L'aura del Campo

Race Day National Collegiate Cycling Championships

Lawrence, Kansas. May 13, 2007

06:00

Well, who really knows what time it was! The bars closed at 02:00; the streets had to be cleared. Then they came down and put up barriers and wrapped straw around fire hydrants. They weren't quiet.

07:00          60 degrees          sunny, dry, wind very light

The blast began. I believe there was an open criterion; I could hear the p.a. system at 9th and Mass.

08:00

And again, but this time I was ready. It was Division 2 women. Mara Abbott of Whitman, who won the road race at Perry Lake yesterday, did well throughout the race, but the peleton caught up with her. At one point there was a crash with about 20 bikes. They received a free lap. The race from there on in was fairly tight, but Jennifer Bodine of George Washington won it with an excellent sprint at the end.

1. Jennifer Bodine, George Washington
2. Kendi Thomas, Whitman
3. Mara Abbott, Whitman
4. Jen Stebbin, Dartmouth
5. Meagan McPhee, Western Washington
7. Megan Guarnier, Middlebury

09:20          71 degrees

Next race has begun. Each race is 55 minutes plus 3 laps. Back with more later ...

I spoke with Megan Guarnier of Middlebury. She prefers the open road race and placed 2nd yesterday at Perry Lake. I asked her whether there was women's Tour de France and she said yes. I asked what age group it favored. She answered that although there were many young racers, the endurance races favored women in their late 20s and 30s. She also commented that there is a huge difference between someone's first race and graduate students who have been racing for years.

The Men's Division 2 didn't have any major spills. At one point a breakaway of three were a few seconds ahead of the peleton, but it caught up. It was 77 degrees at 10 a.m.

Results:

1. Jared Faciszewski, Colorado College
2. Nicola Bennette, Princeton
3. Spencer Beamer, Furman
4. Craig Luekens, Yale
5. Thomas Brown, Emory

10:45          81 degrees

Women's Division 1 begins. The day is definitely heating up. It was 77 degrees at 10 a.m., now 81 degrees. winds are only 7 mph.

Spectacular race! Natalie Klemko broke away with about 5 laps to go, at one point she had a 23 second lead over the pack where her teammates from Midwestern University were slowing the peleton down and helping her out. She won handily (7.8 seconds) in what was more like a coronation.

1. Natalie Klemko, Midwestern State
2. Kristin McGrath, Fort Lewis
3. Erica Allar, Penn State (2nd in road race)
4. Susanna Pratt, U. New Hampshire (4)
5. Rebecca Larson, U. Florida (1)

12:00          84 degrees, humidity 49% (down from 70% earlier)

Men's Division 1 begins

They have last year's winner from Kansas State (hometown: McClouth) line up and then the Conference Champions, then 1st riders, 2nd riders, 3rd, others. and the race begins.

I was there last year when the peleton was speeding up going north around 8th and Mass. When they came back through (4 blocks) the eventual winner had broken away, then there were a few others, then we found out there had been a big crash. Still, it was exciting to see a 'local boy' win.

This year there were 10 cyclists that broke away and were able to open up a 45 second lead. This meant that the peleton could barely see the breakaway when they turned the corner at 8th street. The lead stretched to over a minute, which is huge.

1. Phil Mann, Colorado State University
2. Tyler Dibble, UC Davis
3. Mark Hardman, U Virginia
4. Jeffrey Buckles, Virginia Commonwealth U
5. Reed Tanger, Northwestern
10. Mark Smelzer, Kansas State, last year's champion

13:30          86 degrees and still sunny.

The race is over except for handing out all the awards and attending to the scrapes and bruises. No word where this will be held next year. Lawrence was fortunate to have hosted it 3 years running.

Till next year, then ...

In the newspaper:

http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2007/may/14/pedal_power/