Click on Thumbnails for Larger Image
 Navy Men's B Team waiting for the start of the Crit. |  Jonathan, Mitchell and Ryan of the Men's A team waiting for their Crit. to Start. |
 Men's A's Crtierium in progress near start in poring down rain. |  Jonathan and Ryan coming around a curve in the Criterium. |
 Wide angle of the whole field with Jonathan and Ryan coming around a curve in the Criterium. |  Robin Moder (Women's B's) waiting the start of her Criterium. |
 Robin Moder in Criterium. |  Amy Alexander in the Woman's A's Criterium with support from the team coach Navy Commander Whisenhant. |
 Susan Richardson in the Woman's A's Crtierium. |  Getting ready for the race: Ryan, Amy, Jonathan, Mitchell and Commander Whisenhant. |
 Warming up for the Team Time Trial, center picture is Jonathan Mason talking to his sister. |  Jonathan, Mitchell and Ryan crossing the finish line with the winning time for Men's A's. |
 Amy and Susan posing after wining the Woman's A's Team Time Trial. |  Robin, Commander Whisenhant, Amy and Susan posing after a hard day of 1st the morning Criterium in the rain and then the Team Time Trials. Robin also took 1st place for the Woman's B's in Team Time Trials. |
 Robin, Commander Whisenhant, Amy and Susan clowning around. |  Start of Men's A's Road Race with Ryan McFeely (2C) in foreground. |
 Men's A's rounding a curve in the Road Race, Ryan McFeely center. |  Men's A's rounding a curve in the Road Race, Mitchell Clement center. |
 A group of Men's B's rounding a curve in the Road Race. |  A group of Men's B's rounding a curve in the Road Race. |
 Amy Alexander rounding a curve on the Women's A's Road Race. |  Amy Alexander rounding just a few miles short of the finish line on her way to winning 1st place for Navy Women A's. |
 Thomas Simonson, Amy Alexander, Susan Richardson and Bobby Tuohy take a much needed rest after a grueling Road race. |  Chris Gavieres, Rich Gillis and Charles Kruezberger warning up for the Men's C's Road Race. |
Navy Cycling
Erie, Pennsylvania - April 2006
The Navy Cycling Team had their sights set on 1st place, but still enjoyed some major successes these past 2 weeks. The last couple of weekends have been major ones in the life of Navy Cycling.
First of all was the Navy team showing at the "Tour of the Hurst" in Erie, Pennsylvania hosted by the Mercyhurst Cycling Team (Mercyhurst College) for the Eastern Collegiate Cycling Conference (ECCC). The USNA team belongs to the Atlantic Coast Cycling Conference (ACCC). Unfortunately, the team and college that were scheduled to host the ACCC April 15/16 weekend canceled. A small group of our Navy Mids decided, rather than waste all of their training, to register and compete in the ECCC event. Besides helping them stay in top form, the ECCC event had the additional benefit of allowing them to compete against Army which also competes in the ECCC. It was an exciting race weekend, and to put it mildly, Navy dominated over Army the entire weekend.
In the individual time trial event (Saturday morning) Jonathan Mason (2C) and Ryan McFeely (3C) tied for 3rd place with the team captain, Mitchell Clement (1C) taking 4th place.
In the Road Race event (also Saturday) Ryan McFeely took 3rd place, followed by Jonathan Mason in 4th, and Mitchell Clement in 8th place.
For the Men's B's, Thomas Simonson (3C) took 5th place.
Easter Sunday saw a little break in the competition as a top rider from Cornell (who also races on the Canadian National team) did not participate (he went home as he doesn't compete in Criteriums). A Criterium race was held Sunday at the Erie Motor Speedway. The motor speedway was a treat compared to the typical street course that is normally setup for this kind of event.
Again, Navy dominated the competition with Ryan McFeely winning the Criterium, and amassing enough points overall to take 1st place for the entire weekend. Jonathan Mason finished the weekend just a single point behind Ryan, with Army no where in sight. Jonathan Mason followed in 3rd place for the Criterium, and Mitchell Clement took 7th place. In Men's B's, Thomas Simonson took 4th, and Robert Tyohy (3C) took 6th place. Not to be outdone by the men, Amy Alexander (3C) took 2nd place in the Women's A's.
