SBW Pro Women Cycling: San Dimas Stage 3

Pre race warm up. X crackin' up and me breathing hard.

The final day of the stage race! Oh, before I forget, yes I did get 8^th yesterday. There was a mix up with riders and this morning before the crit I asked the referees to check the video and I just got pipped at the line. There as a lot going on with me being right next to the barrier and a photographer leaning out right at the finish. Oh well, still top 10 which is good.

I love crits! It had rained in the morning and rained while we were driving to San Dimas but luckily for our race it was just cold and real windy. After the call ups of the top 10 in GC the whistle blew and off we went. The pace was fast from the start with Highroad hitting it hard. I stayed near the front ready to go with what I could and the one time I was not in great position 2, not 1, 2 Highroad riders went off the front, Kim Anderson and Alex Rhodes. Their gap was not that big and again ValueAct tried to bring it back but the cards were not in their favor again. All I can say is Lara Kroepsch (ValueAct) is a stud. Yesterday she spent all of her time on the front trying to bring the break back and again today. Once the pack realized that they were not going to be reeled back in it became a game of who could bridge. My teammates X and Morgan were all up in the front and for 3 riders we covered every move we could. It was exhausting but we love hard racing. Both Morgan and X got primes which was cool. Lara K. kept attacking and I went with her in hopes that the string between us and the pack would break but not today as the other Highroad riders were very attentive. At one point Morgan got away with a ValueAct rider very casually off the front and X and I were at the front to block but then the pack clued in and they were caught. Too bad! There were a couple of crashes in the race but no SBW riders were involved. It seemed that some cones on turn 5 had a magnet on them as both times riders seemed to dive right for them.

X drilling it on the front trying to catch the break

Ever since Superweek I am used to riding 1 ½ hour crits so when they announced 4 laps to go I was shocked. Now I had to start thinking about the finish. I went to the front of the pack and spent the rest of the 4 laps constantly getting on any wheel that was going faster than the one I was on. Both Morgan and X did a great job of helping me by going to the front and keeping the pace high. When the pace is too slow and the pack bunches up I do not like it. Fast and strung out is the way to be. I was actually in great position (better than I ever have been) sitting 4^th wheel entering the last turn. Out of the turn I sprinted as fast as I could but with the wind and everything we finished exactly how we came out of the corner and I got 4^th in the field sprint and 6^th for the stage because of the two Highroad riders off of the front. Still not the result I was looking for but still top 10. Morgan did an awesome job and finished 8^th!!!!!! X held on after pulling hard from 2 laps to go for a solid 20^th? position. She is a stud. Have to check results to get the final on that. All and all I thought us SBW women did a fantastic job and I am very proud of us!!!!!!

Me throwing the bike to protect my placing.

Morgan putting it down with a nice 8th place finish!

Afterwards we hung out to check the official results and watch the podium. Mara Abbott (Team Highroad) gave SBW kudos stating that we rode very well and were strong, especially since we only had 3 riders. It is always great to here things like that when you spend so much time suffering! Almost forgot to mention our overall placings in the GC - X held onto her 12th place, Morgan moved up to 16th and I moved up to 23rd.