Races
Results and Reports

Race Report
By Toby Weatherall
Johns Hopkins/UMD Race Weekend

RACERS:
Johan Bakken
Lora Bankova
Matt Brancheau
Jess Chin
Faisal Karmali
Priscilla Pang
Katie Ross
Cliff Smoot
Travis Snow
Fred Tan
Toby Weatherall
Becky Wolff

March 12, 2005 - Johns Hopkins hosted the first road race of the year at Elkridge, MD, and it was a sweet course-a five-mile loop with one nasty. Hopkins (obviously) had a good turnout to the race, with some great results at the first endurance race of the season. It’s amazing that you can get a group that big psyched and ready to roll at 5:30 AM, knowing they’re in for a day of suffering. But that’s how we roll.

With spectators and road marshals shivering by the side of the road, the Men C were the first to be sacrificed to the cycling gods that brisk Saturday morning, followed closely by the Women B racers. The thing about racing on mornings like this is that the pain blocks out the cold pretty quickly, so I guess that’s some kind of blessing…unless you like the cold, in which case it’s lose-lose.

But back to racing. Jess rolled in 8th place for the Women B, gritting through her first collegiate RR. Hopkins stayed at the front for nearly the entire Men C race, with Johan pulling on the front for practically the entire race. Faisil sprinted for 9th place, followed closely by Cliff in 11th. Travis and Johan came through with the field in 16th and 17th, respectively, with Fred at 29th.

As the temperature slowly crept into the 50s, the combined Women A/Men B field rolled out to battle. With Priscilla opting not to race, Lora and Katie were left to represent Hopkins against a HUGE Navy squad. Lora finished 7th, right behind the Annapolion Armada…I’d like to think I helped her out by shouting at her when the Men A chase group caught her field. That, or it was just obnoxious; we’ll let Lora be the judge of that. Matt came in a strong 9th place amid a huge Men B field.

For the Men A race, it had barely warmed up enough to lose the tights. Barely. We rolled out with a “neutral” lap, knowing that the hill was going to hurt on the twelfth time up. A rider from another conference, Marion I think, launched an attack on the first lap, constantly asking spectators “Where’s Herby!?” (NOTE: the pro who would win this, and the majority of races this season). On the second lap a nasty crash took out a handful of riders, but even this wasn’t enough to slow the field for very long. After a few laps, the hill broke the peloton into a number of chase groups. I ended up in the second chase group for the finale, ALMOST taking AU’s sprinter at the line. I was content with 15th.

The next morning we drove out to UMD for the President’s Criterium or another brisk day of racing. In the Men C race, Hopkins fought hard, with Johan looking strong in his sprint to 8th place. Faisil and Cliff worked together after being separated from the main field, finishing 14th and 15th, respectively. Fred rolled in for 23rd place, really making it look hard out there.

NOTE: At some point, a blind man walked onto the course and was subsequently hit by bikes going really fast. I think the race had to be diverted to the right side of the road until he was airlifted out.

NOTE 2: A crash into a curb led one unfortunate C rider to literally pinwheel several feet into the air…it sounded spectacular.

The Men B were the next group off, with Matt finishing a respectable 16th despite riding at the back of the field for most of the race (In later races, he would move up to the front of the field at the start, and finish 4th, like three times.)

The Women A saw one talented UVA rider actually lap the field, only to work for her teammate upon “returning” to the field, with victory already in the bag. Lora hammered out of the gate for a few laps (quickly learning the downside to this strategy), and Priscilla finished 6th.

And finally the Men A. I missed my pedal at the start, sprinting to catch the back of the field (where you DON’T want to be). I got gapped off 1/3 into the race, and it was over for me at that point. Just over half the field finished the crit, and a UVA rider lapped the field here too…I guess it was their thing that day.

And thus concludes the second race weekend of the season. We still had a full season of fun/suffering ahead of us.

Toby