USGP MERCER CUP - UCI

USGP #2 Mercer Cup November 17,18

After spending last weekend at home racing in sunny central California and
feeling strong I flew to New Jersey in a very positive and optimistic state!
The weather on the East Coast was quite different than the weather we had been
racing in. Finally some 'real' cyclocross weather. It was in the low 40's, it
had rained all day Thursday and all the race organizers were promising muddy
racing. Then the wind started blowing. I got out to the course to pre-ride
Friday and it was so windy that most of the banners lining the course were not
being put up. This same wind had also dried out the course. It seemed to be a
twisty, pretty flat grassy course. The only real challenge might be the wind.
So on Saturday after spending a restful night at the house of Tom Mains and his
wife Jess our gracious hosts Sam and I headed out to the course planning on a
one bike race.

I lined up in the second row, but didn't get to choose whom I
started behind. This contributed to my slightly slow start. It seems like the
first day of a double weekend I often start a little slow... But even though I
was swarmed in the middle of the pack, I just kept on the gas and when the girls
settled in at the top of the start hill I made my move. The sweeping left hand
turn onto the grass left me plenty of room to blast past and slide into fifth
position.

Lynne took the lead from the gun and had Wendy Simms, Alison Sydor,
Georgia Gould and I on her wheel. Georgia soon got around everyone and rode
away with Lyne the only one able to chase. Meanwhile I was getting yo-yo-ed at
every corner and started to struggle. My feet had gone numb because of the cold
and I kept bumping my pedal on the ground in the tight turns. The last time I
did this I ended up doing a 360 on my butt and Katerina Nash caught up to me. I
let her pull me back up to Wendy and Alison and we started attacking each other.


Somewhere in the middle of the race Wendy rolled her tubular tire off the rim
and now it was Katerina, Alison and me. Halfway into the last lap I tried to
attack and get away... it didn't work. So I decided to sit on and go for a
sprint. (after all I have been working on my sprint!) I didn't get a chance
though, in the never ending sand pit about a minute from the finish Katerina
came off her bike and I was a bit too close. My dismount was less than smooth
and she got a gap on me while Alison ran past me. We just chased her to the
finish and she held off Alison for the sprint for third. I placed fifth. I
felt good about this race.


Even though I was riding sloppy, I was in the race!
We really were racing each other! So far this season I had been finishing solo,
I got to partake in the games and battling! Pretty exciting!
Tom and Jess cooked up a mean dinner of meatballs and pasta with delicious
garlic bread and a choice of three different homemade cookies for dessert. We
then retired to the den to watch "The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe" on the
largest flat screen TV I have ever seen! Adam Craig, Kelly Emmett, and Ross
Schnell were also staying at the house so we had quite a party!


Sunday... it was raining lightly and just as cold. While the rain never did
come down very hard it gave us our promised mud. Not the soupy, sloppy kind of
mud you find in Portland, but the slick as snot kind. The course was pretty
much the same as the day before, with a few more chicane turns and a mulch pit.
The traction, however, was completely different. On the course was this 'berm'
that was a small hill that the course wound up and down and around. This was
slick and off camber.


I got a better start and didn't have to blast around as
many girls on the left hand turn onto the grass. I slid myself into the same
fifth wheel spot and commenced the yo-yo-ing. Lyne again shot off the front,
but this time Georgia was having a hard time getting up to her. She was having
trouble with the slick mud and crashed more than once. I was riding the slick
course fine, but was having a little trouble with the cold. It was pretty much
Wendy, Alison, and me, then in the end just Wendy and me.

The spectators were great! On the last lap through the never ending sand pit I had a guy running stride for stride on the other side of the tape yelling at the top of his lungs
for me... it was great! Apparently I need to take bigger strides in the sand...
hhmmm is that how Georgia does it... Georgia won, Lyne second, Alison third,
Wendy fourth and I placed fifth again. Georgia took over the leaders jersey and
I kept my fifth place. I'll have to step it up if I want to stay in the top
five when Katie returns to the U.S.

Thanks for reading, stay tuned for USGP #3 in Portland December 1,2
-Rachel