What a way to spend a birthday! My boss let me take a half day, so I was well-rested, well-fed, and at least made it in time for a 7-minute warmup! I was also rocking a new wheelset and racing with a former McGill teammate, so I was jazzed for this race. By 7pm, the air had cooled down quite a bit, and there was hardly any sun left on the course.
This being the state championship race, there was a tough pack headed by Ellen Noble (Aspire Racing), Leslie Timm and Danielle Ruane from Sunapee, and Dominique Danco (TRJ Télécom). The first laps were fast, but the pace settled down after a few laps.
Not having ridden the course before the race, I spent the first few laps moving all over, trying to find the good lines, marking the potholes, and seeing where I felt most comfortable in the group. The pace was lower than at Longsjo, so I decided to use this opportunity to practice moving up in the group on a tight, technical course like this one. Eventually, I settled into my usual spot towards the back of the pack, in front of those likely to get dropped, but far enough back to never have a chance at doing any work.
Ellen, Dominique, and 1 other rider tried to go for a break in the first half of the race, but after a few laps the break was caught by the field. By then the pack was whittled down, having dropped about 8 of the original 28 riders.
With about 5 laps to go, there was a crash on the dangerous 4th corner. Riders crashed from inside-outside, and I, taking the outside line, almost got caught in it. But somehow I was able to thread the needle between a crashed wheel and the curb and sprinted to rejoin the group. Luckily, the group slowed down (whether out of courtesy or not), and I was easily able to catch them before we rounded the next corner. Four riders, including Beth Everhart (Monster Media) and Vickie Monahan (ERRACE) were taken out by the crash.
The last laps of the race were ridden at an almost lackadaisical pace, but I wasn’t thinking about trying anything stupid. There was too much firepower and I knew that I would get chewed up and spit out by the strongwomen. Nonetheless, I got caught in a bad position going into the bell lap, and (in that terrible position, but with a full view of the entire field) when I saw the race leaders all looking at each other, I thought, “Screw it, it’s my birthday and what the hey, I’ll go for it,” and I stealth-bombed everyone. I took the first corner at full speed and whizzed through the chicane (which I had been dreaming of doing since the beginning of the race). I started to lose it down the backstretch, but I think I managed to maintain a slight gap going into corner 4. Either way, I got the best line for the corner. But once I hit the headwind and that false flat, I knew it was all over. Halfway down the stretch, the group swallowed me up. I managed to hang on to the pack and beat a couple of riders in the sprint to finish in a decent 13th place.
This race was more about shaking the cobwebs off since Longsjo and overcoming some of the insecurities I had in that series, and I definitely made lots of progress. Plus I got a free meal with family and friends afterwards, can’t argue with that!
GP Beverly
Re: GP Beverly
Pic of Sarah leading Ellen and company on the final lap https://katiebusick.smugmug.com/Gran-Pr ... -Vx4W6Xd/A
Nice write up Sarah. I was watching the race with Katie on turn 3. The pack got smaller and smaller but you stayed in the same position about 3/4 of the way back and then the bell rings for the final lap and there you are ripping through the turns on the front!
Nice race.
Nice write up Sarah. I was watching the race with Katie on turn 3. The pack got smaller and smaller but you stayed in the same position about 3/4 of the way back and then the bell rings for the final lap and there you are ripping through the turns on the front!
Nice race.
-Chris Busick