Lower Providence Crit

[NJBikeGal]

What: Lower Providence Crit Race
When: Sunday, April 20th
Cat 1/2/3 race started around 1pm

Weather: Quite funny actually. It was BEAUTIFUL all morning long. As the men's race before us was entering the final two laps, a downpour began. As Forrest Gump would say, "Big fat rain" was pelting us and soaked the entire place in seconds. By the time the men's group had finished, the rain had passed on. Leaving us with a soaking wet course (great puddles included), but no rain! Ironically, as we were finishing up and doing a cool down lap, the sky opened up again and pummled the site with rain! Looks like someone up there likes girls!

Course: Flat, one mile industrial park loop with a mild downhill and a mild uphill (both around 1-2%). Smooth roads, nice wide corners...Flat and fast was the name of the game

Field: 28 pre-reg, a few extra on the start line. 3 Sturdies in the field - Sally, Dana and Me!

Race: It started fast, with Erica Allar (Aaron's Pro Team) pushing the pace at the front. She would do this for the majority of the race with the rest of us (me, at least) hanging on for dear life! We settled into a fast pace for the race (ended up with an average of 22.6mph). I stayed on, although I was at the back for most of the race. There were a lot of attacks and eventually one rider got off the front. At some point, Erica Allar and a Verducci rider crossed the break, leaving the rest of us to race for 4th! I managed to stay with the group for the remainder of the race. I tried to get up front and found myself in a good position on the last lap after the 2nd turn, but I lost that position around the 3rd. I pushed it to the finish line with a strong sprint (should have downshifted once, though!) and finished up in 18th place overall.

My goals going in: This was really my first major race as a 3 - and a bit inimidating considering there was a pro in the mix, so I wanted to race safe. That was the most important thing. I wanted to stay with the group and finish strong. In other words, I met all of my goals today and am a happy camper with the results!

[SheFly]

Congrats! Sounds like a great day for you, despite the rain

Was this in Providence, RI??? I didn't hear anything about it (I am in MA)...

SheFly

[NJBikeGal]

Actually, it is in Lower Providence Township, Pennsylvania - near Norristown and Valley Forge.

Thanks!

[AllezGirl]

Nice job Sarah! Go Pink!!

I've never written a race report before (since this was my first race), but hear's my report from the back of the cat 4 pack.

What: Lower Providence Crit
When: Sunday April 20th
Cat 4, started at 9:30

Weather: A little cloudy and cool when we arrived at 7:00 am but by the time we lined up at the start, the sun had come out and it was warming up. There was a decent wind...obviously blowing in those storms that pelted boys...it made for a nice tailwind coming out of the second corner, but one heck of a headwind out of the fourth turn.

Course: Same and the fast gals

Field: 26 lined up at the start...11 Sturdies.

Race: Thanks to my awesome teammates and coach, I was as prepared as one could be. Otherwise, I probably would have been dropped out of the first turn. The race started fast (IMHO) and stayed that way. I believe our average was 20.5. For the most part, I managed to stay with the pack by positioning myself out of the wind and on a steady wheel. I got dropped a few times on turns 3 and 4 because I didn't position myself well going in and would have to dig into the wind to get back on. I did it, more times than I would have liked, but it sucked. Other than that, I had a lot of fun. I'll have to leave it to someone else to report on the action near the front, since I was nowhere near there!

My goals (in order of importance): Be safe, don't crash...accomplished! Finish...accomplished! Finish with the pack...accomplished (or darn close enough)! Place other than DFL...accomplished (20 of 25)! I knew my first race would be one big learning experience, and it was! Can't wait for the next...

[NJBikeGal]

Hey Beth!!!

You guys rocked the pink in the Cat 4! And to podium Naomi was AWESOME!

Sweet riding!

[smilingcat]

Horrible weather but sounds like you guys had a wonderful crit.

Congrats.

Smilingcat