Pennys Report

6 NorCal Velo girls and a full weekend of racing in the Big Valley. Does it get any better than that? We had our own private little cottage practically right on the crit course. Talk about convenient.

There were 4 of us Cat 4s lined up for the crit when the official sort of whispered start and they were off at a good pace right away. Some of the girls were caught off guard and had to bridge up to the peleton. I was in the pack and managed to hang on but I definitely noticed the pace was fast. It was a good course, some interesting corners.

The rest of the day was spent watching the pros flying by in tight formation. This was a very fast course, and some of the best pros in the world were there. Very exciting.

The next day we were up early and off to the road race. It was great lining up with 4 other teammates. We were all excited and it was a gorgeous day. We had a large field with the 3s and 4s together. About 10 miles into the race there was a big crash just in front and to the left of me. I managed to barely get around it without stacking, but I didnt know the fate of Mary Ann, Pauline, Ella and Elizabeth. Turns out they were OK, but had to work to catch the pack. It was a rolling course, a few hills. The pace picked up and I dropped to the back of the pack on the longest hill. I thought I would be able to catch up on the other side but at the bottom of the hill someone was transversing the course with a flat just before a left hand turn. I had to slow down for him and lost all my momentum, as well as any chance of catching the pack. I did find one other girl to work with for the final lap. We got to one of the last hills, I attacked and dropped her, but I went out too early. Just before the finish she passed me with another girl who had caught her and they had worked together to catch me. I was spent by that time and could only watch as they beat me to the finish. But if muscle cramping is any indication I definitely gave it a good effort!

Elizabeths Report

It was a fun course, but half of us had our hands in the air when the gun went off - err- and I had difficulty carrying out our tactices off the back. Pauline and I got some good practice going around in circles with each other. Congrats to Penny for hanging in there!

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