GO WHITMAN!

Last weekend my alma mater came to town. I had a BLAST cheering them on!

in the ROAD RACE

TEAM TIME TRIALS

and the CRIT! (criterium)

*half the video is cut off because it's "wide screen." Click the white title on the screen to visit YouTube.com and see the full screen.

Collegiate Cycling is something special. The skill spectrum is huge-- you've got kids who are still practicing clipping into their bicycles and others being offered pro contracts. I find that this spectrum gives the beginners inspiration and the fast folks some temperment in their intensity. Add to that, EVERYBODY is expected to cheer on everybody. Team enthusiasm is huge.

I haven't been on a cycling team since college, because I've found that racing becomes more about results and carbon rims-- and I'm not interested in either of these things. I just like to ride hard and cheer hard. GO WHITMAN!!

WHITMAN COLLEGE -- RECLAIMS NATIONAL TITLES!!

National DivII Womens Team Time Trial Champions

National DivII Team Omnium Champions

National DivII Criterium Champion

Photo from Womens Cycling Magazine online.

Comeback baby.

Whitman College just made a HUGE splash at Collegiate Road Cycling Nationals.

Road Race: a team of balance.

Hard and smart teamwork by both the men's and women's team put Duncan McGovern and Kendi Thomas in the top ten (9th and 6th). With the team omnium in mind, the domestiques (racers that ride in support of the team leader) still turned in great top-20 finishes.

Photo from Womens Cycling Magazine online.

Criterium: a team of speed.

The women absolutely DOMINATED the criterium, sending off so many attacks.. they started to wonder if maybe they were being a bit TOO aggressive. Kendi grabbed handfuls of prime points, Mia won another, Emily went flyering, then Mia laid down a blistering lead out for Kendi for the WIN and Roxy came up 6th!!

Videos from Womens Cycling Magazine online.

The men rode in fantastic support of Ben Chaddock, who came 2nd in the bunch sprint for 4th overall. Again, with the team omnium in mind-- the boys kept in the top 20.

Team Time Trial: a team of KICK ASS.

The women flippin' WON IT by OVER a minute-- even while Kendi found her tire to be at 60psi at the start line (ordinarily you'd want at least 110). The ladies proved that their talent is deep.

The men, I believe for the first time-- PODIUM'd in THIRD!! They have been working SO hard on their TTT all season, it's wonderful to see it really pay off for them. I think their euro mullets were probably the tipping point.

Banquet: a team of high thrift store style.

Keep the tradition rockin', kids.

Flip

Sometimes..

flip

you just need to          over your perspective

in order to

actually see

not just cyclists and trees.

That's a cheese poetic way of saying that turning photos away from their usual orientation is a good way to see a photo for the composition and not just the content. 

And sometimes you spin your legs on your bike reallyreallyreally fast! And it's fun. And they are called "spin-ups." It's what cool kids do. 

Superman - Off!

I told Roxy that Mia beat her Superman the other day after she left.

Of course, there had to be a SUPERMAN-OFF!

Riding (and carrying) Rollers

This morning I rode over to Whitman campus to teach Rachel, a freshman on the Whitman Cycling team, how to ride rollers. Rollers are a, uh, 'device'.. that lets you ride inside, but unlike a trainer, you aren't being held up and you have to balance on your own. They are fantastic for improving bike handling skills.




Rachel rides fairly comfortably on her bike, but she seemed ready for that "next step." 

Enter: rollers.

I did mention, though, that one of my junior riders, Phillip, managed to ride without hands on rollers during his first time on rollers. Of course, Rachel decided she had to do this too. :)

And she did great!

I love mentoring women cyclists, because there's just so much laughing involved!

Whitman Ladies' Skills Practice

The Whitman mock races are this weekend! Each year, the Whitman College cycling team hold several practice races over a weekend to brush up on group riding, kick the legs out of base and give the beginners their first race-like experience without the hustle and bustle of a real race weekend.

In anticipation of these races, some of the Whitman ladies got together for a skills practice in a parking lot. We started by picking up bottles off the ground while riding, then rode holding each other's hands or shoulders, then we had a "slow race" (last one wins!) and it eventually evolved into everyone "supermaning"! WOW!

It was interesting to see people show preferences for certain skills. I liked the slow race the most, but perhaps that's because I practice track standing at most stoplights I come to. Others thought the slow race was the most challenging, while I didn't feel ready to give the Superman a try-- but I was willing to film it! I also realized that having a digital camera at a skills practice is handy! Everyone wants to come and see how well they did it!

Collegiate Nationals!

A quick review of the 2008 Collegiate Road Cycling Nationals with the Whitman Cycling team..

18 hours in the car is actually preferred to half the time on the plane.

The boys were late to their team time trial- oops!

The ladies were 1 second out of 3rd place with a THREE lady team (teams usually have 4 riders).

The road race was EPIC. Climb after climb after climb. And those babies were STEEP. It was also especially windy. I'm telling you- it was epic. KENDI GOT SECOND!!!? Devon11, Mia 17. Wow, wow. Zac hung on with his teeth to keep in the top 50. Colin fell only just outside of 50, while Ben pulled out to save his muscle fibers for the criterium.

We stopped at the thrift store before the banquet on Saturday night. We got LOTS of compliments.

The criterium was fast, flat and exciting. Ben, unfortunately, folded his chain in the final lap, Colin was taken out (and is fine) by an MIT rider and Zac, after his awesome performance on Saturday, fell off pace but was glad to have all of his teeth intact. (He lost half of one in the last criterium he was in..) Kendi flippin' GOT SECOND AGAIN after dominating the primes. Mia was fantastic support throughout and put out some real flamin' attacks (I have one on tape!), including a vicious one in the final lap. Devon finished strong.

Kendi TIED for the individual omnium, but the title was given to another lady who scored 1st in the road race and 4th in the criterium. In my mind, 2nd + 2nd is better than 1st + 4th. Kendi's the real winner. Kendi's only a sophomore, though. The other girl is 27.

And then we drove home. :)

Some favorite pictures from the weekend..

Sunny skies this weekend!

I had Alex reenact the story she was telling for this picture.

Zac explains to yet another racer that "his brake was rubbing for the last 5 miles!"
Yes, Zac, we know your brake was rubbing for the last 5 miles. ;)

Nice 'stache. (Click to enlarge for full appreciation of our ladies' faux facial hair)

Our boys, focused at the start.

Carvin' corners in the crit. Kendi won the sprint finish!

The full race report (written by Yours Truly) can be found (soon) here.

Collegiate Cycling Photo Essay

the

Warm Up

Start Line






Race!



& Finish

A Curious Collegiate Race Weekend

The team time trial and road race were cancelled in Bellingham due to apparent reasons.


So we went for a team ride on the bare roads in Everett instead.


On Sunday, we had an awesome cheering section.

And there were a lot of fresh legs.
Watch Kendi Thomas in her screamin' sprint after winning 20 prime points that day.

You'll be able to find the full race report at www.whitman.edu/cycling (very soon).

It's that time of the year again!

It's collegiate cycling season!! And while I don't get to race for the team anymore (being graduated an' all), I do get paid by Whitman to chaperone them!

Paid to do what I love?

What a deal!!

















Above left: For many of the B women, this was their first criterium! I was so excited and proud of them. They not only did great, but also had a great time doing it and that's what we like to see! Above right: There are lots of "bike piles" at race weekends.