Easterns (UNH), April 30-May 1, 2005


(Hint: this recap is best read while looking through the weekend's 
pictures) Yale riders capped off a strong season with some truly 
inspired riding during Easterns, hosted by UNH.  The weekend began with 
the arrival of the COACH BUS, and realization that each of the eleven 
travelers had exactly five seats each.  Brooke did some quick 
calculations and neatly restacked the bikes in the rear of the bus; 
this common-sense demonstration prompted Spooky's 
commendation: "Brooke, the races haven't even started yet and you've 
already won!"  Revised per-person seat count: 3.  A-men Eric and Adam 
silenced the whining by playing 1989 Tour, 2003 Tour, and 1989 World's 
videos and reading thrilling cycling stories.  Michele further rewarded 
the team by directing the bus to a local Olive Garden upon arrival in 
New Hampshire.


Saturday's road race drew the riders from the comfort of their plush 
bus.  Unfortunately, some riders spoke too soon on Friday afternoon 
("If nothing else, we should at least LOOK intimidating" ­ 
Adam; "That's why I said we should roll up to the parking lot late and 
roll over someone's tent [whoops B.U.].  OR we should make two trips, 
and the first time just have three people hop out." ­ Tebbe) and cursed 
the team's grand entrance: the bus marooned on the steep hill leading 
up to the staging area.  Eric and Adam again saved the day by strolling 
around the parking lot audibly chuckling about "that Harvard bus."  The 
road race, a 10.3 mi. four-corner loop, began with a few miles of 
speedy downhill ending in a right-hand turn directly into the hill, 
another right hand into what the race flyer deemed "devastating" 
rolling hills, through the uphill feed zone and back across.  On the 
last lap, racers turned off the main course and onto a brutal 3-mi 
uphill finish.  C-men Spooky and David Kappa and D-men Jorge, Chris, 
and Nathan started their races amid light sprinkling.  Spooky was 
sidelined by a flat during the second lap, but eagerly catted up so he 
could ride again in the upcoming B race.  Jorge was our lone D 
finisher, and rode his entire 3-lap race with the front pack.  In the 
final uphill finish he came in 21st, barely a minute behind the winner, 
and outlasted many of the 83 race starters.  David finished his four-
lap MC race soon after in a solid 32 out of the 65-man field (attrited 
to 48 riders by the end).  Immediately after their races ended, the 
temperature plummeted and the sleeting began.  Race reports reveal the 
ensuing trauma.  An account of the 7-lap Men's A race: "Soaked to the 
bone and uncontrollably shaking, Adam had no choice but to pull out of 
the race after the 3rd loop.  He wasn't alone--barely half the field 
finished the race.  Eric pushed on through the heavy rain, and things 
started to heat up on the 4th lap.  As the field hit the climb, the 
group shattered.  Fifteen riders were dropped, and soon pulled out of 
the race.  Eric barely, barely hung on over the series of steep 
rises.  'I've never suffered so badly in my life' he said afterward.  
At 
one point he tried swallowing a gel, but quickly threw it back up.  His 
back, stomach and legs began cramping, and on the 5th time up the climb 
he was dropped from the group…but the Yale cheering section never knew 
it--by the time the group came through the feed zone, Eric was back in 
the mix.  Shivering so badly that he couldn't control his front wheel, 
Eric backed off a bit on the 45mph decent through the cascading rain.  
Up the climb the 6th time, Eric went off the back again with cramps in 
both legs.  Resigned to chase, he came through the feed zone a few 
seconds 
behind the group, and took the final lap to the climb on his own, where 
he began to pick off dropped riders."  Our superstud captain finished 
strong in 29th.  The Men's B report was equally gritty.  Brooke, 
Spooky, and Steve (henceforth known as Krümelmonster) rode half of 
their 6-lap race before pulling out of the downpour.  Tebbe and Stefan 
did an admirable job representing the B-train in the front pack.  Tebbe 
admitted, "I was physically unable to shift between my big and little 
chainring with my fingers.  I had to reach over and use my right hand 
to pull the levers.  At one point it got so foggy that we lost sight of 
the pace car."  Tebbe later roared through the uphill finish in 6th, 
and Stefan, who was slowly dropped on the climb during the last lap, 
passed some men on the last uphill and crossed the line in 24th.  Of 
the 61 starters in their race, only 27 finished.  Women's A trio 
Catherine, Kim, and Michele all put in determined efforts throughout 
their five-lap race (their field unanimously voted to shorten the race 
during staging).  By the second lap their pack was already shattered; 
Catherine rode in a small front group, while Kim was close behind 
working with four very strong riders.  Michele was slightly off the two 
of them, and continued for one more lap before pulling out.  
Catherine's group alternately caught and dropped riders; she climbed 
the final hill and grabbed a solid 15th place.  Kim also persisted, and 
her group continued whittling riders.  On the final lap, she was spent 
and gapped off Dartmouth's Karla Kingsley (8th overall in the GC) and 
an Army rider during the descent and rode the final lap alone.  
Although she giddily finished (and was hilariously propositioned by the 
UVM cheering section, who promised some hot-tub action) she was one 
place out of the points in 21st.  Like the men, only half of the WA 
starters finished the RR.


