2013 Road Nationals ITT Report

  Nationals Individual Time Trial Race Report

--Payne Griffin

The TT course was a 20 km out and back on Antelope Island in the middle of the Great Salt Lake. It was incredible scenery, and during the pre-ride I paid more attention to the roaming buffalo and the antelope than the course.

Anyway the winds had picked up during the day, so  by my start time at 12:50, there was a moderate head wind going out and a cross wind coming back. I was feeling awesome and knew I was going to have a great ride. At the start at the 2^nd set, the 5^th km, I upped the tempo a bit and caught my 1:00 man. I was gaining on my 30-second person too, as he was probably around 15 seconds in front of me by now.

At 10 km, the turnaround point, I had started to fatigue a bit, so I backed off a little for the third set of 5k. However, I began to feel better a little later and ramped the tempo back up for the remaining 7k of the race. By this time I had caught two more people, (I am not sure where they started), but my 30 second person was still out there as I continued to chase him.

He began to pull away and I was concerned I would lose him so I kept going with the new intention of keeping him within 30sec of me. With 4 k to go, the course pitched upwards for a small climb. I was riding an 11/23, so I wish I had a 25 but I just hoped out of the saddle and grinded up the climb. I closed the gap between the two of us a bit on the climb but I was maxed out when I hit the top so he made a lot of time on the flat and descent to the finish. I hit the last 3k so hard that after the race I collapsed and had to be helped up by the medical staff.

In the end, I placed 3^rd in D2, and 4^th out of all the collegiate riders here. My time was 28:06:56. The 30-second person I was chasing stopped the clock at 28:06:57, so I got him by .01 seconds. Phew.

I was 10 seconds off of the 2^nd place time.

When looking at my power numbers, I averaged 360 watts during the ITT. (Which I thought to be surprisingly low, as it is below my ftp. I had borrowed an 808 powertap from duke, and they told me that the the powertap measured low and the elevation probably effected that some.) With those numbers and my weight of 67.5 kg, I averaged 5.333 w/kg.  

In reflection, I went out too hard, and should have paced myself better at the beginning. It Is a really difficult thing to do, so I need to work on that a lot. I started to fade much earlier than I had wanted to, but I feel like I was able to recover and save the rest of the ride.

We are about to go out and preride the crit. I race at 3:00 pm MT today for 75 min.

NCSU Wolfpack Classic

The first weekend of the collegiate road race season shaped up to be a great one for American University Cycling.  We brought 8 riders to NCSU for the Wolfpack Classic, which consisted two road races on a couple of fun courses in North Carolina.

SATURDAY's race was a very flat course near Jordan Lake with nothing too technical making for a great race for our new riders.  Sam, Jen, Sylvan and Adelaide all competed in their first races ever.  The Woman's C division started around 9am after a new-rider clinic.  They did three laps of the 11.5 mile course.  All four AU women rode strong with Adelaide placing 2nd despite her visor.  A large crash in the field took Adelaide down but she persevered and got back on the bike to sprint with the group at the finish.  Congrats to all of our women racers on a great first race!!

   After a long wait the Men's C division went off at 3pm to do three laps.  Elliot, Billy, Harry, and Payne  raced for AU.  The race started with an up and down tempo but heated up when freshman, Payne Griffin, jumped off the front of the field towards the end of the second lap.  Payne rode strong while Harry and Billy worked hard to block the pelaton, resulting in a solo victory for Payne and top ten finishes for Harry and Billy.  It was a great first day for AU cycling!!


SUNDAY's weather provided an obstacle but many Men's C and Women's B/C riders came out to brave the 30 degree temperatures at 9am.  The Sanford Road Race was a 7.8 mile rolling course.  The Men's C race got heated up within the first of four laps as Payne and Billy got into a seven-man break about 6 miles into the race.  Payne rode strong and confidently again.  The break stayed away to the finish and Payne finished 2nd in the final sprint against three strong NCSU riders.  Billy dropped back to a six-man chase group to finish 11th.

