Another Beautiful Day in Paradise

Strafford Nordic 10k Skate

2012-01-14T15:42:00.000-08:00

Today I did my third day on skate skies and did a 10k skate race. Needless to say the race was not my best effort. I don't do many skate races, but prefer hard track skating when I do. With the recent snowfall the track was pretty soft. Being a pretty big guy I was pushing through often.

The venue was great. This is the first year they are in operation. I really hope they make it. The terrain they are working with is really top notch. There were some really great homemade bagels for sale after the race.

Resolutionz

2012-01-03T12:17:00.000-08:00

I, just like everyone else, malign New Year's resolutions, but also make a few myself. Most of the time, resolutions are made with crazy dreams of unattainable plateaus in life. My resolutions are a little more grounded in reality, concrete and are within my reach (hopefully).

Usually I write down my resolutions somewhere. This year I decided to write them up like this. It may be entertaining for others and help me to stick by them.

Character Traits:

-Prioritize and dedicate:
Life gives us so many avenues for our time and our energy. Few of these are really worth the time it takes to engage in them. My internet usage is a small example. Because I am such an avid reader and have a broad interest base, I frequently spend way to much time poking around the internet. Some of the material is worth reading, much of it isn't. This goal encompasses: my time allocation, interpersonal behavior, and assumption of tasks.

- Patience:
While I deeply believe in introspection, I have found it increasingly hard to practice as I age. Perhaps this is because my habits have ossified. No matter the cause, I need to work on this. Without effort on this front I alienate friends and become a burden to work with.

- Considerate:
For me, this is closely dovetailed to the preceding goal. If I take time before acting I am usually considerate, but haste and frustration frequently gode me towards inconsiderate or gruff actions. Both are nasty, and a a source of shame and regret.

Physical Goals:

-Regain fitness:
Yeah, Yeah, me too. I have joined the countless millions with this resolution. Since beginning law school I have spent way less time exercising and more time eating / stressing. The results are predictable, that I have put on some weight and slowed down substantially. This goal really requires me to meet the first of my character trait goals.

-Compete in a full off road tri schedule:
After stepping back from the sport for a couple of years, I realized how much I miss it. The last couple of races I did on a whim and performed relatively poorly. Regaining the type of form that saw me winning races is unlikely this year, but I would like to get an overall podium before the end of the year.

-Build up core strength and improve flexibility:
The impetus for this goal is to avoid running injuries and to mitigate back pain.

-Bike Racing:
Do enough of it to match how much I love it. The last two years I haven't done enough. I had been blaming my other commitments but in reality, I lacked the commitment to make it happen.

-Keep a workout log:
This year I am actually going to do it.

Mile Markers:

-Complete 25 titles of reading:
This year I fell short of my 20 book goal. I blame several of the large works that I read for this failure. I did manage to take down two of Tolstoy's epics and several of Dumas' as well. So long as I can maintain my habit of pleasure reading every day and don't take on too many large works, I think I can make it.

-Break 19min in a 5k:
A few short years ago I was trying to break 16, but here I am. Putting down solid goal on this front will probably help me stick to a regular running schedule. Since leaving UVM XC I have pursued other forms of exercise and cut my weekly milage by about 80-90%. At the time, my peak weekly milage would creep into the 70s. Without a long injury free buildup, I doubt I could hit that sort of milage. So, I have to scale back my milage. As long as I am able to get 25-30 miles a week, I hope I can hit that time by this summer.

-Complete Marcel Proust's works:
So much for my first goal of this section.

A trip to Wheelock

2012-01-01T06:17:00.000-08:00

I just got back from my friend's hunting camp up in the NEK. Since I was at MMU a group of our friends has been going up for an annual Christmas Bowl on either side of the holiday. The last couple of years we have all been to busy or too far away to make it happen. This year a friend of our who has been living in China was going to be back for the holiday and suggested we revive the Christmas Bowl. While we couldn't get all of our high school and sundry friends together, we got a pretty good crew together for four days in camp.

The camp itself is pretty awesome. Located miles from the closest town road, over rough terrain, it is practically a world unto itself. There is no electricity and no running water. A hand pump brings in water from a well, propane lamps provide light and an ancient wood fired stove is the cooking implement. Although the camp is pretty plush by hunting camp standards, it is a long way remove from our normal modes of life. The added tasks to cook meals, heat the building and even to wash your hands are reminders or a different time. The perspective I get from a visit is always great.

Traditionally, the main event is a game of tackle snow football. This year the game was out of the question. There was no more than an inch of snow on the frozen solid ground. When we were younger we probably would have just played and gotten the snot kicked out of us. Fortunately, some things have gotten better, or at least more reasonable with age.

We did get in a lot of solid hunting. Snowshoe hares and grouse are in season. We didn't see much action on the latter durring the trip, but we had some pretty good hare hunting. Most of the time we were man-dogging to get action. This entails working your way through dense cover while still trying to get a shot at a hare that may pop out. One of the days we were treated to a pack of really great rabbit dogs. Our former principal and a couple of other hunters met up with us and worked through a couple of thickets.

This was the first time that I had hunted rabbits with good dogs. It totally changed how we hunted. Instead of hours of forced marches through thick cover, we were able to set up good shooting spots and let the dogs run the rabbits back to us. I did enjoy the additional shooting that we ended up doing, but am still unsure how I feel about the dogs.

Most of our nights there we played games of chance or the Settlers of Catan. Both of these provided some great opportunity for competition and carousing.

Sadly, we never go to the primitive biathlon we have occasionally done.

All in all the trip was a much needed break from my regular pattern of life and

Snow's Siren Song

2011-11-25T07:47:00.001-08:00

Vermont got early snow this year, enough to ski before Thanksgiving. Somehow the night before a storm and waking up in a world of white transports me back to my childhood. Maybe it is where I live or how I grew up, but snowfall has always been special. You can feel the excitement build. There is the unbridled enthusiasm when you wake up in a world of white. Then, there is actually being in snow.

The excitement the night before is palpable. Anyone and everyone you see is talking about the storm: how the weatherman is over exaggerating, how the new plow trucks are going to work, whether sand, soot or salt is what you put down in 'this type of snow,' if Sue's fancy new Volvo actually can drive in the snow, and a million other variations. Everybody is talking snow, thinking snow, some are even cursing snow.

Waking is never so exciting as in the face of a potential mountain of snow. It like like maybe waking up to Christmass morning, or maybe not. Nothing is guaranteed. Without any promise, you don't know until you pull the blinds. Sometimes all you get is an image or brown and grey, no snow has fallen. Other times you get the magical transformation of a blanket of snow. The world is made new again. The surface of the snow is a uniform downy canvass, yet untouched by the passage of time. Streams have disappeared tall brush land is lain flat, thick tangled forests are open for exploration.

When the snowfall isn't a rumor and it is actually here. All of the excitement and the anticipation is realized and you can go outside. Ever since I was a small kid nordic skiing has been a way to fly. The rhythmic kick, glide..... kick, glide...... kick, glide..... will lure you in. When done correctly it is the perfect balance between force and patience. You push hard on the ski to go forward, but never rush the gliding. A good skier can effortlessly cover miles, while a bull headed novice will flounder and struggle to cover ground that they could walk in a heart beat. Athleticism and zen harmonize in this sort, as you explore a soft muted world.

Every year I look to find that balance, both on skis and in life. To get the mixture right, when to exert all of my frenzied energy, and when to glide. With this year's snowfall I will try again.

Winter Starts in October?!

2011-10-30T08:36:00.000-07:00

In the last three days we have already had two measurable snowfalls. Last night we got almost six inches. Needless to say this bodes well for this winter. (Because the weather follows patterns, right?!)

I think that some rock ski / grass skiing would have been possible today. Sadly all of my skis are still in my parents garage. Not a huge loss though. Skiing in conditions like this put years of wear on your bases and usually isn't even that great. Although, it would have been great to have my first day on snow be in October.

The snow has also made be think about where I am going to ski this year. The Upper Valley has the Dartmouth areas, which are usually decently groomed, but are now almost 35 minutes away, without trafic. I skied there last year and was happy with it, however I only live 10 minutes away then. I am thinking about joining the Strafford Nordic Center. They are only 13 miles from my house, but some of the road are really slow going and could be treacherous in snowy conditions. The good news is that VLS is on the route between home and skiing, so it could work well for morning skiing (hopefully they have a shower / locker room there).

The summer tires on my car are so beat that I think driving anywhere today would be a death sentence. I have been waiting to put on my snow tires, which are super fresh, so that I wouldn't have to buy a set of tires just to take them off after a week or two. Usually I don't need the snows until Thanksgiving..... I guess I can't complain too much.

Winter Just Won't Give Up

2011-02-24T06:20:00.000-08:00

Guess what? More Snow!!!! Like a foot of it.

I am a huge advocate of going with the flow and doing what comes naturally. I am the first to admit that I am way too weak to spend hours on rollers staring numbly at a poster of Mario Cippolini on the wall. I also have weird conflicting feelings about rollercam. It is kind of like tweeter, I am just old and don't understand it. As a result both of those things mystify and terrify me.

Facebook has told me that many of you are b*%&ing and moaning about how long, cold and snowy the winter is. Not this guy! I have spent most of the winter on some skinny skis, sliding around with my heart pumping away furiously. I welcome more snow. If we get to Rutgers and I have only ridden outside (or at all) a handfull of times that will be a-ok.

Pardon we while I do my snow dance,

Approaches to team management.

2011-01-21T05:50:00.000-08:00

Last night I made it out to one of Dartmouth's team seminars. Now that I am living one town away from these guys I might as well interact. This was the first of a weekly seminar series on bike racing. At least this seminar seemed geared towards newer bike racers. It also seems like the kids can get PE credit for going to the seminar series.

I was blown away not only by the people presenting, but by the attention that was directed at them. The talk included nutrition, race explanations, specific warmups and cold weather clothing. All of the information seemed really on point and well received.

Many teams simply let their new riders undergo a trial by fire. Start riding with the team and you will pick up what you need to know. I doubt that this is a conscious choice by team leaders, it is most likely the product of indifference or simply an overworked schedule that doesn't include time for new riders. having attended one of these meetings I think that teams could greatly benefit from running series like these.

When a new rider approaches the team about joining them they are taking a risk. If the best you can offer them as a safety line is that there is an intro category, the uncertainty and shroud of mystery that surrounds bike racing is still pretty heavy. If on the other hand you are able to talk about how the team runs a 3-5 week long seminar series that breaks down different aspects of racing, you are giving that person something tangible. This enables them to approach he race season armed with some knowledge.

Does this make people better racers? Who knows. Maybe. But I will tell you what it does. It makes retention of the the kid who casually talks to you (team member) about racing that much more likely to really get into it. Teams prosper and thrive based on the numbers of racers they have, and this is a great way to build your team.

What I want in 2011

2010-12-27T08:37:00.000-08:00

There are of course a lot of personal things which are really borring that I want, but I thought I would share what I wanted the most out of the ECCC in 2011. Without further ado, and in no particular order

Road Season

1300 racers at the reincarnated Beanpot?! Who knows it could happen (this would require a Men's Z field for the crit, but we would make it work) Realistically I dream of a 1000 racer event, you should all be part of it.
Needing to split the women's A/B field in Crits. The A/B field was a big sucess last year and this was reflected in big fields. I see no reason for the energy of last year to slow down. If anything, I hope that growth will accelerate again. Hopefully a lot of our WC racers have been filing their teeth, riding their rollers and performing hours of snow covered hill sprints to get ready to join the A/B field. The numbers it would take to split the field would depend on how technical the crit course is, but it would probably require at least 50% more women A/B riders than were at Dartmouth in 2010. I think it is possible.
Chris Hamlin wins the overall?!? Maybe, why not, somebody has to do it.
See a team challenge MIT's rock solid run of the conference. I would love to see the overall come down to the finish line of the MA crit at PSU. It is a great venue, course and crowd. It would be all the better if their was a fierce team battle that could be decided in the final race.
The Jamey Driscoll and Anders Newbury to show up to a couple of ECCC races and show off what VT bike riding really looks like.
5 ECCC Individual wins at Nationals, I mean we are the bigest conference, we should get most of the wins.
Maggie S wins a bike race, make it happen.

Mountain Season

Women's A mtb comes back. I really want to see starts with more than 4 racers..... please race your bikes
Collegiate Nats are in West Virginia. Time for an ECCC'r to step up. I don't think an ECCC'r has brought home stars and stripes since 2009 in DII short track (Katherine Harris MIT). It is close, no altitude and their might be mud. All those Colorado roadies won't know what to do. Get training
See an even better UVM race weekend. Each of the last two years have showcased some f the finest race promotion that the ECCC has seen in the mtb season. With a couple of tweeks I think that this weekend would surpass the quality experienced at many national level events. Hopefully we will see you all there.
Have some more of the Southern ECCC schools find mtbs and go to races. Even when we raced in Pa twice in 2010 there wasn't great turn out. I hope that 2011 will see a rebound.

Things that I will profoundly miss:

Rose Long. She is on a big Jet Plane for France and won't be racing in the ECCC. She has graduated and gotten a real job. In 2008 Rose won the Women's overall and that fall was hit by a car in a training ride. She is an amazing girl and somebody that I am glad to call a friend. She has an indomitable and irrepressible personality that exemplified what collegiate bike racing was all about. The conference will be much duller without her. I am sure the whole ECCC wishes her well and all the sucess in the world in her exploits.
The final season for Chris Hamlin and Maggie Sullivan. Both of these 'classy' kids I have known a very long time and have contributed and raced in the ECCC a lot. With any luck both of them will continue to be involved with the ECCC for years to come.

Army Classic: A Eulogy

2010-11-25T04:53:00.000-08:00

Preface: these views are my own and not those of the ECCC

Eulogy:

The Army classic was the longest running collegiate event in the country. I imagine that it would be very very hard to find many events in the world of USAC races that have been as long running. To say that the organization that occurred at these races was anything less than superb would be a bald faced lie. The riparian zone that West Point is located in provides terrain with sharp relief and stunning opportunities for racing.

I have always been a huge fan of legacy and tradition. I think that one of the paramount virtues of these things for races is that people know what to expect. If it is good, then you can count on good turnout. Army has been ale to provide us with this consistant quality over the years and I think there is a lot of respect for the weekend within the racing community. In the loss of the classic, one of the longest running traditions in the ECC is gone. 2011 will be remarkable for the absence of two halmarks of ECC racing: no Rutgers river ITT to start the year and no Army HCTT.

Over the years the courses which have been used have varied and shifted. So too has the conference. When Army was first hosting races clip less pedals hadn't even been invented yet. Greg Lemond hadn't won a Tour yet, cycling was even farther out of the mainstream than it is today. As a result the conference was a lot smaller.

As the conference has grown in size, so too have the expectations for promoters. One expectation that has been slowly coalescing is that Road races and Circuit races have to be big and well organized enough to hold multiple races on course at the same time. I don't think that many racers realize this but the day is very tightly packed in the ECCC. When promoters can only have one race on course at a time it means shorter races to get in all of the fields that we have racing.

At the meeting this year it was pretty clear to me that there was a reemerging interest in promoting road races and circuit races. I think that for many of the teams in attendance this fueled their voting against the classic. Opportunities to have longer races over bigger courses is something that the ECCC is craving and Army wasn't able to deliver.

I for one really hope that this is like a a cold shower for whoever the 2012 Army promoter is. I hope that we will return to West point and find the classic resurrected and in better shape than ever. I dream about an ITT on rt. 218 and a 10-20 mi loop road race. Nothing is impossible and I think that this might have given the gals and guys of West Point the shock they needed to innovate on the race model that we have seen for the last few years.

A Good Day to be My Mouth

2010-11-16T15:24:00.000-08:00

This isn't mine, but it looks just like it.

For those of you who don't know, I broke my Scaphoid September 25th. I know, huge bummer. But what is a Scaphoid? Good question, it is a tiny little bone with bad blood supply that is a huge PITA to break.

So, what have I been doing with my life? Other than reading books and studying law (both super lame)?

Stuffing my face. Yeah, I like good food but never have the time to make it. When I was super busy in undergrad and running 70+mi a week I routinely subsisted on Pop Tarts, coffee and Power-Burritos (Tina's frozen burritos). Now that I have had time I have eaten a little better.

My Menue Today:

Breakfast:

2 Eggs
Homemade Frech bread toasted
Bowl of oatmeal w/ Craisins
Black River Roasters Nicaragua Coffee (really Fresh Coffee Now. Why would you change the name and lable of your business?!?!)
Cider

Lunch

Chocolate covered espresso beans
Walnuts
Granny Smith Apple
Sandwich

Homemade french bread
jalepeno jack cheese
Turkey
Spinach

Post run snack

Banana
Nature valley bar (peanut butter)

Dinner

Homemade Orange soup

Butternut squash
Acorn Squash
Carrots
onions
broth
cider

Homemade Olive/onion/pepper bread
Salad

spinach
walnuts
craisins
onions
olive oil

Conclussion: I am never going back to a sport that takes up so much of my time. Don't you know that I could be eating?!?

