Mercer hosts SECCC Championship in spring finale

With the highest turnout in Southeastern Collegiate Cycling Conference history, Mercer Cycling successfully hosted the final race of the spring road season with a time trial, criterium, and road race over the course of Saturday and Sunday.

With nearly 155 riders and 23 schools in tow, Saturday morning’s time trial was delayed by an hour due to inclement weather. As soon as the weather passed over though, the action got hot on the back roads of Twiggs County as the team time trials and individual time trials got under way. Racing as Mercer’s lone entry in the individual time trial, Andrew Lockwood would post the 6th fastest time in the Men’s B time trial that morning, averaging slightly less than 22 mph over the 17.5 mile rolling-hill course.

Moving to the confines of Tattnall Square Park for Saturday afternoon’s criterium events, the spectators came out in droves to watch the five races of six categories zoom around the 0.7 mile loop with average speeds hovering between 25-28 mph for most of the afternoon. Sophomore Austin Sholly made the most of his showing in Men’s C criterium, controlling the race at points in route to sprinting to a 12th place finish.

Lockwood and teammate Gabe Denes would enter the Men’s B criterium with a competitive field that included stacked teams from Brevard College, Lees-McRae College, and Florida State. After fighting for position in the mid-pack in the opening laps, Lockwood would get stuck behind two riders that touched wheels, crashing and losing some skin in the process.

Taking the free lap that comes with a crash, the wheel pit mechanics worked on Lockwood’s bike, getting him back in the race at the tail end of the peloton. Denes worked up front in the top positions halfway through the 45 minute ordeal as Lockwood would zoom by at the 30 minute mark to take 2nd in a points premium, but in terms of a final result, the Mercer boys were outmatched by the likes of the schools with larger teams. Denes would take 14th while Lockwood came in at 20th in the 33 man field.

Elizabeth Lee, looking for a strong ride before her second consecutive nationals appearance in Madison, Wisconsin sat in the field for a majority of the Women’s A criterium finishing 7th at the field sprint.

Sunday’s road race would prove to be the most challenging event of the weekend as the riders circled a 15.5 mile course with several steep hills around the kaolin mines five miles from the city limits of Gordon for several laps depending on the length of their race. Austin Sholly rode another strong race, garnering a 5th place in the Men’s B group while Elizabeth Lee would take 9th in the Women’s A race. Lockwood and Denes would round out the main field in the Men’s B race with 23rd place and 21st place finish respectively.

With the SECCC Championship complete, Mercer Cycling turns their sights to three final events in the spring before their summer hiatus in which they’ll race individually. Athens Twilight (April 30), Historic Roswell Criterium (May 1), and the Macon State Championships (May 7) round out the team’s calendar for the spring season with the final race taking place around Tattnall Square Park.

Hosted by the Georgia Neurological Institute Cycling team (also known as the ‘Spine Team’), the ProGold Georgia State Criterium Championship will bring another elite group of cyclists to Macon to compete for a state championship including Mercer Cycling’s best riders. For more details of the race, visit the team’s webpage at http://mercercycling.blogspot.com.

Boys of spring hit Sunny King

-Anniston, AL-
Quickly gained recognition as one of the top Criterium races in the country, the Sunny King Criterium last weekend saw huge fields, hot weather, and a ton of locals who turned out to watch the top pro teams battle it out in the nightcap.
But before the pros hit the course, Andrew Lockwood and Gabe Denes made an appearance in the black and orange for their final tune-up before next week’s SECCC Championship held in Macon. With director sportif Kevin Roberts on hand, recently out of action due to tendinitis in his right knee, Lockwood took the course first in the Category 4 race that featured nearly 60 talented riders from across the southeast, including entries from SECCC schools Florida State, Alabama-Huntsville, and University of Alabama.

Racing from the back of the field, Lockwood moved up throughout the first few laps of the 45 minute race, carrying himself to as high as 10th in the large peloton, but struggled with positioning on the fast four-corner course.

“I really like the outside groove on the circuit, but there were always surges within the race on the inside, so positioning was a tough battle throughout the race,” Lockwood said following the race held in the 87 degree weather.

“I gave it my best effort, but I wanted to use today’s race to prep for the SECCC Championship next weekend as well as the Criterium races throughout the next month. The result wasn’t what I was necessarily looking for, but I was glad to finish with the lead group,” Lockwood added.

