Race Report: Gran Prix Beverly

Gonna get back into this thing, time for a week-old race report!


Last Wednesday, I traveled south to the Bay State for my second (seventh?) event of the summer, the Gran Prix of Beverly. This was my first city crit since I won Concord last summer, and only my second non-collegiate event of the season, after opening the summer at a race in New Jersey with my new team Sunapee Racing.


A little backstory on the evening: the night before I raced the A race in my local practice crit, and was shelled by two Cat 1 racers while trying to hold their wheel in the break for about 15 minutes. 

So when I showed up for a huge Cat 4 field on a flat and fast course, I was anticipating a race with the pack. 

But my legs thought otherwise.

After a quick neutral lap, I found myself sitting towards the front of the field for a couple of laps, and thought I'd try something. 

Halfway through the fourth lap, I put a quick surge in off the front to open up a gap and was let go for a lap and a half until a lone rider branched up and joined me. We stayed away for a few laps (and a prime) until the pack closed the gap to under three seconds, at which point my breakaway partner faded back to the front of the bunch, leaving me dangling like a carrot. 


A really fast carrot.



Another surge put me back out front by 10 seconds, and that was the smallest gap there was until after the finish. For 17 laps I time-trialled it off the front, opening up 25 seconds on the 60 person field behind me through to the finish. 

It was my first win on that large a stage, with more than just racers as spectators, and a very amused race announcer and live-tweeter.



My season continues this weekend back at Concord, racing the Cat 4 race at 2:00 pm at White Park, followed by the Witches Cup in Salem on Wednesday.

Another Season Down

This was a huge season for me. I made some big leaps towards where I want to be with my skiing, and found even more things to work on and look forward to for next year. 

We left off after the Middlebury Carnival and Cheri Walsh races, my last 3-peat weekend for a while. From there, myself and the team packed up and went west, back to my former home of Lake Placid, NY for the Saint Lawrence Carnival.

This year, the SLU Carnival played host to the EISA Championships, as well as being the NCAA Preview for those who qualified.

The weekend kicked off with a 10km Skate for the men, held on the notorious 1980 Olympic Trail "Ladies 5k." This course features a twisting 1.5km downhill, with athletes reaching speeds of 60km/hr, only after a 3.5km long climb, with a total climb of around 180m. Per lap. 


This day was not my day to crack the top-40, but I was not far out. I placed 44th overall, but was only a minute out of 30th, 90 seconds to 21st. So even though the place wasn't there, the pack was so close for this one it was exciting. 


Saturday, on the other hand, did not go so well. It was a 20km Classic Mass Start on the same course,  and the field got really spread out. After being caught up in a crash right off the start, I played catch-up for the rest of the race, but to no avail. The adrenaline wore off after a couple of laps, and I just fought to bring it home. I ended up closing my collegiate season with a 55th place finish on what is by far the hardest course I've raced.

The next day was the Lake Placid Loppet, and though I was not racing, I still ended up skiing more than some of the racers. I stayed in LP with Silke to be her wax test/moral support as she tackled her longest race to-date, a 50km Classic. 


She survived! And won a huge amount of maple syrup for being first in her age group!

And because one marathon is never enough, the following weekend, the two of us travelled to Bretton Woods for the Bretton Woods Nordic Marathon, my first long race. It was a fun race, and at the end of 42km, I was in 34th place. It was nice to be able to have a race that I could just kick it into one gear and go for a while (2:20:11.1), and not have to worry about splits or making a move, I had plenty of time. 

But the season wasn't over yet! Before spring break took hold, I jumped into the 2nd annual Cochran's NordiCross Race in Huntington, VT. Last year they didn't have me in the results, so I made myself known this year.


This year I came in second overall, first in my age group, was the first collegiate skier by almost a minute and a half, and walked away with two wax irons, some chocolate, and was one of only three people to break the 10 minute barrier on this years course. 

It was a good year. 

I have decided to forgo this years collegiate cycling season due to something called academics and choosing to take spring training easy. 

Here's to the next time.

.tl

What a time...

These past few weeks involved some heavy racing, some flying, a lot of driving, and snow...

I never thought about how much time I actually put into my competitions, but having spent almost more time away from campus in the past few weeks than I have on campus, it's been a weird period.
Scott Nichols photo

Things led off with the first Saint Michael's carnival since 2011. It was nice racing at my new home course, even though it was a double classic weekend. The races didn't go all that well, it was bitter cold and snowing all weekend, but I managed a 49th place finish in the 10k, while my relay team placed 28th.

'Twas a cold and snowy day... (Silke Hynes/EISA photo)

Dartmouth was better, much better. Day one was a skate sprint, which, although not my forte, did not go horribly. I ended up 104th overall in the Supertour results (52nd in collegiate). The men's sprint course at Craftsbury is a doozy, with a tough climb through the 1k mark. It was there where I somehow managed to pass the starter in front of me.  Neat.

It was also cold for the sprint. (Silke Hynes/EISA photo)
Day 2 was also skate (a nordic combiners dream). Even better, it was a 10km. When I woke up that day, I honestly wasn't really ready to race. My legs still felt tired from the day before, and it was still pretty chilly. But somehow, everything clicked. 
The Craftsbury 5k Race Loop is one of my favorite courses to ski, and I loved it that day. I ended up 64th in the SuperTour, and recorded my first top-40 finish on the Carnival Circuit, coming in 33rd.
I was the eighth starter. I was the third one across the line. (Silke Hynes/EISA photo)
That night, I was in Salisbury, CT, prepping for the Eastern Ski Jumping Championships the following day. It was a long drive. The jumps went alright, as it was my first time jumping since August. 

In flight. (Scott Nichols Photo)
That night I drove back, in a storm, from Connecticut back to Burlington. Ugh.


Jump to this past weekend. Middlebury Carnival double 10k weekend. 10k classic, 10k skate. This weekend, I had my career best classic finish, a 46th place that felt about accurate. It was cold, so cold that they delayed the start of the race by 3 hours.
Why has it been so cold!!! (Silke Hynes/EISA Photo)

Following this was the 10k skate. Yes. Mine again. I surprisingly did not feel that great, nor did I look great out on course, but I somehow pulled out another top-40, coming in 39th, in a tight group where 30th was only 15 seconds away.
Still cold. (Silke Hynes/EISA photo)
After Midd, I travelled to Holderness, NH for the Cheri Walsh Memorial Classic Race, another 10k and my last shot at qualifying for Junior Nationals. I did well, 38th overall, but not well enough to drop my points. Oh well. Now to focus on the rest of my collegiate season and planning my spring skiing adventures!

.tl