Just kidding, it is almost time to get back on my bike.

The Greatest Thing Ever

2010-11-14T05:12:00.001-08:00

Yeah Collegiate Cycling

An argument not often heard.

2010-11-07T10:37:00.000-08:00

As always I apologize in advance for spelling and grammatical errors.

Often when health care is debated in the national political arena you get one of two arguments. From 'conservative' elements you will hear that universal health care as a public obligation will cripple the economic force and viability of the country. From the 'bleeding hearts' you will hear slogans like, "health care is a human right." Both sentiments are of course designed for the attention spam of the American public. If you will bear with me I would love to explain my point of view on the subject.

Contrary to either of the arguments that are on the forefront of national debate, I would argue that some form of universal health care is essential to the economic viability of the country. There are of course other reasons to take these actions, but I am not going to focus on them. For me, the most compelling reason to tackle health care is an economic one. Our current health care system favors large companies and inherently disadvantages small entrepreneurial efforts.

Health care, like many industries is affected by economies of scale. Through the course of history insurance companies have collected a wealth of information on people and their tendencies. Collective bargaining of certain groups has lead to substantially lower rates. For the insurers they have been able to look in large policies at lower rates. When individuals or firms representing small groups have attempted to become insured, they have had to pay higher rates. This is of course a super simplification of the way the industry works. I know that there are levels of complexity and nuance that I haven't touched on and even more that I don't understand, but this is the broad strokes of the way the industry works.

As the cost of health care has gone up and the complexity of the procedures has intensified. Out of pocket payment of medical bills has become basically impossible. The costs of medical care have exponentially risen for insurers as well. They are in business, no doubt about it. To maintain coverage and profit margins they have been forced to raise premiums. Premiums have not categorically risen at the same level, the proportional rise has been felt the most by individuals or small group payers.

One of the biggest hiring factors in the past has been talent. There are lots of different ways to quantify this, but suffice it to say that as an employer you want talented employees. Large business hold a numerous advantages and disadvantages for an employee. One that we don't hear about is the advantage that large companies have a huge advantage in hiring. When offering the same salary they may offer a larger benefits package. The problem isn't that they are effectively offering more, in actuality the economy of scale advantage they get means that they are actually offering less.

The central theme of my argument for a universal health care system is that it would offer small and mid size companies a better chance at recruiting and retaining talented employees. Our current system has a centralizing effect on talent, placing most of the talented people in the hands of companies that are already enormous and cumbersome in their movements.

Were there universal health care, people would have one fewer economic hurdle to clear in beginning entrepreneurial ventures. Right now there is already an enormous risk in self employment, the economic repercussion can be devastating if you fail. However, the medi - economic (I don't think that is a word yet, just roll with it) dangers of being uninsured are staggering. You would have to be a little crazy to undertake any sort of even mildy risky activity while uninsured. It doesn't take a very serious injury to rack up thousands and thousands of dollars in medical bills. A relatively minor accident for an uninsured small business owner or employee could easily mean the end of the venture.

With all of the rhetoric across the political spectrum that is played to how great the spirit of American ingenuity is, I think it is important to find a common ground and try to unleash it. You know that there are probably thousands of bright ideas that get shelved at major corporations because they are too out there. Maybe a few more of these dreamers would leave the nest and strike out on there own were there some sort of webbing beneath them.

Even if this would only result in 1 huge American venture and a series of smaller ones. The economic impact would surely be worth the burden.

Changing who my Heroes are

2010-10-21T14:45:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time I had sporting hereos. Who didn't? Since the sports that I was into as a kid and even now aren't super mainstream, I kind have had to make an effort on learning about the sport and the men and women who colored its past. As with any sports, the history of each era is defined by great athletes and by great personalities. These things are the stories that make sport so compelling and so applicable to our everyday life.

What I have always enjoyed about individual sports is that you are the antagonist, the hero if you will, of your own story. In this way you can be analogous to the heroes that you look up in the sports, sporting mags and websites of your sport. You can suffer the same way, train the same way, race with the same panache and hold the same world views. It is truly great.

Running was one of my previous passions. As a high school runner I heard about two men who colored my understanding of how I was to interact with my sport. They are Sir Roger Bannister and Steve Prefontaine.

At that time I had a totally single minded approach to running. Every part of my year, month, week, day, meal, and snacks was (in my mind) geared towards getting the very most out of myself athletically. If it was going to get in the way of going faster, it wasn't going to happen.

At that time, my running hero was Prefontaine. He was a runner that set a ton of US record in a short time and was an ardent advocate for the sport. He strongly believed that you should race each and every race as though you would never get another chance. In a sport where the elites had become infamous for sit an kick (sprinting in cycling), Prefontaine was never afraid to try to grind people down by running at the front and pushing the pace. The internet is replete with bad ass Pre quotes. All great things for an over - enthusiastic high school runner to feed on.

In high school I had heard of Sir Roger Bannister. First man to break four minutes in the mile. The due was eccentric. He decided that he wanted to take running as far as he could, within certain constraints. He was a med student and was training on a plan that emphasized speed over all else. There are all sorts of crazy stories about him doing @ race pace 1/4 mile repeats durring his lunch break. He also did this with overwhelming repetition. None the less running was secondary in his life. Finishing his medical degree and romancing his future wife were the real goals. Running was the sideshow. Two days prior to dropping under 4 minutes in the mile he went for a hike!!

For those of you who aren't runner dorks, at the time the 4 minute mile was akin to summiting Everest. It was said to be the perfect exercise of time and the human body. Four full rotations around the track (still on the imperial standard tracks) and four full rotations of the second hand. It was perfection of movement in every sense of the word. Numerous runners had gone through 3/4 on pace or faster, but they had all floundered in the last 1/4 sometimes even in the last straight. To add to the mystique real live doctors went on record saying that it was physically impossible. They contended that the heart couldn't match the incredible pace for such a long durration.

At this time the best tracks in the world were either grass (trimmed like the green of a golf course) or cinder (like a kitty litter box). It had rained, making the track slow. Good reason to bag it. Nope, Bannister wouldn't let even the weather get in his way.

In high school this made no sense to me. I respected the achievement but I didn't really respect the man. I couldn't immagine anything more important than quantifiable achievements. Didn't he realize he might have given up a couple of seconds on his mile time?!?! (Dripping with sarcasm at the thoughts of my previous self)

What a difference a couple of years will make. Now that I am ancient and have other more temporal concerns it seems crazy to put every ounce of your being into something like that. I guess that growing up, having bills to pay, going back to school and falling in love all tempered that part of my life. Now I am blown away by the achievements of Bannister. He took on the impossible but refused to let what *really* mattered to him take a back seat.

Pre's legend had the luxury of never growing up. He got to live on in the world's memory as perfect devotion to his sport. Oddly enough that does not do it for me anymore. I am so much more impressed with doing the impossible when you are trying to live life too.

Nothing to do with bike racing

2010-10-12T17:24:00.000-07:00

Simpsons always on the edge of something. Just skip to 0:43

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Quick thoughts on the leading teams.

2010-03-16T11:48:00.000-07:00

Two weeks are already down in a what promises to be a very very exciting year of racing in the ECCC. I love competition, doesn't really matter who wins or loses. So long as the competition is closer and kinda fiery, I get rediciously excited about it.

Before the season started, I put down a few thoughts on where the teams were going. I was wrong about a few of them and missed a few others. I think it is time to reassess where the top teams are at, and what there prospects are like for the remainder of the year.

I just want to note that I like everybody, and don't want to hurt people's feelings.

The Main Show:

MIT: Last year's winners. They have certainly come out of the gates very very strongly. As a team they are deeply reliant on their Women's squad. This is what I call smart team composition. If you start a women's A race with 3-4 racers, it is going to be very very hard for other teams to beat you in the women's point tally. As A result of this we have seen the MIT women take maximum points in a lot of the races this year. Their men have been good enough to help them stay at the top of the points scoring.
UVM: Last year's second place team. I hold out a soft place in my heart for my travel companion's and my Alma Mater. You never know, they might be able to vie for a high overall finish this year. At this point it is definitely an uphill battle. As a team they employ a totally opposite approach to scoring points. They have a multitude of Men's racers but very, very few women's racers. The first weekend they scored no women's point's while they maxed out on men's points. The trick with men's points is that they are very very volatile. Even with a lot of very good racers, if things go south in the closing 300 meters of a group sprint you end up empty handed (See MA UVM results from Steven's Circ). They are bringing in women, the question is really if it will be enough.
BU: These guys are gals are a hot commodity at this point in the year. At the beginning of the year I didn't think that this team had the firepower to put up big team scores. Boy was I wrong. They won there first team event in the men's Steven's Circuit race. Placing 3 racers in the top 10. It is also really important to note that they have the potential to score a really solid number of women's points as well. They currently have two really strong Women's B racers. Either of these girls could certainly make a good A racer. In the right situation I think Anna Einstein could even win a race. As I have hinted at in my assessment of the other two teams, it is all about having a strong women's team. It is the most surefire way to the top of a season overall.
U Penn: These guys are pretty solid as well. They are a fairly small team. In years past their attendence has tapered off as the year has progressed. With a few Men's A racers well placed in the overall and a top 5 current standing, maybe the ECCC will hold their interest this year.
Dartmouth: Another moderately sized team. They pack a big wallop in the A categories. Elle Anderson in the Women's A and a plethora of MA racers generate a ton of points for the team. Teams with smaller numbers like this are a little more prone to swings in point scoring. One or two racers staying home to do a term paper can really affect things.

Outside Wonders:

Harvard: Anna McLoon. Enough said right? If the team can scrounge up some high test male racers they could be really serious contenders. On the other hand, if Anna skips a weekend, the team will precipitously drop in the team standings.
Bucknell: These guys and gals have been coming on wicked strong this year. Their men are in the heat of the action in almost all of the races. They haven't quite landed any huge trophies yet, but it is just a matter of time. They also have a fairly substantial women's side. While they haven't put up huge points yet, I think this team as a lot of potential
Yale: Another team that has a lot of potential, but hasn't yet put up enormous team points. If all of the stars align they could win a weekend. Rudy and Anna can both win A races and their are a lot of supporting riders in lower categories.
Columbia: While they graduated a lot of their big hitters. There is still a lot of spirit an potential. We just haven't seen any of it going full throttle just yet.
Penn State: Spring break did a number on their attendance this last weekend. They will have to show up really big for the rest of the season. Which hasn't happened for a while. Hopefully these guys and gals can make it to more races this year than last.
Rugters: With Molly Hurford nailing it in the Bs (soon to be As if I was a betting man) and a decent contingent of men racers, they are certainly a force. If they bring out a few more key players and up their game. They could definitely finish the season in the top 10.
Northeastern: With Maggie S and Katy A racing they substantially upped the team's point scoring ability. Notice the difference in point totals for the team from weak 1 to week 2. This team will certainly finish in the top 10.

Whew. I think I covered a lot of the big players and a good number of the outside shots. Again, I don't want anybody's feelings to be hurt. Just for fun......

Sully

How I learned to love women's cycling

2010-03-11T08:04:00.000-08:00

I have a confession to make, I love women's cycling. Why? Good question. I have lots of reasons, but it has really been an evolution. When I got into cycling I was just as self-centered as anybody else. I thought that the racing that I was doing was the most important racing that was going on. I looked tot he fastest groups of guys as the pillars of the sport. Anybody slower wasn't worthy of consideration.

Nice thinking, right. In my defense I was 13-14 at the time. At that point there weren't too many female mountain bike racers moving in the circle I was racing in.

Once I hit college things really started to change for me. My little sister Maggie got into racing on the road and mountain bike scene for Northeastern. At the point Maggie was the only girl on NU's team at that point. Fortunately Maggie is wicked gregarious and didn't have too much a of problem with being the only girl.

After I left the UVM XC and Track teams I started racing the ECCC road season, needless to say it was great. That year I was racing Cs and Bs and the following year Bs and As. Anyhow, so much of the racing was crude. It seemed like a lot of the movements within the group were conducted as though someone was conducting brain surgery with a club. There was plenty of aggression and raw power.

My first year in the ECCC I watched a ton of Maggie's races (Women's B at the time). We are a pretty tight and supportive family, so I spent a lot of time watching and cheering. That year (2008) Magz was on the cusp, she was still finding her legs, even though she had the skill to corner and move within the pack amongst the best. Given that was her skill set she was able to be pretty successful in crits, the road and circuit races were a little more of a struggle.

Around this time Emily (Super GF) started to get into mountain biking. She pretty quickly got stronger and more skilled. It was really great to watch. One of my favorite memories of this time was a ride we did in the middle of summer at a local trail. At this point Emily still only owned a chamois or two, and I think only one real bike jersey. Her bike definitely didn't have clipless pedals yet. Being a hot day she decided to ride just in her running shoes, chamois and sports bar (so she wouldn't have to wash the bike jersey before tomorrow's ride). During the main climb on this trail we started to catch up with a masters sport racer, you know the type. More testosterone and ego than skill or fitness. As we got closer I made sure Emily was riding first and yelled, "riders back." The gent moved to the side and let us roll through. Evidently when he saw us pass him he didn't like what he saw (running shoes and a sports bra). For the next 7-8 minutes of the climb I could hear the guy turning himself inside out to keep up with the pace Emily was setting. I am sure that his opinion of women riders got knocked up a peg or too. The assumption that he was operating under was that no matter how good this girl was, he must be able to match what she was doing. Sad, but I think it is a pretty prevalent thought strain. From my observations every woman racer deals with this sort of presumption just about every time she roll up to a race weekend.

The following Collegiate year (2008-2009) I had the great fortune and burden of being the President of UVM Cycling. In this capacity I led some massive recruiting efforts, both for men and women. Women were especially needed given the team's often dismal performances in the women's events (excluding Rose's of course). At some mtb races we had around 10 women racing (Emily and a lot of her friends). That was great.

During road season I got to watch a ton of my friends and loved ones (Emily and Maggie) rip around on the race courses of the ECCC. I also had the great privilege of being around Rose as she tried to make a comeback to racing from the horrible collision that jeopardized not only her racing but her general health. I spent a huge amount of time watching and cheering for Women's racing. Their is a much more subtle structure and movement to women's racing in general. A lot of the guys in the ECCC could learn a lot from watching the women's races and really paying attention.

This next weekend, watch, see what is going on. Respect the efforts that these ladies are putting out there, and make some noise for them.

Top 10 List

2010-02-10T05:22:00.000-08:00

I am shamelessly inspired to do this by the Penn State kids. Thank you for the idea. Anyhow, I thought that I might try to bring my own unique perspective to the things I am looking forward too this coming season. Odds are you too should be super excited too.

10. Seeing Chris Hamlin race on a bike that is his size and works: That is right, he has been smacking around members of the A field on a bike that is so beat that the the seat was falling apart and he had to hold both sides of the shift lever. If he didn't hold both sides it wouldn't return to its original position, the springs were that shot. Last mountain season he did what he has been threatening for year, trained. The result was cataclysmic for the rest of the Men's A field. He won every single XC and STXC race. hmmmmm...

9. Pranks: Last year there was some mayhem, a Prius wrapped in plastic wrap. What will this year hold...

8. Fashion: Oh yes the ECCC is wick fashion forward. Think of Leiderhousen, Captain America, Cut-off jeans, these are all fashions that emerged from the ECCC last year, I can only guess at what this year will hold.

Hopefully this isn't actually something that shows up.....

7. New Networks: This is like the hottest thing right now. USAC seems to care, velonews is running articles that kids right and the ECCC is poised to launch its own news website. You will have so many more opportunities to engage in the narcissism that cyclists love to engage in. In a more positive light, I think that this will really let the ECCC hype up all of the great elements of our world wide organization. While a results sheet lets you know who won, a new service can bring so much more color into the weekends events. As we all know the actual finishing order is usually just a small piece of the weekends action. We are starting to look for contributors. Look for the official launch soon..........

6. Sullivan Family antics: The first family of bike racing (Athertons who....?) Will be on and around the roads of the ECCC. Look for us in Intro Clinics (Both) In Races (Maggie) and Holding a Clipboard(Me). Needless to say, everyones lives will be enriched by our presence. Maggie is racing A's, Isn't that rad?!?!

5. Team Show Downs: There are a lot of mighty teams posturing for victory of the season long omnium. Who has what it takes, and who are just pretenders to the thrown. I will tell you what I know, it is in the strength of your women's squad that great teams are made. With the smaller fields 4 A racers can secure a win in the weekend, It is almost impossible for any number of A race men to dominate the points scoring in the way that a deluge of women's racers can. Trust me we tried really hard to overturn that last year (when I was at the head of the UVM mob) Some teams have got it, we will see. If Columbia and Penn State can show up with their whole teams most of the time. It should be really interesting to see how that plays out. Army is of course going to be interesting, they lost their women's breadwinner and had some A racers graduate. They are a strong program and it will be interesting to see how they fill the holes. MIT no longer has the Soltren, but I have heard his bike is really light and the the doughnuts only weight 0.0012 of the total bike weight. The certainly have a lot of kids that can be in the mix in a women's A race, will their men be able to keep up with the ferocious point scoring appetite of the women? UVM, Ahh no place like home. Once again the countless hoards of the North will come teaming out of the Green Mountains to spew excellence all over the ECCC. We will see, there are definitely some really good riders on the team. The Jamey Driscoll might even grace the ECCC with his presence, who knows. There are plenty of UVM Men who can win races. The women are recruiting pretty hard, but it is the A and B racers that the team is light on. With a healthy Rose long, who knows they could be unstoppable.

