Bowdoin Cycling

Speed Sprints

2009-04-30T21:33:00.002-04:00

There is one of those signs that display the speed of cars as they drive by over on Baribeau Drive. The cycling team went over and did 3-4 passes sprinting by it to see what our max speed would be. Unfortunately there was a viscous head wind but we were still able to make it to 31 or 34 mph. It was very applicable after we had just discussed sprinting in a race skills session.

PS- Dartmouth and MIT were highly successfully for us with our first ever TTT with both a group doing the Women B race and the Mens C race. We scored a bunch of points at Dartmouth but Duncan probably had the best race with a narrow second place (1 tire width) in the Frat Row Crit!

Yale Weekend

2009-04-13T18:39:00.004-04:00

Luke chilling in the pack during the crit.
The view down to the start area from the top of East Rock.
Yas starting the time trial under the sweet Red Bull banner.

The cycling team had a big weekend at Yale with the most riders in a collegiate race (6 total) and the most ECCC points scored in at least the last 5 years if not ever! Saturday consisted of a mostly uphill time trial up East Rock in New Haven. The weather turned for the worse about half way through and it rained hard straight until the last few laps of the final race of the day. The best results for Bowdoin in this event that is hard to train for around Brunswick was from Yas with a 6th place in the womens B Race. Saturday afternoon was a short crit like circuit race that ended with a finishing spur that climbed East Rock again. It was cold as balls and a little bit slippery but we all made it through all right with the exception of Yas's rear wheel. Notable results came from morgan with a top 20 in the Men's A race and Duncan and Luke finishing 14th in the Men's D and Men's C races respecitivley. Saturday night for the Bowdoin Cycling team consisted of eating about 1/2 a large pizza apiece at Modern Pizza in New Haven (its really good and somewhat famous) and then passing out around 8:30. Sunday fortunatley had sunny skies but it was still brisk and windy for the criterium. The Men's D race was the highlight of the weekend for Bowdoin, with Nick, Duncan and JB taking 4th, 5th and 7th respectively in some exciting team tactics and good timing. All told it was a sweet weekend with some good racing!

PS- honorable mention to Luke who has a date with a hot West Point female cyclist for next weekend.

Bowdoin Cycling on Youtube!

2009-04-08T22:09:00.002-04:00

Morgan, Luke, Lukes Brother and I went down and represented Bowdoin Cycling at the Scarborough Training Crit on Sunday. Besides taking 4 of 8 primes, Morgan with the A race stage win and me with 4th place in the B race we also made it on to youtube, Check it out at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYo41U1FxUs

check back from more details from Luke and possibly photos.
-Nick

New Jerseys!

2009-04-03T21:34:00.004-04:00

New Jerseys have arrived and we look even more stylish on our group rides now. Apparently they also got great reviews at the races in philly from fellow riders. I'll try and get a picture of someone sporting the new jersey up soon.

If you're intersted in purchacing one, they will be for sale in the Bowdoin Bookstore. They are very high quality, made by Louis Garneau, very functional and most importantly good looking. If you're interested contact the bookstore as they may not be on their online store yet...

Many thanks to Morgan and the Bookstore for making this happpen!

RAD Mountain Bike Ride

2008-05-07T17:57:00.004-04:00

Erika, Cory, Nat, Morgan, Isac, Luke and I went on a totally rad mountain bike ride. We found some deep mud over on the North Side of Pleasant hill. then we crossed over pleasant hill and rode the Crystal Springs Farm trails over to the Brunswick highschool. We showed off at the highschool for a while but didn't pick up any girls. Then we cut over to merepoint road on some trails that i didn't really know where they went. We walked/ attempted to ride a 1/8th track over to the commons and came back to campus by way of the gully trail. Nat and morgan had a brief shower (aka waterfight) at the outing club while the rest of us cleaned the mud off of our bikes with the hose.
Morgans tire was going flat and he took a bite out of my finger trying to pump it up and Corry had a great endo into the sand but other than that a great ride.

RAD- Nick

L.L. Bean Time Tial- Nick's account

2008-05-05T20:19:00.006-04:00

It was hard for me to get out of bed at 5:30 on Sunday morning because it was poring rain and 40 degree weather outside. I had raced the day before in the Polar Bear Triathlon the day before so as kind of a fair weather rider I had already had my fill of riding in the rain for one weekend. We ended up driving down to Freeport because the ride down and back would have been miserable in the nasty weather. After registration when I went to pedal my bike around I wasn't sure if I was warming up or just getting cold. Anyhow race time rolled around and it started off with a 6-8 mile slog North on Route 1 from Brunswick to Freeport. Most of this time I was wondering what I was doing out of bed at that point and when Luke who started 30 seconds behind me would roll past me and spray some more water in my face. After turning onto Woodside Rd. and seeing Maresa volunteering at the Pleasant Hill intersection I was feeling a little more excited about the race and started putting the hammer down. It was a little tricky without aero bars but i tried to stay low for most of the race. I think there are some sweet pictures of us bombing down the road that the photographer got but I haven't found them yet. Anyhow I made it through the hilly section on Flying Point Road near Wolfsneck with quite a bit of pain and thought I had a fast flat cruise back to Freeport on Foreside Road. When I rounded the corner that Bruce Macleod was volunteering at my legs were very disappointed to see another unexpected hill. Its not actually much of a hill but at this point in the race I had to drop it down into the low gears and tough it out once again. Finally i got to the finishing straight and was excited to see that I held Luke off but that he was close to me in the results. I certainly didn't have the fastest time of the day (Morgan was up there) but I did a pretty good job of winning brunch once we made it back to campus around 11:00. Looking back on the event it was a good time and many thanks to L.L. Bean for the free race and to Bruce and Maresa for volunteering in the rain.
The view from the bike- well not actually but you get the idea at least.

