With Dedicated Training, Cycling Dominates Their Races Against Andover, Proctor and KMS
This past Saturday, the varsity cycling team traveled to Grafton Notch in Maine to compete against teams such as Proctor, Andover and KMS. Big Red’s squad raced extremely well, with numerous impressive performances from many riders on the team.
“The race at Gould went particularly well for Exeter,” upper Erick Friis said.
"Even though we didn't win any of the races, our team's depth allowed us to score points across the board, while other schools only score points in one or two races with their best riders.”
Although Exeter was lacking its captain, the team still gave it their all. “Our captain, Rohan Pavuluri, was at Mock Trial Championships in Wisconsin, but that didn't stop us from going hard,” Friis continued.
The course was a 23 mile track, with a number of hills interspersed throughout the race. Three of the boys managed to stick with the front pack, and finished with a very respectable performance. “Nik [Bergill], Daiter and I rode with the Boys A pack, which stayed together all the way until the sprint finish, where we placed, 7, 12, and 6 respectively,” Friis said.
Friis went on to discuss some of the things about cycling that differ from many of the traditional sports we see here at Exeter. “Cycling is an interesting sport because all of the schools come to all of the races. This allows us to get to know our competition, and some of them are really chill guys. In particular, the Andover riders like to chat before and after the races, and we sometimes work together with them.”
While some might not expect it, cycling employs a fair amount of strategy, and our riders are no strangers to this concept. “Nik and I ran a strategy of sitting in the back of the pack in order to use the least amount of energy throughout the race and then let loose all of our energy for the sprint finish,” Friis said of his race. ”Sitting in the back of the pack uses less energy because the forward riders take all of the wind resistance, leaving almost no work for the rear riders. However, we have to constantly be ready to avoid a crash, which could happen farther up in the pack.”
The girls' A team also had a great race, with upper Cornelia Smith placing fourth, lowers Tessa Vaccaro and Stajz Saar placing sixth and seventh respectively. Prep Christine Hu also came through with a great time, finishing in ninth place overall. “The girls on the team are all still pretty new to cycling and they've quickly gotten very good at it,” senior Nik Bergill said. “It's always fun to watch them race.”
This season has been a fantastic one for Exeter’s cycling squad. The team has been racking up the points, and training hard every day. “Point wise, this season seems to be the best one I've ever been a part of,” Bergill said of this spring season. “We have a very balanced team with strong and consistent riders across all divisions. It's been a ton of fun to race with this team and I couldn't have asked for a better group of people to finish my Exeter cycling career with.”