Philly Phlyer - First ECCC Race 2017

The first race in the ECCC series: The Philly Phlyer, took place over last weekend. On Saturday March 18th, the UTRR racers were faced with wet pavement, drizzling rain, and cold conditions. Nevertheless, they gathered near the starting line, and prepared themselves for not only the first race of the year, but for many, their first race ever.

Team Time Trial

The first event of the race, the Team Time Trial, began at 8:00am. Despite the uncomfortable weather, and some coordination challenges from a lack of practice, the UTRR racers got into their aero positions, and began churning out some serious wattage. After a wet descend, 4 sketchy (and sometimes poorly marshalled) U-turns, and a climb right at the end of the course, the UTRR TTT teams managed to secure a sixth place in men’s Cat A, a third place in men’s Cat D, and an incredible first place in Women’s D! Not too shabby for a racing team that was formed only 3 months ago.

Road Race

The second event of the race: The Schuykill Scramble circuit race, began approximately one hour after the TTT races. The first mass-start race of the year meant a fair bit of nervous riding and sketchy bike handling from many riders. Crashes from a touch of wheels happened throughout the afternoon, and overcooked corners were seen after almost every single descent. Unfortunately, the first crash in the men’s Cat. D race brought down Jansson, and after getting up he had to continue in the race as the very last rider on the road, minutes away from the rest of the pack. However, through sheer determination he was able to chase back, finish together with several other UTRR racers in the same category, and dropped 9 other riders in the process. In the end, the UTRR racers achieved fantastic results in the road race as well, especially with top-10 finishes from Valina and Donna.

Recovery Day

The third event of the race: The Temple University Criterium, was supposed to take place on Sunday March 19th. However, this event was cancelled due to concern for weather conditions, and as a result the UTRR racers had a chance to enjoy the roads around the Philly area, experiencing smooth surfaces (with a sprinkle of cobbled sections) and rolling terrain that are almost unheard of in Toronto. The weather turned out to be very agreeable as well, and the entire day was an excellent chance for the team to relax before the long ride home.