So, yeah, like I said:

     Pagoda Crit
     Men's B (45 starters)
          8th Joe Kopena (1 sprint pt)
          22nd Erik da Silva (2 sprint pts)


      Men's C (45 starters)
          1st Justin Kline (3 sprint pts)
          21st Chris Hair


      Men's D (32 starters)
          18th Mike Ondik


     Pagoda Circuit Race
     Men's B (35 starters)
          13th Joe Kopena
          29th Erik da Silva


      Men's C (32 starters)
          8th Justin Kline
          18th Chris Hair


      Men's D (41 starters)
          21st Mike Ondik

     -- Courses

     In a way, I think none of us were looking forward to this weekend. The Pagoda races are always cold, typically overcast, and frequently snowing, raining, and generally god-awful. My stronger memories of the course all run something like getting a flat and torquing a wheel on one of the many potholes on the back side; standing around in slush and ice getting changed for a silly 4 mile time trial; watching the clouds roll in and drown out precious little sun.

     All that being said, I think the weekend turned out pretty well. A little cold, but you've got to expect that on the Pagoda early in the spring. I don't think we could seriously complain about more or less sunny skies, no rain, and only a light sprinkling of snow at one point. However, the weather did play a big part: when we got there Saturday morning, the roads were iced over. This was pointed out quite quickly when Chris almost slammed the Caravan into Ondik's Hyundai on a patch of ice by the registration table. The early set up featured a steady stream of squealing brakes as every car coming up the hill locked up the brakes and slid out on it.

     Jim from PSU said we'd been good up until about 11 the night before. The roads were clear, then right around then as he was out sweeping corners a light snow came in and frosted them. This dusting of course turned to ice overnight. By 9:30 or so, it was pretty clear the planned road race around the mountain wasn't happening, it was too cold for the ice to melt enough. There was talk of doing the Pagoda time trial, but it would also have had to be moved because of ice.

     Somewhere along the way, somebody started talking about doing this ridiculous crit where you would come up the first third of the Pagoda hill, do a 180 in the Pagoda parking lot, charge down the hill to very narrow 90 degree turn into a triangular roundabout, and repeat as desired. In short, a course designed to have no fans whatsoever---too vertical for crit riders, too many sharp corners for hill riders. Plus, you'd be going up and down the same stretch of road with just the mostly faded out yellow line seperating the uphill and downhill, with plenty of chances in the corners and bends for a head-on. Not nearly as sick as Navy, but getting there.

     It was definitely twisted, but ultimately I think a pretty good course. Considering that they put it together on the spot, PSU and the officials did an awesome job salvaging a full weekend with this Saturday crit. Plus, on top of that, the ice cleared over Saturday and early Sunday so we got to have the road/circuit race as well.

     -- Cutes

     One of the interesting things about the crit course as a spectator was that since it went up and down the same road, you got to see the racers ridiculously frequently. I would be yelling at Justin, only to have to yell at him again a moment later as he came up the other side. Presumably because of this extra motivation and guidance, our little Cutes monstered yet another race. I think Justin probably strikes the perfect balance for that course---light enough to get up the hill, MTB enough to handle the corners, lazy enough to not try any stupid moves too early. Anyway, in his first C race, he ran pretty much a perfect race---grabbed some sprint points when it required no real effort to do so, but mostly just sat in there, waited for his chance, and then pounced really hard at the end and easily put the field away. It was pretty cool to watch him jump the field and no one respond as they went around the curve to the end.

     -- Jealousy

     For me, one of the real highlights of the weekend was the way everyone turned on Justin after the Saturday win. There were lots of cries of sandbagger, lazy, doper, and then it got even better as the critique broadened to include school (how could he do so well, he never does any work), girls (he clearly doesn't deserve Beth), and everything else imaginable. This went on all night. He of course responded with assinine arrogance in the form of biting comments like "Have a beer Joe, all the winners are!" Rumors abound that he tanked the Saturday race on purpose just so everyone would leave him alone.