All in all, the Navy team did quite well at the ECCC weekend. Not bad for visitors from a neighboring conference.
The following weekend, April 22/23, the entire Navy cycling team traveled to Morgantown, West Virginia for the ACCC Championship hosted by West Virginia University. Saturday started with the Criterium in the morning and Team Time Trials in the late afternoon. Sunday's event was a grueling road race that was nearly 60 miles for the Men's A team. This was the conference championship event so doing well in this competition also determined who will go to the National Collegiate Cycling Championship (NCCA) to be held in May on the 11th through the 14th.
Following are some of the highlights of
the ACCC Championships:
The Criterium was held south of Morgantown at the Arthurdale Heritage Center
(of Eleanor Roosevelt fame). It was pouring down rain, which took a toll on
all of the riders. Mechanical failures and crashes are the two other curses
of cycling, and Jonathan Mason was plagued by flat tires in both the
Criterium and Road Race.
For Men's A Team, Mitchell Clement (1C) placed 4th.
For Men's B Team, Andrew Lawrence (2C) took 9th, and for Men's C Team,
Charles Jones (4C) placed 5th.
We have a small but exceptionally strong Women's A Team with Amy Alexander
(3C) taking 3rd place, and Susan Richardson (2C) placing 6th.
Rounding out the Criterium was the Women's B Team with Robin Moder (3C)
taking 9th.
After a soggy start for the ACCC event Saturday morning, the Team Time Trials got underway at 4pm. The streets were dry, and the Navy Men and Women would again dominate. The Team Time Trials were held north of Morgantown right about at the Pennsylvania border.
In the Team Time Trials, the teams are let off in staggered starts of 2 minute intervals. The Navy A Team, of Mitchell, Jonathan and Ryan took of like a rocket passing the team that was 2 minutes ahead of them, and winning the event for their class. Likewise, the Women's A Team of Amy and Susan took 1st in their class, and Robin Moder clinched 1st place for the Women's B Team class.
The Men's B Team of Andrew Lawrence (2C), Kirby Mills (2C), Matt Cousins (2C) and Adam Watters (2C) took 3rd place in their class.
Wining the race in your class is one thing, but placing high also wins points that count towards the overall weekend results. By now, Navy had amassed enough points that if they had a successful Road Race they could exit the weekend as the ACCC conference champions.
Sunday's Road Race was across the border in Pennsylvania, starting at the Mason Dixon Park in West Virginia. A couple of thunderstorms in the morning threatened a repeat of the Saturday morning rain, but fortunately the storms passed quickly, and the skies cleared. The course was a pretty grueling 20 mile loop with over 600 feet in total elevation changes. Getting to the loop was 7 mile stretch of road for both the start and finish. The plan for the Men's A riders was to begin on the 7 mile stretch, then 3 laps of the 20 mile loop; and then finish up back on the 7 mile stretch. The Men's B riders and Women's A riders rode together, and on the same course as the Men's A riders, but they only did 2 laps of the 20 mile loop. The Men's C riders and Women's B riders also rode together and only did one lap of the 20 mile loop.
ACCC Final Results:
Mitchell and Ryan finished 6th and 7th for the Men's A team riders.
Amy finished 1st for the Women's A's with Susan taking 3rd.
Robin took 4th for the Women's B's.
The strong Navy finishes in the ACCC Championships put Navy in 1st place for
the championship weekend, but they didn't amass enough points to take the
overall conference championship and were edged into 2nd place by Virginia
Tech. for the 2006 racing season.
Overall it was a great weekend, as it is always amazing to see the
athleticism and endurance of all of these college kids, not just Navy. But,
Navy can especially be proud of their cycling team which not only delivered
a strong performance in their own conference, but also beat Army the
weekend before at the ECCC event. If you ever get a chance to watch one of
these cycling events, come on out. I highly recommend it.
David McFeely
Ryan 08/18
San Jose, CA
05/03/06