EVENT
Turlock Road Race

CATEGORY
Women's Pro 1/2

DATE
Saturday, March 29, 2014

AUTHOR
Dana Martin

COURSE DESCRIPTION

3 laps of a 22 mile loop with a few lil' rollers, one windy straight away, well marked corners., no rain - yippee!

TEAMMATES
Ivy, Mary, Caroline

GOALS & PLAN
Since a few of us who shall remain nameless arrived just in the nick of time to pin a number and get to the line, we didn't have much time to strategize. Luckily due to our excellent communication, we started scheming once we soon as we started rolling.

RACE SUMMARY

There were two teams (Threshold Sports and us) , plus 1 solo rider from Velo Sports Group ready to roll. We were told by the official there was a sprint prime 6 miles into the start. I knew Jeanette (Threshold) could sprint from racing with her at Red Kite, so I marked her and asked Mary and Ivy to keep the pace high at the front so I could go for the sprint. With 1k to go, Caroline asked if she could take a flyer. Brilliant move. I thought Jeanette would surely go for it and I could jump on her wheel. It turned out to be a perfect lead-out and we won the prime. I was really excited for how well we all organized to set that up.

After realizing there seemed to be alot of gabbing and chit chatting in the pack, we realized we would need to work together at the front to pick up the pace and make some moves to get things going, otherwise it was looking to be a long 68 miles. Josie (Endurance) and Ivy ended up in a break and the solo rider from Velo Sports Group missed it, so she was left chasing and pulling the pack along with her for almost half a lap before sitting up. Our plan had been for Caroline to go out for the counter attack if we had caught the break. At some point Jeanette was out due to a deraillur issue. Since it was clear nothing was going to happen in the field, I attacked on the second lap. I figured if noone came with me, I would attempt to bridge up to Ivy and help her seal the deal for a win. Seeing neither the solo racer from Velo Sport, nor the racer from Endurance, I went hard and settled into a tempo.

The moto official kept giving me updates so knew I could reach Ivy and Josie before the finish and help Ivy shake off Josie for the win. Once I finally reached them, I could tell they were both pretty worn out. As much as Ivy and I tried to work to pull away, Josie would not be shaken, so Ivy told me she was going to sit up to give me the shot at getting away. That was critical to keep Josie from jumping on my wheel when I attacked. I hated leaving Ivy but I wanted us to nail the win for NCNCA points for our awesome team and sponsors.

Ivy held the field and was just nipped at the line by Josie. Mary and Caroline finished strong and we all spilt a nice cash prize thanks to John Gerling and the good folks at Ciclistas del Valle Cycling Club, Inc.

LESSONS LEARNED/TAKE AWAYS

-Stick with the routine for preparing. Plan ahead, arrive early (cause inevitably something will come up), get gas, ensure everyone has confirmed meet time and attendance when carpooling.

-It's important to bring lots of good food, particularly when racing in tiny towns.

-Team communication is rockin'