Cycling Impresses at Gould Despite Missing Leaders

Cycling travelled to Gould on Saturday to face its road racing squad. Despite constant rain during the race, PEA’s cyclists stayed sharp and dominated the road. In their five different races, Big Red took two victories over all the other schools at the race.Out on the road, some of the PEA cyclists were concerned by the wet conditions. Upper Alan Guo, who came in first place in the Boys C race, said, “The conditions required us to be mentally tough. The temperature was low with a decent amount of wind and rain, and almost all of us had come underprepared for the weather.”Lower Erick Friis, a newcomer to the cycling team, also added, “This was our first race with rain, so it was pretty miserable. It was very cold and wet.” Along with the bad weather conditions, many racers also had difficulty seeing through their fogged-up glasses. Yet with all these different conditions, Big Red pushed through, overcame adversity and broke out for one of the team’s best overall showings of the year.But the cyclists had to deal with more than just the weather. Due to the Mock Trial Nationals Tournament, three teammates—Joon Yang, Rohan Pavuluri and Gene Young—were unable to compete in Saturday’s race at Gould. Their absence affected a lot of the team.“Our team felt a lot smaller without them. They bring a lot of spirit and motivations to the group, and we all missed them a lot,” prep Stajz Staar said. However, the team did not consider taking the day off just because their three teammates were away.“It was sad they weren’t there, but they were there in spirit,” lower Cornelia Smith said.During Saturday’s road race, many individuals stepped up big for the team. One of those individuals was upper Matthew Daiter, who won first place in the Boys A race. He broke away early in the race and rode the entire course solo without ever seeing another racer pass him. He crossed the finish line over a minute before any other racer.Along with Daiter, many other racers did well. In the Boys B race, Friis and upper Nik Bergil placed third and fourth, respectively. In the Boys C race, Guo took home first. Then in Girls A, Smith and Saar finished fifth and sixth, respectively.Overall, Saturday’s race at Gould was a great race for the team. Before then, PEA was ranked fourth in the New England Road Cycling League, but after their strong showing they have moved up to third. They now trail just Gould and Holderness in the overall standings.Looking forward, Exeter Cycling looks forward to continuing their momentum from Gould into their road race next Wednesday, May 22, at the New England Road Cycling League Championship at Loudon.