Columbia and Stevens Weekend 3/13-14/2010

RAIN!  All consuming, wet, frightening, terrible rain.  Rain permeates every inch of one's being when they decide to ride a bike through it- and rain causes a whole host of problems when combined with wind of 30-40 MPH proportions.  As a unifying theme of this past weekend, I can't think of a better one than rain...

Or perhaps the new Black Eyed Peas song, "I'mma be"  I think top 40 stations should be called top 10 stations, considering they all play a very short rotation of songs... As they say, "I'mma be a brotha but I ain't be Lehman," appropriate for New York City

And another unifying theme- THE VAN.  (Seen here double parked at Chipotle- official food of Villanova Cycling)  Nothing like a 15 passenger van to make a weekend great- we were really a team, travelling in style.  Villanova hooked us up with a great model through Enterprise rent a car.  Vans also rock the house on gas mileage... much better to spend only $75 on fuel rather than two tanks of gas for a Taurus and an S4.  Villanova, here's my plea: let us drive your vans rather than making us rent them at high cost!

SATURDAY 3/13

Saturday saw the debuts of two new Villanova riders, Tim Higgins and Alex Cosan.  Both of them did wonderfully in their respective intro races.  Major props to Alex for being only the second woman ever to race for Villanova Cycling- let's get some more of this out there!  Columbia is very serious about hosting this race, not only running it through a nor'easter of epic water and wind, which truly drenching downpours, but even in bringing New York City's best Belgian Waffle truck to the course.  Om nom nom....

An award for "best fan" goes to John Olsen, Garrett's brother who came out to the course, braving the terrible conditions.  The races were truly insane- with nowhere to warm up effectively, most of us went in pretty cold, and the results weren't anything to write home about.  If you weren't on the east coast on Saturday, I cannot understate how frighteningly powerful this wind and rain was...

Saturday:

C Men:

Justin Yeash- 33rd

B Men: 

James Miceli- DNF (argh! last lap wipeout through a lake of a puddle... bummer.  I'm fine though!)

Garrett Olsen- 17th

Rob Abramo- 26th

I Men:

Tim Higgins- 8th

I Women:

Alex Cosan- 16th

Also on Saturday... shout out to Gina DeNunzio of Rutgers University- the fourth Lenape Valley Regional HS graduate to race in the ECCC.  Who knew that Byram, Stanhope, and Netcong were a hotbed of Cycling action!?

Accomodations- 43 St Nicholas Place, Harlem NYC

Look at how much Garrett and Justin are enjoying our accomodations!  Through a great connection of Justin, we managed to stay in a house in Harlem, inhabiting two floors for the weekend.  Many thanks to Dave and the other dudes at the house- the location was super convenient and parking turned out to be relatively easy.

And another big shout out to Alex Cosan and her sister for taking us to dinner at Patsy's Pizzeria.  Quote of the night- "Do you have a dessert menu," asked Garrett.  "It's a pizzeria!!" responded the frustrated waitress.  That was some seriously tasty thin crust pizza- may I recommend sun dried tomatoes everywhere.  Good for the health!

I would be remiss if I didn't mention our NYC subway quest- here's Garrett looking dejected because it took us an hour or so to go from 155th st. to 72nd st. on the same subway line- a power outage and a sick customer slowed our progress.

SUNDAY 3/14

Of course, we started the day at a diner.  Yonkers Raceway diner- good stuff but a little pricey!

FDR Park, Yorktown Heights, New York.  Mercifully, rain ceded to grey skies and showers- though the course was wet, beautiful pavement prevailed.   Look for our boy Raymond Junkins from Stevens in the picture above- he promoted the race masterfully.  Our day was much better on Sunday- we were able to actually unpack the van, set the EZ-UP tent and go to town.  Justin started the day with the Mens' C race; he was holding the front and getting used to the competition of ECCC action.  With monster calves and a sunshine award in the bank for always looking up, Justin is becoming a force in the C class. 

Tim and Alex raced next, after Alex attempted to fix her tiny size booties with Justin's hunting knife.  Both did a great job in their second ever intro races; equally deserving the "chill" award for keeping cool in the face of ECCC competition.  Kudos to Alex for garnering our only team points of the weekend- awarded for national standing!  Both Alex and Tim had big finishes, keeping it real for Villanova.

And last but not least, the B race.  Sort of sketchy with the wet pavement, the race went quickly at only 45 minutes in duration.  With Rob moving up to the B class, we had a solid team in one class for the first time in Villanova Cycling history.  We have to work to refine our tactics- maybe together with Dartmouth?  Garrett and Rob held the front through much of the race.  I skinned my finger while adjusting my computer sensor during competition.  In the final bunch sprint, Garrett and Rob maneuvered for position while I was penned in the back.  We finished together all in the top 20- look out B class, we have big plans!

Sunday:

C Men:

Justin Yeash- 16th

B Men: 

James Miceli- 17th

Garrett Olsen- 16th

Rob Abramo- 13th

I Men:

Tim Higgins- 10th

I Women:

Alex Cosan- 5th

Final Conclusions:  Another very successful weekend.  Our team is gelling, we're making progress, we're all growing and making the most of our team support!

NEXT WEEKEND: Philly Phlyer.  We invite all of our friends and sponsors to come Saturday and Sunday to our home race, at Memorial Hall on Saturday and the Navy Yard on Sunday.  See website and postings this week for more details.