ARMY SPRING CLASSIC
Up to the beautiful hills at West Point, NY, the United States Military Academy for an excellent weekend race put on by the great Cadets team. The weather treated us pretty well and because we only had B Riders- only Garrett, Justin, and I made it out to ride for the weekend, we decided to drive up on Saturday morning.
This did not work out as planned.
Though we arrived with a decent amount of time at the race course, our warmup time was unfortunately compressed; we got back to the parking lot and a frantic F&M rider let us know that the race was starting. Bummer! I had to make a late bathroom break of course, which left me chasing the field.
HT: Chatura Atapattu of drexel for pics!
That may look like a smile, but it's not. Fellow Lenape Valley Regional graduate Gina Denunzio cheered loudly as I climbed the hill by myself a few hundred meters behind the field, and I was heartened to see friend of the team Aaron Horvath jump in and join the race late... but it wasn't meant to be on Saturday.
Justin and Garrett fared much better, making it only about a hundred meters behind the race and catching the pack, working solidly through the race.
New friend of the team Stephen Wright of Hamilton won the race in spectacular fashion, staying away for the whole race because of his anger at the field!
Let's get this kid some glasses!
Garrett and Justin maneuvered their way ti 18th and 28th place finishes, respectively. Not too shabby for a late start!
And at the end of the day, what the heck is cooler than a Hummer Pace Car.
Maybe only Garrett visiting Orange County Choppers HQ! And also, a team dinner at the Junkins Residence. Ray, a great friend of the team and leader of the Stevens squad, had a great dinner for us at his house near West Point. Many Thanks! And congrats to Kim Junkins (Ray's Sister) from Syracuse for her intro class win.
SUNDAY, HILL CLIMB AND CRITERIUM
Expanding our Northeast Diner Tour at the Neptune Diner near Newburgh, NY. Kudos to Ali, Garrett's girlfriend, for sticking it out with us this weekend!
A beautiful day at West Point for a climb up Stoney Lonesome. Justin and I rocked out on the Hill Climb Time Trial. In much pain, I finished 7th in the trial; not so bad. Justin (and season leader Max Korus) pulled a James Miceli and took a wrong turn on the way up, oh well. Of course, good friend Aaron Horvath won the time trial; that man is a glutton for pain.
B Criterium
After saving himself from the HCTT, Garrett had a spectacular performance in the criterium. The Army course is one of the best for viewing; from a spot on the hill a spectator can see the entire course. With the train in the background and wide turns, the course made for great racing
Garrett and Justin worked well together to net a Villanova presence in every single prime, like myself and Garrett at Yale- a solid effort.
I jumped into a breakaway that tried so hard to stick, but it just didn't happen. I was extremely burnt up from that hill climb, and I have something weird going on with that course; after being whistled in a driving rain storm in my first D race there four years ago, I think the West Point crit got into my head.
A great race by Justin, for sure; hard work net great finishes- 11th place!
Garrett jumped into a remarkably well formed Army train right at the end of the race for a stunning second place finish, maintaining his lead in the Division 2 B class ECCC rankings. Very Well Done!
And last, Kudos to friend of Villanova Nick Garcia of West Point, who rode a great leadout train to victory. A great weekend put on by the West Point squad shows why it's the longest running collegiate race in the country.
Oh, good to read that making wrong turns on race courses runs in the family. Great job, Villanovans!
ReplyDelete