USA Crit Series Sum Up by C.Powers

Race #5 was in Spartanburg, South Carolina. The weather looked ominous when we arrived and settled in to the local coffee shop for a couple of hours of email and chat time. When we emerged, the sky was still dark and the wind was picking up. We warmed up on our trainers, certain it would start raining any minute. As it happened, the clouds kept it cool but the rain never came. We lined up in front of the Smith Barney VIP barbecue tent and rolled off for another aggressive race. The many primes kept the race fast -- most notably the Texas Roadhouse prime, which inspired an inexplicable frenzy at the front of the race. Laura Van Gilder leapt off the front solo for several laps, and the Aaron’s team sat back and watched as Colavita was forced to chase her. With 6 laps to go, Catherine put in a solo attack and stayed off until 2 to go. With Powers reeled in, the Cheerwine choo-choo came to the front with Sarah and Kat fighting for wheels just behind it. Unfortunately, our sprinters got boxed in and Kat finished 6^th.

From Spartanburg we made the long drive to Atlanta and were relieved to find that Jeremy had turned down our beds for us in the spacious Hutchison-Krupat abode. The next morning we were on our own, as Carmen flew back to California for a much-needed rest before Joe Martin. Kat took over logistics and Powers adopted to duties of soigneur (minus the leg-rubs). We enjoyed the delicious coffee courtesy of Shannon and Jeremy (a welcome improvement over the continental breakfast at our hotels) and made spinach omelets while we did an enormous quantity of laundry. We loaded up and took off for Sunny King. What a difference from Spartanburg! It felt like it was 90 degrees and it was all we could do to stay hydrated before our race. LeeAnne met us at the race, newly invigorated after her pep talk from the night before and ready to kick some Colavita bootay. The race attracted a lot of attention in the community due to the kids races, climbing wall and country fair atmosphere. We took off in the heat while LeeAnne’s husband Dan (fresh from his 4^th place ride in his own race) encouraged us on the radio. After a few laps, Powers and Cheerwine’s Chrissy Ruiter found themselves off the front in a break that lasted a third of the race. The two split primes and worked together smoothly, building up a gap of almost 25 seconds.

But the rush to the line for the mid-race points sprint brought the gap down and Chrissy was instructed to stop working. Within a few laps, the two were back in the bunch. None of the counters stuck for long, but a solo attack from Kiwi Dale dangled in front until 2 to go. The Aaron’s team was determined not to be pushed around by the Cheerwine train this time around. Powers led Kat and Sarah up the right-hand side next to the Cheerwine women, up the hill and down the backside, sprinting up through the start-finish with one to go, leaving Kat and Sarah right up at the front to fight for wheels. Kat jumped the Cheerwine train going into turn 3, forcing Laura Van Gilder and Tina Pic to jump early, with Sarah on Tina’s wheel. Sarah ended up 3^rd and Kat held on for 6^th place.

Our final race of the series was in Decatur, Alabama. It was quite a cultural experience. By the time we got in to town and checked in to our hotel (where a raucous hip-hop wedding reception was being held) most of the town’s restaurants were closed. We had enjoyed the free buffet after Sunny King, but it wasn’t quite enough to hold us till morning. So we set off in search of food. And what did we find, but Waffle House! We felt it was very important to expose Michelle a.k.a. Kiwi Bear to this quintessential American experience and Waffle House did not let us down. The usual assortment of interesting characters (a cop, a man with tattoos in an undershirt, a woman wearing a hair net) looked up from their coffee as we walked in. Our waitress dripped southern charm, calling us all “hon” and obliging us with Waffle House paper hats. And the chocolate chip pecan waffles, hot chocolate, grits, eggs, raisin toast and capped home fries were delicious. We decided it was important to start storing up calories now for the upcoming Joe Martin Stage Race. We knew Carmen would approve of our decision. Either that or she would never leave us alone at the races again …

The next morning, Decatur was a ghost town. We couldn’t figure out where everyone was but then we realized that everyone who wasn’t too hung over from the previous evening’s festivities was at church. We rode around looking for a coffee shop to no avail. Apparently, coffee shops don’t open on Sundays in Decatur. The heat and humidity discouraged us from spending too much time outside so we fled back to the hotel room and watched a program on E! about Paris Hilton going to jail. Three hours before the race we decided we’d better eat again. We went to Tony’s Country Kitchen and had some more southern fried food, surrounded by church ladies with rock hard hair who stared us down to let us know that they knew we hadn’t attended services that morning. Powers tried fried green tomatoes for the first time (yum!) and Michelle tried grits again in order to confirm that she doesn’t like them. For one last time we iced the bottles, schlepped our bags down, packed the van and headed to the race. We set up in the shade next to the Hub team and prepared for the final assault. The course was 4 corners, wide open, with a good hill up to the finish. The first few laps were a bit swarmy but the Aaron’s team stayed in the front, as Kat and Powers made sure to lead as many laps as possible without wasting too much energy (we ended up finishing 1-2 in the lap-leader competition, which won us a good chunk of well-deserved change as a reward for our aggressive riding). There were some early breaks and Michelle did a great job covering some moves. Then Heather Labance (an Advil-Chapstick rider who flew in just for the last 2 races) went off the front solo and stayed away for several laps but some tempo riding and attacking from Cheerwine, Colavita and Aaron’s brought her back. The winning break went on a prime, and consisted of Powers, Robin Farina, Kele Murdin, Laura Bowles and Cheerwine’s Catherine Cheatley and Sarah Uhl. The field was tired and happy to see that group go up the road, as only one of the riders (Cheatley) was in the top 10 for the overall. So without too much effort, the break built up a healthy gap. Cheatley did the bulk of the work and Powers made a habit of snagging laps and premes, taking a few pulls as well. With 2 laps to go, Kele Murdin tried to attack the group to go solo, but Cheatley was having none of that and easily brought her back. Laura Bowles also attempted a flyer but was reeled in. Powers sat tight on Uhl’s wheel going into the sprint and tried to come around the track sprinter at the finish but to no avail.

Uhl took top honors with Powers a close second. Sarah sprinted in for 10^th in the Stage. It was the end of a tough week of racing.

Overall, the Aaron’s Professional Women’s Cycling Team had a strong week. We had 5 podium finishes and 1 win. We held the overall leader’s jersey for 4 of the 8 stages. We earned 3rd, 6^th, 17^th and 25th places in the overall points competition. We won 3^rd place in the team points competition. And we were 1-2 in the lap leader’s competition, reflecting our aggressive racing style. We learned a great deal which we will apply to our future racing as a team. We are fired up and ready to rock at the Joe Martin Stage Race next weekend!