Full results at http://live-timing.com/race2.php?r=8893&u=0
Have your own story from the weekend? Let us know at bowdoincycling@gmail.com and we'll post it.

Polar Bear Triathlon

2008-05-05T20:11:00.003-04:00

Congratulations to all the cycling club members who did the Polar Bear Triathlon. We had some rainy weather making the bike a little tougher but still some great results. Barry Logan and Forrest Horton were the first two Bowdoin Men while Katherine Creswell and Maresa Nielson were the first two Bowdoin Women.

Check out full results at:
http://live-timing.com/race2.php?r=8892
Bennett rounding the final turn

Maresa looking good on the bike

4-28 Morgan Returned

2008-05-04T22:05:00.001-04:00

note the cool, California hair cut. RAD

ECCCCCC

2008-04-29T23:21:00.003-04:00

Eastern Collegiate Cycling Conference Championship Con Carne (that means with meat)

Nat and I went to a RAD bike race in New Hampshire which was also the last race of the eastern collegiate road biking season. The course was epic with a 1000 ft climb and then a 50+mph descent followed by a ridiculous 5 mile 1600 ft climb over the shoulder of Mt. Moosilauke. The last 20 miles were fast and flat. I was in the C race and lost contact with the lead group on the climbs but found some other stragglers to ride it in across the flats. Nat was in the B race and finished right behind the break kicking some ass in the field sprint. He also earned the only collegiate points for Bowdoin this year and we think for the last few years at least.

Nat's ass headed for the line in the field sprint.

Saturday Morning Ride and Scarborough Critting

2008-04-23T10:19:00.003-04:00

Nat and I traveled down to the Saturday Morning ride out of Portland for the first time this year. Its a fast flat loop that the group averages around 25mph on. In nice weather there are up to 50 people on the ride. Nat and I had a good day and made it back safely but unfortunately there was a crash at mile 3 in a section of bad pavement and a few guys we know went down and got pretty seriously hurt.

On Sunday Nat, Oliver and honorary cycling team member Brendan went to the Scarborough crit. Oliver and I faired pretty well in the B ride, staying with the pack, trying for a few breaks and ended up not getting beaten by any girls or the fat guy. Nat had a good one in the A race winning a sprint for a dozen eggs and also working to help out Brendan. Brendan had a great ride in a breakaway for 3/4 of the race before regrouping with the pack with a few laps to go. Even though he had been in the break and was working a lot more than everyone else he still took the stage win with the help from some teammates.
-Nick
Nat working at the front
Brendan with the stage win
Oliver cooling down

Bean Pot/ Turtle Pond Update

2008-04-15T22:14:00.003-04:00

Good work to Sarah and Maresa for going down to the Boston Beanpot road race on Saturday. They had two best ever Bowdoin women's cycling results (this is the first race that Bowdoin women have ever done but that just makes it more badass). Maresa took 31st and Sarah took 40th in the womens B field. Most importantly they said they had a great time and that other teams were happy and impressed to see Bowdoin women on the circuit for the first time.

Nat, Bennett and Brendan (not officially part of the club because he doesn't go to school here but might as well be a member) went to the Turtle Pond Circuit Race in NH on Sunday. Brendan rode into 24th in the pro/1/2/3 mens race and I'm sure helped out some of his Mechanical Services/ Cycle Mania teammates. Bennett took 4th in the the CAT 5 race on what i hear was a big break. He'll be a CAT 4 in no time if he keeps up riding like this. Perhaps the most exciting news of the day was Nat taking 4th in the 64 deep CAT 4 field, passing everyone in the field on the last hill except the 3 guys that broke away. From now on Nat will be racing in the CAT 3 because this finish was enough to give him an upgrade.
Good work all!

Best Riding Weather Yet

2008-04-10T22:55:00.004-04:00

64 degrees and sunny when we left to go riding today. Definitely the best weather yet this season. We had a big crowd and started off with 9 riders. We toured down to Wolfs Neck but decided it was still to muddy for the dirt roads. I took some pictures on the ride and will try and figure out how to post them soon.

A few people are racing at the Beanpot on Saturday this weekend and a few are going to the Turtle Pond race on Sunday.

-Nick

Welcome

2008-04-08T12:41:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the newly created Bowdoin Cylcing blog.

In the future look here for, pictures, news, results, events, a calendar, and ideas for local rides.

Remember:
cycling is rad