HOSTETTER-ELKRIDGE RACE REPORT (MARCH 11, 2006)
by Priscilla Mok

Men’s C
Ryan “terMite” TerMeulen – 9th
Peter “Old Pete” Bolster – somewhere in the middle of the pack

Men’s B
Toby Weatherall – 20th
Nathan Coleman – dnf
Ryan Bloom(er) – 15th
Brian Cohee – dnf

Women’s A
Jess Chin – 13th
Priscilla “Pmok” Mok – 10th
Lauren Singer – 15th
Katie Ross – 12th
Katie Frato – 14th
Lora Bankova – dnf

Race Promoter: Pete Sargent

Non-Racing Volunteers: Matt Soladay, Gwen Jenkins, Adam Sidel, Dan Witsil, Jeff Werbin, Jeff’s friend, Steve Wylie, Jake Koenig, John Hostetter, Seth Goldstein, Garrett Butler, the Smoot family, the Weatherall family.

As the first of the two races that we would host this season, we had high hopes that we’d have several advantages at this race. First, it would be a course that most of us would have seen or ridden before, especially the ½ mile climb that our out-of-town competitors might have sprinted up in the first lap only to find the steepest section of the climb was waiting right around the bend. Another would be the support of everyone who came out to either volunteer, cheer for our team, or even race with us. Knowing that there would be a Hopkins course marshal cheering for you at every corner definitely bolstered team morale.

The one downside was that we had to arrive before everyone else, but that wasn’t too bad when you rolled up to the Bradford to see a large group of people convening at the front of the building, others who had woken up just as early to make this race work. Soon, we arrived at the Elkridge Furnace Inn, a restaurant in a lovely colonial house whose proprietor had graciously allowed dozens of cyclists to tramp around in it for the rest of the day (sans cleats though). In addition to toilets, photocopiers and their front lawn, they also provided us with a scrumptious breakfast and bottomless pots of coffee for all volunteers. Considering that most other races are held near graveyards or in parking lots where Port-a-potties were the norm, I’d venture to say that we definitely pulled off one of the classiest races in our conference! It was a blustery morning, but not long after arriving, the volunteers had scattered off to sweep the course and open up registration. With a cap of 50 riders per a race (deemed so by road conditions), many racers were turned away or some were forced to upgrade.

Cliff and Smitty showed up to assist in any way they could, even though both were injured prior to race day. Cliff was pre-riding the course with several of us on Wednesday, and had unfortunately taken a bad turn at one particularly nasty corner, landing on his face and acquiring a concussion as well as a short bout of amnesia. It was an unfortunate (but also quite hilarious) incident, and if you ask Cliff about it I’m sure he’d tell you although he might not remember. Smitty was injured on the day before the race, having been out doing race prep but sadly, crashing, and getting all sorts of nasty cuts and bruises.

And now, on with the races. Men’s C started first. They would need to do 7 laps of the course. Termite and Bolster started out strong, staying at the head of the pack and setting the pace. Bolster was feeling quite strong throughout the entire race until the last lap where the rest of the pack just flew by him. Termite, sticking with the lead pack, ended up sitting in the front and pulling most of the time such that in the last couple meters to the finish, the other riders around him were able to take advantage of his effort and sprint it out hard to the finish. Despite this, his hard effort did not go entirely to waste, placing 11th in a field of 22.

With the all the B ladies upgrading to Cat A, the Hop was unrepresented in the Women’s B races. This leads us to the Men’s B and Women’s A race, which started at around 11, when the weather had warmed up considerably and it became a gorgeous day for riding. The Men’s Bs included Toby, Nathan, Cohee and Bloomer. Unfortunately for Nathan and Cohee, they were pulled in the beginning of the race because a race official had deemed that they had violated the yellow-line rule. Even though they did, such a transgression usually warrants a first warning, of which the stringent official decided not to give. Bloomer and Toby, having lost 2 teammates right from the start, carried on, but any elaborate plans they had of pulling off something daring and brilliant had been sidelined. Near the end of the race, with one and a half laps to go, the entire B field was pulled to the side of the road because the Men’s A field was lapping them. Our two B men finished all 9 laps of the race, with Bloomer coming in at 15th and Toby at 20th.

For the Women’s A race, we kept up with the pack (and even up the climb) in the first lap, but in the second lap, the Men’s Bs had decided to sprint up the entire thing and thus, we were dropped from the main pack right then and there. Katie R, Jana Hester from UVA and I pacelined for the remaining laps, whilst Jess, Katie F and Lora rode together until Lora left the race. Lauren, who was dropped in the first lap, showed an impressive amount of determination, soldiering on and finishing the race, despite having to complete it on her own. All in all, a great effort put in by everyone to win big points for the team and also towards nationals—at the end of the day, JHU was leading DII in A’s points. Many thanks to all volunteers, race promoter Sargent and racers for making this weekend possible.