4. Individual Showdowns: a lot of kids graduated from the top of the ECCC men's Omnium. It will be interesting to see who show up at Rugters and is in it to win it. I don't really have a sense of how that will play out. I have a hunch, but don't want to give anything away.

3. Shiny Bikes, Plastic Wheel, 'Euro Kits'. I can't wait to see all the wizz bangery that people come up with to roll up to the ECCC start lines.

2. Count down to Caitlin and Joe's wedding. Since Joe is a Level 38 Vegan - Raw Food Warlock, the gift registry was done entirely at a Philly Fruit vendor and NUTz R' US. I hope that Caitlin wears the cycling hat she was proposed to at her wedding. All joking aside, I am really happy for them.

1. Women's Racing: Big rule change rearranges everything. Should change the way races look. Hopefully it breathes life in the elite category. We had a lot of vigorous racing in the B's Last year. Hopefully all of that passion for racing lead these girls to jump up the the A/B field this year. I am real excited.

These Days

2010-01-23T04:04:00.000-08:00

HI All,

This time of the year is always a little funny for me. It is the peak of the skiing season, something that I have been real stoked about for a really long time. Actually this is my 21 season of Nordic Skiing. Awesome, right!!! Anyhow at the same time there are all sorts of issues that are swirling around for the next season. So I thought that I would give you all a look inside my world. Here are some of the things I have got rolling around in my head.

ECCC ROAD SEASON:

This is the big one, in terms of people and logistical madness this is the world cup of collegiate bike racing (I am sure that if anyone from another conference read this, they would vehemently disagree. I am not too worried that they are reading). This is going to be my first go at the road season as Assistant to the Conference Director. Yeah, this is kind of like critically acclaimed show, "The Office." While I had a similar roll during the mountain season last fall, I am way more comfortable with the challenges and people that are involved with mountain season. While I think this is going to be a big new challenge, I can wait for the show to begin.

My Own Racing:
Despite getting really sick several times and wrecking my summer season last year, I still managed to find a new team for this coming year. For the last three seasons I have been a part of the Gary Fisher Regional team. This has been a really great experience and gave me a bunch of awesome opportunities and bikes to race on. Time marches on and things change. For this upcoming year I will be racing as part of the Trek Mountain Co-Op. This was formerly the Trek Racing Co-Op, which was formerly the Trek Regional teams. Some absolutely stellar racers have come out of this program, so I am really humbled that they took me in. Anyhow, this is going to be my new ride

Seeing the Love of My Life:
Next weekend Emily and I are meeting in Maine (half way between PEI and VT). We are going to rock our skinny skis all over the hills and dales around Bangor. Needless to say, I am super excited. Pretty much, can't even sleep at night.

Triathlon, Burlintron?!?!:

If you hadn't heard, which why you, Burlinton VT is going to host USA Triathlon's national championships in 2011 and 2012. It is totally crazy. Strange but true, for quite a while I was stoking the dream of becoming a professional triathlete. I know, what was I thinking. Cycling got me pretty side tracked from this, but the lure of having a big race in Burlington is getting me pretty excited. I might have to bring my short shorts to some of the races to get in some miles. Sarah P. Likes to rock running shorts while training for the political office she doesn't hold, and isn't running for (yet). So it must me cool if I do it, Right?!?

Ownership

2010-01-12T13:19:00.000-08:00

Hi All,

Recently a lot of hollering and getting blue in the face has occured. A lot of this has been centered around the issue of the future of Varsity racing in Collegiate Cycling.

The ECCC doesn't have any varsity team, which is a little unusual. Oh well, I don't think that this is a huge loss.

While there are countless merits and demerits to the prospect of varsity programs. I want to focus on just one issue here. This is the issue of ownership, the connectivity and efficacy of each rider on the team.

My background prior to joinging UVM Cycling was as a member of the Varsity XC and Track teams at UVM. I won't say too much about that experience, but there were things about the team that I wanted to change. Sadly on a varsity team there is a tendency for the coaching staffs to view the athletes as just that, athletes. In a club atmosphere their is a greater likihood that people are viewed as members. Parts of the team and the leadership.

If the team wants to do well as a team (at the conference level) the whole team, from A to intro has to do well and has to show up to the races. Don't be fooled into thinking that the big teams were always big or always will be. There needs to be a constant stream of leadership, beating the drum to get new people out, and old people to retain interest.

What I enjoyed just as much as the racing, or the training, or the shenanigan, was the ownership I had of the team when I ran it. I would frequently tell people that I was the corporeal form of UVM cycling, and while I usually said this as a joke, I did truly believe this. I was more assertive, and worked harder as a result of my connection to the team. When I saw our guys shortchanged or I thought somebody was skrewing up, I would speak up, this wasn't my responsibility and I was discouraged from doing this as an XC Athlete.

So what I am saying is that Clubs present a real opportunity fcor people to experience leadership. A lot of the time that world is something that gets thrown around in situations it doesn't even apply to. For a cycling team there is a lot of potential situations that one would need to be a leader. With a staff assigned to the program, a lot of this would dissapreare the responsibility that breeds leadership would evaporate. It would be sad, a missed opportunity.

So, I would encourage all of you to get active in your team and in your conference. Be glad that you can make a difference, cause you can.

Winter Wonderland and Other Adventures

2009-12-26T14:54:00.000-08:00

Hi all,

Merry Christmas, Peace on Earth, Goodwill towards man, and Happy Holidays!!!

In this post:

Fun 'training'?!? with (maybe) future teammates
Christmas season as a salesperson
Christmas day danger (turns out okay)

Fun 'training'?!? with (maybe) future teammates:

Well a while back somebody suggested that the different bloggers of the ECCC put up photoblogs of where they ride and blah blah blah. I thought that was a pretty good idea, but am really bad with up loading photos and taking them. So I am a little late with that. Well here goes:

That one is the back yard of the Sullivan house. This is proof of how long it has been since I have taken a few of these.

Maggie, my little sister, and Katie (NU and GLV Member) decided to take a little bit of a Nordic cruise to kick off their break. It was a blast. We went up to the Trapp Family Lodge (Yes the Von Trapp Family). The very same family made famous by the The Sound of Music resides in Vermont now. They run the oldest Nordic Ski Center in the US. It is a bit hillier than some places so it was was an adventure. Maggie and I have skied since we could walk, but Katie was giving it a short for the second time.

This shot is also from the begining of the ski. Katie is still getting her feet under her. This is harder than it looks. Nordy skis are really narrow, have a non attached heel and the boots are like running shoes. Needless to say the balance is tough.

I like this shot because she is snowplowing in the tracks. This is normally a mortal sin among the nordical world, the huge smile forgives all.

Fortunately Katie was a super quick study. After a few tumbles. We were able to really cruise. Here are Maggie and Katie striding it out on a slight incline.

The reason that I said that I was training with teammates is that I am looking into different Law Schools. Yikes, right. I know it is terrifying. I bet I will survive, maybe. Anyhow NU is one that I am looking at, so who knows. You might just see me in a race again. (Equally terrifying at this point)

More Nordic

Katie and Maggie Again

This is way more like what you would expect from my little sister, I mean, she is a Sullivan.

I finally make an appearance in one of the shots. I think that I might have mentioned how terrible I am at cameras. More proof of that, it took me zillions upon millions of shots just to figure out how to miss the timer shot.

I did get it right at last, and even made it in the shot. The day was a huge success.

Nor-dorks are not usually known for their apres ski parties. We figured we would try to liven it up by going to a local watering hole. If you ever make it into the green mountain state and get a chance to stop in Waterbury, do it. Don't do the Ben and Jerry's thing. That is sooo played out. You should go to the Alchemist. This place is off the hook. You know it is good because it opens at 3:30 during the week and it is full by 3:45. People leave the mountains early so they can get a spot at the bar. It is that good. For the 21+ crowd they brew their own beer (10+ varieties, all good). For those who aren't at that age their are still lots of things that you can enjoy.

Yes you are right Katie, the sweet potato fries are excellent.

Christmas season as a salesperson:

Almost my whole college carreer I have worked at a local bike/Nordicski/snowboard/alpineski/bootfit/run/lifestyle Store This has been awesome. I recommend that everyone stop by some time, and try to find a shop like this to work at in college. It is a giant toy store. I love going to work just to look at all of the toys.

Even though it is a super sweet place the zaniness of the holidays do kick in. The place has been so busy the last three weeks that my head has been spinning and I think I have said 'well you can really tell the quality difference between the RCS and the RCR just from the incredible detail in each hand just speed tip' I kid you not fischer skis have speed tips, I wonder which marketing genius thought of that name?

What names did they reject?

Speed ends,

Danger Daggers,

Tips,

Tails,

Not your Mamma's tip

You get the idea

Just when you thought they were getting crazy with speed tips, they come out with:

That is right. The only thing lighter than a speed tip is a tip with a hole in it.

Don't worry they use carbon fibres, so you know it is strong, safe and there is no way that it will break. There is only one problem with this ski, I mean other than it's staggering $650 price tag.

When used in conjunction with Swix's top of the line, aerofoil ski pole disaster can strike. Yup you guessed it. The hole in the ski and the profile of the basket are perfectly shaped to destroy eachother.

I have heard of planned obsolescence, but intentional cross product sabotage. Wow. I mean think of the potential. Just think, in the future you coffee pot and mug might attack each other. Or, your Ilife, Idork, Iphone, Idanced, Iflush and Ilight might all short circuit once you start the Ifriend app on the newest version of Icollege. Amazing.

Christmas Day Danger (turns out okay):

Well the Sullivan family started off Christmas just like many Christmases before. The dog barked, we got out of bed. Coffee was made, breakfast went in the oven. Presents were opened, laughes were had.

Yup, that is our mom. Wearing her new: Goggle, swim cap, and neck warmer. Heh heh. You might have a better idea of how Maggie and I ended up the way we did.

A little later:

Mom, Dad and I were getting ready to go for a ski. Maggie was going to opt out. She had been in a hot tub that was a little questionable and presented with a rash swollen lymph node and very sore feet. So she had been resting, but hadn't seen a doctor.

Right before we left, my aunt called to talk to my mom. I was standing in the kitchen talking to Magz, when she nodded her hed. As though she were going to take a nap on the counter (that sounds strange, but she does it frequently), instead she was sprawled out on the floor. Crazy lucky she didn't split her head open on any number of the sharp and dangerous corners right near her.

Maggie always has said that one of her greatest skills is tumbling (falling, crashing,skrewing up) gracefully.

Anyhow, when I rolled her over she was totally out, non-responsive and her eyes were focused out into the distance. Before any of you freak out, she is okay. Anyhow, we called 911 and she regained conciousness. She got some antibiotics and stuff like that. Totally fine now, and she is on her way to being her ornery old self again in no time.

Moral of the story, let people know how much you love them.

Peace on Earth,

Sully

Dreaming in Technicolor

2009-12-04T07:30:00.000-08:00

I don't think that I have ever explained the title of my blog. In some ways it is very self explanatory, I and everything around be are super great, everyday is just another day in paradise. Beside my own super arrogance, there are other reasons for the title.

For almost a decade I have worked for the same people. They are really awesome, my 'job' there has revolved around mountain biking, running and Nordic skiing. Basically this his been a dream job for me from the age of 12 to the present. Besides working with some really rad stuff, I have gotten to work with a group of awesome people. To say that they all have been huge parts to my own development as a person and an athlete. I could probably write volumes about the things that each of the other people have taught me, but that would be ridiculousness and sappy, nobody would want to read that so I won't bore you.

All of the kids that showed up for Mountain Bike Easterns this past year got to see the place that I work. It is a recreational center that was a farm, a long time ago (1950's). Anyhow, my boss is a mix between a throw back to the 19th century and a progressive thinker. Basically an awesome guy, and an inspiration for the way I act in the world now.

One of the many nuggets off wisdom that Jim imparted me with is that, 'Dreamers are something the world doesn't have time for. Sure it is nice to dream about all the great things that could be, but people who are pure dreamers never get to what they are dreaming about. It is the people who strive for their dreams that make something lasting, something to be inspired by. Once you get a visions worth holding onto, don't let go of it, start dreaming in the details, the road map. Find the path between what you want and where you are.' Anybody who has talked to me for more than five minutes knows that I am a crazy dreamer. I like to think that it is more of a visionary type of dreaming.

The piece of property that Catamount is located on has been in Jim's family since the civil war. As the generations have progressed, farming went from real hard honest work to real hard work that starves you, leave you broke and forecloses your land. At least that is the story in Vermont. Jim finished high school and was committed to the idea of holding onto the farm (it was still a farm then). He did a whole lot of different jobs that revolved around the farm, and started a family in the intervening years. He even started a construction company that operated out of the farm to try to subsidize the ever growing property tax in the area.

Farmers in the town of Williston were folding left and right. There were almost 30 farms when Jim was born. Now, in 2009 there is only one functioning farm, a horse farm and Catamount. The rest of this once productive farming community has been paved over and turned into sub developments that service the local IBM.

In the 1970s nordic skiing started to catch on in the united states. A local group of skiers in Willisson started to cut a trail and they wanted to use some of Jim's land. Being agreeable to people getting out in the great outdoors, he was all for it. As the 70's progressed the popularity of skiing started to sky rocket. Outside of Boston a 3km loop was groomed and had lights installed. Their busiest night saw 3,000 people use it. The trail that was originally cut started a a neighbors house. Quickly the popularity of the sport meant that people wanted more parking, indoor facilities, maps. All sorts of amenities.

In 1968 the Von Trapp family opened the countries very first nordic center in Stowe. Yes the Von Trapps are the same ones from the movie. They settled in Vermont and run a Nordic center. Ten years later Jim and his wife Lucy decided to start a Nordic skiing center out of the farm that was now down to just sheep. The first few years saw rapid growth and enormous popularity. It seemed as though Jim might have finally found a way to protect his family's historic home from becoming another development project. This way of using the land also had the bonus of getting Vermonters (and our friends from afar) into outdoor sports that would keep them active and give them a stake in preserving the natural landscapes.

As with skiing, biking at Catamount grew out of a grass roots movement. First people were interested in just riding the xc trails in the summer, then they were interested in having single tracks built. Before you knew it we were running a summer long (14 week) mtb race series. Which is currently the best attended and longest running training series in the US.

In 1994 at the request of a neighbor Catamount started holding mtb camps for kids. This became immensely popular drawing hundreds of kids every summer. This was how Maggie and I both got into real mountain biking and learned a lot of the skills that we have today.

While the future is never truly secure, nothing ever is. You can always put your money on somebody who is striving to make their visions come true. I have watched Jim and his family do this year after year, turn speculation, dreams and hopes into realities on the ground. Being a part of this has been immensely valuable for me. It has given me the ability to see a goal, imagine the way there and then try to make it happen. I don't always get there, and not all of the original dreams that I cook up make it to the road map stage.

However, the world I live in is always on the pathway to reaching dreams. That is why my life is another beautiful day in paradise.

Hubris

2009-11-23T07:31:00.000-08:00

n.
Overbearing pride or presumption; arrogance: "There is no safety in unlimited technological hubris" (McGeorge Bundy).

I strongly feel that in bike racing and in life confidence and a strident approach to the challenges that arise are the best way to overcome them with panache. There are times that you can brim with confidence hop on your trusty steed and ride right into embarrassment, disappointment and failure, I managed to hit all three of those this past weekend. I placed a bet on a bike race (only cool in Belguim) and lost, badly. Probably some of the worst loosing I have done in a long time.

Thing is, I totally deserved to loose the bet I made. I was feeling physically, mentally and technically ready to race, however was not prepared. There are a million things that need to go right for a bike race to be successful for an individual. The operations of your whip should not be something you need to worry about. All of the effort that goes into this part of preperation occurs before the race. I feel very strongly about this and under normal circumstances would never dream of showing up without my equitment dialed in. I will admit readily that I was unpreparred for the weekend of racing and didn't adequetly test out my gear to make sure it was running rigth. Hubris.

My loosing was not solely do to my own misserable preformance Steve also appears to have raced well both days, and I congratulate him.

Enough about my hubris. Humility doesn't really suit me anyways. I know people love to heckle UVM. It is logical, they are way better at racing bikes than just about anybody else. (The eternal cold does wonders). Their is also the reputation that UVM riders are wild and crazy (they don't play by the rules of the bright and tight). It is cool, people heckle (I heckle everyone). As I mentioned UVM is a little crazy, we have this thing called a list serv. What appears below is public reccord, the names have been changed to protect the innocent (I guess)

It all started with a simple poster.

Well that poster ended up in this shot (above) on Podium Insight. What fallowed was a list serv torrent. Enjoy your look into the world of UVM cycling

Begin Quoted text

""Boys and Girls.