    Adelaide and Jen braved the weather in the Women's C race, which started right after the Men's C and did 3 laps around the course.  Adelaide impressed us again by riding strong all the way through to the sprint, finishing with the B group.  Time to cat up Adelaide??

Congrats to Payne, Adelaide and the entire AU team that competed this weekend.  Great way to start the season.  I'm proud of everyone.
We'll be taking a week off.  Up next: Duke!!  Excited for some more hills and the TTT!!

Roll Tide!

New Website!

Don't forget to check out our new website!!!

American University Cycling Team

Bike-A-Thon

On Tuesday November 25th, we hosted our 4th annual Bike-A-Thon with HUGE success. Thank you to everyone who supported the team by bringing us food or giving a donation.  We were able to raise around $900 in total for the entire event.  This is the most that the team has ever raised from a given event. Thank You!

If you didn't hear, Greg Pape rode for 12 hours without taking a break.  He endured the hot sun, and a swarm of bees, while still being able to do his readings and plan a presentation for the next day.

West Virginia brings another win for Melissa!

This weekend began by celebrating Barry's 20th Birthday with a gourmet selection of food and beverages from the Dunkin Donuts/Gas station across from the hotel.

The crit was held Saturday morning and proved to be the longest day of racing yet this season, since several of our riders doubled up and raced in the USAC race in the afternoon.

Riley, Elliot, and Michael Norton were first off in the Mens D race.  A five man break away separated itself from the rest early on and fought hard to win prizes in each of the primes. Elliot finished strong with a 4th place finished with Riley finishing close behind him with a 9th place finish.

Barry raced in the Mens C category, despite feeling under the weather.  He fought hard, but had to pull out of the race due to illness.

Melissa was next off, racing in the women's B category. Melissa fought hard from the start and scored first in three out of the four primes and landed an astonishing second place finish.

Coby (the Boss)raced in the Mens B category where he proved how much of a boss he is and scored 19th.

After experiencing several mechanical issues with his bike, Greg raced with a mis-matched wheelset and still finished 8th.  Immediately after the A race finished, he rested for 20 minutes before heading out with the Cat 1/2/3 race and still managed to pull off a pack finish.

Barry demonstrated what a real man looks like by racing a second time in the Cat 3/4 race, while still feeling sick.  Unfortunately, he was unable unable to rid himself of his sickness in between his two races and had to pull out early again.

After icing and resting his knee, Elliot was ready to race in his first non-collegiate race ever.  He stayed with the front of the pack the entire race, until the last lap where a crash caused him to lose the leaders and finish at the tail end of the main group.

Feeling strong, Melissa attempted the Women's 1/2/3 race, where she stayed with the front of the group  and scored another top 5 finish.

After feeling exhausted from this long day of racing, we decided to celebrate in style at the Buffalo Wild Wings across from the hotel, where Barry demonstrated his true love for hot sauce.

On Sunday morning, the team woke up to a dense fog and drove through small back roads to make it to start point of the Mountaineer Classic Road Race.

Barry and Melissa were first off and showed true team spirit by working together the entire race, despite being in different categories. By working together Barry helped Melissa score her second road race win this season!

Riley, Elliot, and Michael Norton were second off in the Men's D category.  With Elliot's knee feeling weak, he lost the group on "the climb" and worked to chase them down with Riley for the remainder of the race where they scored 6th and 7th place.


Coby and Greg were next off  racing in the Men's B and A categories.  Coby experienced several mechanical issues and was still able to chase down the tail group and gain a full minute on them in a single lap.  Coby (the Boss) scored 17th overall despite having to stop twice for mechanical issues and working alone for most of the race.

An early attack occurred in Men's A, where a single rider gained 2 and half minutes on the main field with one lap to go.  By working together, the main field brought his lead to a more respectable 10 seconds in the last lap.

