Case Cycling Club in the Observer!

In case you missed it....

http://media.www.cwruobserver.com/media/storage/paper1370/news/2011/04/01/Sports/Case-Cylcling.Has.Strong.Showing.At.Notre.Dame-3989935.shtml

"The Case Western Reserve University Cycling Club returned from races at Notre Dame University with the swagger of a team in the midst of a resurgence. After the squad placed riders 5th and 9th out of a field of 50 in the men's D road race at Ohio State University on March 5-6, the men one-upped themselves by returning to campus with a win. Matthew Demarest, Ryan Pierce, Kevin Steiner, and Eric Young placed first in the men's C team time trial. The quartet beat cycling powerhouse Lindsey Wilson College by 20 seconds over a 10 mile-course.

The club also brought two of its women riders to Notre Dame. Audra Horomanski competed in the C division and earned an eighth place finish in the Road Race and finished fourth in the criterium. Corinne Burr finished 11th in the criterium and 15th in the road race.

The criterium, a short, closed-course race on city streets, was a strength for sophomore Young who earned seventh in the C division. Young chased down a Lindsey Wilson rider who was breaking away from the pack, and managed to pull them back, allowing himself a top finish in the event.

Sophomore Evan Maynard and freshman Eric Silverman kept together in the criterium. The duo finished 20th and 23rd, respectively, in the D division.

Pierce, a senior and the club's vice president of road and race, was excited about the team's performance. "We were aggressive in each race," he said, "working to keep teams from forming a break and moving away from the peloton. Given that we're beating teams from big schools such as Purdue, Notre Dame, University of Wisconsin (currently No. 4 in our conference),and Lindsey Wilson, we're really making a reputation for ourselves."

The Spartans are currently 16th in the Midwest Collegiate Cycling Conference (MWCCC), a feat considering the team only competed in half of the events. The MWCCC has 36 teams that stretch from Ohio and Kentucky to Wisconsin and Illinois.

The cycling club is now preparing for a race at the University of Michigan on April 8-9.

"We train mostly by putting in time on the road," said Pierce. "On recovery days, we'll go out for a light 20 miles averaging about 16mph, usually out from campus toward Gates Mills. On harder days we'll go between 40 and 50 miles. Hard training sessions often include hill intervals, and we'll also have periodic sprint points throughout the ride where we'll race each other to a signpost or other landmark."

More information about the Case Cycling Club can be found online at their website: http://filer.case.edu/org/cycling/. The club is actively recruiting new riders for both the racing team and the general riding club."