Dartmouth Cycling Wiki | Races / Philadelphia 2007

We had a small crew at this weekend's race, but it was exciting nonetheless.

Highlights:

- The AEGIS TEAM BIKE made its first appearance, ridden in style by Trevor Eide.

- Christopher Reidy joined Kevin and I for his first collegiate race of the season.

- The weather was beautiful and we all had a blast!

Men's A Circuit Race:

The A race was 30 miles long. The course was a six mile loop through Fairmount Park with two climbs. Both climbs were gradual, big ring efforts that weren't quite steep or long enough to cause a substantial split in the field. There were a number of fast descents and a couple of hairpin turns as well.

Kevin and I got great positions on the start line, which was important because this was a combined weekend with the ACCC, and the field was large. The race went at the gun, and for the first lap I sat tucked in the middle of the field as Kevin patrolled the front. Chris R. was moving fluidly through the field as well; doing his share of the work at the front.

Around the third lap, Kevin flatted out. And after working hard through the first half of the race Chris slipped off the back. I had been busy from the second lap trying to stay in the action, following the wheels of the big guns. I used a lot of energy trying to make something stick, but in the end, no one was getting any real time on the field.

That's the way the race played out for most of it. Dan Cassidy put in some efforts and drove the field on and off. In the final lap, at the bottom of the first descent, 3 guys went up the road. None of the big names, but a danger none the less. Disappointingly, the field sat up. There were some big teams in the field that probably could have chased, but no one was going to take the initiative.

The break stayed away, but one rider got shelled on the climb, and drifted back to our group. I entered the last climb in the top fifteen, and hopped on fifth wheel when an attack came about .5 mile before the finish. In the final straightaway, I launched early, and got third in the field sprint for fifth overall.

-Eric