Penn's Pizzini rides in CoreStates Liberty Classic

Last Sunday, hundreds of the world's best cyclists raced there way through the streets of Philadelphia. And the University of Pennsylvania was there. Mina Pizzini, a Wharton doctoral student, represented Penn's cycling team, and First States Velo Sport, in the women's race, the CoreStates Liberty Classic. "I didn't really fully comprehend how big a deal this was. You have to be invited to ride this race," Pizzini said. "There were points in the race when I looked up and thought, 'All those people have Saturn jerseys on, these people over here are speaking Italian, and these people are speaking Lithuanian. Wait a minute. What am I doing up here?' But I'd definitely like to do it next year." According to her coach, Peter Durdaller -- a chiropractor with the Saturn Professional Cycling Team as well as the Penn cycling team's coach -- Pizzini finished in the third group of finishers, officially in 57th place. Though Durdaller conceded that Pizzini probably should have finished in the second group, her place is quite incredible when you consider several factors. For one, Pizzini, 30, has been racing seriously for just a year. Durdaller only began coaching her in October of 1996. Prior to then, Pizzini had focused on triathalons and used cycling as just another cross-training tool. She started focusing on cycling about five years ago. Last summer, in Altoona, Pa., she exploded onto the racing scene with a victory in a stage race in August, The Tour de 'Toona. Some members of Penn's cycling team, a club sport at the University, contacted her when they discovered she was a student at the business school. That race, however, is part of one of the other obstacles that Pizzini faced -- inexperience. Prior to the CoreStates Classic, Pizzini, who is an amateur though most of the competitors there were professionals, had done only a few races. "I wasn't nearly as aggressive as I am supposed to be. I was just happy to be out there and hold on to the main group," Pizzini said. Through her involvement with the Penn cycling team, she had raced on a difficult home course, a race at Bucknell and in the Eastern Championships at Army. In the race, her relative inexperience showed. "She made a couple of mental errors, and a result of that, was in the wrong position when the split came," Durdaller said. "I think what she definitely showed this weekend is that she has the raw physicality to be competitive on a national and possible world level in road racing." The third factor facing Pizzini was her job and school. "It definitely doesn't help," Durdaller said. "It makes the challenge that much greater." The two required more than 80 hours a week beginning last summer, which left little time for training on a bike. "The other big strain is spending at least 80 hours a week doing schoolwork and that tended to take precedent over everything," Pizzini said. Thus, she got much of her training in -- especially in the fall and winter months -- by running early in the morning before work. She didn't resume concentrated cycling workouts until this past April. "I come from a running background, and I'm relatively new to cycling. I have a track group in Wilmington that I work out with," Pizzini, who hails originally from the Wilmington area, said. In training, Pizzini mixes workouts that consist of intervals and sprints with long rides that help her prepare for longer races. For a long training ride, she rides up to 80 miles at a time. In the last months leading up to the race, Pizzini estimated that she biked about 200-250 miles a week. She does her training in Wilmington, Manayunk and the other side of the Schuylkill River and Valley Forge. There are three types of cycling races -- stage races that consist of a time trial format, criterion races that consist of one-mile long circles or squares that cyclists complete laps around, or road races, most of which are around 50 miles long. When the Penn cycling team trains together, they often ride loops so that the less experienced or less skilled riders can ride with more veteran riders. The Penn cycling team consisted last year of about 30 riders -- 23 men and seven women. Many of the club team members came to support Pizzini at the CoreStates race, and they hope the strong showing will encourage other interested Penn students to join the club sport. This year, the Penn cycling team won the Ivy League championship and qualified for nationals. Due to inclement weather, however, they did not have a chance to ride in that meet. Pizzini plans on remaining a member of the Penn cycling team for the next three years that she will be at Penn. She also hopes to again compete at the CoreStates Liberty Classic next year, though she is aiming at a stronger finish. Durdaller believes that she has the physical tools to excel in the racing world. "She has effectively learned two years in one. Her learning curve has been fantastic," he said. The two are going to concentrate most on increasing her leg speed that will produce a faster sprint speed. "The conditioning wasn't such a problem as much as knowing how to race with 120 other people," Pizzini said. Next year, as a CoreStates veteran, Pizzini looks to earn a little more respect, for herself and for the Penn cycling team.