by Eric Lemke You probably see her at just about every race. Darting from person to person, struggling to throw her kit on at the last possible minute, Megan Kelly is a multitalented cyclist. Not only does she race Women’s …

As cyclists, we can get a little carried away with trying to make parallels between the world of professional cycling and our racing world. Many times out training we imagine our roads as ones where the epic battles of cycling history took place. Luckily there are days when we don’t have to pretend. While it is too early in the pro season to toss around the title Queen Stage, it is reserved for the most epic race. This past weekend’s Penn State road race at Black Moshannon state park is the Queen Stage of the ECCC.

Kaitlin Antonneau is a sophomore at Marian University studying exercise science with a minor in sports psychology. It’s, like, no big deal, but she’s also a multiple time national champion. She’s also an excellent baker, though I’ve never had the pleasure of trying one of her cakes… [hint, hint: please bake Scott Rosenfield a cake for the Michigan race weekend!]

My effort was flagging and Tim noticed. “Close the gap Douglas!” he shouted. I’m sure he wasn’t angry, but a deep Aussie accent trying to overcome the noise of wind rushing past your ears at 50kph appears quite fierce. Half out of determination and half out of fear I pedaled harder. I think I learned new level of suffering then, but it worked and we made contact with the break.

NCCCC versus MWCCC. The epic battle of the year, second only to Nationals in terms of number of participants and, maybe, even prestige. 13 states, but only one winner. So who will it be? I have no knowledge of the …