I'm being very serious. Look at this.

http://www.lynelamoureux.com/Super-Cross-Cup/Men-Super-Cross-Cup-1/DSC5244/720255453_wMeMQ-X1.jpg

I THINK I know who that is. Can anyone confirm. We need to find him. I want his social security number, tax reports, school, address, facebook profile, email, Twitter, myspace, xanga page, blog, flikr account, history of past gfs, race license, drivers license, dental records, driving history, carfax report, credit history, employer, babysitter, everything on this turd nugget. I want to smite him into the earth with the power and force of a jackhammer. I want you to go buy the fireworks. This kid will, and must be destroyed. I vaguely remember him trying to hang out with us in collegiate last year. I want his food to be ex-laxed, his dog to be pet. I want his beer roofied with horse tranquilizers. I want to knock him unconcious, call him the monopoly guy, and do a waltz around a ballroom enjoying the finer comforts of life with him on my shoulders. I want all the ECCC to sleep with his ex. To quote mike tyson, I "wish I could meet his children and kick them in their heads, stomp on their testicles". I want this kid pantsed at the ECCC end of the year dinner, and I want his hand put in warm water while he is sleeping. This kid has officially replaced THE *&$%#(CENSORED) as the kid who sucks the most in the ENTIRE WORLD. This kid must NEVER EVER win a race.

Figure out who he is. This can not happen. I want the uvm cycling creativity that has created social demons like Pete Emerson, the Binis, and Colin to drive this kid headfirst into a pile of cow dung. Look at his face. He sucks. If he had any common sense he would have tattooed it on him. Its not worth dying over a sign.

Pat. Colin. Issac. Dugan. Ill Will. Pete. Cody. Driscoll. Vinny. The entire mtn bike team. Put differences aside and crush this gnome.

C''

END QUOTED TEXT

More Senanagins ensued on List Serve

Yikes, Some harsh stuff. The churning, wrything sinister monster that is UVM Cycling still had a little more work to do. More photo shopping was in store of the immage.

A sad and twisted tail. A few of the emails that made it onto the list serve didn't make it into the blog. I decided they were too harsh for public consumption. I also want to point out none of these emails are private, they are on a public list serv with archived reccords that any one may access. As such no ones privacy was violated.

If there is anything to be learned from this it is, uvm cycling kids have a lot of 'creative' energy.

Rumble in the Jungle

2009-11-20T06:40:00.000-08:00

History, and Cinema are full of epic show downs. It makes for a great story, who doesn't like a great story. I think that is why I like bike racing, the stories mostly.

Anyhow. Since collegiate road season ended last spring I have been doing my best to get fat and slower (it seems hard to imagine the possibility). It has been going really well. Sickness and a lack of health care coverage has done a lot for this as well. But enough whining.

There I was minding my own business when I start receiving cyber taunts. I know what you are thinking. "Sully, you are big scary, smelly and kid from Vermont, you know how to use a computer?" I do, not very well, but it happens.

The taunts went something like,

'I am gonna kick yo #$s so bad you are going to throw out your saddle'

'I am going to lap you so hard you won't get out of the first lap'

'remember that time you got my corn?, I am gonna lap yo sorry #!s and get yours back' (Check your urban dictionary)

now I know what you are thinking. Shouldn't you have been a bigger person and walked away. Probably. Instead I signed up for a race a million miles away from home and am gonna try* to throw down.

I am sure you are wonder who my cyber assailant is? I don't want to give things away, as cyber bullying is against the law. (Just kidding, to be clear, I wasn't really cyber bullied. There was a lot of trash talk, which I love) It doesn't really matter. What does matter is that the highest stakes race of the day won't be in the elite race (who cares, some kid from Jericho will probably kill it anyways), rather the B race will be where all the hot racing is.

Despite my efforts to get fat and slow, I have history on my side. I have only gotten beat by this guy once. In a road race after I was finishing a lead out. On the dirt I have been way more successful. Even though Cross isn't really my thing, I think I might still be able to roll it. One last issue, currently 10am friday, my cross bike isn't totally functional.

Of course the winner will take home 6 of Belguim's currency (cyclocross is apparently the only sport in belguim, who knew) (It makes since that we bet in their currency, since it is their sport) (They call fries frites, isn't that weird?!)

Anyhow, so feel free to comment on who you think will '*win*' our competition.

*=neither of us will be anywhere close to actually winning. It only matters who places higher.

I would make a poll, but I am way no where close to smart enough to figure it out. And I need to put my bike together.

Peace out Girl Scout

2009-11-03T06:20:00.000-08:00

For those of you who don't know my real passion is foreign policy. More than even spreadsheets, I love foreign policy. This is a speech that I discovered my Freshman year of college. I was struck at the time, as a reaction more to the current situation of foreign policy in this era (fall 2005).

For those of you who don't know or didn't think about it. 2005 was one of the lowest points in American prestige abroad. In the Muslim world a Marine task force had conducted an operation that had extreme collateral damage in the najaf Mosque and Cemetery. This is the home of the Imam Ali Mosque. The First Imam of the Shia' line. Kilometers of burial grounds were fought over with high explosive rounds. I think that the only thing that would be equivalent to this would be a battle in Arlington.

Perhaps even more damaging to our reputation abroad was the Re-election of George W. Bush to the presidency of the United States. In 2000 a popular conception was that the election had been stolen. In 2004 the election seemed a lot more fair, to the rest of the world it did not seem like we were remorseful for the actions of the previous four years.

That set the stage for how I initially read this speech. I read it from time to time, and take new shades of meaning every time I read it. Enjoy

John Quincy Adams 1821

And now, friends and countrymen, if the wise and learned philosophers of the elder world, the first observers of nutation and aberration, the discoverers of maddening ether and invisible planets, the inventors of Congreve rockets and Shrapnel shells, should find their hearts disposed to enquire what has America done for the benefit of mankind?

Let our answer be this: America, with the same voice which spoke herself into existence as a nation, proclaimed to mankind the inextinguishable rights of human nature, and the only lawful foundations of government. America, in the assembly of nations, since her admission among them, has invariably, though often fruitlessly, held forth to them the hand of honest friendship, of equal freedom, of generous reciprocity.

She has uniformly spoken among them, though often to heedless and often to disdainful ears, the language of equal liberty, of equal justice, and of equal rights.

She has, in the lapse of nearly half a century, without a single exception, respected the independence of other nations while asserting and maintaining her own.

She has abstained from interference in the concerns of others, even when conflict has been for principles to which she clings, as to the last vital drop that visits the heart.

She has seen that probably for centuries to come, all the contests of that Aceldama the European world, will be contests of inveterate power, and emerging right.

Wherever the standard of freedom and Independence has been or shall be unfurled, there will her heart, her benedictions and her prayers be.

But she goes not abroad, in search of monsters to destroy.

She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all.

She is the champion and vindicator only of her own.

She will commend the general cause by the countenance of her voice, and the benignant sympathy of her example.

She well knows that by once enlisting under other banners than her own, were they even the banners of foreign independence, she would involve herself beyond the power of extrication, in all the wars of interest and intrigue, of individual avarice, envy, and ambition, which assume the colors and usurp the standard of freedom.

The fundamental maxims of her policy would insensibly change from liberty to force....

She might become the dictatress of the world. She would be no longer the ruler of her own spirit....

[America's] glory is not dominion, but liberty. Her march is the march of the mind. She has a spear and a shield: but the motto upon her shield is, Freedom, Independence, Peace. This has been her Declaration: this has been, as far as her necessary intercourse with the rest of mankind would permit, her practice.

When John Quincy Adams served as U. S. Secretary of State, he delivered this speech to the U.S. House of Representatives on July 4, 1821, in celebration of American Independence Day.

To Infinity and Beyond

2009-10-28T12:15:00.000-07:00

Mountain Season 2009 and the Future

My goal in creating this document is to look at where we are and a partial look at were we can go and what it will take to get there. Greatness doesn't happen without exertion, examination and refinement. To continue to be the best thing going the ECCC has to keep looking forward, looking just past the horizon. This is a part of that effort.

THIS YEAR

The Good

The year we saw excellent production values out of each of our events. While not every event had all of the behind the scenes paper pushing totally dialed, almost all of the events had their flyers up with a decent amount of time before the actual event. I tend to think that this is a huge and important step. The attendance of small schools that cherry pick events is greatly affected by the quality of the event. A late or practically non-existent flyer is a black mark against these events.

While some of the events were still missing basic amenities, that would be expected during the road season (notably some sort of rest room at an xc venue), the venues were solid. There were of course variations, but the standard for a set up raised a lot this year. Notably UVM, and UNH put a lot of effort into making their start finish areas (on the first day for each) look really professional. This is the sort of thing that I consider to be icing or a special sauce. It doesn't make the dish, but it is what separates a 3 star effort from a 4 or 5. The courses have to be dialed, but this does increase the production value of the event. It makes an individual rider feel like the race (or race series) they are a part of is a much bigger deal. I think that this is important to continue to fuel the ECCC to higher participation.

I think that on the whole all of the races were of a higher caliber this year. I don't think that any of the races were events that I would have significant reservations about in the future. There is room for each of the promoters to improve, but a step towards excellence did occur.

The Bad

Probably the biggest problem I saw this year was a noticeable and quantifiable backslide in attendance. This is particularly troubling given that the price of gas was about %40 of what it was in the 2008 season. Travel was cheaper, why weren't people at the races?
Possible factors:
Graduation. This isn't an end all excuse, but it does cover some of the drop off especially in the less full fields.
Bad experiences the year before?! (we certainly hope not)
A huge drop off in UVM attendance %30~%70 less racers than previous year (roughly 15-25 fewer per weekend)
While this is a really serious concern. I am not overly worried by it. The attendance did seem to pick up as the season went on. (I think this indicates two things) I think so long as the races continue to be top notch, and there is a high production value at the races, our numbers will rebound to what they were last year. I explain the pick up at the end of the season to two factors. The first factor is that there was interscholastic competition. UVM and NU as well as Clarkson and RIT for their respective omniums. Nothing encourages recruitment like the thought of a championship. The second factor is a little more complex. The season started earlier in the year. I believe the UMASS race occurred on the first weekend of school for many people. This meant that teams who tried to attend the race were putting a good deal of energy into logistical planning. There is a chance that this meant that their fullest effort were not going towards the recruitment of new members. Teams that did not get it together to go to the first race were effectively cut out of the conference omniums to a large degree. This disincentivized recruitment for them. Despite this, the quality of the racing and races had a word of mouth effect. People came because the racing was good.

There was a critical loss in womens participation. For those of you who don't pay attention to womens racing the WB dh events only held on by a thread and numerous WB stxc races were attended soley by the girls of UNH. Both Womens' A and B xc races were at a much lower attendence than last year.

(These charts didn't publish well in this format. Look at them in this link)

http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AZL2H8KDJq5IZGdxbW5oY3JfMTI2OTU4NmZnZm0&hl=en

2008 Race Womens' A XC Womens' A DH1 Womens' A STXC Womens' A DH 2 Womens' B xc Womens' B DH1 Womens' B STXC Womens' B DH2
Lehigh 9/13 11 1 8 5 11 2 10 2
UNH 9/20-21 13 1 11 3 14 1 8 1
UNION 9/27-28 10 5 6 3 11 2 6 0
PSU 10/3-4 4 5 4 4 8 0 9 0
NU 10/11-12 12 7 8 7 10 3 9 3
AVERAGE 10 3.8 7.4 2.4 10.125 1.6 8.4 1.2
Averag Sans PSU 11.5 3.5 8.25 4.5 11.5 2 8.25 1.25

In 2008 we can practically consider PSU an anomoly. Th rest of the data seems to run counter to what it suggests. The xc racing poulation for both fields seems to resm around 11 girls. Gravity attendance is much much more sporadic. Although with the womens' A it does appear that as the season progressed so to did the attendance.

Here is how 2009 Shaped up

2009 Womens' A xc Womens' A DH1 Womens' A STXC Womens' A DH2 Womens' B xc Womens' B DH1 Womens' B STXC Womens' B DH2
UMASS 9/12-13 7 4 5 4 7 2 6 2
UNH 9/19-20 11 7 6 7 8 0 3 4
Lehigh 9/26-27 7 No Event 6 6 7 No Event 3 3
NU 10/3-4 6 3 5 5 8 3 7 1
UVM 10/10-11 8 6 8 6 10 4 7 1
AVERAGE 2009 7.8 5 6 5.6 8 2.25 5.2 2.2
AVERAGE 2008 11.5 3.5 8.25 4.5 11.5 2 8.25 1.25
Change from 08-09 -3.7 +1.5 -2.25 +1.1 -3.5 +0.25 -3.05 +0.85

So there it is quantified and visual. The good news is that the Downhill events are much better attended in the women's A fields. It is so hard to really take a positive from the increases from the Womens' B DH events since the fields are so small this is really just one extra racer in one or two events. It isn't an extra rider for the whole season.

Last year we could count on 9.875 women for any (A or B, Stxc or XC) event. This year it was 6.75. It appears that we lost about 32%
of our womens' endurance fields. This is terrifying. The danger here is that the events get so small that women would rather stay at home and go for a ride, than go to a 'race' where they are the only one in it. Teams really need to get on this next year, and the way to do that is starting this year. The womens' council/reps should be able to help with this, but the interest in growing these fields has to resonate with team leadership.

THE Ugly

An Issue for Timing:

I know that a lot of kids don't race outside of the ECCC. That is cool, no worries. We are pretty laid back on a lot of the USAC rules. Maybe too laid back. This year we let a lot of people make their own number if they lost it, rather than pay the $5 replacement fee. Tons of people wrote either the wrong number or didn't race with a number at all. This is hugely irritating. Fortunately Joe, Amy and I were able to figure it out and we didn't have any major errors in results. However, this not only means we have to yell after you to get your name, it also distracts us from doing results as accurately and as timely as possible. Don't assume that because you know us, we know your race plate. The USAC empower officials to fine racers who don't use the correct number, I doubt we will start doing that. But, in the future we will start applying the, 'no valid number, no result' rule.

The Future

Goals:

Bigger Season 6/7 races
First race is the two weekends from laborday
Easterns has a weekend between it and nationals
Strive to have only A level races
Heightened participation in general
Heightened participation for Women

Getting There
Bigger Season:
This is a pretty tough one. It isn't in our control alone. A lot of this has to do with descisions that are made by USAC. As with any issue that has to do with USAC you should each take the time to let the person in charge know. Don't forget that this is your association to, don't let it be run by the warlocks in distant towers. They are people and they might listen. The guy who runs Collegiate and High school is Jeffery Hansen. Drop him a line and let him know what you want. jhansen@usacycling.org

Strive to have only A Level Races:
This is part of the race season but I put it separately. This is something that is on the shoulders of a lot of different people. The knitty gritty of the races is on the promoters (i.e was there tape at an intersection, where is the ambulance). The results, whether somebody was dq penalized, that is on the official/results service. The broad strokes, the conference as a whole is on the shoulders of Joe Kopena (as well as lots of little details too). All of these things have to be working in concert to make things go off well.

Putting on a race is impossible* for one person, it is a team effort. This can be done by several teams (mutual host) but it is something that takes a lot of work. I tend to think that race promotion is a really really good gauge of the quality of a teams organization. I don't think that it is a surprise that the most active teams are the ones that host the races. We have teams that I think could shoulder the of promoting a race, they should definitely be thinking about this.

I think that it is essential to have teams that are active hosting the races. This means that they are at the races and know what the conference as a whole expects out of races. Commitment to quality is essential here.

Heightened Participation in General:
Attendance has been driven ~50% by three teams (NU, UNH and UVM) this is not a good position for the conference or promoters to be in. It means that these teams essentially control whether the races are profitable or break even. Ideally no one team could do that. In all teams there is a tendency to say, these are the folks we got (the ones who sought us out) and that is all we need. Don't settle for this as a team leader. There is no reason you can't have more. You should be looking for the people who will be the future. Active recruitment and efforts at retention can yield tremendous results. Last year I was able to nearly double the participation of the largest team in the conference. I am not that smart, you can do the exact same thing for your team.
As long as the race promoters, Conference leaders, and officials aren't making the races there is no reason we can't have bigger races. That means that team leadership has to step up there efforts.

More participation in the Skillz Clinics, Instruction: I think that we were really fortunate this year to get this going. It was my brain child (if you can call it that), so of course I think that it is good. However, they can only be as helpful as the people who are instructing them are well versed in the subject and in teaching it. I am of course limited in that I would never dream of hoping on a DH bike. Never in a million years. As a result, a lot of what I talked about had a much more xc bent to it.

Maggie was also able to help out. Which is awesome. If we can get more people involved in the teaching process that would be awesome. If you are interested try to seek me or maggie out. We can talk about it.

