Success continues to roll in for the Tufts cycling team.
The team traveled to Philadelphia for the Arkema Schuylkill Challenge and Phat Philly Phlyer on Saturday and Sunday, both co-hosted by Penn and Drexel. The 19 Tufts cyclists taking part in the various races repeated last week's performance at the Rutgers season opener, placing 11th out of 32 Div. I and II teams.
Freshman Vince Chavanon continued his strong rookie showing, placing first in the Men's B criterium and third in the Men's B circuit race.
Female Tufts cyclists also notched strong individual performances. Sophomore Judy Wexler (a news editor for the Daily) finished fourth, and junior Caitlin Thompson finished eighth in the Women's B circuit race.
Junior Katie Dunn had to avoid a large crash during her women's A circuit race, cycling around the pile-up, over a gulley, onto a sidewalk, back across the gulley and finally onto the cycling path. Her Lance Armstrong-like efforts earned her a 20th-place finish, meaning that she squeaked into the final spot that awards points towards Nationals qualification.
Through both of its events in the 2005-2006 season, the cycling team has shown noteworthy improvement over last year's season, averaging an 11th-place finish compared to 15th-place at this point last season. In fact, the team could have finished even higher in Philadelphia if not for some bumps, bruises and collisions in the men's D circuit races.
"Two of the cyclists had mechanical problems, and couldn't finish," Thompson said. "Then, three other riders crashed and therefore created mechanical problems. Only half of the D circuit riders finished the race."
Chavanon, a Colorado native who has been cycling competitively for two years, has been a huge boost for the cycling team. He feels ready to step up his riding to the next level.
"I'm pretty confident moving up to the A races," Chavanon said, referring to the highest tier of inter-collegiate cycling competition. "It's a big jump in fitness and tactics and experience. I've reached the level of fitness to race in A, and I have the experience, so I'd say I'm ready."
Wins in A races are weighted heavier than those in lower-grouped races. For example, a win in an A road race earns 80 points for the winner's school total, while a D road race victory only garners 20 points.
While individual efforts tend to attract the most attention, aggregate success should not go overlooked.
"The perception is that cycling is just one person on a bicycle going as fast as they can with no regard to the other cyclists," senior co-captain Christian Eager said. "But there are many techniques that cyclists use to help their teammates."
When two cyclists on the same gain distance from the pack of cyclists, the weaker cyclist will employ a "lead out," where he or she cycles in front of the stronger rider to reduce the wind resistance imposed on the trailing rider. Other cyclists in the larger pack, seeing that their teammates are leading, will climb to the front of the group and slow their pace slightly to keep opposing cyclists from gaining on the team leader.
"[Blocking] is a great example of one cyclist sacrificing his individual success for the success of the team," Eager said.
Team time trials require the most cooperation. In these events, four cyclists ride in a pace line to reduce wind resistance for the second, third and fourth riders. The cyclists rotate into different positions to balance the workload exerted by the front rider.
The team has had its fair share of training to prepare for such events. Cyclists ride on indoor spin bikes in Gantcher Center four times a week and spend every Wednesday night in tactical training. Cyclists also have guidance from Mark Abramson, Mike Ross, Michele Smith and Eric Johnson, four Tufts alumnae who are all accomplished cyclists.
The practice has paid off. The men's D team time trial, composed of senior Charlie Pace, junior Mike Caselli, sophomore Kipp Callahan and freshman Glenn Ferreira, took second place at last weekend's meet, while the women's A team time trial trio of Dunn, Thompson and Wexler finished sixth.
The team hopes to keep their momentum heading into this weekend's races: the Grant's Tomb Criterium, hosted by Columbia, and the Princeton Orange Criterium.
