Tour of Washington County

Report by Amanda E

Tour of Washington County Kick-Off Crit

The kick-off crit began at 8:15pm and was a fun course withfour 90 degree turns and a chicane leading into a quick little hill.  The field was very competitive and had lotsof attacks from the get go.  I quicklylearned that I needed to be towards the front of the pack, for fear of gettinggapped in the turns.  This was difficultbecause all of the women were vying for a spot towards the front of the field,so it was constant work to move back into position.  There were a few attempted break-aways butthe field ultimately stayed together for a field sprint.  Ali Ingram (Velocita) rode a great race andtook the win.  Leslie and I finished 9thand 11th respectively. 


Tour of Washington County Stage Race
We began the stage race on Saturday with a 37 mile roadrace.  It was a hilly 6.1 mile loop andhad two significant finishing climbs. The race started out very gradually with few attacks.  There were a couple of times when the pacewas raised significantly on the hills, but there were no attempted break-aways.  Since the field was staying together I knew Ihad to fight for a good position on the first finishing climb, which wasfollowed by a fast descent and the final climb. When we got to the climb I pushed up along the outside towards the frontof the pack and was in a great spot for the descent but then my legs just gaveout.  I managed to crest the hill, pass afew racers and finish 12:50 seconds behind the leader (Ainhoa from ARBT) for 18th. 


On Sunday we woke up before the sun to prepare for the tenmile time trial about 10 minutes away in Boonsboro.  Getting to the course was a bit stressfulbecause we didn’t have very good directions, so when we finally parked it wasjust a little over an hour until my start time. Dan Netzer (Celerity Cycling) was courteous enough to allow me thepleasure of using his HED powertap disc for the TT as I did not have a properrear wheel for my TT bike.  The coursewas a 10.1 mile out and back with about 600ft of rolling elevation gain.  The first leg was 5.2 miles with a slighttailwind, and the 4.9 mile return leg in return had a headwind, with the last2km or so being an uphill into the headwind.  My legs were feeling the road race from theday before and with not much warm up time prior to the start I struggled to getmy heart rate up.  I had to keep tellingmyself that everyone else was probably hurting some too, and after finishing 15thin the time trial I was able to move up in the GC from 18th to 16th. Ali Ingram (Velocita) took the stage winand moved into 1st in the GC.

Immediately we returned to the hotel to eat a second breakfast, and put the legs up before the third and final stage, acriterium.  The course consisted of 6turns with an uphill finishing stretch and a fast downhill into turn three onthe back side of the course.  The kickerwas the last turn was a 100 degree turn where if you weren’t in the front, youwere on the brakes and then sprinting up the finishing stretch, which not tomention had a significant head/ cross wind, which turned to a headwind afterturn one.  This race was similar to thekick-off crit in the realm of tactics; it was all about position.  If you were towards the back you were gettinggapped, plain and simple.  I knew thisbefore going into the race and that it would make or break my race because mylegs were exhausted from the repeated punishment I have put them through overthe past 48 hours.  I fought to stay uptowards the front, but after a few times of being pushed to the back Istruggled to hang on and ended up finishing 16th, but lost a lot oftime, and ended up sliding down to 19th in the GC.  Ali Ingram (Velocita) won the crit andmaintained her first place standing in the GC. Stephanie Swan (Pro Bikes -Pittsburgh Racing Team) raced strong and came in second in the GC.  It was a great weekend of racing with anawesome group of talented women.  Lookingforward to going back next year!

Philly- Liberty Classic

report by Emily Thurston

Stephanie, Amanda, Nikki, Patty, and Emily at the line

It is so amazing to race here in this venue with all the publicity and spectators that surround this event - the local people seem to feel honored just to know someone who's racing - not to mention racing with such a group of world-class riders and teams. I came in to this race hoping to do a repeat of last year's top-20 result, or maybe move some better this year, but, given that my training has been curtailed by knee injury since I crashed on July 31 of last year that was a long shot for me. I have to say that the opportunity to come and race here has been a big motivation. I've had a great month of training trying to prepare and get up to snuff!




Amanda on the climb up Manayunk

We went for a team prep ride on Saturday morning before we registered. We rode the first half lap behind/ with the Specialized Lululemon team - which was apparently very focused on winning this race today. Then we bombed up Manayunk Wall while the Lululemon gals slowly monied up, and finished our prep ride on our own.


Anyway, when the field got all strung out on the first time up the Manayunk Wall, I popped off the back.  Worked with a group of 20 riders (including Stephanie and Nikki and maybe Amanda - or was Amanda always up front - i am foggy… ) and caught up finally… just before we entered the flat part of Manayunk! Popped off again the second time up the hill, which was unsurprising given my winded status from all the chasing. The chase group for the second lap was similar size, with me and Nikki - Stephanie & Amanda managed to stay up front the second time. We just worked together and rode along, and although we passed the caravan the third time up Manayunk Wall - we were within spitting distance of the field - somehow we were unable to close the gap, which grew much larger over the final lap.

Photo by Chatura Atapattu

A lot of riders were dropped and pulled throughout the race. I have the impression that Nikki and I finished roughly mid-field somewhere. I surmise that Lululemon Specialized controlled the pace throughout the race, keeping things steady and strung out to neutralize attacks. The other major teams were also interested in  keeping things together to protect their best sprinters. 26 women of roughly 130 starters made the front group, far fewer than in last year's race. Evelyn Stevens and Ally Stacher didn't make the final group. So we were in good company in not finishing with the lead group!


Ina Teutenberg won the sprint, with Rochelle Gilmore taking second and Giorgia Bronzini in her rainbow jersey, third.


I come out feeling again more motivated with a new sense of direction for my training for the remainder of the road season.  I also enjoyed the opportunity to spend time with the Tradewinds Racing group and schmooze with friends and contacts from some of the other teams racing. It was a valuable experience for me!