Shaking the Ice Off the Legs

After several long weeks of training during the cold winter of central PA, the team decided to stretch its legs at the first Trexlertown Training race. About 1.5 to 2 hours away from Bucknell (depending on which team member is driving) a kilometer long loop of smooth asphalt was closed off for some good old fashioned crit racing.

The team showed up with a noticeable presence bringing 5 team members to the Sunday race. After a straightening out of licenses at registration, Evelyn Korbich, Eli Bravo, Matt McGauley, and Andrew Schlicht were all approached the start line for the B race. Once the whistle blew, the 4 were off racing against a field of 32 with a few local legends in the mix.

 The race was high paced, with people attacking left and right from the start. However, only one break-away managed to stay out in front and lap the peloton. Eli Bravo led one of the attacks but was slowly reeled back by the peloton due to the high winds. Did I mention the wind? Oh yeah, there was lots of it. A consistent 20 mph wind from the north with gusts up to 30 tore across the course. There were heavy cross-winds on the long straightaways and either a tailwind or a headwind on the shorter sections depending on where you were in the loop. Positioning was key throughout the whole race. Unfortunately for Evelyn Korbich, an endurance rider, the constant changes in pace due to the wind proved to be too much, she decided to call it a day part way through the race. As the race progressed, the attacks died down and the overall pace slowed. Andrew Schlicht grabbed a wheel of the breakaway as they lapped the field, permitting him to pick up 3 points and a placement of 6th in the points ranking. Matt McGauley and Eli Bravo remained in the pack for the remainder of the race where they battled it out with the locals around the sweeping turns.

Yiwei rounding a corner

The next race was the beginners' race, where new team member Yiwei Wang stood at the start line, awaiting the whistle. The wind once again proved too difficult to fight for Yiwei as he found himself looping the course separate from the peloton. Hanging tough, he finished the race beating out a few others that were riding around the course.

By the end, we all enjoyed sitting in the sun-baked vehicles, sheltering from the wind munching on cookies, sandwiches, and an assortment of snacks purchased at the nearby Wawa. We snagged a quick team photo from the unlevel spoiler of a car whose owner had accidentally locked himself out of. It was a tough race as the next day we found out that each of us all walking around with sore legs. Perhaps the team should invest in some air compression pants before the race season heats up any more.

From left to right: Andrew, Matt, Evelyn, Eli, & Yiwei

Results are posted here.

A quick thank you to the McGauley family for the video, attending the race, and showing their support for the team. Also, the last post was really poorly constructed on my part. Steven Robare, an alum of the team, he was kind enough to help me address the technical issues.

- Schlichty