Carl Dolan 2012, Women's 123

ABRT Ladies took 1st, 2nd and 6th at Carl Dolan today!

So after some discussion of various tactics during our warmup laps, Sue, Ainhoa and I decided that Ainhoa would go for the prime if the conditions were right, and then I would cue on her move to start a break. Sue (fresh off her 4th place finish at SoYoCo yesterday) was going to jump on the early stuff, I would work the middle and then if we were all still together, we would work on setting up Ainhoa for a nice sprinter's finish. First lap was kind of mild, so I picked up the pace a little up the hill the second time. Someone counter attacked on the flat windy section and Sue was right there covering it. The rest of the pack caught back up but it allowed Ainhoa and I to move up into great position, a few riders behind Sue. A CAWES rider put in a nice attack down the hill and she had 3 riders plus Sue chasing and the rest of the field strung out. Ainhoa and I jumped to bridge up to Sue. CAWES started to sit up as the hill and wind kicked in, so I thought it might be a good opportunity to attack up the hill (since Sue was again perfectly positioned, blocking everyone to my left), have some fun and tire out the other teams' sprinters. With 7 laps to go, I figured there would be some bridge-up riders (hopefully w/ one of my teammates in tow). Larsen (Syn-fit) tried to bridge up but was sucked back by the field. I started to feel like I was going to yak, but with a 20-25 sec gap on the field, I decided to put my head down and settle into a TT pace until I was caught. I knew Sue and Ainhoa were taking care of business back in the field, so I tried to save a little something for the finish when the field caught me. But they didn't and I solo'd in for the win. Ainhoa "the Sewing Machine" gunned it up the right side, winning the field sprint by more than a bike length and McQ was able to weave through the Cat 4 bodies (the W1/2/3 field caught the W4 field on the finishing hill--yikes!) for 6th. Great teamwork and great results today.

Special shout out to Anna Staats--2nd for junior 10-14 ladies. Nice work!