GMSR Burlington Criterium
One of my first inline skate races was on part of this course—it's right in the heart of Burlington, with a finish towards the top of a hill. It's a great course, not flat, but fast as hell despite six corners. I was really looking forward to this race after three days of grinding out the hills!
And this was fast from the gun—we were neutral for the first two corners and then things took off. Or rather, Angela Johnson and Joelle Numainville (one of the Canadians who were sweeping up all the points—both sprint and hill!) took off. They got a split second lead coming out of that third corner and managed to get out of sight. Behind, the pack was single-lining it through the course. I had miscalculated which corner the start would be, so was a little further back than I wanted to be. I clawed my way back to the lead group over the course of the first few laps, and then settled in right behind Kelleigh Dulaney (CRCA Sanchez-Metro). Embarassingly enough, it then took me several more laps to realize that there were girls up the road—I was really surprised there wasn't more of an effort to catch them as Ann Thompson, the GC leader was in our group and was destined to lose that placement if they stayed away.
Ultimately the pack numbered 11. Behind it, the rest of the field was suffering. 36 girls started the race—five laps in, Angela and Joelle were starting to lap the field. 5 girls were pulled at that point. Two laps later, 16 more were pulled, leaving only Angela & Joelle, the group of eleven and a final pair who were lapped after the half-way point. Those 21 riders who were pulled before the half-way point were given point deductions in addition to the points they'd earned by racing.
Coming into the final laps, Jen Bailey of Portland Velo took to the front and picked up the pace for her teammate Rhonda Morin. Rhonda, Kelleigh, Ann and I were all together, and when Jen dropped the pace off in the last lap, Ann took advantage. She jumped through the next corner with the three of us on her tail, and by the time we rounded the penultimate corner into the downhill, we had a hairsbreathe gap on the rest of the girls. Downhill, full speed into the left hand corner and into the finishing uphill, I was right on Kelleigh's wheel and coming around when we hit the finish line. Kelleigh took the sprint for third, then Ann, myself and Rhonda in sixth. Four seconds later, Emma held off the rest of the pack for seventh.
As a result of so many people being pulled (including several GC contenders), the GC changed dramatically. Emma finished 8th in the overall, I moved all the way up to 10th (I'd started the day in the high 20's). Andrea was 24th and Sheila was 30th.
It was an incredibly hard weekend of racing. Just finishing was worth celebrating.
And this was fast from the gun—we were neutral for the first two corners and then things took off. Or rather, Angela Johnson and Joelle Numainville (one of the Canadians who were sweeping up all the points—both sprint and hill!) took off. They got a split second lead coming out of that third corner and managed to get out of sight. Behind, the pack was single-lining it through the course. I had miscalculated which corner the start would be, so was a little further back than I wanted to be. I clawed my way back to the lead group over the course of the first few laps, and then settled in right behind Kelleigh Dulaney (CRCA Sanchez-Metro). Embarassingly enough, it then took me several more laps to realize that there were girls up the road—I was really surprised there wasn't more of an effort to catch them as Ann Thompson, the GC leader was in our group and was destined to lose that placement if they stayed away.
Ultimately the pack numbered 11. Behind it, the rest of the field was suffering. 36 girls started the race—five laps in, Angela and Joelle were starting to lap the field. 5 girls were pulled at that point. Two laps later, 16 more were pulled, leaving only Angela & Joelle, the group of eleven and a final pair who were lapped after the half-way point. Those 21 riders who were pulled before the half-way point were given point deductions in addition to the points they'd earned by racing.
Coming into the final laps, Jen Bailey of Portland Velo took to the front and picked up the pace for her teammate Rhonda Morin. Rhonda, Kelleigh, Ann and I were all together, and when Jen dropped the pace off in the last lap, Ann took advantage. She jumped through the next corner with the three of us on her tail, and by the time we rounded the penultimate corner into the downhill, we had a hairsbreathe gap on the rest of the girls. Downhill, full speed into the left hand corner and into the finishing uphill, I was right on Kelleigh's wheel and coming around when we hit the finish line. Kelleigh took the sprint for third, then Ann, myself and Rhonda in sixth. Four seconds later, Emma held off the rest of the pack for seventh.
As a result of so many people being pulled (including several GC contenders), the GC changed dramatically. Emma finished 8th in the overall, I moved all the way up to 10th (I'd started the day in the high 20's). Andrea was 24th and Sheila was 30th.
It was an incredibly hard weekend of racing. Just finishing was worth celebrating.
posted by liz @ 2:17 PM
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