     -- Team-kill

     The B race also featured its share of Drexel excitement, although mostly not in any good way. The high point was probably when Erik and I collided in the top roundabout, nearly creaming another guy and sending me into the guardrail. Actually, it wasn't so bad except that it put me behind and I had to spend several laps catching back up to the lead group. The combination of the course being really narrow, riders coming head-on at each other, each end having sharp and/or fast corners, and the climb socking it to people meant that there were a lot of crashes and sketching riding. In the second lap, a UNH rider just fell over on the hill by the finish line. I thought my race was done as he hit me and my rear wheel, but I kept it upright just long enough to make it up the hill, around the corner, and right into Erik. The rider had knocked my foot out and I guess I hadn't gotten it really back on before the corner. Half way through it came out again, and I went way off track, cutting almost straight across the course into Erik. We of course had been planning this, and as I reclipped and held up the pack, Erik took off on a charge down the hill, caught the two leaders, and headed off on a break that lasted several laps and racked up a couple points. Fortunately though, he soon came to his senses, realized that if he kept it up people might start thinking he likes hill, and came back to the group along with the other two.

     -- Peeps

     In general, I think everyone had a really good weekend of racing. Mike put in a great ride on Sunday's hilly road course and then headed off to do more for kicks. Chris also put in a great showing after upgrading to C this weekend. I'm really enjoying everybody doing well and it's neat to have notable riders in multiple categories.

     -- Gear

     One of the commandmants Darco tells new racers, and rightfully so, is something like "Never play with your bike the night before a race!" I hear he's even started adding in an extra note to not listen to or be like Joe Kopena in this matter. I thought this was pretty funny when Chris told me Darco said this at the tuturial ride he ran a while ago, it all came back to bite me when it turned out my rear brake had been rubbing the whole Saturday race. I'm going to say it's because of the UNH guy falling into me, but I'll have to admit to taking apart my whole drivetrain and whatnot the night before...

     -- Home

     Of course, the best part of the Pagoda races is staying at the da Silvas. This year was no exception, especially as I got to sleep in the office, away from the dogs and Justin. We even got Najeeb to come up for the night, after apparently being lost for a long time, then turning part of the way back home, then deciding he'd come too far to quit, and finally making it after I had finally been forced to give up on waiting for him and went to bed.

     So, for the guys that don't know, the past couple years I've taken up cooking with reasonably success. For a twenty-something bachelor college student, I can cook pretty well. But, it constantly impresses me how the things I make just aren't as impressive or good as what moms make. As an example, I have no idea what was in Momma da Silva's chili on Saturday, but it was awesome although as usual we all ate way too much. Interestingly, Katy's chili has changed my outlook on race food since the first time we crashed there two years ago (the chili is a staple of this race-weekend visits). On the road it's a constant stream of pasta because that's dependable and a largely known quantity. At home though, I often now have chili or a tofu/rice based dish for dinner before a Fed race.

     It's also interesting to note that this weekend, with his parents watching, Erik actually put half an effort into getting ready in time for the race. Of course, they can't be fooled and his true nature shown through when he decided to get off the trainer because it was too early, took off some of his gear, and then didn't get back on and wound up rushing to the start line at the last moment as usual.

     -- The Real Prize

     In addition to stripping my bike down the evening before the race, I was also stupid Friday night and Saturday morning, not eating much for dinner and then chugging a lot of caffeinated tea on the drive to the race. My stomach was doing loops all day, and I spent a lot of time in the Portajohn. I made it through the race ok, but let's just say afterward was less than pleasant. Justin may have won the race, but for once in team history, I hands-down won the weekly contest of who can produce the most noxious fumes. It was pretty brutal. I was so glad Katy's chili isn't very spicy-hot. The solid dinner with a rice base went a long way toward settling things down and is pretty much the only reason I made it through the next morning.

     --- Wrap

     So, that's it for the second weekend of racing. Next week a bunch of us will be away for spring break and work trips, but it should still be exciting as a number of the new guys will be making the trip. I'm looking forward to the new term starting and a couple more people coming out regularly as we head into the serious and very awesome road races in the last half of the season.