This weekend the Aaron’s Corporate Furnishings Women’s Cycling team was represented on both the East and West Coasts for the Jacksonville Cycling Classic in Jacksonville, FL, the Sea Otter Classic in Monterey, CA and the Santa Cruz Criterium in Santa Cruz, CA.
On Saturday, Mother Nature was in the drivers seat at the Laguna Seca Motor Speedway in Monterey, CA . Sunny skies one minute and torrential down pours and plummeting temperatures the next minute forced officials to make a quick decision to cancel the women’s race at the mid point of the race. At that point in the race, Aaron’s, Felicia Gomez was the virtual winner of the QoM competition having won the first two hill spirnts and Catherine Powers and Carmen McNellis were sitting in 2nd and 3rd place in the Sprinters Competition. “It was disappointing to have the race called when the team was racing so well and had so much to lose” said team director Carmen D’Aluisio. With no NRC points awarded, no prize money awarded and no jerseys awarded the team had to walk away knowing that it is racing well and is right on track for some big results.
The California crew took the opportunity to race Sunday in Santa Cruz, CA at the Santa Cruz Criterium and had a fabulous race! Aggressive racing throughout by the entire team ended with Katharine Carrroll winning the bunch sprint and Sarah Caravella coming in second. See the wonderful article that was written in the Santa Cruz Sentinel at http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2007/April/16/sport/stories/01sport.htm
In Jacksonville, FL the A- Team began their day with a meet and greet in the Jacksonville Aaron’s Corporate Furnishings Store. Shannon Hutchinson-Krupat, Kristin Sanders, Lee Anne Asbury and Julie Granger then took to the streets of downtown Jacksonville for a fast and furious criterium. Kristin Sanders placed herself in the winning break of four and brought home another podium finish for the Aaron’s Women in 3rd place. Shannon Hutchinson-Krupat won the field sprint against some of the best sprinters in the women’s peloton for 5th place overall.
On Monday, the East coast crew competed in Macon, GA in the Sue Komen Race for the Cure to support Breast Cancer research. This is also the opening day of the Tour of Georgia. Shannon Hutchinson-Krupat was the team's top finisher at-top the podium in 3rd place.
Shannon's Report - This weekend Kristin, Lee Anne, Julie and Shannon had a great weekend of racing and riding. They were also lucky to have some great host families. (Scott and Sandra in Jacksonville, and Bob and Ann in Macon) Thank you for opening up your homes to us and letting us share a few days with you.
Today was the Sue Komen race for the cure. It is a women’s bike race to help support breast cancer survivors, raise awareness, and to raise money for research. Last night we went to their dinner and enjoyed talking and meeting many tough ladies. They all were amazed that we race and at how hard we work. What they don’t realize is how inspiring they are to us. The fight they go through can not compare to our battle on the race course. We only hope that in some small way that us racing and doing our best will inspire them to continue their commitment to women.
We also had time to visit with the Aaron’s Corporate Furnishings folks. These are the people behind the scenes in the corporate furnishings world and our A-Team world. The backbone of our sponsorship is our two fearless leaders Don and Ed. Their excitement and commitment to women’s cycling is truly amazing. For those of you that don’t know, this all started two years ago when I asked Aaron’s to sponsor me. That year I won the superbowl of criteriums, Athens Twilight, and they were hooked. The A-Team was born.
After the race today we went to dinner with the rest of the Aaron’s Corporate Furnishings men and women. They had spent the day at the race cheering us on. It was so great to hear the cheers every lap. We signed posters and hats and they made us feel like superstars. Thank you for all your support and encouragement. It is wonderful to have such a great group of people there to keep us going. You are the greatest cycling fans a group of girls could have!
Shannon
On Saturday, Mother Nature was in the drivers seat at the Laguna Seca Motor Speedway in Monterey, CA . Sunny skies one minute and torrential down pours and plummeting temperatures the next minute forced officials to make a quick decision to cancel the women’s race at the mid point of the race. At that point in the race, Aaron’s, Felicia Gomez was the virtual winner of the QoM competition having won the first two hill spirnts and Catherine Powers and Carmen McNellis were sitting in 2nd and 3rd place in the Sprinters Competition. “It was disappointing to have the race called when the team was racing so well and had so much to lose” said team director Carmen D’Aluisio. With no NRC points awarded, no prize money awarded and no jerseys awarded the team had to walk away knowing that it is racing well and is right on track for some big results.
The California crew took the opportunity to race Sunday in Santa Cruz, CA at the Santa Cruz Criterium and had a fabulous race! Aggressive racing throughout by the entire team ended with Katharine Carrroll winning the bunch sprint and Sarah Caravella coming in second. See the wonderful article that was written in the Santa Cruz Sentinel at http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2007/April/16/sport/stories/01sport.htm
In Jacksonville, FL the A- Team began their day with a meet and greet in the Jacksonville Aaron’s Corporate Furnishings Store. Shannon Hutchinson-Krupat, Kristin Sanders, Lee Anne Asbury and Julie Granger then took to the streets of downtown Jacksonville for a fast and furious criterium. Kristin Sanders placed herself in the winning break of four and brought home another podium finish for the Aaron’s Women in 3rd place. Shannon Hutchinson-Krupat won the field sprint against some of the best sprinters in the women’s peloton for 5th place overall.
On Monday, the East coast crew competed in Macon, GA in the Sue Komen Race for the Cure to support Breast Cancer research. This is also the opening day of the Tour of Georgia. Shannon Hutchinson-Krupat was the team's top finisher at-top the podium in 3rd place.
Shannon's Report - This weekend Kristin, Lee Anne, Julie and Shannon had a great weekend of racing and riding. They were also lucky to have some great host families. (Scott and Sandra in Jacksonville, and Bob and Ann in Macon) Thank you for opening up your homes to us and letting us share a few days with you.Today was the Sue Komen race for the cure. It is a women’s bike race to help support breast cancer survivors, raise awareness, and to raise money for research. Last night we went to their dinner and enjoyed talking and meeting many tough ladies. They all were amazed that we race and at how hard we work. What they don’t realize is how inspiring they are to us. The fight they go through can not compare to our battle on the race course. We only hope that in some small way that us racing and doing our best will inspire them to continue their commitment to women.
We also had time to visit with the Aaron’s Corporate Furnishings folks. These are the people behind the scenes in the corporate furnishings world and our A-Team world. The backbone of our sponsorship is our two fearless leaders Don and Ed. Their excitement and commitment to women’s cycling is truly amazing. For those of you that don’t know, this all started two years ago when I asked Aaron’s to sponsor me. That year I won the superbowl of criteriums, Athens Twilight, and they were hooked. The A-Team was born.
After the race today we went to dinner with the rest of the Aaron’s Corporate Furnishings men and women. They had spent the day at the race cheering us on. It was so great to hear the cheers every lap. We signed posters and hats and they made us feel like superstars. Thank you for all your support and encouragement. It is wonderful to have such a great group of people there to keep us going. You are the greatest cycling fans a group of girls could have!
Shannon
1 comment:
Congratulations on your dominating performance at the Santa Cruz Crit. Thanks for smiling for a photo afterwards. My photos are at
http://garrettlau.smugmug.com/gallery/2717626#144080683
Post a Comment