2014 Collegiate Nationals: Women's Team Time Trial

written by Fiona Bennitt

Nationals was incredible. It was absolutely worth the excited-yet-concerned looks on professors’ faces when I told them that I was going to miss four days of classes to go ride bikes on the other side of the country. It was worth the lost sleep, the hours of training, the logistical meetings, and the work that everyone put in to get us there. Completely worth it. It was an adventure that only made me want to ride bikes more, get faster, and crush it next year in Asheville, NC.

I was going to Nationals solely for the Team Time Trial, as I only got the last of my upgrade to the Women’s A during the last races of the season (which would have allowed me to race the Road Race and Criterium). I had, however, been riding the Women’s A Team Time Trial all season. My experience was initially one of trepidation as throughout the season, as our team pushed harder and harder each week. Though we ended up the conference champions winning both Women’s A and B Overall and the Women’s A TTT at Conference Championships, most of those time trials involved me slipping off the back at some point halfway through, feeling unsatisfied by the fact that my legs just could not go faster, and rolling in a few minutes or so after my teammates crossed the line. Of course, I knew that my contribution was a valuablepart of that, but I just wished that I could finish with them. In our conference, the clock stops when the 2nd rider crosses the finish line, meaning that dropping a rider is an acceptable, even sometimes desired tactic. All the same, we could have done more if I were able to stay on, sharing the load more evenly and theoretically allowing everyone to go just a little bit faster overall.

So when we got to Nationals after a harrowing 21 hours of traveling, I was still unsure of whether it was worth it for me to have come along. What I would find out, quite unexpectedly, that was for the team and myself, it was worth it. We got to Richmond a day early to pre-ride the course and check out the famous Libby Hill, and though it was an charming city with so many deciduous trees and outpouring of Southern hospitality, I felt quite out of place. My teammates belonged, but I did not. I was only there for one event, and I was afraid of disappointing everyone. The things about the Team Time Trial at Nationals is that it is almost twice as long as a normal conference Time Trial, this one measuring about 19.2 miles. That combined with the fact that this time the clock stopped with the 3rd rider’s wheel crossing the line, was quite daunting. But I was there, and I was going to try to do my best.

As it turned out, everyone on the team did just about as spectacular of a job as I could have imagined. The Women’s Team was lucky because we went later the men, meaning that we got to pre-ride the whole course. Not only did this give Mackinzie, who had flown in late the night just before, to scope out the course, but we were also able to talk a little bit of strategy and get our feet under ourselves. The course was a a kind of clover-leaf, with none of the tight two-lane turn arounds that we had practiced so much, but instead with lots and lots of corners and a hill. As the team had gotten 2nd place last year, we we slated to go second-to-last, with only MIT behind us. That became my goal. Don’t let MIT catch us. 

And they didn’t. We lined up on the ramp, started smoothly, and settled down into a steady pace. I wasn’t feeling great and knowing that I needed to stay on at all costs, began to “slide” (sitting at the back of the train while the others rotate through) after only one pull. This was far less than ideal, but everything was about the team as a whole, not the individuals. Rachel, Dessie, and Mackinzie were taking us faster than we had ever gone before, and before I knew it, we were out of town, across Robert E. Lee bridge for the first time, and heading back into the city. I was still sliding and telling myself just to hold on until the climb just a few blocks from the finish, but then Mackinzie started to gap off of the other’s wheels. Jet-lagged and coming off a season unfortunately dotted with illnesses, she was feeling worse than I was, and yet she was still taking pulls! We got to Governor street, passing King University as we started the climb, and then suddenly Mackinzie was off the back. As I struggled to latch on to Rachel and Dessie, we realized that we would need to leave her behind, as she has given it her absolute all, a heroic effort in my eyes. That is when I realized that I was now the one who would need to cross the finish line, would need Dessie and Rachel to get me there to stop the clock, an option that I hadn’t really ever considered. So I held on as we began the second lap, just keeping up as Dessie and Rachel worked ridiculously hard, two people doing the effort of four. As we came back across the bridge the second time, I started to take some pulls again, realizing that I was feeling better and they were about at their maximum effort. It was a risky balance: if I worked too much, I might fall off and need them to slow down, which was not really an option, but if I didn’t do enough, we would be slower than we could have been. Heading down towards Governor street again, Rachel was giving it her all and if I remember correctly, we passed another team, this one having started 2 minutes ahead of us. Then it was up the climb again to get to the last left-hand corner on the the false-flat straight to the finish. As we climbed, I surprised everyone with what I had left in my legs by outpacing Dessie and Rachel (granted, they had worked far hared the whole time). As we rounded the last corner, back in our correct order, Dessie began to ride away from Rachel who was a head of me, leaving a gap. Realizing that we needed to get Rachel to the line, I moved around her and pulled her up to Dessie. We crossed the finish line to the roar of the crowd and somehow found out that we had gotten 3rd, and the MIT had been defeated in a surprise showing from Colorado Mesa. Afterwards, trying to breathe, I started crying and could not stop for about half an hour. As people tried to comfort me, nobody, including myself knew what emotion I was experiencing, but looking back I think it was some kind of awe in what I had just done achieved, a better ride than I ever imagined I had in me, and awe of my teammates as every one of them had ridden absolutely spectacularly.After that, I felt like I belonged at Nationals, and finally for the first time all season, that I truly deserved that spot on the Women’s A TTT all season. 

I cannot express how grateful I am for having had the amazing teammates that I did, Rachel Geiter, Mackinzie Stanley, and Dessie Weigel, as well as the support of the team as a whole. Everyone was so excited for us and so encouraging to me and to each other all season, and I truly think that is what sets Whitman’s program apart. I always have an amazing arsenal of support, not only from teammates and our fearless leaders who always show us that the sky is the limit, Luke Ogden, Alberto Santos-Davidson, and Rachel Geiter, but from alums, parents, team sponsors, and generous donors like all of the amazing individuals who made it possible for us to get to Richmond in the first place. I cannot express my gratitude for being allowed to have a chance to prove what I, what our TTT, what Whitman could do on the big stage, and I will always remember that none of us could have done it alone. Thank you, and here’s to amazing years to come!

The following is a link to a picture of the team during their warm-up lap.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/skynoir/14089886925/in/photostream/