On the last lap of the race, Lockwood would fall to the back of the lead group to cross the line in 24th position.

Gabe Denes would then represent Mercer next in his first Category 3 race since moving up a category following his recent win in Dalton. Stockpiled with talent, the Category 2/3 race featured over 100 riders on strong regional teams including Macon’s own Georgia Neurological Institute cycling team. After a crash midway through the race, Denes, along with fellow Maconites Jake Andrews, Trey Crisp, and Drew Slocum, were placed back in the race with 40 other riders to effectively change the course of the race. The Spine team’s John Stowe put a large gap on the field until the last two laps in which he was reeled back in by the field. Denes would place 26th in the bunch group at the conclusion.

Local pro rider Christian Parrett would finish at the back of the Pro-1 field after moving to as high as 2nd with three laps to go in the event’s finale.

Denes scores top ten, Lockwood 'blows engine' at GT

- Handy, GA -

The weather on Saturday was perfect. Sunny, 75 degrees, with a slight breeze coming in from the northeast. It was a perfect setup. The weather could not be better in the booming metropolis of Handy, GA. With specialized bike in tow, Gabe Denes and Andrew Lockwood entered the 30 man field “B” race, and just like at the Nascar and Talladega tracks, a crash happened within 15 seconds of being “un-neutralized.” There were many four letter words shouted, many deralleurs broken, and a few wheels snapped. The Collegiate B category really knows how to tear up some bikes.

Lockwood reflected, “It was like Darwinian cycling: weeding out the weaklings at the very beginning.” Luckily, with expert mountain bike skills, Denes used one of the downed Lee’s McRae riders as a jump and did a tailwhip over the rest of the carnage. After landing perfectly, he moved up to the front and took a monster pull to decimate the pack’s size.

Lockwood and Denes then teamed together to weed out the mere mortals and milk the lactic acid out of their bulging legs. …And then Lockwood decided to pull out early. “Let’s just be honest. I blew my engine way early in the race. I gotta slow up on them dat gum Thursday world’s rides. But I would like to thank all my sponsors who made it possible for me to have a wonderful first lap. I looked REALLY hot on my new bike, and without my new sponsors, this never would have been possible. My sponsors include: Gu energy labs, Francars Buffalo Wings Rick “TrainedByCain” Cain, College Hill Alliance, and and the boys back at Bike Tech of Macon. I want to give a special thanks to Jittery Joes. Their brew really gave me a great pre-race stew today. My triceps cramped up, because I had been benching just too much this week in my attempt to get big arms for Monica (Lockwood's wife).”

Denes had a great race, putting the hurt on the field with the help of Luke Correale from College of Charleston. The race was brutally hot and brutally fast. Denes recalls: “I remember getting on the front during the 3rd lap and pulling the pack up to 38mph as we entered the feed zone. It was quite fun, making people suffer, trying to get grasp of their feeds while going 30+ mph.”

The end of the race ended in a sprint finish, with a leadout from another team illegally crossing the line at 1k to go. Denes ended up with a 10th place finish and some dead legs. Lockwood landed in 20th after hurting in a solo comeback attempt during the final four laps.

The Bears will recuperate for the next SECCC events to come soon, training in Bolingbroke and around Macon.

Denes scores third in Albany

- Albany, GA -

Race report courtesy of Gabriel Denes:

"The race was definitely a fun one today. I actually started with the group this time. It was a relatively easy start, we just motored in a big group at about 40 kilometers per hour. Once the real racing begun to flare up, some real taticality began to form. I stayed real close to Trey Crisp from Georgia Neuro and Michael York from Georgia CycleSport and we made several attacks off the front. Unfortunately, nothing stuck and I began to prepare for a sprint finish. I with about 5k to go, I started carefully moving to the front along the yellow line. I knew the wheel to have: the second place finisher from yesterday. I knew he had a wicked kick and figured I could hold his wheel for at least 100m. Sure enough, at 350m to go, he went. He had a monster kick and pulled way left of the group. I only had enough gas to hold his wheel until the end, and sure enough, that is what he did. A big congratulations to Michael York from Cyclesport for outpowering the both of us and winning the race."

