Dartmouth Cycling Wiki | Races / Eastern Conference Championships 2007

Eric Schildge’s Race Report:

This weekend, the Dartmouth Cycling Team attended the ECCC Championship Weekend, hosted by Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY.

We woke up early on Saturday morning and headed through the early morning fog towards the TTT course. Dartmouth fielded four teams for the 10 mile event. The Men’s B team was off to a great start, and had pulled within sight of MIT, the eventual winners, when a crash brought them to a halt.

The men’s A team was missing Toby and Kevin, but Matt Rossman courageously stepped in to be our third finisher. Although Matt did not have a TT bike, he held tight as Rudy and I traded pulls. Even with our depleted roster, we managed to clock the 3rd fastest time on the day against the full teams of Princeton and Yale.

Before the Road Race, a few of us hopped in Jen’s car to scout what had been advertised as the most challenging course in the ECCC. We could hardly hide our excitement as we ascended the steep climbs and flew down the long, technical descents. It was certainly going to be a long race.

The challenging course took its toll on all the fields, but while many riders from other schools succumbed to the dreaded DNF, nearly every Dartmouth rider put their head down and finished the race. Laura Nielson demonstrated her dedication by starting the Women’s A race in order to qualify for Nationals, even though she was suffering from a severe stomach bug.

Sally Smith put in a strong ride in the Women’s B field to finish 13th; securing precious points for Dartmouth. The Women’s A field set a blistering pace from the gun, but Jen, Jenna, and Emily Stonehouse all put forth heroic efforts to finish the race in fine style.

The Men’s A race was a grueling 98 miles long. The first lap was preceded by a parade lap through downtown New Paltz, where the field did a somewhat unconventional U-Turn at the end of Main Street to head back towards the course. No sooner was the parade lap over than we were ascending Mohonk Mountain for the first time. The field held together for the first ascent and after a scorching descent, we settled in for a slow first lap.

On the second time up Mohonk Mountain, the pace picked up and the pure climbers shattered the field. Rudy put in a stunning effort to hang on to the front group of seven, while I slipped back with big men Nick Frey and Josh Lipka. Matt Rossman bridged with a couple other riders and we formed a chase group on the descent. We managed to close down the gap after a few miles of hard chasing, and the group ballooned in size once again, as many of the dropped riders returned to the field. As we approached the end of the second lap, a series of attacks ensued and climbing sensation Peter Horn (Vassar), David Wiswell (Columbia), Mike Chauner (Bucknell), and Ben Showman (Army) had slipped off the front and gained a substantial advantage over the field.

On the final ascent of Mohonk Mountain, I went to the front and set the tempo with the help of Will Dugan (UVM). By the top of the climb, the group had thinned to about 10 riders and had picked up Showman, Chauner, and Wiswell in the process. The chase was on, and all three Dartmouth riders had made the selection.

For the next few miles the group worked together to chase back Peter Horn, whose advantage was slowly diminishing. As we reached the lap’s second climb, he was in sight, and the field braced itself for the counter attacks. Just as Peter Horn was caught, Jamey Driscoll (UVM), sensing the fear in the other riders’ legs, launched a soul crushing attack. The field was unable to respond, and Driscoll disappeared into the distance. Shortly thereafter, David Wiswell launched his own attack. Although Wiswell’s was not as ferocious as Driscolls, he managed to build a reasonable gap and hold it.

Despite valiant chases from Rudy and Rossman, Wiswell maintained a tenuous advantage over the field all the way to the finish. As we approached the line, Showman launched a desperate early attack and was followed closely by Colin Jaskiewicz (UVM) and Chauner. As I attempted to pull in behind them, a rider started to die in front of me, effectively boxing me in. I hit my brakes, pulled around, and launched a desperate dash to the line. I managed to pick off Jaskiewicz and Showman, but Chauner was already out of my reach. I finished fourth, while Rudy and Rossman came in with the group, an excellent finish for Dartmouth.

Sunday was the Criterium in downtown Poughkeepsie. The course was a flat 1k loop with 4 corners. Dartmouth got started with a bang as Leon Maurer took charge in the Men’s D race, and won the field sprint in dominant fashion. When asked to describe the tumultuous final lap, Leon had this to say,

"Well, 2 MIT guys attacked out of corner 3, I hopped on their wheel and saw that we had a gap. Then after the final corner, the first MIT guy pulled off and the second one started going. I pulled around him and then thought, "Huh, I've never been in this situation before, what do I do now?" Then I answered, "Hey moron, shift in to your 12 and pedal faster!" And that was that."

In the Women’s A field, Jen and Jenna had a strong race, playing off one another in an attempt to keep the race under control. After losing some positions in the last lap, they finished a respectable 9th and 14th, respectively. Their strong performance throughout the race should bode well for Nationals next week.

Matt, Rudy, and I lined up for the Men’s A crit. The race started fast, as a number of riders attempted to make something stick off the front. With about 33 laps left to go, I bridged to a small group starting to form off the front. I pushed the pace past the group and Adam Carr (Johnson State) and Peter Horn (Vassar) jumped on my wheel. Our lead quickly grew and after about 10 laps, we had a 25 second advantage. We stayed away for about 15-20 laps until UVM and Bucknell ramped up the pace and brought us back into the field. With a nod to my breakaway companions, I rejoined the field and tried to stay near the front.

After a flurry of attacks, it became clear that it would come down to a field sprint. With two to go, I ducked into the first corner and moved into the top ten. Rudy went to the front and pushed the pace in order to keep it strung out, and on the last lap I maneuvered onto 4th wheel, directly behind Mike Chauner. A Yale rider went to the front and drilled the pace for his teammate, and drove it through the last corner. The sprint opened up from there, and Mike Chauner, Chris Ruhl, and I battled it out towards the line, with me coming through for the win with Ruhl in second and Chauner in third.

The victory, along with the primes I picked up during the breakaway, were enough to move me into second overall for the season standings, 38 points behind Nick Frey (Princeton).

Dartmouth finished second in the race for the Ivy Cup, and third overall in the Division 2 standings.

Thanks to everyone for a wonderful weekend, and congratulations on a fantastic season. Check back for updates on Collegiate Nationals, May 10-13.