The Dartmouth cyclists picked up where they left off last year by winning the women's elite A race and placing three riders in the top 25 in the men's elite at the Rutgers invitational, their first race of the season.
Staving off winds and driving rain, women's captain Amy Wallace '04 captured the top spot for the women, just edging out teammate Kristina Eaton '04, who placed fourth.
"We each did our own race, but I happened to be riding Kristina's wheel coming into the last few hundred yards, so she inadvertently gave me a lead out for the sprint. Despite this, Kristina got fourth herself, which shows how strong she is," Wallace said after the race.
For the elite men's race, Bing Knight '05 capitalized on a rigid fall and winter training routine to place eighth after hanging tough in the final sprint. The first race of the season also featured the newest addition to the cycling team, Navy transfer Bryan Feinstein '05, who welcomed himself to the East Coast Cycling Conference with a 18th place finish, adding to the day's point total for the Big Green.
"These early races are important to begin working on team tactics, especially with my being new to the team and David Morse moving up to As this year," Feinstein said. "I'm definitely glad to be putting on the Dartmouth uniform and racing in the bigger and faster ECCC."
David Morse '03 started off his season with a top-25 finish, coming in just behind Feinstein at the 21st spot. Graduate student Ed Meyer took 11th place for the men's B squad, and after a season away from the bicycle, Rachel Bender '04 placed fourth in the women's B field. Richard Trierweiler '05 and Ryan Van Hoff '04 both took their races as a warm up for the rest of the spring, finishing further back in their respective fields.
Rutgers was a good stepping stone for remainder of the season, as the cyclists show no desire in relinquishing the Ivy Cup they won last year and are looking to three-peat as the National Division II champions. The men are looking forward to the return of the two best cyclists in the league last year in Michael Barton and men's captain Todd Yezefski '04 to help give the Dartmouth riders an edge in the field
"Our weakest link is definitely our team strategy," Knight said. "UVM and UNH both have very clear tactics and are very effective; they constantly controlled the Rutgers race. It helps that they were six men strong in the men's A field and so could always send one man off the front, forcing other teams to counter while the rest of their team tried to slow the pace. Dartmouth only had three riders in the Men's A, but still did a good job of countering while staying fairly competitive in the pack."
The women await the return of Christina May '05 from the NCAA skiing championships and Bender's return to top shape to reform division II's best female time trial team. The combination of final exams and spring break in the next three weeks means it will take some time before the team is firing on all cylinders, but when they do, they're looking forward to success.
The weather for the weekend was noteworthy, as the Big Green cyclists were greeted with temperatures in the 50s accompanying the rain. Training in the New Hampshire winter acclimatizes the team to adverse conditions on the road and gave them an edge at the starting line.
Said Wallace: "It does give us an edge because your attitude is so important, and if you're used to training in the cold and the rain, you'll do just fine when the race conditions are that way."
The Big Green cyclists get their second taste of the racing season next weekend when they travel to State College, Pennsylvania and the Penn State Invitational.
