Columbia Crushes at Home Race Please visit our photo gallery. March 24, 2009 - Columbia University Cycling took 7th overall on some solid team riding but struggled with some bad luck at races hosted by University of Delaware over the weekend. Columbia is currently in the lead of the Ivy League and in third place in the conference. On the first day of racing the teams took on a rolling road race course. This marked the beginning of Columbia's mixed luck. Matt Lewis crashed in the men's D race but got up and was able to take 6th. In the women's B race, Shane Ferro got into the winning breakaway while Carrie Savage blocked the heck out of the chasers, but Ferro had to leave it due to a flat. The men's B race was more straightforward, with Corey Williams playing a canny game of survival to finish 6th. In the men's A race, Alex Bremer got into a breakaway. When a group of strong riders went ahead to chase, Dave Wiswell marked them. Along the way to the front, an irate Maryland State police officer buzzed Wiswell's group repeatedly, causing Wiswell to leave the race. Bremer went on to win the race, thankfully. The next morning the 6.5 mile rolling time trial didn't go so smoothly for Bremer or Tony Hall. They were misdirected off the course by the marshals. The rest of the Lions stumbled in fatigue and refocused on the critierum.That afternoon a highly technical criterium contained a variety of other miscues. But several Lions prevailed. Dave Carbonell scored a big win in only his third race in the men's C category. This week Columbia travels to Philadelphia for races hosted by several schools in the area. The Lions have won this race weekend in each of the past two seasons but they may suffer by some of their past successes. Several of the Lions also ride for semi-professional teams that are racing in California this week at the Redlands Classic. |