As for Denes, he looks to do well in the Georgia Tech race next weekend.


Elizabeth lee raced, but her cassette come loose on Saturday during the last lap, robbing her of third place. Yet again, she had bad luck at the finish of the road race Sunday. A rider crashed right up front of her, forcing her to bunny hop into the grass and finsh at the back of the pack. She plans to recoil at next week’s race at Georgia Tech with a pro tune from her sponsor Bike Tech of Macon, Ga.

Championship, BearStock unveiled to Mercer students

- Macon, GA -
Last week in the Mercer Villages, students attended an outdoor press conference for the unveiling of the SECCC Championship race and the main artists for 2011's BearStock music festival. BearStock headliners 3Oh!3, Roscoe Dash, and Parachute Musical will all perform following Saturday afternoon's criterium events around Tatnall Square Park on Saturday, April 16.

"This is a great opportunity for the cycling culture to combine with the music culture and the BearStock festival to make an absolutely fabulous Saturday afternoon in Tatnall Square Park," said MU Cycling spokesman Andrew Lockwood. "We hope that this proves to be the first of many years in this partnership," he added.

For more event details on the SECCC Championship weekend, visit www.seccc.net or http://secccmercer.blogspot.com.

Statesboro proves tough for Bears

- Statesboro, GA -
Results

Sitting in second in the DII SECCC polls after the first race of the season, Elizabeth Lee, Kevin Roberts and Austin Sholly as well as club advisor Loren Sumner made the trip from Macon to Statesboro for the annual 'Battle of the Boro.' Mid-February's tuneup in southeast Georgia proved to be a tough ride for all three riders over the weekend, battling sizable fields with little to no help.

Saturday's criterium around the eight turn course was a wild one for all three racers. Austin Sholly garnered a 21st place finish in the Men's C criterium in a large field that featured nearly 30 racers. Elizabeth Lee followed Sholly's result up with a tough 6th place finish in a fast group up front in her race while Kevin Roberts managed a 6th place finish in the competitive Men's B race.

Roberts' electrifying race started when he broke away with six other riders two laps into the event, tapping on the gas to pull away for a 1st and 3rd place finish in two points primes. His tank nearly went empty though when a King College rider counterattacked, dropping Roberts in no-man's land, between the lead pack and chase group. The chase group eventually caught up with the junior from Dacula, but Roberts showed off his leg strength at the finish, taking the field sprint to finish 6th.

Sunday's 44 mile road race got off to a very cold start in the rural community of Rocky Ford, better known for its lack of civilization and busted-up roads more than anything else. Elizabeth Lee had quite a task in her field of four riders - three were racing for the uber-competitive Mars Hill College, leaving Lee playing a 3-on-1 game for most of the morning. Despite being outnumbered, Lee kicked to a 3rd place finish in the Women's A sprint to cap a great weekend.

Austin Sholly would continue to refine his road race tactics in the large Men's C field, taking 22nd on the blustery day while Kevin Roberts notched another top-10 finish for his early 2011 season.

"At the start of the second lap, I worked together with a rider from College of Charleston to try and attack in efforts to break up the group a little," said Roberts. "We worked hard and made a gap form twice, but soon thereafter, the participants in the break would sit up and let the stragglers catch up. The race quickly simmered down and turned into a Sunday group ride," he added.

Roberts got stuck out front for the final few minutes of the race, limiting his ability to surprise the field at the end, but would settle in for an 8th place finish, his fifth SECCC top-10 finish of the 2011 season.


SECCC action takes a two-week hiatus until Florida State hosts the third race of the 2011 road season February 26-27 in Tallahasse, FL.

'Le Train de Mercer' debuts in Swamp

- Gainesville, FL -
Results

University of Florida's Swamp Classic was an appropriate way to open up the 2011 season as plenty of cyclists showed from around the south to test their legs in the combined collegiate and open categories. The weekend consisted of a circuit race around a 1.1 mile three turn circuit followed by a two-lap time trial around the same course that afternoon. Sunday's criterium event was held at the multi-turn Gainesville Raceway.

While the sun did peak out during spurts over the weekend, it was tough racing weekend due to the unexpected torrential downpours of rain. At the conclusion of the collegiate circuit race and criterium, the racers resembled fish out of water with their sand/grit blasted bike frames.

