Black Mo Preview

In case you didn't get enough of Black Mo last year, Penn State's brutal road race is back this weekend. Fortunately for the A, B, and C fields, there will be one less lap than last year.  The course is the same 21.5 mile long one with 2330 feet of climbing each time around.  Here's the course profile to look over.  The race is in Port Matilda, PA for weather/clothing planning purposes.

Molly coming around the final turn towards the finish at 2011 Easterns.

Jersey Devil Recap

Week 4 of the ECCC road season was hosted by Princeton this past weekend.  This weekend saw the largest single-day participation of the year by Lehigh Cycling, with 7 riders competing in the Col du Skillman Circuit Race.  As with almost every road race on this year's schedule, the theme of the day was climbing. And lots of it.  The course was 4.4 miles long, with a 1.4 mile/310 ft climb to start off every lap.  Men's A, B, C, and D did 8,6,5, and 4 laps, respectively, with Women's C racing 4 laps.  Breakaways were largely successful in just about every category due to the nature of the course.

Philly Phlyer Recap

This weekend, the club headed down to the Philly Phlyer. The race is a staple of the ECCC road schedule and a perennial favorite among Lehigh Cycling due to its proximity to Bethlehem and its great venues. Saturday featured a team time trial, which we did not participate in, as well as a circuit race on a 6.2 mile course. Men's A, B, and C completed 5, 4, and 3 laps, respectively, and Women's C completed 2 laps.

First out on the course was Brandon O. in his first Men's C race. The Division 1 and 2 C groups were combined, which led to a large field of 75. Brandon finished in 32nd out of all C riders, and 7th in Division 2, picking up some important individual points. Kiki was next up for the team in Women's C. Unfortunately, she crashed out but was alright and in good spirits.

Brandon leading the B field up the climb into lap 4.

Philly Phlyer Preview

This weekend, we're headed to Philadelphia for the annual Philly Phlyer. With a TTT and circuit race in West Fairmount Park along the Schuylkill River on Saturday, and an on-campus crit at Temple on Sunday, there is sure to be some great racing at some awesome venues.

The course profiles and some footage from last year's races are after the break...

ECCC Week 1: Rutgers

The 2012 Eastern Collegiate Cycling Conference road season kicked off with yet another edition of the Frozen Toed Season Opener, hosted by Rutgers. The forecast leading up to the weekend was bleak for the first race of the year, but our club still sent a total of 5 riders this year. As in years past, the first event of the season was a fast 2.2 mile individual time trial on an out-and-back course in Somerset, NJ early Saturday morning. Marten, Brandon K., and Perry all participated in the wet ITT, with Brandon just missing out on points in B's.

The much anticipated and surprisingly long road race was next up for the club in the afternoon. ECCC races typically increase in length and difficulty as the season progresses, yet the Rutgers planned a 13 mile course with 944 ft of climbing each lap. The A field would race 5 laps, B's would do 4, C: 3, D: 2, and Intro would do 1. This meant that the second longest race of the year, after Easterns at UNH, would be during the opening weekend. The combination of plenty of mileage and climbing would prove to be a good test of everyone's early season form.

Marten at the start of the A road race