It had just started to rain when we arrived in Lancaster, PA. We started our warm-up and watched the Amateur men race. It started to rain harder and their field was strung out in a single file line. The men were taking the turns slowly and I was pretty impressed with their handling of the wet corners. The course looked safe until there was a big gap in the field. We wondered if maybe their race was over, it wasn’t over, it was delayed because so many of the guys had crashed. Corner three was extremely bumpy and nasty with diesel fuel....at least 30 men had crashed! I guess that the course wasn’t so safe after all. I normally enjoy racing in the rain, but this made me a bit nervous. The men’s race resumed and the rain stopped. Game Time!
Our field was pretty small, but stacked. T-Mobile, Lipton, Cheerwine, and Colavita all had strong showings. I was a little nervous starting in the back. I would just have to make a hard effort the first two laps for good placement.
The whistle blew and we were off. It was pretty fast the first 5 laps or so. I was breathing pretty hard. Catherine and Rebecca and Sarah were going with attacks. I made my efforts and moved to the front. Eventually a small group got off the front including: Ina Teutenburg, Catherine Powers, Theresa Cliff-Ryan, Sarah Tillotson, Laura Van Guilder (LVG), and two other girls. The group was gaining time and I told Catherine to remember, “You are the sprinter!” I didn’t want her to drive it to hard and be blown before the end.
For the next few laps Sarah, Rebecca and I covered stuff in the field. There were a couple of good moves, but nothing got across and it was coming down to the sprint. From our viewpoint we saw two girls in the break get popped and we caught them in the last lap. Colavita went to the front and I got on her wheel. Sarah wanted to go on the hill after turn three, so out of turn three I jumped to the right of Colavita (unfortunately the long way around) and I looked over and Sarah was going up the left side. The sprint was on. After going the long way around Colavita I got onto the little train and hung on. The last stretch is super bumpy and no one passed anyone. Sarah ended up 6th and I was 10th.
Up in Catherine’s group Ina tried to tell one of the girls that she had a flat tire. “You have a puncture!” she said at least twice to the girl. I am sure that the fear of Ina actually talking to her combined with her thick German accent was very shocking. The poor girl didn't really understand Ina. Finally, Catherine our team interpreteur jumped to the girls rescue told her she had a flat tire. Unfortunately, no free lap for her, they were just inside of eight to go. On the final lap Ina and Laura were watching each other, waiting to see who would make the first move. Catherine took advantage and jumped hard to catch them by surprise. Catherine dug deep and was able to hang on for third place! Only Ina and LVG caught her before the line.
1st Ina Teutenburg
2nd Laura Van Guilder
3rd Catherine Powers
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