Once again exhausted from one of the hottest and longest race weekends this season, we packed up our cars, grabbed a nice meal, and rested our eyes on the long drive back home.

Brotherly love and bike racing, too!

AU Cycling sent several riders north to Philadelphia last weekend for the Philly Phlyer, re-affirming ECCC territory to be both “legit” and “heck-of-legit.” Following a restful night with Melissa’s family (thanks guys!), the first day of racing made thunder in Philadelphia’s West Fairmont Park in the form of a technical circuit race that made sure to keep the riders on their toes. Thankfully, crashes were few and the course’s layout encouraged gratuitous fracturing of race groups. Spectators: pleased. Temple University hosted a hard-won central-campus crit on Sunday - nice work!

It was Saturday that saw Melissa get 6th in the Bs in her combined Women’s A-B race!

Melissa Tabas' bike made motocycle sounds

Billy Hluchan, resolute of oomph and mighty of will, came back from a victory the previous week to snag seventh in the circuit race and fourth in the crit! Concerning the fourth place in the crit on Sunday: “I wasn’t in a good position coming around the last corner," Billy said. "There’s not enough room to set up AND make the move on that last straight before the line - you have to do that before you get there.”

Big Bad Buff Billy Boom Boom Boom

Coby Hutzler and Riley Spencer rode Bs and Ds, respectively, and used the weekend to look at birds and rehearse victory salutes at the back of the pack. Regarding plans for the coming season, Coby hopes to up his pre-race dosages of Euro Beats and Heavenly Visualizations, while Riley is eager to ride more and grow his fast. Who will improve? Tune in some other time!

Coby Hutzler thought about cheesesteak

All in all, a wonderfully-crafted two days of racing on the parts of Drexel, Penn, and Temple Cycling. Bravo! 

Grants Tomb - NYC - BILLY WINS!!!!!

A rest week in the ACCC left the American University Cycling Club looking elsewhere to race this past weekend.  Fortunately, the ECCC (our neighboring collegiate cycling conference) was hosting a race in the upper west side of New York City.

On Saturday, Greg Leach, Billy Hluchan, and Melissa Tabas ventured to NYC to race in the Big Apple.

Billy warming up - he must have known he was going to win

Billy Hluchan was the talk of the day with his first cycling victory in the Men's "D" race.  This also was Billy's second ever race!  Billy dodged a couple crashes throughout the circuit race that featured a technical corner and a gradual uphill rear straightaway.  Going into the last lap, with the field whittled down in half, Billy attacked out of the last corner and powered his way keeping his lead to the finish line, saving just enough energy to give a Jersey Shores style fist-pump at the finish line.  Congratulations Billy!

Billy's finishing fist pump!

Melissa's race was next in the combined Women's "A" and "B" field.  This was Melissa's longest criterium against the toughest field she has ever competed against.  Numerous attacks ensued from the start and Melissa rode strongly in the front group navigating the technical corner with precision.  About three quarters through the race the field split in two and Melissa got stuck behind another rider in the second group.  Unrelentingly Melissa pulled the second group through the next couple laps and bridged to the first group with a super strong pull.  Unfortunately the field then attacked and Melissa fell off the back of the first group gassed from her epic pull.  Melissa proceeded to finish in a field that eventually broke completely apart.  Way to go Melissa for riding strong in a super tough and fast race!

Last but not least was the Men's "A" race.  This was Greg's second race of the day having ridden the Pro/1/2 USA Cycling Race in the morning.  Greg displayed his epic power from the moment the gun went off.  Attacking, attacking, and attacking again.  Each time the hungry peloton followed until finally he was able to get away in a break-away of 5 riders.  The rest of the race the break-away tore around the course with the peloton viciously trying to catch the break.  However, on the last lap the break was caught.  Greg managed to power to the line and finish 8th.

All in all great day for the American University Cycling Team!!!