Race report submitted by Crystal Anthony:
For over a year, I’ve had a 404 rear wheel boxed up in my closet. Having snagged a good deal on a pair of Zipps, I had immediately set up the front wheel but clung to my Powertap rear wheel like a security blanket and left the Zipp unopened. After lugging the informative but weighty Powertap up 4500 feet of climbing at Battenkill, I questioned whether it was worth knowing in data form that I had a new 5-minute power record, especially when the pain in my lungs and legs seared that impression into my weary mind even as I cracked up the last climb. Since winning races comes down to crossing the line first not submitting the best PowerAgent print-out, I wondered whether a lighter race wheel saving any bit of energy on an incline might be more appropriate.
Continue reading →
The team got our new GU order just in time to fuel our appearance at the ‘home’ race organized by our parent group the Minuteman Road Club. The Sterling race proceeded under mostly sunny skies Saturday May 7th.
Here’s the report from Anna Milton:
The morning of the Sterling Road Race proved perhaps the most organized race
morning I can recall. Victoria and I rolled in for the neutral start for the womenʼs Cat. 4
race right on time, my shiny new wheels eager to race. We had strategized the race
beforehand, fellow team time trial members Renee Marino and Kelly Mendoza were
racing as well and the plan between the four of us was to form a pace-line and work
together to instigate an attack or a chase group. As the end of the neutral start
approached, pumping my legs over the crest of the hill, I felt the adrenaline piercing
through my veins and could sense the primitive “race” atmosphere settling over my
competitors.
Submitted by Crystal Anthony
The best athlete
wants his opponent at his best…
…All of them embody
the virtue of non-competition.
Not that they don’t love to compete,
but they do it in the spirit of play.
In this they are like children
and in harmony with the Tao.
-Lao Tsu, Tao Te Ching
“Do we go?” Cynthia Nelson looked over at me, then over her shoulder as we crested the three-mile climb, the first of five on the day in the 100k road race. The max 20% grade had flicked one rider after another off the back of the group until there were just six of us heaving breathlessly at the top. I just nodded and we plunged down the descent, gradually organizing into a paceline together to keep the tempo quick and maintain the separation from the rest of the field. With Cynthia in 1st GC, myself in 2nd, and the others being strong riders it seemed we had a good chance to make a successful break. However, 3rd GC was in the chase as well as several other good riders, and with a long descent ahead we had to be aggressive. In just my third road race ever, I didn’t think much about the decision and simply went with my gut instinct.
Continue reading →
Mention Battenkill and you might as well have been Pete Bouchard announcing another snow storm in February, as likely to elicit a “Friggin snow” status update as a “Woohoo off to Stowe again!” post. After snow storm upon snow storm and hours of watching old Tour stages on indoor trainers, it seemed everyone was hungry for outdoor racing and had vehement opinions as to whether this early season race met the bill or not. While one cyclist bashed it as a “stupid one day race with an exorbitant entry fee on questionable road surfaces in the ass end of nowhere that is not close to anything,” yet another garnered a multitude of “likes” with her announcement “three months of training, now for the best race of the year!!!” Battenkill, like New England weather, is a wild ride that gets on many people’s nerves but is a much-anticipated adventure for others.
Continue reading →
We had several ladies on the road for their first race of the season. With Friday’s freaky snow melted and the sun shining, conditions were actually great for racing!
Devon Fitzgerald and Rebecca Wolski headed down to Myles Standish Stage Forest for a road race. Devon overcame a smashed finger the morning of the race to finish 8th. Rebecca rolled in 11th in the Pro1/2/3 field in her first race as a Cat 3.
The 2011 Beanpot started out with a team trial in Westminster on Saturday where Anna and Millie Milton participated in composite team of ladies to finish in a very strong time. As the only women’s open team, they won their category, but impressively their time put them in front of at least 5 of the collegiate women’s teams. Elle Anderson competing for her collegiate team Dartmouth came in 4th in the Women’s A race on Saturday. On Sunday, the Beanpot moved to Somerville for the Tufts Criterium. Ann D’Ambruoso and Christina Tamilio competed in the women’s field to lots of cheers from friends living in the area, a unique opportunity to be racing so close to home. The 6 corner circuit had many bumping sections and cobbled cross walks on the finishing stretch. Scattered attacks throughout the race fizzled out in the face of the headwind on the finishing stretch so the field stayed together into the final lap. Ann finished 4th and Christina came in 9th, happy to get their legs stretched out for the first real sprinting of the year. In the collegiate A/B women Elle finished 4th again behind a trio of MIT women, contributing to Dartmouth’s 4th place finish in the team omnium for the weekend. Great weekend overall.
Several LadiesFirst team members will be riding in the Ronde de Rosey v2.0 on Sunday give our CX bikes some love. Should be a great adventure.
Last year’s cyclocross season was full of ups(podiums!), downs(ouch, grass burn again!), and great efforts all-around at Cyclocross nationals in Bend. Winter brought the team some much needed down time. We’re slowly ramping up our riding now in 2011, but with various goals for road season there have been few team activities so far this year. Despite that fact, the start of a new year is undisputable here: the new kits are in! Look for these LadiesFirst team members in several upcoming races around the region :
Elle Anderson
Crystal Anthony
Ann D’Ambruoso
Devon Fitzgerald
Nancy Labbe-Giguere
Anna Milton
Millie Milton
Andrea Smith
Allison Snooks
Christina Tamilio
Rebecca Wolski
