Dash for Cash

After Memorial Day, I was determined to have a more eventful race. Despite the $10 primes every lap (wow!), I noticed the pack was unenthusiastic about closing little gaps. So halfway through when a dozen of us had drifted up, I asked if anyone wanted to go. Someone said it wouldn�t work, but I did get one taker, and we ended up staying away. A McGuire rider bridged, and I rolled in for 3rd!

Um...this Race is Like, So Fun!

Heck yeah, it is!

I had a really great time "dashing for cash" last year, and so Id been looking forward to this race for awhile. Theres absolutely nothing special about the course, its just your typical business park loop, but the beauty of this race is that every lap is a prime lap! Thats right, every lap!

Oh, yeah. Our skinsuits arrived the day before, and Jesse came along to watch me race and take photos. Im sure its hard for the non-cyclist to understand how psyched up I was. And we got there in time to see Elizabeths race...she got in a break and worked hard and looked SO GOOD out there and had a great finish, so yeah, I was excited to race. Here she is (left) looking fabulous:

I hung back a little for the first few laps and got comfortable. I sprinted almost right out of the corner on lap 4 and got a huge gap which allowed me to take that prime. Then Luzia ("Brazil") started going off the front like crazy, sometimes alone and sometimes with a few other girls. I blocked as well as I knew how, but it really didnt matter. She swept up 5 primes by simply riding off the front of the pack or riding off the front of a small breakaway.

If the primes didnt go to Brazil, they went to Tait Sato, so I decided to follow her around for awhile. On lap something or other she got the cash prime and I followed her across the line for an additional prime. After that sprint, we had a little gap on the field, so we started working. It lasted for about 1/2 a lap until a Velo Girl caught on, and shortly the group caught us.

Blah, blah, and then there was one lap to go. Good position, Tait Satos wheel. Took the inside, made it past the argee-bargy, and opened up my sprint. Five of us came to the line for a very close finish, with the rest of the field bike lengths behind. Too little too late, and I took 5th from that group, 3rd cat2.

Someone (me?) needs to pitch this "prime lap every lap" idea to Jim Keene, because its brilliant.

-Claire

2008

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2004