I would also love to get feedback from anybody who took part in a skillz clinic. Tell your teammates and pass along my email. ian.sullivan.1986@gmail.com

Heightened Womens Participation:
This is a challenge for a lot of teams, and competitive cycling in general. There are lots of women out there riding bikes. It is not a mans' sport, but men disproportionately do it competitively. This makes a lot of the teams boys clubs. Nothing but men on the teams and only boys go to the races. That means that even to go on a race weekend takes a lot courage/determination for a woman racer. There are barriers implicit with this situation that no male member of the team would even be aware of when considering going to a race. As a result of this the leadership of a team should try to make effort to lessen the cultural shock of the experience. Encouraging repeat participation should be part of every team leaders efforts to a new rider.

Be Your own Hero

2009-10-22T16:52:00.000-07:00

We all grow up wanting to scale tall buildings, save damsels from distant towers and slay dragons. At the very least we think about being a fire fighter or a police man. Somewhere along the road of our lives those things fall by the wayside (except for the Women and Men of West Point). We all decide that our best utility lies in studying engineering of the works of Democrates. All of these things are great and contribute to society in a multitude of ways. Part of us hasn't yet given up the ghost. We are still looking to be heroic, looking for our chance to do something extraordinary. You might not even know that about yourself. You might not think that you want to be a hero. I know different. If you are a racer, I mean really a racer; one that is all about sniffing out the path to glory, then you want to be a hero.

What is heroic. There are two deff

initions I like to think of (whoa whoa, don't give up on me yet, it sounds boring but gets better). The first is a classic deffinition, a hero from a Greek tragedy. yeah like that guy (See Left, Oedipus). These are your heroes that suffer from flaws (Killing your father and boinkin' y'er ma', breaking the laws of your country along the way) but overcome them and make the right choice (the hard one) despite the tragic condition aligned against them.

The other take of heroism is the holywood type. Yeah you know what I am talking about. You have seen it time and time again. This is Rocky Balboa stuff these are the heroes who take on incredible odd because it is the right thing to do. Yeah this might even be like the biggest DudeFest ever. In all of these flicks the 'hero' is wicked noble and gets the piss knocked out of 'em until they dig into some deeper reserve of heroic power and take a death stab at their vile enemy.

Thats nice Sully, wtf does that have to do with racing bikes? Racing bike is like either of these things. Why do you think that people like cyclocross? I will tell you why, they get a chance to be epic, in horrific conditions against horrific odds they do________

______..........

My Sophomore year of high school I was running xc. We showed up at our district meet. I had been running between 6 and 9 on the team. (7 guys start at varsity races). I had gotten a fever coach decided to run me in the JV race. I obviously wanted to run the Varsity race at states wicked bad. I mean, who wouldn't?

Anyhow, we roll up to the race and it is pouring. Rainning so hard that little cars were up to their mufflers in the parking lot. At the deepest part of the course the water was up past my knee. Which is a bit, I am 6'2". To top it off the overnight low had been 31 degrees and the high for the day was 36 and windy. Talk about harsh weather cond

itions. I am not proud to admit it, but I sat on the bus and thought that it hadn't been that bad of a season. I wouldn't warm up, wouldn't preview the course. I would just sit there until 10 to go, then hop of the bus and to the start line. I could take the race at a trot and call it a year, better luck next time. I wasn't the only one...

Coach hopped back on the bus after picking up the race numbers, with a huge smile. He told us something I don't think I will forget as long as I hav

e anything to do with racing of any sort. he looked around at all of us and said,

'It isn't any worse out there for the kids from Essex, or CVU or any other school. It is raining just as hard and is just as cold for them. Just because it is harder than usual, doesn't make it any less of a race, if anything it makes it more of one. You are going to have a lifetime to sit inside by the fire and watch the storm beat down on the windows. Then you won't remember the sunny and mediocre races, you will remember the races you struggled and triumphed. I guarantee that whether you race to win or race to finish, you will always remember this race. This is the only shot you have at this moment in time.'

I will tell that the races that I cherish the most were the ones that were the most uncomfortable in. These are the races that make you feel like a h

ero. Embrace those moments

Near Misses and Not Enough Time

2009-10-07T19:25:00.000-07:00

I had a really really good coach once. He wasn't even just my coach. I was on his team, very very mediocre at what we did. Actually I was bad, straight up ota bad. That wasn't the case for him, he was good. In the way that few coaches are, he could motivate and train athletes, a rare combo. While I ran for him I went from dfl a lot to qualifying for New Englands and pursuing the sport at a collegiate div I level. He was awesome

Once he told me, " Sully it is all about time. You never have enough, you waste what you have, and when you make the most of it; 90% of it you are at the wrong spot at the wrong time. By the happenstance of time you compete against the truly greats and your star is comparatively weaker. Being great is getting all of that right."

Essentially what he was trying to tell me was that sport is hard, it is unforgiving. What sport gives us, that many other things in life do not, is a chance to be great. To be the hero or heroine of your own adventure. When else in life to you go under ardous undertakings for the sole hope of glory.

Never.

Glory is something we have forgotten about as a society. The greeks had it right. In fact they had a word, one that I have always liked, Arastia (I butchered the spelling but it is late) . It is when a warrior is recalled from the dead by the gods, because their patron god wished them to have an everlasting burst of glory before they crossed the river styx.

You don't get that as an accountant or a bureaucrat. You keep your head down work hard and work through the proper channels. A pox on that. You get that in bike racing, the need to push your legs a little harder to hold momentum, the thrill of sprinting when your whole body is a brick. All of these things are not for the meek. They are for the strong of will, the real victors. All racing is Glory.

I hate it when people talk about how hard racing is. Of course it is. It is a war on bicycles, you try to tear each others legs of, ride through sections so fast no one else can follow without crashing. These are the joys of racing. You never would here a great general talk about the trials o supply chains or the dead weight of alliances. No you would hear about the imortal glory that is gained in victory, the cheering crowds in parades. These are the things that make struggle and strife great.

The long and the short of it is there is no suffering, no sacrifice that would not pale in comparison to the greatness and the glory of victory.

Don't miss your shot, get up and race your bike.

Lehigh Lovin'

2009-09-30T12:20:00.001-07:00

That is right, Lehigh was last weekend a lot of you missed it, but a bunch of kids we don't always see did make it. It was sweet.

This race has been the opener for a couple of years and these guys manage to absolutely kill it every year. I think this race is a really really strong point on the calendar. If you missed it this year you should reconsider your life choices.

A few Big things happened.

1. Team Relay
This was a huge sucess. Numerous people remarked that this was one of the most fun events out there. It also showed which teams were really interested in the team overalls.

Most notably DII powerhouse (this year) Clarkson opted out of racing, giving there closest competition RIT a chance to put a solid chunck of point up on the board, totally uncontested.

Little Suprise that UVM, NU and UNH all posted teams for the race. UNH managed to field two teams, making them win the event overall.

The exchanges and number of riders were pretty diferent between the teams. NU chose to have DH/DS/STXC superstar Sam Mellon Rock the first three of six laps then have Maggie S. Close the final three. This strategy was preetty different than others. UNH had three riders, and would each only do one lap befor handing off. UVM also had three riders but would each do all of there laps at once.

NU prevailed and Angus of UNH had the ride of his life to hold of Chris Hamlin of UVM to give UNH the seccond place.

2. Lack of UVM Riders
The rest of the ECCC saw what it is like for UVM to be mortal. With only seven riders in attendence the Green and Gold kids, while not without success, were slaugthered. One of there lowest placings at an ECCC race in probably close to a decade. Current President Lee Peters Call all of the Kids who remained in Burlington, " a bunch of inbred Sally Wagons"

3. Flats and Mechanicals

These were the real stars of the Lehigh xc. While all of the MC and WB racers were able to finish. The second wave of starts MB, MA and WA were plagued by both of these. I think this was actually because of the super dry riding on saturday. The course was rolling a lot faster, so people were carrying a lot more speed into the rock gardens. The mens' a field was expecially depressing, as just as many people dnfd as finished.

4. NU Riders givin' it for the team.
This might have been more evident to me because of the selfishness and sloth of my old teammates (not the ones who went to the race of course). I am not sure if it has been for team or for self, but the last two weeks we have seen Sam Mellon racing out of his discipline in the stxc races and managing nothing lower than 4rth place. Definately not something that I could envision many A dh'rs doing. This weekend it was a huge boon to his NU team, pulling in a third place finish. Had he raced in the xc, Nu might have taken over the season overall lead, who is to say though.

Not only this, but the teams' president Maggie S raced five times for NU, probably a third of the points that NU scored are dirrectly linked to her. If you ask her what she thinks about beating UVM last weekend, you will get to see just how excited she is about her team. Together these two tackeled the team rellay, something that was originally designed for three people, none the less they managed to win it.

As I was officiating and scoring the end of the DH later that day it was pretty clear that both of them were tired during their dh runs. Sam only won by two secconds, much less than the thirty he won by the first race. In response to his teammates jab that he was getting closer, Sam replied, 'you didn't get third in the shortrack this morning did you, or win the TR an hour ago."

This is a really cool thing about collegiate. you will see people race out of their element and out of their skin for the teams, that they love. Something UVM used to know a thing or two about. We will see if the backlash from this weekend results in higher turnout this weekend.

Womens' Overall

This weekend we saw Maggie Sullivan of NU struggle with mechanical issues in her Xc and stxc races, preform excellently in the Cluster Huck (catching a C racer who will remain unnamed), taking a jubuliant win with Sam Mellon in the Team Relay and taking an exhausted run in the DH course. None the less with the abssene of Rose Long she was able to extend her lead to a huge margin in the overall and sneak into the lead in gravity and xc as well. Her teammate Andrea Kelchin was able to leapfrog Rose as well. If Rose wants any of the jerseys back she will have to be very very dominant and hope for bad luck for the other ladies these next two weekends.

Mens' Overall
A race that is incredibly interesting. Billy of UNH in his basketball shorts and silly t=shirts. He is one of the few folks who are really racing the overall this year. Consistant placing in both sets of racing have pushed him into third. Sam Mellon held the gap to chris Hamlin. This weekends shortrack confirmed that he is pretty boss in the discipline. If he can continue to place well in three races a week as opposed to chris Hamlin's two wins a weekend it wouldn't suprise me to see sam catch and pass chris in the next week or two. Hamlin has continued to be undefeated in the Xc/stxc categories. Not many chances left for people to knock him down.

Thoughts on STXC and the state of endurance mtb racing

2009-09-24T08:06:00.000-07:00

I know that a lot of the eccc racers see the stxc event as kind of a back up event. A chance for glory after a sub par xc race or they will use it as a buttress to the accolades they had gained in XC. Either way it is a second tier priority for a lot of the racers. A shame really. In many ways Short Track can be the salvation of our sport.

Okay now that you have stopped laughing think about it. It provides a few things for both the introductory and elite level that are sorely missing for the sport at this point. The young racers of our sport must either race short distance with true beginners or race full distance xc races that will routinely take them into the two hour plus range. This is hugely problematic as I have a strong belief that racing for that long precludes the development of some young racers while simultaneously burning a lot of matches in the young riders that are able to handle the distance. For kids this age that want to succeed they are forced to focus on development at distance (viz a viz their current fitness). This is a huge mistake for young riders and racers new to the sport. Why you might ask, a lot of people are stoked on riding for long times over long distances?

This is true of course, and is the reason for the enduring popularity of the xc format and the emergence of the marathon format of racing. However, from a developmental point of few. You can always learn how to ride longer. In fact the longer that you are in the sport the greater this capacity will develop through a natural process. If riders and racers do not do the shorter more intense races they will miss a crucial part in their development and golden window for growth. Racing at intensity will help develop skill of high speed cornering, obstacle clearance and line choice that don't really get a chance to emerge in the lackadaisical pace of xc races. For this reason I assert that short tracks are immensely valuable to the young and the new racers.

In the elite aspect of the sport stxc is also extremely valuable. Elite athletes race for their daily bread. In the hopes of transforming their daily bread into daily lasagna with a glass of red wine, they should be looking for ways (along with promoters) to make their sport more marketable. I refute that this is simply a problem with American cycling. Just yesterday thousands paid to watch the cyclocross race at interbike. Given that this crowd was more disposed to watch a race than most urban demographics, I think that it shows the potential for the spectator value of cycling as a sport. Really what we should be looking to do is transform cycling into a juggernaut like nascar. Don't be so skeptical. People have that same roll of the eyes when they see some dude hopped up mullet hairspray with a deep scoop v-8 (see photo at top) roll up next to them as some dingus on a 10G parlee. ( I know it isn't a parlee and it isn't a bike racer, it is one of those triathlete things, but I am sure you get the idea). If they can roll their eyes at the people who are enthusiasts, but still sit down on the couch to catch a few laps, they can do it for bike racing to.

That is why STXC is perfect, the whole course could reasonably be covered by a few sets of camera (so you could see the leaders and one or two chase packs) The trick would be to figure out the filming of technical sections to inspire awe, and to throw in some jumps (for showboating). This format is also ideal because, just like cyclocross it can happen in parks in large urban settings. This is awesome, because it is where the people are. In the norba format (an utter failure) where all of the races happen at big ski areas you guarantee that the only spectators at the venue are the people that were in other races. Again a total and inconceivable blunder for anyone who was thinking about the marketing potential of the sport. By having races in central park and any other environment that could draw spectators, that are not necessarily committed to the sport in a participatory way, you open the door to a greater dearth of marketing potential. Right now nobody (outside of the cycling industry) wants to sponsor top mtb pros, because no consumers know anything about the sport. Despite being a prolific winner, you ask anybody on the street who katie compton is, and only one in a thousand (if you are very very lucky ) will have a snowball's chance in hell of telling you. That is the central reason why so many pros struggle to actually be professionals.

Open up the format of racing to make it more visible, bring it to urban centers to expand the marketing value of the riders, and in time the sport will be able to become more mainstream or at least a little bit more like a professional sport. The country could use a pro stxc circuit, in fact I bet it would be more feasible to run that, even if it was in urban centers, than to run the crackpot format they have now.

So much for my original plan to report on the unh stxc race, I guess that will have to happen tomorrow.

UNH Day One racing

2009-09-23T12:37:00.000-07:00

I have to say that this is one of the most exciting days of racing for me, that I have experienced while holding a clipboard. We saw a lot of really really good racing. While some of the top names didn't change, the order of some of the racers did and it had an interesting effect on some of the overalls.

MENS A XC:

This is maybe one of the bigger dissapointments of the weekend. I was really hoping to see a few of the racers challenge last weeks double winner a little more than they did. Last year Mike Barlett was able to power away from Hamlin in the last lap of the race. I kind of suspected that the smell of past glory in the air would awaken a killer instinct in Mike. One of our stalwarts in the Catamount Wednesday Night Worlds Series ended up appearing at the race. Noah Tautfest is a partner in the the Bicycle Express and a pretty quick racer when he is put to it. I think, if memory serves me well that he took a win or two at catamount this summer, even when Chris was in the race. I was stoked for some hot racing action, fast paced, lots of changes in who the leader is.

Some dreams have to be left unfufilled. Chris showed from the gun that he was simply in another class than the folks he was racing against. By the first time through the 4 mile circuit he had alreaddy put a sizeable gap on the rest of the field. It would be a lie to say there was a chance that he was going back towards the rest of the boys at any point, as his lead expanded each lap through.

Noah and Mike fought it out in the waning laps of the race. The Polimer Science grad student from UMASS to the runner up spot. Noah of VTC had to settle for third in his first ECCC appearance.

WOMENS' A XC:

A pretty good show here. Last week (UMASS Opener) Rose long sent a huge message to the rest of the ECCC A Women, with three commanding victories, she was back and ready to win races. Also entering the fray this weekend was the elusive, secretive and unflappable Kate Harris of MIT.

Las year Kate had started to race in the ECCC and racked up an impressive resume in Rose's absence. All but one of the Collegiate mtb races she entered in 2008 she one. That includes a set of stars and bars in the DII short track.

Also in the hunt for top placing and points for the ECCC overall was last year's winner Maggie of NU. As well as Ashley Nichols of UVM who had notched a second place in her first A xc ever. The excitement was palbable.

After the first lap it was clear that Rose intended to power away to a dominant victory, unwilling to even let the other girls get a look at her once Joe had said go. Behind her a small and determined chase group had formed. Kate H and Maggie S hhad formed a formidable tandem for a time. In the ensuing laps they started to shut down the significant gap that Rose had built. With a lap to go a high pace was taking a toll on race leader Rose Long of UVM. She was visibly pedaling with a great deal more labor than the other times she had lapped through.

A short two minutes later Kate Harris came through the finish line. Charging, might be a better verb to describe what she was doing. The vigorous chase had proved to strenuous for Maggie and she was forced to slow. Where as Kate was just warming up. Joe and I had commented that Kate seemed to get the pacing of the races right. She seemed to build speed and strength as the race progressed. Without loosing a race in the eccc last year the odds seemed to be in her favor.

Except for the biggest factor in any race Rose enters, she is wicked f'n BA (if you aren't sure what this means, ask me). She gritted it out to maintain a margin at the finish line. Kate cruised in for seccond place, with maggie holding on for third, but loosing a fair amount of time to kate.

Most interesting for the Overall race that was hotly contested the previous weekend was a displacement factor. Kate H provided a little extra cushion in points between Rose and Maggie. Ashley N of UVM suffered from a little bit of a sub par race. While her closest competition in the overall, Andrea K of NU had a pretty solid race. There were enough girls in between them that the points spread was sizable.

