Meet the Team

Last year's racers braved cold, rain, crashes, and even a bike theft to race their bikes. Despite all this, they performed above expectations, bringing home racing honors and the respect of the rest of the Eastern Conference.
Dana Kotler   ·   HMS
Member-at-Large, HUCA cheerleader
Road, Track, Cyclocross
Technical crits, descents, cyclocross remounts
Providence Criterium
USAC Cat 4
3rd place Providence Criterium (Women’s D), 3rd place Bard Criterium (Women’s D), 1st place New England Time Trial Championships Merckx division, 30th place Rapha SuperCross Gloucester
Sports Medicine MD, Clinical Instructor at HMS, with special interests in cyclists’ health and core strength training in low back pain. Mediocre but enthusiastic bike racer. Dana started racing in 2013 with XXX Racing-Athletico in Chicago, now races on the road with Northeast Bicycle Club p/b Cycle Loft and cyclocross with Team Monster Truck p/b Hub Bicycle Co, in addition to riding with HUCA. Cat 1 in fun.
Mark Bowen   ·   FoHUCA
Assistant Coach
Track, Road, Cyclocross, Mountain, commuting, t
Getting the most out of the least bike
I loved the Saco Bay Criterium. Too bad it’s long gone. My only crash in a HUCA jersey. Aside from t
I’ll be a Cat 4 Master the rest of my days.
I married Betsy, November 1985
I first managed to balance on my big brother’s bike when I was six. I rode out the driveway and around the block. I was hooked and have never stopped riding since. The bike has been an integral part of my life and I am grateful for it. I built bikes from the dump and in doing so learned about machines and tools. That led me to engineering and a rewarding career. Engineering let me meet Amy Kerdok who got me involved with HUCA. HUCA got me back into racing and gave me the gift of meeting so many remarkable young people. I love helping people learn to ride because cycling has given me so much. I also serve as a USAC official, which helps make races possible in our region. My palmares aren’t worthy of note, so I can’t believe how lucky I am that HUCA keeps asking me to coach them.
Samuel Hamilton   ·   HBS
Member-at-large
Road
All-rounder
All road races
Men's B
http://www.usacycling.org/results/?compid=395999
I am a 2nd-year student at HBS. Started racing with Foundation Cycling Team in NYC two years ago. Can’t wait to help HUCA have a big 2015 in the ECCC!
Jamie Potter   ·   College
President
Road
Climbing
Philly Phlyer Road Race
Women's B
3rd MIT Criterium Women’s C; 5th Philly Phyler RR Women’s C; 4th Stevens Duck Country RR; Women’s C, 2nd Columbia Grant’s Tomb Criterium 2013; Women’s C, 1st Rutgers Circuit Race; Women’s Intro, 4th Rutgers ITT.
Starting as a complete beginner her sophomore year after converting from lacrosse, Jamie is now an avid lover of cycling. She loves to climb, and progressed to the Women’s B field during her first racing season. This year should make for an exciting season for Jamie as she missed out last racing season to indulge in gelato in Rome. She is thrilled to be back for her final season with the team and hopes to climb as many hills as possible.
David Ziehr   ·   HMS
Men's Road Captain
Road, triathlon
Road races, time trials
Killington Stage Race
Men's A, USAC Cat 2
http://www.usacycling.org/results/?compid=277870
From Madison, WI. Joined HUCA in 2010. HMS 2015 (MD).
David Gold   ·   College
Treasurer
Road, Track
Sprinting
The Showdown T T-Town
Men's D
Coming soon
Having done some cycling before, David joined the team in 2013 as a Freshman, ultimately competing in two road races in the spring. This year, he hopes to train more, race more, and move up a Cat.
Michael Silva   ·   College
Member-at-large, Triathlon liasion
Road, Triathlon
Climbing
Yale Lux et Velocitas (East Rock)
Men’s B
5th Yale Road Race, Surviving his first Crit
Harvard College Class of 2015. He’s a triathlete by training who loves riding bikes and testing himself at cycling races. He loves warm weather, long climbs, and even longer post-race feasts.
Alison Hwong   ·   HMS
Member-at-Large, Member-at-Small, Tenured member of social committee
Road
I love hills
MIT ITT
Women's C
Cycling with both collarbones intact
I came to cycling after a running injury – and have been hooked ever since. I liken riding a road bike to a jockey on her horse, becoming a unified being, but the bike isn’t as smelly and doesn’t poop. Also, for both jockeys and cyclists, there is a growing number of talented and inspiring female athletes.
Chris Gilbert   ·   GSAS
Member-at-Large, espresso consumption facilitator, cat-engagement coordinator
Road
Solo long distance rides, highest racing to training ratio
Crit at Navy Yard in Philly
C, USAC Cat 4
Never crashed
Best mustache in the ECCC.
Ed Sassler   ·   FoHUCA
Coach, training teammate, the idiot who’s out there when it’s cold and dark…
Not much, if the ice cream would only stop calling me…
Climbing, sprinting, flat speed, sushi.
It’s a common misconception that bald guys are racist.
Old (was a Cat 2)
I once won a comforter in a prime in a pro race on an 85-degree day.
Originally from: Wayne, New Jersey – I got better. I came to the team as a refugee from Northeastern, which didn’t allow a cycling team, met John Allis in 1985, been with the team since. John Allis coached the team for 30 years, not for the fame or fortune, but because it was the right thing to do – John’s my hero. In 1999 one of the riders asked me to be her coach, I found out later that she felt sorry for John ’cause she was so slow at first. Starting with new riders and creating good cyclists has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.
