ECCC Road Season is here!!!!!
DCT racers showed up in droves to the first ECCC race of the season, leading to some 🤩amazing🤩 results and good times all around.
Results posted here
Also keep an eye out for a power analysis of lapping the field by our sponsor BellLap Coaching!
New team, new kit!
Despite challenges with permitting, MIT and UMass put on a great race weekend on in a short parking lot loop. The typical road race was changed to a second criterium race, and the Team Time Trial was held as “Kilo,” or one lap of the crit course.
Friday night the team drove down to Hadley, MA with one of the largest teams in recent memory: 18 racers! We stayed overnight near the venue and handed out our brand new kit! We woke up early the next morning so everyone could pick up and pin their numbers for the season. Then the team warmed up for the first race of the day, the Kilo TTT.
Getting the bikes ready and pinning numbers
Teams were called up based on category every 3 minutes to race around the 1km (~1.5 minute) lap. In a team time trial, there are 2-4 riders on a team who race together to get the fastest time as a team. The timer stops when the 2nd or 3rd person crosses the finish line, depending on the category. Since the course was so short, teams were allowed 2 tries, which helps when your drivetrain is too worn to reliably accelerate off the line without your chain flying off (ahem).
Ella and Abigail flying around the technical section of the course
After everyone who wanted a second try (not many) got their chance, the races moved on the crits. A crit, or criterium, is a 40-60 minute race around a short loop (0.5-1.5 miles). The total distance of the race is determined after the first 5 laps by using the leaders’ lap times to estimate how many laps they will do to reach approximately the set time for the race. The first one across the finish line wins. Because of the short laps, the corners are tight and technical, and there is minimal elevation gain. This makes the race fast and forces riders to rely more heavily on their individual and team strategy.
The main Group of the Men’s C crit
The first crit race of the day was the Men’s C crit, with Nathan, Dario, Alex, Thomas and Spencer in it. Despite the tight corner at the bottom of a downhill (with a tailwind), Dartmouth stayed rubber-side down, followed moves, and our new racers learned how to save energy in the pack. Unfortunately, the “infallible” finish camera labelled Nathan and Dario as DNF’s despite having Dario’s GoPro footage of them crossing the finish line (stay tuned for race footage).
Next up was the Women’s C with Ella and Abigail. Ella and Abigail gave a masterclass on tactics and sitting in to conserve energy around the technical course. Ella ended up following a final 3-lap break away, and waited for the last 100 meters to unleash the beast and throw down a massive sprint for 1st 🥇!!!
Ella dropping their competitors like they are standing still
Next up – Men’s A! We had three riders in the field, and their primary rivals were UVM’s four A riders. Dartmouth and UVM made up nearly 3/4 the field. This meant some strange racing and tactics. Wells decided the pace was too slow after about 3 laps and rode off the front of the pack, with only 1 UVM rider jumping across to catch him. They worked together for about 5 laps, but Wells quickly decided to launch solo. By the time the UVM rider fell back to the group, Wells had a lead of 40 seconds and was nearing lapping the field. This meant UVM had to get on the chase after keeping the pace relatively pedestrian for half of the race while their rider was off the front. Luckily, Adam knew exactly what to do: disrupt the chase. Through Wells’ fitness, Adam’s irritation of UVM, and Sebastian’s ~strategic~ pulling, Wells was able to lap the field and all he had to do was finish with them. Wells ended up taking the win 🥇 and Adam sprinted for a 4th place. Seb pushed through a cramp for 10th.
Then came the Men’s B’s. This year the ECCC combined the Men’s normal C and B fields into one race. The large combined field resulted in chaos. The DCT men’s B’s had a decent showing of their fitness and strength, but team tactics proved difficult with lapped riders left and right. Carlos, Will, and Nolan followed some early moves, but quickly tired themselves out, while the rest of the boys missed the split after a hard acceleration by the leaders.
Nolan following an early move.
After packing up the trailer, and a quick stop for ~warm burritos~ at Chipotle, the team headed back to the hotel for some movie watching.
The next day was a slightly later wake up without an ITT or TTT. After getting the bikes ready and pre-riding the crit course in the opposite direction, the races started with the Men’s C.
Dario and Nathan animated the race and the breakaway chase effort, while Alex, Thomas, and Spencer learned to work together rotating turns off the back to pick off dropped riders (important for maximizing team Omnium points). This time Nathan and Dario were recorded crossing the line (a win by itself), and even better, in 9th and 11th respectively.
Nathan and Dario taking the sharp corner
Then came the excitement of the Women’s C race. The race started off in a foreboding way: two Army riders overlapping wheels in the first 50 feet, causing a low-speed, but messy crash. After two neutral laps, the race was back on! Ella was ready to repeat Saturday’s strategy of sitting in for the sprint, but the rest of the field was thinking the same thing. Army sent several riders off the front, but MIT and Ella chased them back easily. After dominating in the intermediate sprints for Omnium points, we expected Ella to show everyone how it’s done. Unfortunately, during the final lap of the race, a crash caused several riders to go down hard, and stopped the race. A stark reminder of how important safe and predictable riding is in this sport. The race results were extrapolated from how everyone crossed the line before the crash – with Ella taking their second win out of two races!
Rare picture of Ella on the front
After witnessing the danger of bike racing, the Men’s B’s were a little hesitant for their race, but they warmed up and lined up at the start. This time, the race was a more controlled, and Dartmouth made some moves. Raif, the designated sprinter sat in the draft as much as possible, only spending energy to yell at riders to close gaps, no matter if they were a teammate or not. Carlos, Nolan, Kieran, Will, and London were active, going off the front, closing down breakaways, and getting Omnium points in the intermediate sprints. The team worked well together, and all the hard work was repaid when Raif got himself into position for the sprint and powered ahead for third. This race was a big improvement on Saturday, with each rider learning how to play their cards in the team’s favor.
Raif with crossing the line in third
The final race of the day for the DCT was the Men’s A. This time, Adam and Wells decided to switch it up, Adam was going off the front and Wells would hang back in the group. After a few laps of UVM and Dartmouth back and forth, eventually Adam and a UVM rider got away. Then it was back to the same tactics as yesterday, UVM and Dartmouth do no work and the other four guys have to chase. The difference this time was that this UVM rider could go all the way with Adam and refused to do any work (until Adam bullied him into taking a few pulls). When it was time to latch back onto the field, Adam was drained from pulling and didn’t have the snap to match the UVM rider as he accelerated up to the field. At that point, the UVM train worked hard to make sure Adam didn’t catch the group and tried to make up the 40+ seconds. Adam, meanwhile had the toughest job staying away while fatigued, without a draft. He successfully held, and even expanded the gap over the last 8 laps to hold onto second place 🥈. Wells sprinted with the field for third place 🥉.
Adam going out of his skull to hold second place
After a very successful first ECCC race weekend, the team is in third in the Omnium points, only 10 points behind Army, and 24 behind UVM.