STXC later

ECCC Mountain Week 2 (brief)

2009-09-21T07:12:00.000-07:00

As we are waiting for the results from the timing service for the dh the results haven't been posted to the website yet. Never fear, they are coming. I will right a longer report once the full results are up, but until then here is a brief round of what you might have missed this weekend.

gnartastic ds:

pretty sure that this is the longest and steepest ds that the eccccc has ever seen, dreamed, watched, much less raced on. The reception seemed to be pretty positive, despite the long run times and the killer hikes back up during practice.

In the Mens' A we nearly saw a huge upset. Dark horse Ben Estrich of NU pos

ted the second fastest qualifying time. Causing a little bit of surprise and doubt that the brackets were done correctly. Round after round Estrich kept surprising his fellow competitors with wicked fast runs down the hill. I might be wrong about this, but I am pretty sure Estrich had never had a top five in an eccc race before this weekend. This race might just have been his arrival party, without a doubt the best race he has done in the ECCC.

In the Final Ben squared off against his teammate and 2008 ECCC Gravity champion Sam Mellon. In the first run Mellon crashed, putting into place the 2 second differential rule. On the second run Ben Estrich had to keep Mellon within two seconds to get the W. In the event that both racers get the two second differential, the faster qualifier wins. A quarter of a seccond, really just a blink of an eye, was how much Estrich missed staying inside the differential by. As a result the win went to Sam Mellon of NU, and Estrich was regulated to second place.

Two teammates also ended up racing for third place. UVM racers Caldwell Clark and Antothy Santos ended up in the 3-4 race down. Despite the situation and both mens' protestations that they were going to easy style it then stuns big off the last jump. There was a whole lot of crashing in their race runs. In the first run both of the guys crashed on the big jump after the finish line. Yes after the finish they both crashed.

In the Women's race, First weekend A racer Anne Miner of Clarkson had a great run through the brackets after taking the top qualifying time. She made to the final after getting a bye in the first round. Last years Gravity Overall champion Maggie Sullivan of NU, took a somewhat conservative and sluggish qualifying run putting her almost dead center in the bracket. Despite some tough pairings as the race went one her runs improved and she too advanced to the final. Anne Minor looked to be setting up for a perfect introduction to A racing by winning the first of two races against Maggie by about half a bike length. Once the courses were switched, a clear advantaged opened up for Maggie, her win on that course was by enough of a margin to net her second win of the day following her win in the DH that morning.

That is all for now

ECCC Mountain: Week 1

2009-09-15T09:48:00.001-07:00

Hi all,

As you know last weekend started the ECCC Mountain season. I have changed my perspective at races a good deal. Now I am trying to help the ECCC run as well as it can (a very high standard). I am trying to help Joe and Caitlin as much as I can. While I normally think that it is pretty boring to read other people's race reports I think I will try* to make an effor to do race highlights for the season as it proggresses. Obviously the more spectator friendly races I will be able to comment more on, but I hope to do a much scaled down version of a daily report from Cyclingnews (again high goal, shoot for low expectations)

Skills Clinic: This was the first event of the weekend and it was definately a success. Maggie Sullivan and I had about 15~16 people show up for this. A really good start to this, I think that the people who showed up took a good deal away from the clinic. The real measure of success will be the number of people who show up in the following weeks. Maggie and I designed the clinics to be a progression of skills, so that people can come each week and hopefully pick up something new each time.

This coming weekend (UNH) we are going to work on Obstacle Oblitorating. This is a skill that most folks who are progressing through the skill set of mtb find to be problematic. This is because if you get it wrong you are off the bike or jarred like you got a steel toed boot to the kiester. Hopefully folks will show up so we can really dig into teaching this.

Women's A XC: 7 women took the start line. Though a lot of the faces from last year were missing, this marked the return to ECCC mtb racing for Rose Long. If you didn't know Rose took an unscheduled hiatus from school, racing and riding due to a horrific hit and run accident. It was clear from watching the first lap of the race that Rose was back to her old self though. She, Maggie Sullivan and Ashley Nichols had created a substantial seperation from the rest of the field on the first lap. Each of the subsequent laps she shed on of her original companions until she took her first win of the year with a healthy lead over 2nd Place Ashley (Note. this was Ashley's first A race)

Men's A XC: This year started a lot like last year. Even on a significantly different and shorter course. Chris Hamlin managed to win by arround 10 minutes. A huge margin of victory. It appears that Chris has finally done what he has been threatening to do for years, train.

After the monument victory that Hamlin took the question on everyone's mind is will anyone show up to challenge him for the rest of the year, or will he keep winning like it was breathing?

Men's A Super D: This race experienced slightly lower turnout than originally hoped, or a race as sweet as it was deserved. This was probably due to infamiliarity with the race format and the aversion of some racers to pay lift fees twice in one weekend.

None the less the racing was certainly hot enough to merit a great deal of excitement. Daryl D (UVM), Noonan (UNH) and Melone (UNH) all came into the last section of woods together. Word on the street was that a whole bunch of risky racing was going on. This is of course the whole thrill of Super D and other great american pastimes (see pastime on Right-------------------------------->>>>)

Women's A Super D: Even though the field was only 4 ladies deep, it was composed of the top 4 women from that morning's xc event. It looks like from those registrations that the ECCC Women's Overall is going to be hotly contested this year. Once again Rose Long of UVM posted a win. One of the other competitors attributed her victory to her meticulous preperation viz a viz the other racers (not only did she take a practice run, she took two) Maggie Sullivan and Ashley Nichols reversed their order from that morning. Maggie in second and Ashley N. in second.

Omnium update--> At this point Rose Long was undefeated, totalling 160pts. Maggie and Ashley were trailing with 133 pts each.

Mens' A STXC: If there was any question that Hamlin had asserted himself as the xc rider to beat the day before, they were quickly squashed in the critically acclaimed stxc race. Despite missing a pedal at the start, by lap two Hamlin had gaped the field. Though Mike Barlett of UMass made a valiant effort to keep him in sight, each lap Hamlin was able t use his powerful riding style to crush through o roots faster and summit speedier than his puruers.

The battle for third place was really the one that was hotly contested. Alex Cox, Lee Peters and Nathan Pepin were all within about 20 seconds for the whole race. It appeared that each of these racers were powerless to distance themselves from the others. The separation that had occurred in the early laps was not to be undone.

Women's A STXC: This might have been the most exciting race of the weekend. It saw last year's DH and Overall Champion Maggie Sullivan and the 2008 road overall champion Rose Long battle it out. It was very clear at the end of the first lap that these two were in a class of their own in this race. The separation had been immediate and substantial. The rhythm of the race was fairly balanced between the two riders. Maggie would open a small gap on the downhill single track, over coursing roots and off camber turns. Only to have the gap shut down on the fast rolling carriage gradual climb back to the top of the singletrack.

This pattern seemed to break down arround lap three or four, when Maggie began to get to the single track slightly before Rose. With three laps to go, Maggie had a maximum advantage of 10~13 second. As soon as Rose saw the lap cards, it was as though she was a bloodhound that had just picked up the scent. She could smell the win and wasn't about to let it go that quickly.

Within a lap she had cut the gap to maggie in half. The next time around (1 to go) Rose made her pass, taking the lead downt the singletrack for the first time in the race. This proved to be a very astute tactical move. Already being the stronger climber, she took the reigns and dictated the pace on the way down as well. Once they got to the fire road it was a clear and convincing win for Rose, once again.

Omnium update Rose 240, Maggie 203, Ashley 190

Mens' A DH:

Sam Mellon, enough said.

He might not have opted to race the Super D, cause he didn't want to pay the lift ticket. Once he got a ticket to the top of the mountain he sure road down like he stole it. A huge display of dominance, winning by almost 30 seconds would have been unheard of last year. That sort of difference means no matter where you were on the coulse you could tell that he was riding faster than any one else.

Last year Sam Mellon was almost the first gravity racer to win the overall, due to his consistant excellence. Only to have it robbed by chris Scannel's win at the NU dh course. We will see if he can make the next step up on the podium.

Womens' A DH: Andrea Kling showed why she was the top ECCC female at nationals last year (10th place, in her 4rth A dh). With a pretty sustantial margin she relegated the other overall hopefulls to the bleachers while her skills took center stage.

General thoughts with no Category: Clarkson came out in a big way. Last year they ended up 7th in D2. This year they took a powerful lead in the hunt for the crown. I will give them a hint to help them make it happen. There is a kid who goes to school there called colby jesset. He was a JR. Ex superstar. In fact I still say (knowing him at 14) he is the most talented person I have ever ridden with or arround. If they get him in a set of that smashing yellow uniforms, they will be able to light the world up.

I am not sure if it was because of low attendance or just the acceleration of some riders proggressions, but this past weekend saw what right now appears to be the final word in both the Gravity and Endurance omniums. I am not sure I would call it just yet, but it will take a combination of bad luck and fast proggression for other riders to touch Sam or Chris.

I think that the Womens' overall might be the most exciting for years. I think that as of right now there are four very tallented and motivated ladies who are vieing for it. What will make this so exciting is the diversity of their talents. While we only saw two winners this weekend. I would be suprised if we don't see a least one new winner next weekend.

and that is all

MTB SKILLZ CLinics

2009-09-09T13:28:00.000-07:00

MTB Skillz Clinics

All right now. From my limited experience rolling around the courses of the ECCC, I have noticed some really superb riding and some immensely terrible riding. There are folks in every category who are missing some of the components of riding mechanics that are fundamental and relatively easy to pick up. Do people lack these skills because they are stupid or lazy? In some cases yes, however most folks simply have never been told or fully thought about what they need to do to make their bike go fast, or even get through a section of trail.

Mountain Biking is a sport that mixes the strength of your muscles with the finesse that separates the bumbling from the brilliant. A good friend of mine once told me that being strong will only get you close to the podium, great skills will get you the rest of the way. Someone with really good skills rides through a technical section of trail as though they were liquid velvet. They don’t bounce; they absorb and dance on their bike. This isn’t easy and it can be only so intuitive; that is why we are starting to do the skillz clinics.

Skills on a bike will come if you ride enough, but you are going to have to make mistakes. Smoke corners, plow into rocks and logs, skid sideways into trees and a variety of other unpleasant outcomes. What we are trying to do is offer an alternative, to cut out part of the trail and error. While better skills won’t make you pedal harder, they will let you go faster with less effort

I have spent nearly a decade teaching folks, from eight to eighty how to ride mtb. It is a total blast. Over that time and from the experience of others I have together a set of lessons that will cover all* of the basic that you need for both riding and racing. Unlike road season the clinics will cover a progression of skills. The clinics are NOT attached to any race, so all categories of riders are encouraged to attend the clinics.

This is a basic overview of what we are going to cover:

-Umass (shifting, breaking-Umass (shifting, breaking and hovering(body stance for obstacles, rough terrain loose cornering))

-UNH (Obstacles) {usually I teach this as the evolution of obstacle clearance, from hovering->weight shifts->Front wheel lift-> Front then rear lift-> bunny hop->j-hop)

-Lehigh (anticipation) this is an on trail clinic, it is almost entirely focused on maximizing your vision to set up to carry speed of clear sections of trail. This is also a 'choosing your line lesson'

-NU (Climbing and descending) skills, body positioning-> incorporating other skills to make this most successful.

-UVM (cornering) High speed low speed-> discuss body positioning for optimal traction and speed

Please pass this along to teammates who are newer to riding or who want to ride better. It is a good way to make there season more successful

PEI and Other Adventures

2009-08-30T07:11:00.000-07:00

Hi All,

What a summer it has been; rain, riding, dancing and swashbuckling.

Summer is mostly over, but there is still some fun out their before the season of everlasting glory begins. (Notice that the first week's flyer is up). As my dearest marshmallow lips(see picture on the right) is attending the Prince Edward Island School for Animal Loving Medicine Practicing Persons of a Canadian Persuasion (or PEISFALMPPOCP for short, you should see the booty shorts they have in the book store) I decided to take a road trip.

I was joined by some lovely ladies as well as Tobias for the trip. Let me tell you, I don't think I have ever laughed so hard, or heard love story soo many times in one day. I think that Taylor Swift might be one of the few people who approach my level of American-awesomeness-osity. Pretty much an all american hero, apple pie has nothing on her.

Once we got here we looked for the islands most famous resident, only to be informed that she kicked it one hundred years ago. This was a huge and overwhelming dissapointment, because I always wanted to meet her after reading all of her books. The upside is that she now markets a full line of rasberry cordials (the weird shit canadians drink). We didn't see her house, because I thought I might cry. however, there was a lovely minigolf place next to it, that we rocked for 8 hours. After this we realized that none of us would ever become professional golfers.

Dissaster stuck during one of our rides. Emily broke a spoke. This is a huge and overwhelming pain in the ass, as she has a set of FSA wheels. For those of you who aren't familiar with the idiocy of FSA wheel building, i will give you a little insight. They use internal niplles (so it is harder to work on) and run incredibly high spoke tension (so the wheel gets really untrue when one breaks). In addition to the complexities of the FSA wheel we are a thousand miles away from my tools or a bike shop I trust. Unfortunate only just begins to knock at my feelings of the situation. When we walked into the lbs (local bike shop) we were greated by a person of a particular appearance. I like to think that I am pretty open minded. That I am willing to judge people by there merit, rather than their lifestyle choice. However, this particular look is one that usually implies an aversion to all things bright and tight.

I was right, my friend in the flat brimmed hat was useless, and declaired that the wheel was totalled, for lack of a spoke.

well that is all for now, tata

Run Off and Join the Circus

2009-07-31T13:00:00.000-07:00

Hi All,

Despite the soggy summer, the fall promises dry trails and oodles of glory to the fat tire crowd. Though the schedule is pretty short for the MTB Season, each of the races seems to be shaping up to be truly excellent. Each and everyone of you out there in the eccc should make it to at least one race and do your best to bring a friend. The mtb season is something that is so awesome and enjoyable that it cannot be summed up, but if you are not there you are missing out in a really really big way.

Whenever I talked to new people as the president of UVM cycling I would tell them that going to a mtb weekend was like running away and joining the circus. It is like the far side of the moon from anything the bright and tight (roadies) crowd would expect at a race. That definately is a good thing, all sort of the collegiate spirit that makes the ECCC a thing of brilliance is concentrated in a few short weeks.

Check it out, you won't be sad.

Boston is My Lover

2009-06-06T07:00:00.000-07:00

Hi All,

More on the Kingdom later.....

Going to Boston this weekend. My Little Sister(President of the Second Best MTB team in the ECCC) turned 21. A huge day in the Sullivan Family to be sure. Since she is living in Boston and taking care of sick people, she can't be in vermont. So We are going to bring some Hoo ahhh to her. Should be Fun.

Assuming that we can Wake up(50% %05 chance) we are going to hit up the Wells ave Worlds. It should be legit. I encourage any of you who are in the area who I like to show up. I would love to pretend like it is collegiate season and race for some glory.

Till Next time,

Keep the Rubber Side Down

Kingdom Ho'

2009-06-04T15:52:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow Emily and I are making our first trip to the kingdom trails in E. Burke VT. This is a preetty sweet spot. They have ~1,000,000 km of trails(Since no one has any idea how far a km is you will have to guess) . Needless to say that no place with that many trails can be all bad.

The best part of going to the kingdom trails is the gastronomic delights. The drive is about two hours each way, but passes some awesome places.

1. Miss Lyndonville diner . Pre ride breakfast stop. This place is beyond belief. I love it for two reasons. first off cause they truly Americans there. You can also buy coffee by the cup or by the hour.

Let that sink in for a second......

You can buy an unlimited cup of coffee that last for an hour. Every person who calls themself a bike racer should have to clean up their chamois after thinking about that.

2.Lunch/Post ride hit up Trout River Brewery. Right by the trail and super dank.

3. Drive home pit stop. Rainbow Sweets. This place is god's gift to your taste buds. This world class chef decided that the kitchens of NYC and Philly sucked too much. So he and his wife packed up some Volvo and Drove up to the groovy mountain state of vermont. Since then he has been rocking the culinary minds of everone who ventures into Marshfield VT. you are missing out if you haven't been there.

In fact if you do nothing else in your life go to rainbow sweets, get very fat, and you will die extremely happy.

Pictures of our trip may follow.......

Summer Lovin'

2009-05-30T13:51:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

It has been a while since I last posted, and even longer since we last saw each other. (Easterns was such a long time ago) I am sure you are all wondering how the corporeal form of UVM cycling is holding up, now that he has graduated and seems to need to move on. The real world is daunting, no doubt about it. While I have been wallowing in the mellowdrama of graduation I realized that I wasn't the only one graduating or leaving the ECCC. I realized that all over the east coast, tens, thousand, maybe even millions of ECCC'er are leaving the warm embrace of the conference. With them will disapear the knowledge and the legends that they have created and witnessed. It will be a horrifying loss.