In the first race Saturday morning, the collegiate C's, Austin Sholly wrecked going into a slick turn early in the race, picking his battered bike and bloody self off the pavement to finish in 34th, 13 seconds back in the 42 man field.

The men's B race followed as the much anticipated 'Le Train de Mercer' arrived with Gabe Denes, Andrew Lockwood, and Kevin Roberts in tow. With a strategy to break late in the race, conditions didn't pan out for the three cycling musketeers, as their attacks were thwarted by an aggressive field. With three laps to go, Lockwood made a pass on the right and laid the hammer down to make the break in a six man group. He'd eventually lead the race with one lap to go and sprinted to a fourth place finish. Denes would pass the line in 11th, second in the field sprint, while Roberts passed in 19th. South Florida's Zorth Pilioneta would take the win.

"Wow, what a finish that was," said Lockwood following the race. "The circuit course was a great way to kick off the season with wide open turns and a big break at the end. Our team tactics have really progressed since last season," he added with sand and grit covering his face as they raced through 40 minutes of rain.

Elizabeth Lee followed the performance with a strong finish in the Women's A/B race in the middle of the pack.

Entering the Category 4/5 circuit race two hours later, Le Train de Mercer hoped to strike gold but instead ran into a pack of squirrly eager beavers ready to begin the season. After numerous 'almost' collisions, getting forced off the pavement, and a wreck on the final lap, the team was grateful to salvage the race with Kevin Roberts' 12th place finish followed by Andrew Lockwood three seconds back from the winner in 17th. Gabe Denes would drop halfway through the race with a popped spoke.

"My darn spoke popped on my Zipp front wheel," Denes retorted. "We were talking team tactics and Lockwood and I got a little too close. No worries though, I'm just glad that I didn't wreck with all the Cat 5 all-stars in that race," said Denes.

Starting the P-1-2-3 women's race, Elizabeth Lee would take 2nd to Florida Velo's Trish Cohen, a big finish for Lee in the four person field, but nonetheless, in the money.

Saturday afternoon's individual time trial was shortened to 2.2 miles (2 laps) around the circuit race course. Due to rule changes handed down by the SECCC, only aero helmets were allowed in the ITT, leveling the field for the many collegiate riders.

Lockwood was the first to go off, posting a time of 5:14 (25.2 mph)to take the top spot in the standings until USF's Adam Skindel would post the winning time at 5:03. Kevin Roberts would finish 3rd at 5:17 and Gabe Denes would haul in 7th at 5:25. Austin Sholly would finish 7th as well in the Collegiate C's with a 5:57. Elizabeth Lee motored to 5th in the Collegiate Women with a 6:23.

"I really didn't get into much of a rhythm after racing two races and warming up for forever for the TT," said Lockwood. "I felt like a diesel truck trying to get back up to speed on the interstate after going through a weigh station," he added.

After analyzing their tactics over pancakes and biscuits at Cracker Barrel, Le Train de Mercer came back with a vengeance Sunday morning, controlling the Collegiate B 45 minute criterium on the six turn road race course.

Lining up attacks at specific points in the race, the trio launched Kevin Roberts for a mid-race points premium and at the conclusion of the race for the win as he made the podium with a third place effort. Lockwood would hit the gas at the end for an 8th place showing while Denes lead out Roberts and fell back to 14th.

"I was the only one to make the podium picture following the race," said Roberts. "So I stood on the top box and thought to myself, 'this feels good,'" he added.

Sholly would race his best race of the weekend, dropping off the back of the group midway through the event and Elizabeth Lee would take home a mid-pack 8th place in the Collegiate Women's race.

The final race of the weekend, the open category 4/5 was perhaps the most dominant race for Denes, Lockwood, and Roberts all weekend. The strength in their teams' tactics was apparent throughout the race as they worked diligently to thin out the front of the field. Their lead-out for Roberts/Denes fell apart with two laps to go with two separate multi-cyclist crashes taking out the field. Lockwood stomped on the gas to catch up with the lead pack, back was stranded for the finish. Denes posted his best result of the weekend with a 3rd place sprint. Roberts and Lockwood would finish 6th and 7th respectively. Elizabeth Lee would also take 3rd in the small P-1-2-3 field following the men's race.

