The second week of term flew by and soon it was time to pack all the bikes into the trailer again and go on another long drive down to West Point.
We drove down Friday night and arrived late, despite leaving as soon as classes ended. Saturday morning was an early wake up with oatmeal, PB&J, and… black beans (for some). We all piled in and drove to the venue, Harriman State Park.
The morning was gloomy and wet, but hopes were high that it would clear up throughout the day. The team unpacked the bikes and some got a quick warm up in before the Team Time Trial.
The TTT course was a 7 mile out-and-back with 500 ft of climbing, a hilly course for a time trial. The turnaround was a large roundabout, which helped keep speeds high. The team had a great showing in the TTT with Men’s A and B both getting first and the second B team getting 8th.
When the TTT was over the weather was still grey but not raining, so we sat outside and made lunch with our frenemies Middlebury.
Soon it was time for the Men’s and Women’s C road races to start. Nathan was our only C rider who made the journey to Army, and the team cheered as he set off on his long journey (or at least we thought it would be) with the pack. The road course was a 14 mile lap with a nasty 600 foot climb in the middle. However, just before the climb started, there was a 2 mile downhill into a 180 degree turn. On the first lap, the field rolled together in a neutral start out to that corner; thus the race started on the 600 foot climb. This meant a hard race from the gun and a lead group went up the road right away. Nathan hung with the chase group up the climb and they began to pull the leaders back on the flat. Unfortunately, Nathan’s journey with the pack was cut short – he got a flat at the top of the climb, and his race was tragically over within the first lap.
After watching the C’s and seeing how wet the road looked, everyone else was a bit nervous. Then the rain came in. It didn’t rain hard, but the combination with the wind made for chaos in the parking lot. All of the unattended team tents were blown over while teams watched the finish of the C races. We collapsed a couple tents to prevent them from being blown away and scared away the rain with some hobby-horsing.
We failed to scare away the rain. After we serenaded everyone with “Its Raining Men” and entertained them with street hobby-horsing “NBDs”, the sky decided it has enough of our shenanigans and began to rain and wind even harder. So we went to hide in the trailer.
Soon it was time for the B and A races which went off 5 minutes apart. The rain was still falling and the sky showed no sign of stopping. After standing around in the cold and wet for about 15 minutes, we finally were allowed to roll down to the sharp corner to start our race. We all stopped at the bottom and lined up on the start line.
In the B race, no one wanted to take it too hard because there were still 55 miles of racing left. The field stayed together for the first lap. The Dartmouth team played a smart race and did little work on the front. The game of the race was to sit in as much as possible to conserve energy for the big hill. The group was slightly diminished on the second time up the hill, but remained mostly intact throughout lap 2. The big split came on lap 3. Just like the last 2 laps, the fastest riders hit the front and attacked, hoping to get everyone out of their draft, making for a surge and hard climb. The lead group split in half and so did the Dartmouth riders. London, Daniel, and Andrew in the chase group, Will and Carlos in with the leaders, and Raif right in between, TT’ing back up the the leaders on the flat. Right as Raif was about to catch the group, Carlos pulled off the road with a mechanical, ending his race. On the 4th and final lap, Will, feeling strong after a smart race, pulled on the front. Raif, meanwhile, hung in the back trying to recover for the last time up the climb. Unfortunately he lost contact with the group just as they put in a hard push over the crest, and wasn’t able to repeat lap 3’s chase. Will, on the other hand, hung with the final group of 7 and sprinted for 5th at the finish line.
In the A’s a similar story was told by Wells and Adam. Adam and the UVM riders drilled it on the big climb and whittled down the field, and then the field would relax for the rest of the lap. Wells conserved energy in the bunch, supposedly with fatigue from a cold in the few days leading up the race. We have yet to see evidence of this “fatigue.” The relaxed pace on the flats and descent kept the small field together for longer and only on the last lap, when riders decided it was time to attack, did the field finally break. UVM sent a rider off the front at the bottom of the climb, and he dangled for most of the ascent before another rider attacked over the top. A series of attacks that followed reduced the bunch down to just 6 riders: Adam, Wells, three UVM riders, and one Shippensburg rider. Wells attacked on the short climb with 2.5 miles to go, and only one UVM rider followed. They traded pulls until 200 meters to go, when Wells accelerated away from UVM for the win. Adam came in 6th, an impressive result after domestiquing for the entire race.
In contrast, the Women’s race quickly got blown apart with one rider 10 minutes off the front for most of the race. Ella and two others chased hard, but they didn’t have the strength to bring the leader back. It came down to a long sprint to the line and Ella ended up 4th in A/B combined and 2nd in the B category. All in all a successful day.
The next day was the crit race on West Point campus. The racing started at 9, allowing for some sleeping in after a long day on the bike.
The crit course was at the bottom of campus near the Hudson River. It had the hallmarks of a hard course: a steep hill, nasty pavement, and a very sharp turn. Due to the technicalities of the course and the carnage at UMASS last week, the officials decided to pull people lapped riders.
First up was the Men’s C. The field split quickly with the steep climb and sharp turn and Nathan just missed the split. After nearly catching back on, Nathan was pulled with 5 to go.
Then came the Men’s B. The race started out with some early attacks that were brought back quickly. The field was gradually thinned by the tight corners and hill. Luckily for Dartmouth, the field came together before the end Will and Carlos were able to sprint in the field sprint for 4th and 7th respectively. Unfortunately, Daniel and Andrew were pulled and Raif flatted out.
Next was Women’s A/B. One rider made an early solo move that looked like it might stick, but was quickly brought back. The field stayed together for the rest of the race and Ella was able to take the second two points sprints. They then sat in the draft for the rest of the race and when the finish came, sprinted for 2nd 🥈.
The final race of the day, as usual was the Men’s A. Wells, wearing the yellow number, had a literal target on his back. Nobody would let him get off the front. Throughout the race, UVM sent riders (mostly Ethan) up the road. Wells and Adam pulled him back several times and Wells took 2/3 intermediate sprints. Fortunately for Dartmouth, the field was larger than last weekend, so Wells and Adam didn’t have to do all the work. A PSU rider did a hero pull and brought UVM back in the final 8 laps. By then it was perfect time for Wells to counter attack, and he did so, pulling two UVM riders, a Pitt rider, and a Ship rider. Fortunately for Dartmouth, Wells knew how the race would be won. In the final lap, he lit it up on the back straight where the real race was: the race to the final corner. He came first around the final corner, swinging so wide, he was nearly out of sight and sprinted it in for the win 🏅.
Next weekend is the home race right in Hanover! We will have nearly 40 people racing under the Dartmouth name so come cheer on the DCT!