At the same time anxious 17 and 18 year olds all over the world are thinking about the college life. Somehow you all need to trick or coerce them into finding another way to make it through college. They need to become warrior poets, the type of people that the ecccccc likes having around. Care free, funny and bike racers.

This is a heck of a task. There aren't many people like that out in the world. And chances are if they are smart they already ellected to attend UVM. But don't dispare, you can transform normal people into bike racers. I know, I know. A lot of teams don't have this whole, 'recruiting' thing down to well. I blame it on two things. 1. some of you are self centered jackass elitest who think that anyone of a lower category or who doesn't race has no place around a bike. This is a pretty big obstacle to overcome. The first step is taking to realize that bike racing is about people racing, not just you. Once you have that covered it will be way easier to get your head out of your ass. 2. A lot of bike racers are very socially awkward. Don't worry this too can be overcome. You have probably spent your whole life trying to fit in and be cool. Here is a little tip. Pretend that everything you are doning is the greatest thing in the world. Think 'Candy Mountain' with flying horse, mermaids, lasers and a hip Euro techno beat.

Sweet. Since I fixed everything that is wrong with cyclist in the last 12 lines I am ready to make the sport of bike racing better. Especially Mountain Bike Racing.

How could Mountain bike racing be any better than it already is? I thought that we all had a really good time last year, slaying berms and slamming tallboys was a blast. Sure it was, but there weren't that many of us doing it. I think that UVM, NU and UNH accounted for almost 60% of all of the people racing at most of the races. That is a real dangerous situation for the conference, race directors and the season as a whole. I mean imagine what would happen to the ability of a race director to hold a race if even one of those teams elected not to come. It would be disasterous.

So it is really important to build a broader base of the racing comunity. Schools that are hanging out with 2-6 racers should really want to step it up. Not only will it be better for them (more potential for host housing, fuller vans=less gas money, a chance to compete with UVM (unlikely but you never know)) but it will make the conference a better place.

How does it happen. How do you go from talking to that cute girl in the basement of Sigma Alpha to getting her on a set of knobby rubbers and schralping some gnar? It isn't easy, but it is possible. Seduction is your best bet and I am not giving away my secrets. Anyhow, I digress. THe best way to get people to come out is to talk it up. You see somebody rolling a set of knobbies, ask them to ride with you. Then tell them how much better their life will be with INsert school name Cycling. Tell them that races are like a carnival of joy sprinkeled with awsome. Be relentless. Make them think they are missing the best thing in the world.

Once they give in, be supportive. Not in a weirld touchy feely way
But in a way that is reassuring that the racing will get easier and that the A riders really aren't that cool, or that fast.

The Summer is you chance. Find new kids help them get fast, then try to win something this fall.

Good Luck and God Speed

My Final Presidential Address

2009-05-13T07:40:00.000-07:00

For those of you who were interested here is my last presidential email. Like all things I write it is frought with misspelling and gramitical errors! Have, Fun; reading.

Hi all,

This is a collection of my notes on what I was going to say at the last meeting of the year. Instead I had pasta and went pump parkin' - definitely a better choice for a UVM Cyclist. Anyhow this will serve as my validictory address to the team. Once you get this email, all the paperwork will be done so that the transition of power will have occured, Lee will be your president, Mike your Treasurer and Daryl your sponsorship coordinator, and Ashley and Rose the Women's Co-captains.

My experience with the cycling team last year was phenomenal. I had a great time and could not believe how awesome it was. I was in awe at the time and effort that Slim put into the team, single handedly running both the logistics and finances of this enormous entity. When it came time for us to try and secure a mountain bike race, we walked into a shit storm. A bunch of other teams chewed us out and mark A slammed us over the table. It was really ugly. Right then I knew that UVM cycling needed more people to take care of the team. Not enough people had been giving back to the team, putting their own time into making the team run the way it could. Slim had done all this for them, but he was graduating. New people had to step up and the team as a whole had to change its culture. So I figured that I could be part of the change.

My goals for the team at the beginning were both short term and long term

Long term:

1. Be the Best team in the country

a. excellent recruiting of new riders as well as top notch juniors

b. help develop the riders that we already have

c. Host races of the highest quality and caliber (easterns/nationals)

2. winning individual and team national titles

a. Have super elite riders across disciplines (xc, dh, ds, cross, road and track)

b. field large competitive women's teams. (Essential to team victories, as we learned from MIT)

3. Decrease the financial bar for participation in the sport (at UVM)

a. Sponsorship arrangements that eradicate or reduce the price of competition and equipment.

b. Be frugal and cut unnecessary costs (i.e staying at peoples houses) to leave as much of the budget to other things

Short Term:

1. Get the team off of probation with USA cycling

2. Win as much as possible

3. recruit and cultivate new riders

4. increase the women's team so we can be invincible in competition

5. Balance the Budget

6. Provide a bigger budget for the next round

7. Organizational and Logistical Excellence. Everyone is where they need to be when they need to be there. Everything goes smoothly. No Clusterfucks

How it went and where we are: These come in no particular order, other than my flow of conciousness.

We got a lot more people. During mountain season we flooded the trails. On every weekend we had more than 35 people. On two weekends we had over 45. For easterns we had four vans, the truck and two trailers. We were an armada. Tons of people got into racing and are now hooked on the sport thanks to UVM cycling.

The women's team had exponential and explosive growth. At one mountain weekend I think we had 11 women racing. Similar results were seen during road season. I cannot stress how important it is to keep this trend alive. If we ever hope to win a team national title we will need to have either women who can win every race or a lot of strong women. We cannot win in the ECCC without having Women in all the categories and we certainly cannot win against teams with 4-6 women at nationals. Encourage girls to come out and to get really into racing. I am sure that you all know a few girls that could make this happen. Even if they won't be the next Rose Long, they can still help us tremendously. That is your homework, go out recruit girls. Or if you are a girl already on the team, train hard become the best.

Organization. I think Alex, Vinnie and I were able to provide the team one of the best run years of UVM cycling. For the most part everything went super smooth. There were of course setbacks and mistakes, but we always got to the races and got there with time to warm up and the like. While it wasn't the protour I hope it was pretty solid for collegiate. Other than staying in Gay Philly and spending 8 tanks of gas at the Penn State MTB race I think we were solid. Lots of people who were not officers also did a mountain of work to help life go wicked smooth. I want to thanks a few of them explicit

Chris Hamlin

Dan Bensen

Lee Peters

Derek Harnden

Farm

Jesse Chebot

All of those guys, plus others did a ton of work before and after every weekend to make it happen, without their help I never would have slept.

Finance. I think that this was another area of moderate success. While most of you won't really notice the difference Alex, Vinnie and I were able to make huge gains in the following year's budget for the team. While it still isn't enough to make all our dreams come true, we were able to parlay a 50% increase in our budget. I believe that this is the largest budget the team has ever had. It should enable us to do more for the 'other' seasons of bike racing. (track and cross) For this year we scraped through, due to a lot of ingenuity and the generosity of people's families. Many thanks to all of the families that hosted us, and those that brought us food on race weekends.

Winning. We did a lot, but never enough. A lot of you have so much more potential than you have realized yet. If you train hard in the summer/winter and feel the glory you too can be one of the titans of UVM cycling. Ride your bike, fall in love with it and show up ready to continue and increase our dominance over the ECCC next year.

Having Race. We will next year for mountain. I expect it will be beyond awesome and can't wait to see it happen. Joe was so impressed with us that they are letting us have easterns. Lets not skrew this up.

Closing and Goodbye: Running the team has been a lot of work. It has meant countless hours of staring at spreadsheets and replying to asinine emails. My own training and racing took a little bit of a hit, (you might have noticed that I got worse every weekend in mtn season). I would stay up later than everyone else at the end of race weekends, and start them earlier than anyone else. Despite all that. In a heart beat I would do it all again. I has been a great honor and a privilege to be a part of the greatest cycling team of all time. I hope that you will all take ownership of the team that I love so much, give it the care and attention that it deserves to prosper and make the sacrifices it need to bring home glory and trophies.

Good Day and God Bless,

Ian C. Sullivan

Easterns and Competition

2009-05-05T12:33:00.000-07:00

HI all,

I hope as many of you made it home with all of your skin intact as possible. It was an awfully fun weekend as possible, and my last as an ECCC racer(probably, you never know, life is one big adventure)

The Easterns road race was totally epic and soul shattering. I thought it was raining on the way up black mo (turns out it was just the tears from the pack). That is just the sort of thing that make a road race awesome....... tears, lots of them.

I also want to send a huge shout out to MIT. It has been a lot of fun to race against those guys and gals all season long. I think it is totally great that coming into the last weekend any one of three teams could have one the overall. That is the sort of excitement that makes people recruit and get high turnouts, even as finals loom and horrifically long drives stand in the way of team excellence. Well fought and congratulations. I have been working on an E triple C division scheme that would encourage more competition like this. More on that in another blog.

Things that excited me this weekend:

-Watching Will Dugan win the Men's A crit on a bike he borrowed. (pretty cool)

-Watching my little sister initiate the move that made the race in Women's B and finish it off with a second place.

-Men's A TTTTTTTT. Real exciting, lots of well matched teams out on course.

-Joe Proposing to Caitlin. (this made me forget how poorly all of my Men's A and B racers did on Saturday)

Good Night and God Bless,

Sully

Attacking Across the Yellow Line

2009-04-20T15:38:00.000-07:00

I love collegiate bike racing. No two ways about it, it is great and it really gets my heart thumpin'. I love collegiate bike racing like a grizzly ma loves her cubs. Stuff that puts my cubs (shown here as: Collegiate bike racing, UVM Cycling and Maggie) in jeopardy really piss me off.

I know that this weekend was the first 'real' road race of the year. Kudos to Dartmouth by the way. Everything about this RR was super BA. So maybe people weren't sure what Joe and the officials meant by 'the yellow line rule.' This rule means that you should act as though there is a wall of daggers that start at the first of the yellow lines on the road. These daggers are so sharp and so fierce that they would pierce through to your spleen and bile would come oozing out all over the road. (this isn't sexy, and being sexy is why we all wear lycra. Right?) It has also come to my attention that it is very temping to cross the yellow line. It is just so much easier than weaving through the pack or even waiting for the field to shift so you can move. This is probably true.

This weekend in a few different races I either saw or heard of something that is dangerous for people and the sport. I think that even the most self absorbed people can realize that this is potentially dangerous for themselves. Having watched what can happen to another person following a bicycle/car collision, let me tell you it isn't nearly worth it. It is unlikely that everyone in the pack has though about what this practice can due to either their cohorts or their sport.

When a motorist comes whiping around a corner at mach 5. They don't have a lot of time to react, and probably are not planning on a bike race going on. Even if they new a race was going on (and cared for your safety) they probably did not plan on people being all across the road. In any event they do not have a lot of time to make a good choice. Do you trust motorists enough to garentee that they will do the right thing. I sure as hell don't.

This practice can also really endanger the sport. I know that you think this might be a stretch, but that is because you are a bike racer. As a subset within a niche of society we are very self absorb, self important and self gratifying. Be that as it may, if either the right person or the right person in town government see this and realizes that by the town granting permits for this sort of nonsense they are potentially opening themselves up for the types of lawsuits that could sink a small town, they probably aren't going to let the race come back. Is this extreme action. No way, town managers and bureaucrats don't care if our tiny po-dunk race happens at all, especially if their citizens get too pissed off or if they get sued.

In the end I want bike racing to happen, and I think this is a menace to the sport. Play clean and race to win.

Aplause for Big Green

2009-04-10T05:23:00.000-07:00

After reading their flier I am real excited. They are doing what a lot of other races have been too scared to do. Let the women's b race for more than 40 mins.

"Why would Sully Care?"

Good question. Emily and my sister Maggie both race Women's B and think it is real sad when they race for 20 miles and womens A races for 60. Good Job Big D!!!

God Hates a Coward

2009-04-08T08:41:00.000-07:00

It is true, she does.

On the other hand some folks don't have enough fear. I loved the first few B races of this year. They were fast and totally safe. If people were crashing they were doing it on the parking lot to and from the race. Not in the pack with a ton of other people. During our crit this weekend I was amazed at the idiocy and poor bike handeling that I saw. Some of the kids I have been plagued by since I first joined the ECCC a year ago. I keep hoping they will learn to ride a bike, It hasn't happened. There were some new kids who seemed like they were riding with the sole purpose of taking the whole pack to the tarmac. I don't know where these kids have come from.

IF you want to race bikes:
1. a.Learn how to corner
b. Learn how to hold your line
2. Shave your legs
3.study the way the pack moves. (i.e what to do with strong headwinds, and way the pack moves to the outside for tighter corners)

I was real mad and a little put off after the Army crit cause of other kids, not how I like to be.

ECCC Overall
I am really torn. The last two weeks have shown that I was right (I love being right) MIT and USMA are certainly of the caliber to race as DI schools (at least this year). However, I also really like winning. Sadly I haven't gotten to have both, but I think my luck might change.

Why are those schools beating us? I have a pretty good idea of why. I blame it on a doped up 22 year old you decided to run a red light. Really though, Army and MIT have benifited from strong Women's A teams while ours has been rehabilitating from another set of surgeries. With Women's A riders coming back to fight for Green and Gold Glorly, I sense that the tide might once again shift in our favor.

The MIT women are certainly a force, with another one joining the ranks of the A racers (pretty elite). They will be able to score 3 women in every A race. A huge advantage! I wouldn't be supprised to see MIT being able to up 50s on almost every womens event from now on. So really the question becomes, can UVM's Women's team out score MIT's Men's team.

Boy am I excited. I love bike racing.

Oh, by the way. A super Props to MIT for their sign up system. If this works the whole conference should adopt this. I think it would be really cool if MIT structured their system so that (in the future, not for their race) the conference would get $.75 of every dollar of registration and MIT would get $.25. This would be super awesome because it would generate roughly

$600 for the conference per weekend
$200 for MIT per weekend

I am truly stunned by MIT's cleverness and brilliance. This could be a great oportunity to funnel some of the wasted (bike reg is a Waste) dollars in the ECCC into something constructive. Like a motorcycle for Joe that has huge speakers. So he can announce the races while driving in front of them. Or maybe even compensating Joe and Catlin. I think that it is totally unsustainable that we expect that the conference director would be a volunteer, and with USAC doing what it does best (being useless and making dumb rules, rather than helping make racing better) I think that this is a great chance for our conference to lead the way. By offering a salary to the CD we might see an even higher quality of races in the ECCC than ever before imagined (hard to do, but I am from UVM, daydreaming and wild schemes are my speciality)

See you all in Yale. I think this is going to be one of the greatest races going this year.

A Few Random Thoughts

2009-03-26T19:31:00.000-07:00

That could really be the title of the whole blog. But I think this is really more random than usual.

Right now I am suffering. Emily and I went to my parent's house for dinner. It was lovely as I am sure you can all imagine. Then Emily and I watched Grey's Anatomy. Yeah I know, this is the least manly thing you could possibly do. I will most likely get dropped in the first corner of every race this weekend. In defense of the show it is some Really, Really Dramatic stuff. I think the blond one is going to die.... Anyhow right after this show there is something called private practice. This is way worse. The show is set in the worst place I could possibly imagine..... California. Apparently it is always sunny and it never snows. I would be real sunburned and there would be no opportunities to 'harden the fuck up' with no cold miserable weather. I refuse to watch it, so here I am

In my vicious competition with my snugglemuffin. Things are all tied up, we are both in fifth in the be fields. however, I have 113 points as to her 112. Clearly I am a better bike racer (even though it took me 8 races and her 5 to get those totals) Maggie is getting left in the dust. I will make a called shot that Maggie will win the Dartmouth Crit. I have a feeling, we will see.

At least a few more of UVM Cycling's women are coming this weekend. Last weekend was a bust. Netana bravely defended the honor of UVM Cycling all by herself in the A field and managed to get a string of 4rth place finishes.

Size matters and a lot of other teams don't get it. It is so sad to see Honda civics rolling up to the parking lots. Dream Big and everything gets easier and cheaper. Some people think that we have a ton of money and buy are way to success. Whatever. UVM picks up a lot of the tab, but we make things cheap. How, cause we are a force of nature. People are thilled their kids take up bike racing at uvm, instead of the other thing UVM is reknowned for

Yes that is right, Bong ripping seminary classes. Anyhow this joy brings the team places to stay and food at races. How many crappy subway sandwhiches to you have to eat. Start recruiting. Start recruiting. Get people into bike races, teach them how to race. Roadies are tremendously self absorbed, but stew on this. Racing is fun cause yer racin'.

What do you need for racin'? People.

If we aren't adding new people and pulling them up through the ranks, all we are left with is the rejects from national team and ex juniors. A pretty lame cast of characters. The more kids who are racing the more exciting races are and the greater glory that is attached to winning. As we all know, the real reason to race is the dream of the glory hole.

Another reason it is great to be big. Holding races. Wait, before you start booing think about this. The average expense to UVM Cycling for a race weekend, about $2,000. Sounds like a lot. I guess it is. Anyhow, when we host races, since we don't pay for entry fees, hotels or transport we can actually sustain a loss on the race and come out ahead. yeah that is a mindfuck and a half isn't it. There is some major potential there.

