Mt Hamilton RR

Race Report: Mt. Hamilton Road Race

W 1,2,3
Teammates: Ange McClure (or McCline according to the results on USAC), Maura Kinsella, Haley Juno-Galdes (our newest team member)
Placings: Ange (20th), Lauren (23rd), Maura (26th), Haley (34th)

Where to begin. We were all newbies to this race. In fact, we were all new to the climb. We all converged upon the race course by separate means and had somewhat of a giggly warm up. All of us were nervous and a little unsure of and daunted by what was to come. As we rolled around more and more pros appeared until we lined up and realized that despite the small size of the field, it was stacked. Peanut Butter had two riders, Tibco had a few riders, not to mention the local climbers that showed up to probably the most climby local race of the year.

After the somewhat frightening pre-race announcements (including instructions on how to ride around/near an airlift emergency situation) we set off behind the first female moto ref I have ever seen. We hit the climb and immediately strong riders hit the front and started with a good tempo. I was feeling pretty good and keeping an eye on all my teammates. About ten minutes into the climb Alli Starnes made the first attack for Tibco. At this point I was sitting in fine but knew that I could not sustain the effort that her attack required. I drifted to the back with the intention of monitoring my effort and holding on until the attack subsided.

Unfortunately that plan did not work out. I found myself in a small group about 50 meters off the back of the peloton. The group included Maura, which I was grateful for. We could see the group for about another 10 minutes until they reached the plateau bit when they gained speed and disappeared. This left myself, Maura, and another unattached rider to chase. We picked up two more girls and put our heads down for the rest of the long climb. About five miles from the top the grade steepens and two of the riders took off leaving three of us behind.

After cresting and descending our group became five again and began rotating through. We had had our share of protein swallowing the swarming flies for the last few miles and now we wished for the next feed zone more than ever. Eventually we reached the second feed zone and I was more excited to have that cold water than I have ever been before. Unfortunately I was too focused on the water and as soon as we crested the next climb I had my bottle out not knowing that we descended immediately into three sharp turns. I couldn’t manage the speed and the bottle so I had to ditch it and was waterless for the next 30 miles.

The descent to the finish was made exciting by the group of masters men who swarmed us. They were intent upon attacking each other down the whole descent making it difficult for our groups to stay separate. Eventually after some cat and mouse between our groups they took off down the last bit of windy descent until we caught them at 1km to go. Our groups actually sprinted together and I managed to sprint past everyone and get out of the mayhem. It was a very long day and most of us were just happy to be finished. At least now we can all say we have done the epic Mt. Hamilton Road Race!

--Lauren

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