Two riders grab high finishes in 1st raceBy Sara Normand
The Ohio men's club cycling team kicked off its 2006 season with two riders placing in the top 10 Saturday at the "Ascent up the Slope at Lake Hope."
Out of 75 riders in the Men's C class, junior Ryan Helbach placed eighth, and sophomore Ryan Krawczyk finished sixth in the first of the two-day event hosted by the Bobcats in conjunction with Ohio State.
Graduate student Andrew Pawuk, sophomore Katsu Tanda, and the club's president - junior Ben Halada - all placed in the top 40.
The road race, which took place in the hills of Vinton County was the third of the MidWest Collegiate Cycling Conference season, but the first in which Ohio participated.
Krawczyk said the Bobcats had an advantage over other schools because they were familiar with the area.
"It's a long course, so a lot of the riders probably didn't even know what it looks like," he said. "I rode the course once or twice. It's definitely the hilliest within the collegiate series. Most of the other courses are flat."
The route originally consisted of one lap of the 20-mile loop with a 1-mile, 400-foot climb to the finish, but a fire that burned down the park's main lodge Feb. 10 prevented them from using that track layout.
Halada said that despite it being a smaller climb at the end, "the change made for a more exciting finish because it enabled people to sprint for it."
Bobcat sophomore Jared Rowley also raced, finishing in the top 30 for the Men's B class that rode two laps for 41 miles total.
Club advisor Tim Creamer said Ohio's focus was to work together as a team.
"When you're riding really close, two inches within somebody else's wheel, you really have to know the other riders' [tendencies]," Creamer said. "There's a lot of trust within the group.
"We have a couple riders who are dedicated to being domestiques. They're not really interested in placing, but interested in helping the team."
Creamer, who also works as a multimedia developer at Ohio, added that staying together as a team and drafting are critical factors for success.
"(When you draft) you're reducing the amount of effort you put in by 30 percent. The idea is to work together so each rider isn't expending a lot of energy."
Though the wind picked up toward the back end of the race, Halada said he "didn't die or crash or anything."
Sunday's race in Dublin was a criterium - half-mile and faster-paced with four right-angle turns - a combination of intense racing that often results in a crash.
Helbach met with such bad luck when he ran over the bike of a rider who crashed right in front of him.
"I'm fine, just a little scraped up," he said. "My bike is a little banged up too."
But after a thrilling finish, Aaron Zangmeister placed fourth out of 70 riders, while Tanda raced but did not finish.
Among the other schools participating were Indiana University, Miami University, Appalachian State, The Ohio State University, the University of Illinois, University of Notre Dame, Marquette University, the University of Wisconsin, Madison and Michigan State University.
Creamer said there was a little nervousness, but "other than that, the collegiate series is really laid-back. It's just to cement the young riders into the racing scene itself."
© Sara Normand |