"This weekend was really all about team work," said Lockwood. "We came here with a purpose in mind, to test our early season fitness, and to be honest, we're going to be smashing it come April. Between Kevin, Gabe, and I, I feel good about our chances in any race," Lockwood added.


Results
Circuit (Collegiate)
Lockwood - 4th (B)
Roberts - 11th (B)
Denes - 19th (B)
Sholly - 34th (C)
Lee - 5th (A/B)

Circuit (Open)
Roberts - 12th (4/5)
Lockwood - 17th (4/5)
Denes - DNF (4/5)
Lee - 2nd (P-1-2-3)


Individual Time Trial
Lockwood - 2nd (B)
Roberts - 3rd (B)
Denes - 7th (B)
Sholly - 7th (C)
Lee - 5th (A/B)

Criterium (Collegiate)
Roberts - 3rd (B)
Lockwood - 8th (B)
Denes - 14th (B)
Sholly - ? (C)
Lee - 8th (A/B)


Criterium (Open)
Denes - 4th (4/5)
Roberts - 6th (4/5)
Lockwood - 7th (4/5)
Lee - 3rd (P-1-2-3)

Middle Georgia Winter TT Series shows MU Improvement

- Warner Robins, GA -

After a three and a half month hiatus from the road season, Mercer Cycling appeared in the Middle Georgia Winter Time Trial series this past Sunday, sporting a 4th and 5th place finish in the open category. Showing improvement in the individual time trial was a boost to the team's esteem as they begin the SECCC season in less than one month. Andrew Lockwood recorded the fast time for Mercer, finishing fourth at 9:25 on the four mile course. Teammate Kevin Roberts took fifth at 9:26. Newcomer Charles Weaving competed in both the mountain bike and road categories, recording impressive TT times respectively.

"I thought today was a great indicator of the winter training that our team has done over the past few months," said Lockwood. "We certainly hope our successes here translate into results when we travel to Florida for the first SECCC race in February."

For more information on the Middle Georgia Winter TT series sponsored by The Bike Store of Warner Robins, click to: http://midgatimetrial.blogspot.com/

SECCC Championship Comes to Macon!

- Macon, GA -

The Southeastern Collegiate Cycling Conference formally announced last week that the 2011 road championship weekend would be located in Macon, Georgia, hosted by Mercer University Cycling. The championship weekend, featuring a time trial, criterium, and road race is perhaps the largest sporting event to come to Macon behind the Atlantic Sun Conference basketball championships also hosted by Mercer during March.

The date for the weekend, April 16-17, is set but the locations for the time trial and road race are still to be determined. After the large success of the 1st Annual Macon Cycling Classic, a race co-hosted by Mercer Cycling along with Walthall Oil Cycling (now Georgia Neurosurgical Institute Cycling), the criterium event will be held around Tatnall Square Park adjacent to the university on a fast, four-corner course.

"This is a real coup for us," said team racing director Andrew Lockwood. "We submitted a bid to host a SECCC event this year and were extremely surprised that we received the championship event with all of the tough and competitive cycling schools in our conference," he added.

With 32 teams in the SECCC including major schools like Florida, Florida State, Georgia, and Georgia Tech, between 150 to 200 cyclists are expected to travel to Macon, the geographical center of the conference to participate in the culminating conference event. Last year's championship event was hosted at Mars Hill before the qualifying cyclists went on to the National Championship in Madison, Wisconsin.

"We're still in the process of sorting out sponsors for this weekend, but this is quite an exciting time to be a cyclist at Mercer and in Macon," Lockwood added.

Mercer Cycling will host the event as well as provide support to the Georgia Neurosurgical Institute Cycling team as they plan to host the Georgia State Championships in Macon as well on May 21st.

MU Cycling welcomes new sponsor Bike Tech of Macon

- Macon, GA -

As the Christmas holidays quickly approach, Mercer Cycling welcomes a new sponsor on-board, an early Christmas present for the 2011 team. Bike Tech of Macon, located on Vineville Avenue, will be the team's official race shop for the 2011 spring season.

"We're excited about the addition of a quality shop and the support they'll provide to our cyclists and team for the upcoming year," said team director Andrew Lockwood. "They offer great products and service and we're proud to have them on board. They have an excellent track record with other teams in the past, including last year's Walthall Oil Cycling Team as well as the Macon ChainGang."

