TOC Women's Crit Full Report 2/15

Women’s Tour of California
Date: 2/15/09 Start time: 1 p.m.
Location: downtown Santa Rosa
Teammates: Annie Malouin, Rae Brownsberger
Conditions: POURING rain and 45-50 degree weather
Results: Lauren – 38/56, Rae – 48/56 (starting field of 80+)

I believe the word to describe this day was EPIC. We arrived in Santa Rosa with two and a half hours to spare, a little sleepy and freezing. When we had finished registering we walked outside and up the sidewalk come Mara Abbott, Emilia Fahlin and some other Columbia High Road women. We knew this was going to be one heck of a race!

We were lucky to get a great spot on the ground floor of a parking garage where we could warm up and stay dry until the start. As usual, the time flew by and we found ourselves a little rushed but luckily we had the awesome Smith team who pinned our numbers, took care of our bikes and made sure we were on the right time track.

At 12:35 we rolled over to the start line and rolled along the course until line-up. I got a good spot in the second row with Rae to my left. We were ready for a hammer fest but nervous about the rain and the commotion it would cause. I have very little experience riding in the rain and this was my first race in the rain. As expected the race took off from the gun and on the last corner the first crash happened taking out a bunch of girls. Luckily I was to the inside and a little in front of the mess and caught back on to the main field. Rae managed to squeeze by as well but Annie wasn’t so lucky and ended up in a chase group for a good portion of the race.

The rest of the race consisted of two groups (a lead group off the front of 11 then 13 and the main field). It seemed like the peloton didn’t have a lot of incentive to pull back the break as most teams were represented but that didn’t stop the attacking or the field primes. It was a pretty consistently fast race and the weather conditions, while EPIC, did help keep the pace a little under control. I think about half-way through the race I heard over the radio that Annie was on the sidelines but was unsure about Rae. Minutes later Rae came flying by me looking strong so I knew there were two of us left. The race was loud and full of spectators which amplified the excitement of the speed and downpour.

Our goals for this race were to get used to riding as a team, get comfortable with the race radios and have fun. I would say we definitely fulfilled the last goal – all three of us were pumped to have been in such a great field in such dramatic conditions. We are definitely getting to know one another and getting used to hearing Dan’s voice over the radio (however muted it sounded among the cow bells).

I enjoyed racing with all of my teammates for the first time and look forward to us growing into that group of 13 off the front.

Thanks for reading and all the support!

Lauren