Tour de Nez

I think Webcor is now 9th in the NRC standings, and Bec and Mary should be in the top 100 individually. :-)  A 5th and a 6th at an NRC race, pretty sweet!   ~ Andi

Race: Tour de Nez

60 minutes

Teammates: Mary, Bec, Em

Field: 35ish

Place: 5th (Bec 6th)

I didn't take a survey with every single rider in the peloton, suffice

to say I didn't talk to anybody who didn't feel a little bit sluggish

in the heat and altitude. Martina Patella (RED Racing) actually passed

out during the race and hit a hay bale. It was that hot. Amber Pierce,

who is from Reno and won the race attacked after a field separation

and TT'd for 20 minutes for a win of 45 seconds over the field. It was

pretty incredible.

In case you don't remember, Amber Pierce used to crush the Valley ride

when she lived in the South Bay. She's on the National Team now and

changed her name from Rais via a husband. She was on Webcor, dark

brown pony tail, really professional and really classy...Now you

remember.

The current Webcor/AV Women's team had some big Diadora's to fill on

Sunday. We rose to the challenge and did our best. Our best put Webcor

in 9th place for top NRC teams.

The course was great. It was a little narrow and the corners were

tight. There was an uphill chicane and a downhill chicane. It was

great for going really fast.

The pack was together when the first Prime Bell was rung. I went for

it to feel out the finish. I actually ended up getting it and creating

some separation from the field with 3 other riders. I pulled off the

front to begin the rotation. When taking inventory of the potential of

the break I saw 1 girl who was not break riders and 2 who could be but

didn't know how or wouldn't.

The pack was only a few feet back so I sat up. This actually created

more separation. There was no one in the top 5 who were represented in

the break yet there was no one chasing. Perhaps it was clear that this

break would not stick. A few girls bridged, including Bec. Then a few

more. I had no reason to chase a break with Bec in it so I sat up and

kept an eye on anything that would encourage a regrouping or be a

threat to Bec.

Eventually the field came back together. The wind was picking up and

would definitely affect the finish. It would just be a matter of

positioning going into and coming out of the uphill chicane on the

last lap. I had been following Bec for the last 4 laps and she was

taking the corner at the top of the course perfectly. I thought that

if she could just do it one more time we would take the field sprint.

I passed her before that perfect spot on the last lap. It was a slight

miscalculation but I don't know if she knew I had been on her wheel or

that she was so perfect on that corner. We got on the back of 4 riders

before the crest. Primal were 2 of them. 1 Primal sat up and opened a

huge gap between her teammate and the rest of us. I passed her, Bec

passed her and we just tried to see how close we could get to the

three in front of us.

Our best team placing this year: 5th in an NRC race. Thanks for reading.

-Mary