Bike Tech of Macon carries reputable brands Specialized, Cannondale, and Masi. Established in 1982, the store has been servicing Macon cyclists for nearly 20 years.
To visit their website, go to http://www.biketechmacon.com/.

Winter Schedule Set for MU Cycling

- Macon, GA -

The 2011 edition of the Mercer Cycling team will officially start their winter season in two weeks as a part of the Middle Georgia Time Trial series sponsored by The Bike Store of Warner Robins/Macon. The four event series will feature 4 mile time trials along the flat Vietnam Veterans Parkway in Warner Robins, Georgia and will test the short-burst TT skills of the area's best riders. Event dates are set to be:

December 12th, 2010, 2pm
January 16th, 2010, 2pm
February 6th, 2010, 2pm
March 6th, 2010, 2pm

More information about the TT series can be found at Middle Georgia Winter Time Trial's website. Registration is only available day-of and costs $10 with all proceeds donated to the National Down Syndrome Society.

In addition to the TT series, Mercer Cycling will be represented at the following winter training rides around the middle Georgia area including:
- Peach Peloton
- Middle Georgia Endurance Rides
- Bass Pro Shops Ride

The upcoming SECCC spring road schedule will be released within the next few days.

Mercer MTB Team Finishes the Season Strong!

The SECCC MTB championships were held this past weekend in Conyers, Georgia in the 1996 Olympic Horse Park. This weekend consisted of a super technical time trial on Saturday morning, brutal Short track on Saturday afternoon and a Cross Country race on the actual 1996 Olympic trail Sunday morning. Evan Ayoub, Gabriel Denes, Dustin Prater, and Charles Weaving all competed representing the Mercer Cycling team, and produced great results! In the Collegiate B category, Denes Placed 7th in the time trial, 11th in the Short track, and 7th in XC. In the Collegiate C category, Weaving placed 1st in time trial, 2nd in the Short track, and 2nd in XC. Ayoub and Praeter joined the team on Sunday for the XC race, with Ayoub following closely in 3rd and Prater making a strong finish in 12th place.

The team finished the season strong with two members in contention for points. Up-and-coming Freshman Charles Weaving Finished the season at the top of Collegiate C's in 2nd, 2nd and 3rd place for XC, Short track, and TT. Denes finished in 3rd for the Collegiate B XC, his specialty. The Team only raced 3 out of the 6 races in the series and for the guys to finish this high was much better than expected! The team plans to attend all of the races next year and place even higher in the finals!


Evan Ayoub
A thoroughbred racer with and extensive history and credentials from SECCC spring road season, Evan Ayoub joined the Mercer MTB team this fall to compete in the collegiate series, and plans to dominate in the spring with the return of the SECCC road series and the GSC Mountain bike series.



Dustin Tyler Prater
New to the team, but definitely not cycling, Dustin joined the MTB, Cyclocross, and Road teams this fall. He plans to race the Collegiate and Georgia Cyclocross series this winter and plans to dominate. He will accompany the road team in the spring for the SECCC and Domestic road races.



Charles Weaving
Charles is the newest addition to the team and is making huge strides as a freshman! He has an extensive history in racing off road marathon events and is planning on joining the Mercer Cyclocross team in racing this winter along with the Collegiate "C" Road team this spring. He is a great asset to the team and is expected to place very highly this spring. He plans to move up to the Collegiate B category next fall in the 2011 MTB season and dominate again.



Gabriel Denes
The elder racer of the team, Denes has been racing since the age of 15. He is currently racing the Georgia Circuit on the Sport level and plans to move up to the Expert level in the Summer. He plans on Racing the Collegiate Road Season with the Cat4/Collegiate B team and plans to dominate. He also plans to upgrade after the Collegiate season and race Cat3 road this summer after much work with his coach.


Look forward to more updates of the rest of the Cyclocross and Road teams on plans for the 2011 racing season!

Lockwood Completes First Century at Sequatchie

- Dunlap, TN -

It was a long tough ride over rolling, scenic hills in middle Tennessee, but Mercer grad student Andrew Lockwood completed his first century in 4 hours 23 minutes 8 seconds for an average speed of 22.8 mph.

