San Francisco Twilight Crit (USA Crit Series)Teammates: Rachel, Megan, Melodie, Virginia, Hanan
The last big race of the season turned out to be a huge success for our PROMAN Racing Team. With most of the top teams in America represented, it was sure to be a fast and animated race. PROMAN started it off with some serious hole shot action from cyclo-cross phenom, Rachel Lloyd. Lloyd quickly opened a gap on the rest of the field as soon as the whistle blew and the race was immediately under our control. The field was forced to chase, which kept the race fast and strung out in the streets behind us. With Rachel off the front, the rest of us maintained position at the front, waiting for the counter. When Rachel was reeled back in, Megan launched a vicious attack that was so perfectly timed, no one else could react. She opened another impressive gap and again PROMAN was in control.
This instigated a more serious chase from the Aaron's, Webcor, and Cheerwine squads who wanted a piece of the action. When Megan was caught, Kat Carroll tried to get away and I was on her wheel immediately. We didn't get far from the field this first time, but I could tell Kat was looking for a break and I was not going to let her go anywhere without me. A few more attacks came and went. Eventually, we had established a small break away just off the front of the main field. The break had Rachel and I, Karla Kinglsey of Easton, Kat Carroll, Laura Van Gilder, Christine Thornburn, and Chrissy Ruiter of ValueAct. It was a great break. We started working together and driving the break hard to get away from the field. In the process, Rachel dropped back to the field, which ultimately benefited us because with two of us in the break, many of the teams back in the field (despite representation in the break), may have felt obligated to chase. Karla Kingsley was dropped from the group as well, after a couple of accelerations by Kat to get away from the break.
Kat was clearly looking for a solo break. After her first attempt, the break dwindled down to 5 and she waited for the perfect moment to hit us again. When she did, there was no reaction from the break to chase. She opened up a gap that took her out of sight in less than a lap. Pretty impressive. The rest of us in the break looked at each other for a while before Christine Thornburn decided she was going to bring back Kat. It was in my best interest to bring her back as well, so I started working with Christine, sharing pulls with her up the hardest parts of the course. I had to be careful though, because the two other riders in our break were incredibly strong as well and clearly sitting on, waiting for the right moment to attack Christine and I. Working together for about 3-4 laps, proved to bring down the gap to Kat and we could see her again in the distance. As we closed in on her on the climb, Christine hit it full throttle, giving Kat absolutely no chance of reintegrating with the break.
Now there's about 8 laps to go and Aaron's no longer has a rider up the road, so the chase is on. Meredith Miller got to the front and single-handedly brought us back with 4 laps to go. I was questioning my ability to win at this point, having been in the break all day and expecting a swarm and counter from the field. However, luck was on my side as Christine "powerhouse" Thornburn stayed right at the front and drilled it for 3 more laps. This kept me in perfect position with the field strung out behind us and no chance of a swarm and late attack by the field. With one to go coming through the start finish, Webcor's Karen Brem's attacked with their sprinter Gina Grain on her wheel. They led through turn 1 and 2 and then the reaction came from Aaron's leadout for Erica Allar. I was stuck on the Aaron's train and took the ride until halfway up the climb when Laura Van Gilder launched her final attack and bid for the line right to my left. I caught her wheel and buried myself to stay on it as she took me out of the final turn and into the closing 200m. With the headwind worst on the finish straightaway, I knew I should wait as long as I could and let her take me as far as possible. With maybe 100m to go I left her wheel and came around her for the win.
Megan finished up in the top 10 in 9th place overall, with Melodie not far behind in 14th. What a day for PROMAN all around. From the start to the finish, everyone did their part to bring home the win. Huge thanks to Lorraine, Tracey, Julia, Kristina, Eric, and Dario and Abby for being there to cheer us on and take care of us on and off the bike. I especially want to thank my man Rob and our manager Niki for doing an impeccable job on the radios. They kept me so focused the entire race and I don't think I could have done it without them. Thanks to my teammates for racing their butts off and controlling the race to allow me to ride for the win.