After some much-deserved hot tubbing and a perfectly-executed grand 
entrance, Yale riders felt prepped for Sunday's crit.  The crit course 
was a four-corner 0.6 mi loop around downtown, with a mild uphill 
finish and a slight dip along the back straight.  The drizzly races 
kicked off with the D men.  Jorge had a superb race: he rode in the 
swift front group the entire time, picked up second-place prim points, 
and saw a lot of action at the front of the pack.  A late crash in his 
race broke up his pack, but he averted it and sprinted for an awesome 
ninth place finish overall.  Nathan also rode strong and was slightly 
off the pack for the second part of the race; Chris had an early 
mechanical problem but got back into the race until pulled.  Lone C-
rider Dave Kappa also put in a good effort and was pulled toward the 
end of the race.  The Men's B race was simply overeventful.  Spooky 
described his race weekend as "craptastic" as a result of missing bar-
end plugs (and consequently a missed race).  Remaining B-quad Tebbe, 
Stefan, Krümelmonster, and Brooke tore up their race.  Brooke was 
slightly off the pack but worked hard with a group of riders until 
pulled, while Tebbe, Stefan, and Krümelmonster all towed around the B-
pack.  Just before the bell lap, a stodgy bystander decided to step off 
the curb and DIRECTLY in front of the peloton just after the pacecar 
passed the final corner leading into the straightaway.  He was mowed 
down, and the ensuing carnage also took out Stefan.  When Tebbe and 
Krümelmonster's pack again came around, course marshals forced them to 
decelerate to 5 mph before they rounded the corner (and crash victims) 
going into the final sprint.  Still, Krümelmonster took 11th and Tebbe 
snatched 19th.  The Women's A race was less hazardous but equally 
thrilling.  Catherine rode a characteristically smooth race in the 
front pack while Michele spent her time in two positions: attacking off 
the front of the pack or yo-yoing off the rear.  Still, her attacks 
throughout the race shelled women off the front group, and she picked 
up sprint points in the first prim.  Final finishes: Catherine 15, 
Michele 24.  Sunday's crit went better for the A team.  Both Adam and 
Eric rode exceptional races, though it doesn't show in the results. 
Eric suffered at the back of the field for the first 30 minutes, but 
the pack finally slowed down and he moved up alongside Adam, who'd been 
riding near the front.  The two demonstrated amazing teamwork when Eric 
busted out an all-or-nothing solo break off the front with 12 laps to 
go.  He made his move up the left side of the field through the inside 
of the first corner.  As he came back around through the final corner, 
the Yale team burst into cheer--Eric had 10 seconds on the group.  He 
increased his lead to 15 seconds by the next lap.  But then the chase 
started.  UVM, Darthmouth, and Penn State weren't going to let him ride 
away with the victory.  It was, after all, Easterns.  Faithful 
domestique Adam (who'd already bridged a UVM escape early in the race) 
remained at the front to throw a wrench into the chase, but after 4 1/2 
laps off the front, Eric was reeled back in.  After recovering for a 
few laps, Eric attacked again on the back stretch; this time the group 
responded immediately. With four laps to go, Eric was suffering in the 
back, trying to recover.  Adam selflessly moved back through the group 
and brought Eric back up to front; with two laps to go Adam rode at the 
front setting a strong tempo, while Eric sat in number two position.  
Realizing that after all the time spent out front he wasn't going to 
outsprint the likes of Bobby Lea or Dan Cassidy, Eric made his final 
bid for the win coming through the start/finish line on the bell lap.  
Unfortunately, his will was a bit stronger than his legs.  With Adam's 
help he got an initial gap of a bike length or two, but the lead out 
riders overtook him on the third corner, and he freewheeled across the 
finish line near the rear of the group.  After riding a perfect race 
for his teammate, Adam still had a respectable 24th place finish.  
Disappointed with the result but not with his effort, Eric said, "I put 
it on all on the line today.  I was hoping to pull off another 
Princeton, but it doesn't always work out that way.  You gotta try 
though...man, I was strong today."


The peanut gallery:
"Tebbe's like a diesel engine: once he gets going he really motors." 
Adam
"I'm like an electric engine.  I get going and I'm still slow--like 20 
miles an hour." Brooke


"Yale, we like your hammock.  UVM wishes it had a hammock." bullhorn-
wielding UVM dude


"35." Tebbe, when asked how many Olive Garden breadsticks he could eat 
in a sitting


"Tebbe's going to dominate me."  Steve (Krümelmonster), anticipating 
the sleeping arrangement


 "Get a blow job every month of the week!" random drunk guy at the 
hotel to Adam