Easter Weekend - by Toby Schultze

Erich came home from school after racing Saturday morning in Cambridge on the Charles River, the Harvard Freshman Lightweight Eight beat Delaware. His race was at 7:45 AM and we were invited as a family to watch the race from a coach boat. We left early so that we could meet Erich at the men's boathouse to give him pre race Clif product (he is a big Clif Blocks fan). We had time to get a nice coffee at Pete's in Cambridge before heading to the MIT boathouse where we were scheduled to be picked up by a Harvard Alum who was the cox for the men's lightweight varsity crew 6 years ago. Joe did a great job pointing out the subtleties of the pre race warm up and the start sequencing. The race is 2,000 meters which is approximately a 6.5 minute full gas effort. The morning was warm, wind free, and was absolutely stunning with the back drop of Boston and a strong sense that spring had finally arrived. Harvard won with open water, meaning they beat the other boat by more than a length. Having knowledgeable commentary and continuous view of the race with the setting made it a top sporting event for me that I will never forget. Erich rows seven seat, which is counted from the bow, or from the pictures attached, the seventh seat from left to right.

My attention and focus then turned to getting to the Chris Hinds FUJI "Sunshine" Criterium. Because of my morning I was not able to race the P/1/2 race but did arrive in time to watch the second half. Team FUJI/Clif Bar did a great job of being present at the front and Mark's obvious experience and patience ultimately led to catching a two man break that appeared at one point to be gone for good. Mark ended up 2nd in the sprint of what ended up being a five man break. Nice result for a full time working, father of two, hockey playing, motorcycle riding 37 year old guy.

I raced my first 45+ race and quickly realized that Arc En Ciel had strong numbers and did a excellent job of using them to their advantage. Each time a break went up the road it was somebody that was capable of winning and each move was covered and countered in perfect sequence, great job. David Kellogg won out of a break of two, always happy to see a good guy win a bike race. For those of you who, like I did, are looking forward to racing 45+ don't be fooled, it is faster and has more capable and experienced riders in it, it simply does not get easier.

The 35+ race saw Mark and Mark come back to the track after the P/1/2 race. The race was animated from the beginning with several good moves. The break settled with Mark M and the right combo of 5 or 6 to make it stick and then pull away from a once again well patrolled Arc En Ciel group. Kyle Wolf sprinted to victory, nice to see Kyle back and looking fit and fast.

Jon Lowenstein (NBX) and Randy Rusk (Arc En Ciel) along with a team of dedicated volunteers did another great job of presenting the race. The warm sunny weather was welcome and I encourage them to keep the "Sunshine" in the race title, it seems to work, thank you.

Sunday morning Erich and I went out for a couple hours easy on our FUJI’s with new Clif Bottles (see image) to get the blood flowing and recover from our individual efforts on Saturday. I am truly in a sweet spot in my life stage with Erich, we can ride shoulder to shoulder for a couple hours, enjoy the ride, talk, and spend quality time together. His huge fitness matches nicely with my experience so that we are compatible. We had Easter brunch watched a bit of Flanders and I drove him back to Cambridge.

Easter Weekend showed New England at its best, providing the settings for great events and sharing the experience with family and friends on and off the bike.