LEHIGH/ BUCKNELL 2006RACE REPORT

By Zach Byers

It was evident from the beginning that the Lehigh/Bucknell race weekend would be interesting just an hour into the drive to Lehigh. In a sheer collection of coincidences that can only be described as unbelievable, the team was held to a standstill in highway traffic to find nothing other than the van of the Pitt women’s Ultimate Frisbee team to the left and a giant open field next to the highway on the right. An unforgettable evening of Ultimate Frisbee ensued until traffic resumed an hour later. Back in the van the team was laughing and reflecting on how the first three race weekends had gone off without a hitch and everything seemed to be wonderful. It was like nothing could possible go wrong…
But things work in mysterious ways. Just ten minutes from Paul’s house (by house I mean castle) in Lehigh, a nagging bumpy road contributed to loosen a skewer and send Noah’s Ksyrium SL careening down the highway from the top of the van that had been traveling at no less than 80 miles per hour. A desperate Noah and a coalition of Pitt cyclists ran down the side of the highway at 10:00 at night with nothing but a flashlight and hope to find the wheel lying peacefully on its side perfectly fine. None of us could believe it either.
Finally, the team arrived at the aforementioned Schauerman castle. I mean it when I say that this country chateau was straight out of MTV’s Cribs. Sweetening the night was the long awaited arrival of our very own jerseys.
It might have been the fantastic night’s sleep he had, or the EPO laced rice concoction he has every race morning, but whatever it was, Dan Doan managed to pull off yet another win in the men’s D class criterium on a beautiful mountain top course put together by Lehigh. Jordan (?) and Nick Parton came in 7th and 8th respectively and Zachary Byers and Paul Schauerman rounded out the Pittsburgh cycling team’s D class results at 11th and 13th place.
Also featured in the Lehigh crit was the first appearance of our very own track-standing-on-a-road-bike rider, Evan Perrone. It was probably a little first-race anxiety, but after the first lap, Perrone was leading the C class crit by very sizeable gap. As was anticipated, Perrone was eventually caught by the peloton after a few laps, but still made a great first showing finishing (?).
I would go on to Bucknell now, but the lunchtime, photo album antics put on by Paul’s mom must be mentioned because they may have taken the focus off of Noah’s ballet slipper episode. It’s still up for debate, but childhood pictures of Paul in women’s clothing are priceless regardless.
The team arrived at Zach’s house next to Bucknell just in time to soak up and hour-long joy ride through beautiful, traffic free country roads any cyclist could appreciate.
Bucknell’s circuit race was held on their gorgeous campus with plenty of quick turns and undulations to split a pack in half; and it did almost immediately in the men’s D class race. Taking advantage of a crash on the last turn of the last lap, Paul Schauerman made up for what he saw as a disappointing performance the day before and what we saw as an embarrassing picture by finishing second.
After two wins in three weeks, Doan moved to C class to accompany Perrone. After a few laps, Perrone found himself caught in a gap between a breakaway group of six and the rest of the field and decided to stay there for the entire race, doubtlessly doing much more work than anyone else in the race. He crossed the line in 6th place while doing cycling’s version of the robot – probably one of the funniest things I’ve ever witnessed on a bicycle. Finding the C class accelerations challenging, but not succumbing to them, Doan pleased himself and took 8th place, finishing in the pack just behind Evan.
Happy with a great weekend of good places and good luck, the Pitt cycling team looks forward to one of it’s shortest road trips on the ECCC calendar and hopes to do even better next week at Penn State.