I was talking to steve this past weekend, it was stimulating. I said two things,

"great aspirations don't except excuses"

and

"There are three ways to get faster: Train, Race smarter, or harden the fuck up"

Both of these stem from things that Rose has said while around me. In the first instance a junior was talking about why he didn't like racing mount snow. He told rose he was first to the top but that the downhill was overly technical. He boasted that he was the strongest racer in the field. To which Rose Reply, " Pussy, Pussy, Pussy. That's crap. That is like saying I would have won, but it got hard. I could have done great, but my legs got tired." No excuses ever. If you suck, or plain old can't win: Be honest with yourself. At the same time don't make excuses to be a predator. Once your time has come, heed the call to greater glory.

The show is over. More random thoughts later.

I am going to dream about all the glory that is waiting for the ECCC on the Streets of Philly, and the chease steaks

A little friendly Competition

2009-03-16T18:07:00.001-07:00

For those of you who don't know my sister and GF also race bikes. With all of us being crazy A type personalities there is usually some competition.

From the Fall:
-Maggie killed us all in total points and won the Overall and Gravity Jerseys, In addition a few DH wins
-Emily had the Highest Placing at Nationals with a 14th in the Short Track (top ECCC'r in the race)
-I got two STXC Wins (Emily didn't win any)

The way spring is shaping up:
- Me not so hot, nothing higher than 4rth
- Maggie, Epic from the gun breakaway at Stevens that held for most of the race
- Emily got the W at Stevens and a 4rth in the Rutgers TT.

Up until the Stevens crit I had more points, but I think Emily may have surged by me. Dang

Wowza Women

2009-03-16T17:21:00.000-07:00

Preface: I was chided for my terrible spelling for a previous post. I accept and am unashamed of my butchery of the english language. As a concession I will quote Andrew Jackson, "It is a dull mind that can think of only one way to spell a word." So, try not to get to hung up on it.

After two weeks of E Triple C Racing I think something is becoming really clear. This year women's racing is blowing up all over the place.* I mean the numbers are crazy. Lots and lots of women have thrown on a Chamois and taken to the tarmac. This is really really exciting. This segment of the population has been traditionally super underrepresented in bike racing. This is one of those rare times in life when something awesome happens without any real reason.

How does this conference now transfer the momentum of this wave of population surge into a solid set of racers who are committed to rocking the E Trip C all year long. The first thing we should look at is what we are doing well.

Intro Racing
this is one of the greatest parts of the conference. Bike racing can be intimidating to everyone, this seems to be especially true in the case of women's racing. The intro racing category lessens the impact of the terrifying experience that can be bike racing. This year there have been a lot of people who have been helping out with these clinics. We need to keep this up. More energetic people, who have a good grasp of how to execute the skills for successfull and safe bike racing are what we need to keep this rolling. Intro

There are a few things that could go a little better. Especially now that there are more women racing these problems seem to be exacerbated.

Distribution of Racers: and Category traits
Intro racing: A great friendly way to get into racing. Heavy on coaching lite on racing and the duration of the race. Most of the races only have a duration of 10-15 minutes. I don't see this as a problem if the race is close to the new racer. When the distances are far to farther it is a pretty big turn off. Who wants to spend 9 hours round trip to do two 15 minute races. It is not bad once or twice, but you would not want to do that all year long.

Women's B This category is very very very diverse. The distances are usually the same as the Men's C races. I think this is a fairly reasonable jump from the Introductory category. As far as I see it there is no problem with the distance at most of these races (at some races it is though) The problem lays with the traits of the women who are racing. There are some very very strong racers chilling out in the women's B's. Almost a Women's B+ field if you will. Some races you will very easily see these women seperate themselves from the chaffe. Why is this a promblem. This is a problem when these B+ women choose to make the race so hard and so fast that the women who just moved up from intro get spit out the back in the first 10 minutes of racing. When that happens, the girl that just moved up from Intro feels lost in the world. Nothing left to gain from Intro, but not good enough for B's. How will this get better? Sadly there is no magic answer. Each of the girls that has chosen to keep hanging out in the B's and pulling down top 5s every weekend will have to jump up a category

Women's A's A lot of what goes on in these races is what influences the B+ riders not to make the leap. There are not that many women's A racers in our conference. Some of them even get dropped pretty consistantly. This distances are farther and the racing can be a lot faster (sometimes, other times they ride around real slow and just sprint for primes). With so few girls in the race a lot of races will end up being group rides of 1-3 people. Not exactly the height of competitive racing. (This does not in any way imply that the girls are not competive, just that the races see a lot of seperation. This results in more predictable finishes). Simply put, the Women's A field has intimidated a lot of girls in the B's From stepping up.

Why This is real important right now:
Well, the last two weeks there have been hordes of racers in the Women's Intro fields. Some of them will want to join the B fields. If they are met with races like Princeton and Stevens (the racing not the course) they might be highly discouraged. A result we want to avoid like the plague. I encourage all of the girls who can to upgrade to A. Make some room for new girls to grow in the B's, you had your time. Move on. If enough of you do it the A's will not be to bad. Who knows, maybe everyone will win?

What we can all do:
Take it seriously. The women are an equal part of the scoring equation. Every place matters a lot to how the team overalls come out. So be supportive and encouraging of the women who come out to race. They make or break seasons and placings.

Good Night and God Bless,

The Hidden Curriculum

2009-03-11T11:29:00.000-07:00

Wow, a lot of people read my blog. It is great to know that I am not just banging my keyboard for the trolls of the world to find at the bottom of a pile of cyber junk.

Any how I would love to further refine the thoughts I shared in my previous post.

When I was in high school I took a class called senior stats. It was miserable, a lot of information that I have yet to use and never really learned. There was a lot of busy work. Graphing, chia squared, means, median, standard deviations. Being the honest person I was I told the teacher I did not think his class meant much to me. His answer was wise and prudent. He said that the class was not really about stats it was about the hidden curriculum. This curriculum was to work hard and shut up. As he pointed out, the world needs ditch diggers too. (if he could only see me now)

So what does this mean for E Triple C cycling?

Divisions. There is a hidden curriculum to them. It is not as one person replied to develop two parallels competitions within the same conference. What does that do to get more people racing? Nothing.

The model as I understand it, is that the goal of Collegiate Cycling is to develop talent and to bring more people into the world of bike racing. How does the ECCC achieve this?

For the first goal we have classes of riders A,B,C,D and Intro. This affords riders of disparate riding talent to go the same race and to compete in an environment that offers an achievable challenge. With stratification like this, most riders can at least understand what it would take to win a race in there category. With this knowledge they could be inspired to train more or learn how to handle their bike better. Progression happens.

The second goal is slightly more challenging. How do you get a lot of people to want to race their bikes. Obviously there are a few people at every school that would want to race no matter what. I think that is a given. However, some schools are able to get more people out. What do they use to accomplish this and what is the incentive to do this? For us the motivation is to win. Everyone loves winning. It might be the greatest feeling you can have on earth. The beautiful thing about the way the conference is set up, is that you need riders of every class and gender to do well. Teams lacking in either of these are doomed to failure. We have perennially suffered from a lack of women. (Though the ones we have had are kick ass). To ensure victory we have recruited pretty heavily. Any team that perceives itself as in contention for the win will be motivated to do this.

The ultimate question is how to encourage as many teams to do this. I think that the divisions (d1 and d2) are a great way to do this. If all of the large and established teams are in D1 that will leave d2 to the teams that are smaller. Teams of lower numbers will be able to realize more exciting changes in their overall team standing if some of the stand out schools graduated to d1.

From the first weekend of the schools in the top5:
3 of them are d2
4 of them are qualified to be d2.

This does not provide a lot of incentive for the ten rider schools to recruit, from a purely competitive standpoint.

So I think that in order to achieve the goals of collegiate cycling's hidden curriculum we as a conference should encourage a weeding out of D2. MIT might be the most flagrant in their misalignment, but Army and Dartmouth are well developed teams that would not be all sorts of sad if they were d1.

Just some thoughts. With any luck this won't make any ones' chamois ball up in a big nasty knot. I hope this generates some furtive discussion.

Make the Leap

2009-03-09T08:04:00.001-07:00

What an exciting first weekend of racing. I had a great time and hope all of you did too. The great and glorious UVM cycling saw some success and some failure, not really important or fun to read about. As a general rule race reports are real lame and are solely used to bolster egos and build excuses.

I do want to throw out a gauntlet though.......

The standards for Division 1 are 15,000 students. That is a whole lot of kids, does not mean any of them will be fast or like racing bikes. However, it is the pinnacle of competition (D1). UVM acknowledged this years ago and decided to Race D1. As a result we do not beat up on the 'small teams'. This was very noble and generous of us.

You are welcome

The time has come for another school to sack up and leave the kiddy pool (no offense to other D2 teams, solely used here for talkin' smack). We all know who I am talking about, I will give you a hint.

They have a wind tunnel.

Still not sure

When they go on rides they have protractors and abusus (The plural might be abuci, not sure)

I am of course talking about MIT. They should, as we have, embrace the spirit as opposed the the letter of the D1/D2 guidelines. If they can beat all of the D1 schools but us, it is time to move up. I doubt they will though and I will tell you why. I have a sneaking suspicion that they like sandbagging and would not want to loose to us outright.

Bam.

E Tripple C meeting

2009-02-23T11:00:00.000-08:00

Yup I went. So.....

For those of you who have never been to one of these it might be fun to imagine what they are like. First of all you sit in a really big lecture hall. The seat are terrifyingly uncomfortable.
You talk a lot about biking, but do none of it.
All and All the experience is long and exhausting.

I thought I might throw in a few notes on the meeting to supplement what Caitlin will post.

Before you read any further.... I write purely to poke fun and demoralize, nothing is meant to be personal, hurtful or mean. Remember, there is no crying in baseball or blogging

1. The E Triple C is taking a hard line on aero equipment for non A's. This is to prevent this from ever happening again. Yes that guy was in the D's rocking full aero and Zipp wheels. Words can't even describe what that is. Yeah....... however the ECCC may have gone to far, the kid from Stevens seem to think that the eccccccccccc is doomed. I think that their image of doom looks something like this. I don't see a huge problem with this. Some people might think that is not a good idea, Rutgers disagrees.

2. MTB race season. After the debacle that was last year, the ECCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCccccCCCCCCC has chosen to allow UVM to host a race. This is very wise. Trumpets have already begun to herald the greatness of the race we will host. I did learn something new at the meeting. I have lived in the greatest state in the world my whole life (Vermont), I have only left under extreme duress. So I don't have a lot of knowledge of the strange lands that lie beyond the borders of Vermont. I always thought that it was cold and snowy here. Yes that is one of UVM's Vans, and yes that was on the way to Easterners, road Easterners. Equipped with this knowledge, I was shocked to be told that there was just as much a chance of snow in State College Pa as in Vermont. I have been to State College, there were beautiful women in skirts. The whole time I have been at UVM I have only seen girl's bear legs while in bed. Usually they look like this.

So I did some research. Yes, being right matters that much to me.

So I submit

Pennsylvania
Yeah, the map is real bootleg. Why wouldn't it be, nobody ever got snowed in there.

Vermont
Notice the sweet graphics. As a result I have done none of the 'training' that other blogs have described.

To make a long winded point. Yes I am right.

Vermont=Snow

Pennsylvania=coal, terrible roads, bad directions.

3. Northeastern as the new progeny of Slim
You all thought that Slim was gone. My presentation for UVM's bike race only had one American flag and no pictures of G.W Bush. Clearly something was wrong.

But wait.

Sam Mellon and Maggie were not going to let the ball drop. Every single power point slide they used had at least one of each of the following:

1. American Flag
2. Eagle
3. Statue of Liberty

I am deeply impressed.

My super secret training plan can be seen by following this link

El Presidente, El Jefe

2009-02-14T04:53:00.000-08:00

As some of you may or may not know I have a sister. I know this is a startling revelation. My parents did so well mixing DNA with their first child that they decided to try and grace the world with another Sullivan. It worked, but not nearly as well. It is kinda like the robocop movies where they keep trying to make better robocops but the first one is the best. My family is like this.

Anyhow, after watching me rock bikes for a while, my sister decided that she might also be able to lift and drop her pedals. She has been moderately successful(you can tell which one is my sister by the rockin' red shorts and ultra ballah Hoodie). However, there was something that I did that up until now she was unable to do. That is of course run the greatest team there has ever been or will ever be (UVM Cycling)

She has tried to replicate my greatness at Northeastern. As we all know, Northeastern is a school full of kids who all do what takes the rest of the world four years, in five. Obviously not the smartest kids in the peloton. I think it is important to note the lower than average level of intelligence (even low within the cycling community). The reason for my ranting, raving and insulting is to announce that NU has ellected maggie to be their President. I am sure this will usher in a new period of rivalry and prank waring between us as siblings and between us Presidentes.

I did read Joe's Blog, I think that I get people home- other than that time that Scanell, Farm and Ill Will Wouldn't leave Sunday River.....

ECCC Blogging

2009-02-08T17:32:00.000-08:00

Yeah it is crazy. There are hundreds, maybe even thousands off kids from the ECCC that have decided to waste valuable training time and start blogs. This is of course very very sad. If there is one thing I learned it is that you can always, "up your watts." This could be done at any time of the day, and you don't have to be on a bike to do it. I will give you a few examples of things that "UP Y'ER WATTS":

1. HTFU (self explanatory)
2. Watching NASCAR
3. Watching WWE
4. Hunting (anything works, but killing more dangerous things work much better)
5. Talking to Rose
6. BC Nordic skiing on racing skis

Things that do the opposite (also known as being a lycra clad, leg shavin' wus)
1. Riding a Fixed gear in NYC
2. discussing the benefits of FPTFA, what is this stuff, HTFU and pedal
3. base training, strap on some skinny skis and get er done.
4. as a matter of fact any specific training is, be like boob legs and just do something hard. as long as it is hard it is training.

Whew, I think that is enough tirade for now, but I want to keep you all honest. Some of these blogs look like they will be ridiculous.

I would like to weight in on different Jerseys of the E Triple C. The one that Stevens is about to baptize, is very dissapointing. These guys had so much promise with their old kits. They were diffferent and didn't get bothered by that fact. Now they will look like a hybrid bike that got ralphed on by MIT, Harvard and Brown. Terrribly dissapointing.

As I mentioned somewhere else UVM's new kitss (mid season arrival, we don't do anything on time) will change ever so slightly to include a fierce mountain range on the shorts. We have also broken with tradition and ditched some stupid EUrO company that makes basketball Penniess forr the Portugese national team to work with a company that matches the refined and classy pedigree which you all know and love from UVM

Good Night and God Bless

Ian C. Sullivan the XIV

A Final Week

2008-12-15T06:18:00.000-08:00

Yup it is that time of year. When all of the learning is over and it is time to let everyone know how much or little you have learned. I am fighting an insane urge to go outside and due fun stuff. I think graduating is important so I can be found driving my computer and text books if you need me.

A little Irony Driving Down the Road

2008-12-02T08:29:00.000-08:00

Howdy all,

Out for a little jaunt on my two wheeled mode of transport. I was rolling by the local food co-op. A neat place with lots of real good food. Sadly this place attracts a lot of confused people. Anyhow an Audi darted out of the parking lot, almost killed me and floored it to the next light.

Being the cool headed person I am, I rolled on and was stopped right behind the car. Anyhow I noticed a sweet 'Buy Local' sticker on the bumper. The anger of almost getting smashed faded away as I started laughing at the hipocracy of a foreign made car. Haha thought someone else might get a kick out of that too

ThanksGiving

2008-11-30T09:54:00.000-08:00

I always think that Thanksgiving is one of those markers in the year that really splits things up. For me this is always the end of the fall. Whether it is in running or biking, it is always where the cool and totally perfect weather dissapears. After this it is nothing but cold and dreary... Not that I am complaining. I love the late fall and early winter, it is the time of year when the truly hardy come into focus and the yellow bellied and flatlandish blur into obscurity.

Over this break I did two Cyclocross weekends. They were enjoyable, but I don't think that if it were for UVM cycling I would have done them. This time of year I like to take a little break and then start to go to "diesel mode." I think about "diesel mode" as a time of year when it isn't about fast, it is about strength and streign. Long expeditions and plain old sweating, how it happens doesn't matter as much as that it is. This type of excerise is not conducive to riding a bike fast for 45 minutes. So I have been getting schooled. Not like a fun lesson on the birds and the bees where everyone has a good giggle and then gossips. No, not like that. More like 19th century speaking out of turn in arithmatic class where you get a good solid thumping with the ruler, type of schooling.

One or two more weekends of cyclocross this year. Right now UVM and Rutgers are locked in mortal combat for the ECCC overall in cyclocross. Before this saterday 10 points seperated us. I think UVM came up with a win yesterday and Rutgers got second. I am not sure about this, but I think that is what happened. If this is true the lead is down to 6 points. Winning is twenty and second is 16. Soooooo

Next weekend two race, could go either way. I am going to try to bring a lot of people down, should be real good.

Many Happy Returns