"It was a blast for my first century and I exceeded my goal of 5 hours by quite a bit," said Lockwood. "It's definitely an event that I want to put on the calendar every year and one that I'd highly recommend to anyone training for a long distance ride."

Lockwood joining his Dad in his first cycling event, was a bit spent after the 100 mile journey, commenting, "We only stopped once at the 77-mile marker and I was cramping a bit at the end. In all honesty though, the peloton and the weather pulled me right through this one and although I'm tired, I thought I'd be completely dead after my first century."

Mercer Racks up at Clemson!

-Macon, GA-
The Mountain bikers of the Mercer Cycling team traveled 4 hours north this weekend to race in Greenville, South Carolina. Elizabeth Lee represented the team in the Womens B/Cat2 division, Charles Weaving represented the team in Men's C/Cat5, and Gabriel Denes represented in the Men's B/Cat3 division.

Lee Swept up this weekend with a first place finish in both the short track cross country races. Freshman Charles Weaving has made his mark on the Men's C circuit, taking second place in both the short track and cross country races. Charles now holds second place in the southeast for Men's C cross country and third place for short track.



Denes crashed hard in his short track race, only able to fight up to 8th place before the finish. In the Men's B/Cat3 cross country race, Denes placed second, 26 seconds behind the win. Denes recalls," The race sunday was brutal. It started out raining in the morning, which made the course completely soupy. We all ran super low pressure in our tires to try to get at least some grip through the course, though we had to get off the bikes and sprint up several of the hills. There were several big crashes in my category due to all the muck and mud. I sprinted in the holeshot to make first in the woods, and made a gap along with two other riders on the rest of the pack. We led out for a while, until I caught a tree with my bars and was thrown off the bike. It put me far enough back to have a brutal fight to finish in second."


-Men's B Start-



The Team plans to finish the Collegiate MTB Season this weekend with the Conference Championships in Conyers, GA at the GA Tech race. Look forward to more podium finishes next week!

Victories, Thrills, and Spills at Columbus & Dauset

- Columbus, GA -
Results

It was a tough final weekend of racing for the Mercer Cycling team as the squad was represented at the 12 Hours of Dauset Mountain Bike Race as well as the Uptown Columbus Omnium. The outcome of the weekend: one huge crash, a few top-10 finishes, a team trophy, and a tired squad.

Gabe Denes, Charles Weaving, and Elizabeth Lee traveled to Jackson, Georgia for the grueling endurance event. Weaving, opting for the solo division race, placed 16th in a hard fought effort while Lee would finish 3rd in the female category. Gabe Denes teamed up with another racer to win the 2-person race trophy, a coveted feat.

Meanwhile, in southwest Georgia, Kevin Roberts and Andrew Lockwood entered Saturday's time trial (6 miles) along the banks of the city's river and scorched the trial, finishing with times of 15:08 and 15:10 respectively. Lockwood would take 4th, just 8 seconds from the third place finisher while Roberts would finish in 5th.

Detecting illness, Roberts sat out of the Saturday afternoon race in Hurtsboro, Alabama where a massive crash with 1 mile to go took out any chances for a Top-5 finish for Lockwood.

"They combined the Cat 5's and juniors with us and unfortunately I was behind a rider who somehow make a huge mistake during an acceleration," said Lockwood. "I went over my handlebars, flipped over on my helmet and my bike went flying by someone's face. I was really lucky to leave with just scrapes."

Despite the crash, Lockwood lost only 2 minutes and continued to the finish line to secure an 8th place finish.


Sunday's criterium saw Denes, Lockwood, Weaving, and Denes' father (also sporting the MU kit) team up in the fast crit around downtown Columbus. Averaging over 25 mph for the race, Lockwood won an early prime but lost ground gradually through the race. Denes, despite the fatigue from the Dauset race the day before, managed a 4th place finish while Lockwood would finish 11th. Weaving, racing in his first criterium, would fall 4 laps down in 12th.

Lockwood accumulated enough points throughout the weekend to place 3rd in the Omnium Standings for Category 4. The elder Denes would also take 3rd in his respective category, sporting the Mercer jersey for the weekend.

"It was a great last weekend or racing for our team," said the team racing director. "We really made huge strides throughout the year and I think we'll be much stronger next season," he added.