Saturday, November 8, 2008

Thanks Saris!

After coming off of a strong 2007 season, the UCVC had its eyes set on another successful season for 2008.  The club attracted a record number of 90 members this year, ranging from elite racers to newbie’s having recently acquired road bikes.  The enthusiasm and skills of our racing members promised a successful season ahead for the collegiate racing team.

The biggest obstacle that we face at the University of Chicago is the endless winter that begins as early as October and can last well into April. A good 6 months of icy bike paths and frigid temps is enough to wipe out early season enthusiasm that forms under the sunny skies and beautiful weather of September.  In the past, group rides fizzled out as temperatures became unbearable and our riders were left to figure out how to stay in shape and get ready for the first collegiate races on their own. 

Luckily, this year we had a generous Saris Sponsorship to help us form team indoor training sessions.  With a fleet of Fluid2 Trainers and Aluminum Rollers, UCVC indoor training sessions began!  For some it was their first indoor riding experience on trainers, and for many it was their first attempt at rollers (which aren’t as hard as they look).  Often riding inside can be a gloomy winter experience, but being able to ride together with teammates made for fun times.

Winter training helped the team come together and kept the enthusiasm for racing high throughout the winter.  We had a record 9 riders come out to the first race in March, with 5 racers competing in their first ever road race!  We even came home from the weekend with two 1st place finishes and a 3rd and a 4th.  (Thanks to the Saris racks, we were able to easily transport the bikes to all our races!)  The success continued throughout the season for our racers, with 23 top-five finishes overall.  The strong results were enough for our team to win the D2 MWCCC Championship!  In addition, we had one rider win the women’s D2 MWCCC Championship and sent 3 riders to nationals. 

All of our Collegiate National Participants spent the season training on Cyclops Powertaps.  For Aspen Gorry and Carly Schuster, it was their first time competing at Nationals.  Devon Haskell returned after finishing 4th overall at last year’s nationals.  This year she came in 4th in the criterium and won the road race.  Her placings earned her the Omnium National Championship! 

Overall, UCVC has had their best year to date.  Thanks again for the Saris sponsorship.  The quality trainers, high-tech power taps, and easy to use racks certainly helped us in our successful season.


UCVC gives their pre-race prediction as they warm up on Cyclops Fluid Trainers




Saris trainers are great for warming up on cold days...



... and for downtown crits when there are no good roads to warm up on...


Thanks Saris!!

5 comments:

Jeff Norris said...

I love Saris products. My powertap never leaves my road bike, and I love having a set of their rollers in my living room for those days that are just too gross to go outside.

Aspen said...

Thank you Saris. The trainers provided an excellent resource for the team to train inside together all weekend. Many of us were much improved after dedicating time to train indoors. Moreover, training with power last year made me a much stronger rider. Keep making the great products!

Evolver said...

Training with the Powertap has helped me get the most out of my limited training time. I recommend it to everyone I ride with. The support emails are also helpful and they keep the training interesting. Thank you Saris!

Carly Schuster said...

When we got a training space at the University of Chicago last winter I was so excited! I love my Saris fluid-ops trainer, but it's so much more fun to push those January intervals with some friends for encouragement. I started the collegiate season twice as strong as I was in October because of our winter training program. And in the spring when I got my power-tap hub I brought my training to a whole new level. It's a great way to track my progress and makes workouts almost (*gasp*) fun! Thanks Saris for putting out some great products!

Forester said...

I purchased a Powertap to keep me occupied while riding the CycleOps Al-rollers during winter -- the power readings were fantastic motivation. On the road it has been even better because no matter how depressing the headwinds were coming down the lakeshore, I could tell if I was actually working hard or just getting psyched out. Thank you Saris!