Portia Cornell   ·   GSAS
Poobah
Road, Track Cyclocross
sprinting, getting impatient going off the front too early only to blow up and finish off the back
Mayor's Cup
Women's A
1st place, Women’s B X-pot Crit
My love of cycling is in a category with my addiction to coffee: I could live without them, but that life would be a pale imitation. I feel tremendous gratitude toward the HUCA coaches and teammates who have introduced and supported me in the sport and I try to pay it forward by evangelizing for HUCA and bike racing in general. So if you have a conversation about biking I will probably try to convince you to try racing at about the 10-minute mark. In my first year of racing I learned how to draft; in I second year I found out about sprinting; and my aspirations for the 2015 road season are to learn how to corner like a beast and maneuver in a pack sprint, and take a women’s TTT team to collegiate road nationals in Asheville. Also to beat Colin at some town-line sprints.
Jesse Gubb   ·   GSAS
Member-at-large
Road, Track, Cross
Dirt road adventures, ice cream rides
Dartmouth Road Race
Men's C
Like my next dissertation chapter, I promise these are on their way.
Jesse joined the team as a graduate student. He’s worked almost every bicycle related job in Boston, from messenger to mechanic to 7-person-bicycle captain, so he figured he’d give racing a try. He’s hoping that this is the year he finally convinces himself to train hard over the winter and post some results in the spring.
George Emanuel   ·   GSAS
Logistics director
Road
Being dropped
Penn state road race
Men’s B
Coming spring 2015
George enjoys trying to ride bikes fast. He is from Denver, CO.
Anda Greeney   ·   Harvard Extension
Membr-at-large
Road
Climbing, ITT
Bard Criterium
Men's C
West Point ITT
Former runner trying my hand at strategy-intensive bicycle racing.
Kyle McElroy   ·   GSAS
Member-at-large
Road, triathlon
Swimming, driving
Non-crits
Men's D
1st MIT X-Pot RR, men's intro
Biology Ph.D. student. Swam through high-school and college. Took up triathlon (because swimming) and subsequently found HUCA and cycling-only racing. Enjoyed a first year of racing, so back for more.
Simon Chaput   ·   GSAS
Mountain Bike Captain
Mountain Bike
Forming a MTB team
Northeastern
Men's B
more to come
When Simon asked if we had a MTB squad, we told him yes, if he would be the captain! Looking forward to growing our MTB team in the coming seasons.
Honora Spicer   ·   GSAS
Socialite
Road
long rides
MIT Time Trial
C
Did not "see the cow"
I’m a second-year PhD student in History. As a former rower, I enjoy cycling because I don’t even have to stand up to exercise. And I can wear lycra. I enjoy climbing, and cycling in solitary wild places alone and for a long time. But I can be sociable, I promise.
Senta Burton   ·   Alumna, GSD & College
Hostess with the mostest, training buddy
Road
climbing, learning new tricks, starting fires
TBD!
Intro
Coming soon
Formerly a powerhouse of the Harvard Women's Cross Country Team, Senta (like many racers) got into cycling following an injury. She joined her first HUCA ride in 2014 for a Harvard to Harvard jaunt. She didn’t quite manage to stick with the group that day. The next time out, she didn’t get dropped, but she did toss her cookies. Senta has been a regular on the Hammer Ride and an invaluable training partner. We can’t wait to get her out to some USAC races this spring and summer.
Tonia Hafner   ·   GSAS
Women's Captain
Road
Long road races, hill-climb time trial
Army road race and all Team Time Trial races
Women's A
2014: 2nd at the Stevens Duck Country Road race, 3rd at the Army Spring Classic, 2nd at the ECCC Conference Championships Criterium, 1st at the Army Spring Classic ITT, 3rd at Mayor’s Cup 2014
Tonia is a 4th year graduate student in the department of Systems Biology. Formerly an elite rower, she joined the Harvard Cycling team in the fall of 2013 and got hooked! Rowing training translates well into cycling which allowed her to upgrade to Women’s A by the end of her first season. She is working on improving her technical skills and can’t wait for racing in the spring.
Theodore Feldman   ·   GSAS
Sponsorship Coordinator
Road
Long road races
Army Spring Classic, Penn State Black Mo’ Road Race
Men's D
5th 2013 Army Spring Classic Intro Road Race, 10th Stevens Duck Country Apocalypse Intro Road Race
Ted’s cycling career started with HUCA his first year in grad school. He finally decided to try racing with the team for the first time during the 2012-2013 season. He got hooked on racing pretty much about the same time he finished his first race. He’s a Ph.D. student in Applied Physics and hails originally from the NY suburbs of Long Island. An enthusiast of century rides, he prefers challenging road races and after a strong summer of riding is looking forward to a successful year with HUCA as a Cat D racer while he wraps up his degree.
Colin Meyer   ·   SEAS
Equipment manager
Road, Cyclocross
Sprinting
MIT Time Trial
C (road), 5 (cross)
2nd in crit, TT, and road race at MIT X-Pot
Ran cross-country and track in high school. Rowed bow seat for four years with the UC Berkeley Lightweights and for a year at Churchill College, Cambridge. Always enjoyed riding bikes and started racing in 2013.