  Great weekend for all of Yale's tough 
racers.


The quote:
"I should have gone with you." ­ the BU rider who won the pack sprint, 
unaware that Eric and Skidmore had already crossed the line ages ago