SISQUOC ROAD RACE

Sisquoc seemed well-attended when the three of us pulled up to the line. The race was 4 laps totaling 43 miles, which would suggest that it would be a lot of racing and a lot less sitting in. The first lap proved active with Southbay Wheelmen's Jen X and Jennifer Wilson making some early moves. Kate, Kristina and I were able to cover all of the attacks not letting anything go. We tried to keep the pace high throughout the first lap, and especially over the gradual climb nearest the finish. The pack was still together after the first lap. The second time around was much more low key until Jen X made a move with a Bicycle John's rider that stuck for the entire third lap. Kate attacked half-way through just after the climb and attempted to bridge to the break, but was neutralized largely in part by a downhill into a turn. Once she was caught, I counterattacked her move and tried move up to them at the beginning of the third lap, but the whole field was on my heels, as it was clear that PROMAN needed to do the work to catch the break. Kate worked at the front quite a bit to bring the move back and attacked again up the climb on the backside to string out the field a bit more which eventually caught Jen X and the BJ rider. The majority of women in the field did not seem to be concerned about working to bring back the two, but Kristina, Kate and I continued to be active even after the break was caught. At the beginning of the fourth lap the two were finally caught and the field was back together again. At this point it seemed as though everyone was content to wait for the field sprint, but PROMAN and SBWM continued to keep the pace high for the remainder of the last lap. About a mile to the finish Kristina told me that she was cramped, but she managed to do to help and hang in to the finish. Kate did an awesome job of maintaining a solid rhythm and strong tempo at the front. By this time, it was obvious that a field sprint was ahead of us--unfortunately so was a men's field that we were quickly approaching, which compromised several of our positions at the end. Kate had an awesome position going to the line, but Betsy from America's Dairyland came over the finish first for the victory. - Abby