In a clear break from tradition the Lake Sunapee Road Race took place under sunny skies and near perfect temperatures. The dreaded gnats stayed away and there was a faint smell of balsam fir in the air. Does it get any better than that? Oh yeah, there was a long line for the men’s bathroom, but not the women’s! A rare occurrence and hence absolutely worth mentioning.
Just under 20 starters, including Independent Fabrication/Kempner riders Zoe Owers and Silke Wunderwald, lined up for the women’s P123 race, a full minute ahead of the women’s Cat. 4 field. The initial pace was set by NEBC and Silke spent some time at the front as well, but apparently the Cat. 4’s were committed to actually have a race and within only a few miles from the start the P123 field was neutralized to let them pass. Determined not to engage in a tug of war between the two fields, Silke went to the front and picked up the pace just at the right time to take advantage of a widening in the road that allowed the field to re-pass the 4’s. Leading into one of the many rollers of the course, she accelerated to put some distance between the two fields, and then again on the following two rollers, but didn’t manage to break up the group.
A little more than halfway through the first loop on one of the more substantial climbs of the course, Silke attacked and this time finally managed to open a gap on the field with Mary Zider from NEBC quickly bridging up. The pair continued to ride a hard tempo to widen the gap, but eventually settled into a more sustainable pace for the last half of the second loop. Zoe, mindful not to cut into the lead of her teammate at the front of the race, continued on in a chase group and used her years of experience of riding at the pro level to carefully balance the pace to also maintain the distance ahead of a second chase group.
Leading into the last climb to the finish line, Silke’s attempt to overtake Mary in the final yards of the race was foiled when a group of pro men that finished just at the same time and the resulting traffic didn’t leave her enough room to come around Mary quickly enough. Zoe finished strong in her group, sprinting her way to a 5th place overall to close the day with two solid top 5 finishes for the team!
Monday, May 26, 2008
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Bear up!
Here are some cool pics from the Bear Mountain Spring Classic on May 11, 2008, courtesy http://www.teamorganicnyc.org/. The women's P123 race was a war of attrition and after 4 loops there were only 17 out of 55 starters left to contest the bunch sprint. Trying to follow cyclocross rocket Rebecca Wellons to the line I promptly ended up in the grass and headed straight for the timing tent. I quickly recovered and got my wheels back on smooth pavement, but it was too late and the race was over by then. Speaking of wheels: The new Mavic R-Sys wheels are awesome! They are extremely light, stiff, yet very smooth, and handle very well on the road and off. I don't think they are intended to be ridden off road, but it's good to know they can stand the abuse should the situation arise (remember the Tour of the Hilltowns last year?!).
Monday, May 5, 2008
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