Nationals!

This past weekend, the UA Cycling Team sent 6 riders (Shelby Hoglund, Allison Alterman, Joey Iuliano, Andrew Keller, David Carlson, and Jake McLaughlin) to collegiate road nationals in Ogden, Utah.

The team left for Utah on Thursday taking the scenic route around the eastern Grand Canyon and through Southern Utah- quite the views up north for sure! We took ample stops to stretch the legs and take in the scenery since it was a 13 hour drive.

On Friday the team had the team time trials and the new individual time trials on Antelope Island. The men's team didn't have too much time to practice since the final roster wasn't decided until a day before the trip, so 20 minutes prior to start time was our first and only practice. Given 3 of the 4 members were new to the event, we were somewhat pleased with out time of 46:49 good for 17th. It served as a good motivator for next year's TTT since we will be able to practice together during the off-season. The ITT's were a little more eventful. Shelby and Allison finished 18th and 19th while on the men's side yours truly finished 14, David Carlson 20th, and Jake in 30th.

Saturday's criterium proved to be a challenging and fast course: T-shape with a slight uphill, smooth pavement and wide streets for the most part. Shelby took part in the very fast women's DI crit, finishing 62nd. For the guys, David had an untimely crash mid race (thankfully he was ok), and myself and Jake had a tough time dealing with starting last row coming in 110 and 108. Our lone survivor of the race was Andrew who did an excellent job avoiding the two to go carnage and finished  78th after losing a few spots.

Sunday's road race was held in one of the most scenic locations we've ever raced in. Shelby and Allison took part in the women's race. Both hung tough through the initial laps and up through the start of the steep climb- which featured a blistering headwind on top of 8% grades. Shelby finished 67th and Allison had to withdraw due to equipment difficulties. The men's D1 race had over 160 starters and rolled through the early laps at a brisk pace (well over 25 mph). David was the team's best finisher at 52, Jake in at 119 and Andrew at 145.

All in all, it was a very good experience for the team- especially since many members on the team started racing this spring. Everyone is excited and motivated for nationals next year which is in Richmond, VA.