DAVIS 4TH JULY CRITERIUM - WIN!

Tuesday, Davis Downtown Crit. Team Members: Kristin, Niki, Emily, Shelley

The plan was to help Kristin defend her title as the winner of last years race. Emily would attack early to force other teams to work. The field was much smaller than usual, maybe 30 girls. In attendance, 3 McGuire, Palo Alto, Brenda Lyons (Victory Brewing), and others. There were 7-8 primes but no money, just merchandise. Emily stuck to the plan and attacked early with a couple girls following. The field was excitable and the primes kept the pace high enough that no breaks were staying away. It was a pretty consistent race 35 laps total, with lots of primes that I was hoping would just tire everyone else out. At one point Brenda Lyons went for a prime and shocked the announcer so much that he predicted her to be the winner of the race. This opened my eyes and gave me a focus for the end of the race. Watch Brenda Lyons. Again, in the perfect tactical manner, Emi! ly charged to the front with 3 laps to go, keeping the pace just high enough that no one would come around her. On the bell lap I was on her wheel hoping she had one lap left in her, but she was done. She and I were side to side as Kristin attacked hard from the left side. Perfect!! Emily and I managed to block just long enough for Kristin to get a big enough gap to take it to the finish line. But Martina and a couple of other riders weren't having it and they jumped to chase Kristin. I got on Martina's wheel and followed the chase. Just before the final two left hand corners, it was clear that Kristin was going to get caught as she had moved to the far inside of the final straight away. Before the last corner, I jumped and got in front of Martina. I sprinted the entire straight away with Taitt on my wheel, thinking she would jump or Brenda Lyons would launch her sprint and blow right passed me. But it never happened. I made it to the line clear of the other riders and PROMAN c ame up with a $500 win!!! Back to back wins for PROMAN was our reward for incredible team work. What an awesome team to ride for. I can not stress that enough. Thank you everyone, we deserve it. ~ Shelley