Bryan Park and burritos

Bryan Park in Richmond, the race Sunday was filled with Burrito Primes from Chipolte... so it was a good day! Although we did not have a huge number of riders show up everyone was ready to race fast and the pace was pushed by Julie K (Fruit 66) straight from the start. In the middle of the race Ali (Vanderkitten) launched one of her monster attackes, well timed and well executed, but the break was not to be. The race stayed together until the end. On the last lap on the back of the course the FF riders made everyone chase and scramble for positions. I was on Julie K's wheel into the last corner when everyone jumped for the uphill sprint. It was a hard faught battle all the way to the line with Julie taking the win, Ali getting 2nd and myself with 3rd.

The women in category 4 raced with us but were scored sepperately. We had one cat 4 in the race, Tiffany Russell. In the 4 race Amanda (Hilton) took the sprint with a very strong push up the hill, Brittany (FF) came in 2nd, and TWR's Tiffany came in 3rd.

Next on the calendar? We will be at ODU on August 1st! Note to promotors: we will sprint for burritos!

Roanoke ID3, IB2

Three days of racing for an overall points omnium... starting with a monster hill climb and throw state crit championship into the mix and you have one interesting race weekend. I know it takes a lot of work to put on this kind of all weekend event, so thanks to the promoters and officials for a job well done!

The Mill Mountain Hill climb is short but steep with 1.87 miles of road and almost 900 feet of climbing. I was able to get a personal PR on the hill climb by about one minute, but even this effort put me in 5th overall for the start of the omnium. The queen of the mountain was Kenda rider Amity E., followed by team CARD rider Cora O., then Fat Frogs Brittany M. and Jen P.

The first criterium of the weekend was a flat, down-town course with some awkward corners after the line, and some really fast corners right before the finishing straight away. The group stayed pretty much together in this race even though there were numerous attacks from many riders throughout the peleton. At the end, Cora (CARD) went hard with one lap to go and continued to stretch out the field for the entire lap. I sat 3rd wheel behind Amity (Kenda) and we rounded the last corner taking a wide line and starting the sprint immediately out of the corner. I passed Amity just before the line for the win, Amity took second, and FF Brittany took 3rd place.

Photo from the Roanoke Times

The final race of the omnium was only four blocks away, but totally different. An L shape with six corners and and two up hill sections, one was gradual and one was shorter and steeper. This race also happened to be the state crit championship for Virginia, so the field included riders aiming for the title and others who were focused on the omnium. There was some GC strategies and tactics that came into play and proved to benefit a Syn Fit rider who took advantage and broke away with a strong attack and solo win. Going into the last lap the front group (vying for 2nd) included Cora (CARD) who pushed the pace up the gradual hill, then taking the front was Syn Fit rider (who had just lapped the field). I rode 2nd wheel behind the Syn Fit rider through the last corner, then jumped immediately for the sprint. I was able to stay in front through the line and got 2nd overall, 1st for the category 1,2 state criterium (because the Syn Fit rider was a cat 3).

Overall, I ended up with 2nd for the points Omnium, behind (omnium winner) Amity E. and taking 3rd place in the omnium was Brittany M. The points omnium and the state crit definitely added some drama and excitement to the weekend racing.