U23 Nationals RR

Race Report: Nationals Road Race
W Elite and U23 (combined fields)
Teammates: Maura Kinsella
Placing: Maura (5th U23 I think)

Course: An 18 mile circuit (4 laps total) with three short but kicker-type climbs. The hardest one Archie Briggs which has a short cork-screw steep section (maybe 250 meters) which turns into a false flat and then another short, fast stair-step climb (which is the part that REALLY hurts).

We lined up bright and early at 8:15am for what we knew would be a VERY tough day (as we looked around and saw super-stud-mo’s like Evelyn Stevens, Kim Anderson, Mara Abbott, Shelly Evans etc. etc. etc.). Up around 3,000 feet, my lungs weren’t feeling so hot. We had ridden the course several times and knew exactly what was coming when. The first riser was straight and a little heavy but definitely just a power climb. I was trying to stay relaxed as we came down the descent into the hill. As I switched from my big ring to my small ring, I felt my feet suddenly go weightless. Crap. Already. The first hill and I drop my chain. Of course. As I try not to panic and fiddle with my shifters, riders fly past me as I come to a stop. Then the com 1 car rolls by and hear the lead official speak into the radio, “and Webcor is getting dropped”. I am NOT. I jumped off my bike, threw the chain on and sprinted to the top of the hill, making contact just as the peloton started gaining speed on the following descent. Way to go, Lauren. Great start. At least I got a good warm-up effort in : )

I hit the front a couple of times on the first lap just to take a break from the nervous energy running through the peloton. It was relatively low key and there was no feed to cause problems. I made it up the infamous (ok so maybe it’s only infamous to me...) Archie Briggs climb with the group only to nearly avoid a crash early in the second lap. Sometime soon after this accident Maura took a flyer to try to bridge to a group of three off the front. From what I hear she came within about a minute but never closed it before we caught her again.

As we descended into the start of the feed zone climb I saw the Peanut Butter gals stacking up at the front. Greeeaaatt. Here comes the pain. Sure enough, they hit it into the feed zone and I was on the rivet trying to stay on after grabbing a bottle. Unfortunately this effort continued into the Archie Briggs climb and I lost my hold on the group in the transition from the steep section into the false flat section. I found myself with two other riders and felt very unmotivated to finish. But, before I knew it I turned my head and saw maybe 15 other girls who had gotten shelled just before me (Maura being one of them, after her solo effort off the front). A few girls took long hard pulls in attempt to catch the front group, which I knew was fruitless. We settled into a kind of rhythm for the next lap.

During the final lap Ally Stacher (Webcor Builders) rode up next to me and offered her help in trying to get Maura the best placing she could in our group. There were only four other U23 riders in the front group so Maura was still racing for podium. (against several U23 riders now in our group). As we hit the bottom of the descent before the feed zone climb I went to the front and started setting tempo up the climb. I continued on the front through the feed zone all the way to the bottom of the Archie Briggs climb (mostly rolling and false flat terrain) where I blew up and let Ally take over for the next 5km or so. My intention was to keep in smooth and hard enough to discourage any attacks and maybe even drop some girls to make it easier on Maura at the finish. She finished first of the U23 girls in our group, which was great! It was a long day and a mentally tough one. We did the best with what we could do so that’s something to be proud of.

--Lauren

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