Thanks for Reading ~ Shelley
The last big race of the season turned out to be a huge success for our PROMAN Racing Team. With most of the top teams in America represented, it was sure to be a fast and animated race. PROMAN started it off with some serious hole shot action from cyclo-cross phenom, Rachel Lloyd. Lloyd quickly opened a gap on the rest of the field as soon as the whistle blew and the race was immediately under our control. The field was forced to chase, which kept the race fast and strung out in the streets behind us. With Rachel off the front, the rest of us maintained position at the front, waiting for the counter. When Rachel was reeled back in, Megan launched a vicious attack that was so perfectly timed, no one else could react. She opened another impressive gap and again PROMAN was in control.
This instigated a more serious chase from the Aaron's, Webcor, and Cheerwine squads who wanted a piece of the action. When Megan was caught, Kat Carroll tried to get away and I was on her wheel immediately. We didn't get far from the field this first time, but I could tell Kat was looking for a break and I was not going to let her go anywhere without me. A few more attacks came and went. Eventually, we had established a small break away just off the front of the main field. The break had Rachel and I, Karla Kinglsey of Easton, Kat Carroll, Laura Van Gilder, Christine Thornburn, and Chrissy Ruiter of ValueAct. It was a great break. We started working together and driving the break hard to get away from the field. In the process, Rachel dropped back to the field, which ultimately benefited us because with two of us in the break, many of the teams back in the field (despite representation in the break), may have felt obligated to chase. Karla Kingsley was dropped from the group as well, after a couple of accelerations by Kat to get away from the break.
Kat was clearly looking for a solo break. After her first attempt, the break dwindled down to 5 and she waited for the perfect moment to hit us again. When she did, there was no reaction from the break to chase. She opened up a gap that took her out of sight in less than a lap. Pretty impressive. The rest of us in the break looked at each other for a while before Christine Thornburn decided she was going to bring back Kat. It was in my best interest to bring her back as well, so I started working with Christine, sharing pulls with her up the hardest parts of the course. I had to be careful though, because the two other riders in our break were incredibly strong as well and clearly sitting on, waiting for the right moment to attack Christine and I. Working together for about 3-4 laps, proved to bring down the gap to Kat and we could see her again in the distance. As we closed in on her on the climb, Christine hit it full throttle, giving Kat absolutely no chance of reintegrating with the break.
Now there's about 8 laps to go and Aaron's no longer has a rider up the road, so the chase is on. Meredith Miller got to the front and single-handedly brought us back with 4 laps to go. I was questioning my ability to win at this point, having been in the break all day and expecting a swarm and counter from the field. However, luck was on my side as Christine "powerhouse" Thornburn stayed right at the front and drilled it for 3 more laps. This kept me in perfect position with the field strung out behind us and no chance of a swarm and late attack by the field. With one to go coming through the start finish, Webcor's Karen Brem's attacked with their sprinter Gina Grain on her wheel. They led through turn 1 and 2 and then the reaction came from Aaron's leadout for Erica Allar. I was stuck on the Aaron's train and took the ride until halfway up the climb when Laura Van Gilder launched her final attack and bid for the line right to my left. I caught her wheel and buried myself to stay on it as she took me out of the final turn and into the closing 200m. With the headwind worst on the finish straightaway, I knew I should wait as long as I could and let her take me as far as possible. With maybe 100m to go I left her wheel and came around her for the win.
Megan finished up in the top 10 in 9th place overall, with Melodie not far behind in 14th. What a day for PROMAN all around. From the start to the finish, everyone did their part to bring home the win. Huge thanks to Lorraine, Tracey, Julia, Kristina, Eric, and Dario and Abby for being there to cheer us on and take care of us on and off the bike. I especially want to thank my man Rob and our manager Niki for doing an impeccable job on the radios. They kept me so focused the entire race and I don't think I could have done it without them. Thanks to my teammates for racing their butts off and controlling the race to allow me to ride for the win.
Thanks for Reading ~ Shelley
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