Easterns at Penn State Recap

After a grueling eight week long season that saw Lehigh riders compete every weekend, the ECCC season wrapped up with Easterns hosted by Penn State this weekend.  Nine Lehigh riders made the trip to Happy Valley, with eight of us going up on Friday night.  After fueling up for the next day's races and having a good time at the hotel on Friday night, the team headed out for Black Moshannon early Saturday morning.  The drive to the course was foggy with a light rain--an indication that the course would be slick for the earlier races.

The Women's C and Men's B teams decided to rest their legs for the upcoming road race, while the Men's D team was ambitious enough to compete in the 9.5 mile team time trial.  This was the first collegiate race for two of our riders, Brandon O. and Brian, while it was only Tom's 3rd time ever on a road bike.  The three guys put forth a strong effort, with Brandon and Tom crossing the line for a 5th place finish out of 6 in D Division 2.

Brian, Brandon, and Tom at the start of the D team time trial

Immediately following the time trial, the Men's C and D and Women's C road races began.  The course would prove to be a challenge to riders across all categories.  This soul-crushing race, as described by racers throughout the conference, spanned 21.5 miles with three Category 5 climbs before a grinding 5.3 mile ascent up Black Moshannon.  This Category 2 climb challenged riders to gain 1356 feet of elevation at an average grade of 4.9%.  Devin was our only rider in C's and it was his last collegiate race after six years of club leadership and great performances in mountain and road.  On his first lap of two, he was among the first fifteen of a field of 70 to cross the start/finish.  He finished strong at 28/70.  The D race saw freshman Brandon O. fly to a 3rd place finish, which is hopefully the first of many podium finishes in his career.  Tom and Brian finished well in the field of 31.  Kiki and Molly were our only two women racers this weekend and rode great in Women's C.

Devin on the descent on lap 1

After the temperatures rose to the mid-fifties and the early races ended, Marten, Brandon, and Eric headed over to staging for the B race which had a field of 53.  Marten quickly moved to the front of the pack, setting the pace for the first lap into the climb at 12 miles in.  The B field immediately split in two, with half the field struggling to climb the base of Black Mo and the front half breaking into smaller groups.  Marten led the charge up the mountain, with Brandon and Eric a couple of chase groups back.  He maintained the pace over the rest of the race, staying with an elite group of six riders.  After the first three places had been claimed (one of them by an MWCCC racer from U of Michigan), Marten came around the turn at the bottom of the descent from Black Moshannon with riders from RIT and Yale.  With a quick burst of acceleration, Marten blew past the RIT rider to claim the third place ECCC finish and 4th overall.  Brandon finished in 17th and Eric in 21st.

Marten on the wheel of an RIT rider who he beat for 3rd in a sprint

This was perhaps the biggest group of Lehigh riders to compete in an ECCC road race over the past 5 years. With two podium finishes at Easterns, the team was well represented and can look forward to great results next year.  In the meantime, the team can focus on preparing for its annual Mountaintop Classic mountain bike race in September.