Page Valley Omnium 2011
The women's elite team won the overall omnium at Page Valley 2011. Katy Giles took 2nd at the Mabra Road Race Championships with Sara and Sue taking 7th and 8th respectively. Christine Fuentes had a 1st place finish in the Women's 45+ category in the road race. Katy showed her sheer strength in the crit by breaking away from the lead group to solo for the 1st place finish. Sue and Sara sprinted ahead of the chase group to take 4th and 5th. A solid weekend of racing.
Full report:
Saturday: Despite our road race getting cut short 2 laps due to impending storms on the horizon, we had a strong finish with 3 top tens. Christine "the Oracle" prepped us up with info on all of our competitors, started out the race by setting a nice pace at the front and then Sue McQ also set up some good tempo up front. A rider from Specialized/Missing Link put in some early attacks, and some little breaks started to form, but most of the riders didn't want to work so they didn't really stick. Sara joined me in the break for while, and it was great to be the only rider in the break with a teammate. Finally the winning break was established--VA mountain biker Sue (unknown team), Monica (Harley), Ainhoa (Mabra RR champ, super sprinter) and Specialized/missing link rider and me. These ladies were all very good climbers. I knew that dragging Ainhoa to the finish would not be a smart move b/c she had previously crushed me in the spint at Coppi after riding smartly and staying rested in the break. So on the 2nd time up the start finish, I attacked and had only Monica with me. We made it most of the way down the hill on the back side before we were caught. Then it was just a lot of negative riding, some failed attacks on my part and some fiercely contested KOMs. Shortly after the 2nd KOM, we were told by our moto that we would be finishing on that lap (2 laps short of planned) due to the looming t-storms. I tried one more attack on the flat to drop the sprinter, but they were all right back on my wheel. Up the finishing hill, Ainhoa put in a HUGE attack and ran away with the win. Monica and I gutted it out and I edged her out for 2nd. Sara was 7th and Sue was 8th. Still waiting for the results to be posted for Christine's place in the master's division.
Sunday: The crit was a brutal 8 corner course that finished up at the top of a nice hill. After watching the Cat 1/2 and Cat 3 race, I knew it would be tough--esp the 2nd small uphill after the big hill. Specialized rider started it off with some early attacks and managed to get a gap. We sat back and let the other girls chase. After a few more laps, Sue, Sara and I moved to the front. Sue and Sara set the pace and managed to string out the field a bit. They set me up perfectly for the 1st prime (3 pts toward omnium) where I edged out Monica. I got a little bit of a gap, but was chased back. Then it was Sue McQ, Ainhoa, and me on the front with Sue putting in some damage with her phenomenal cornering that forced some gaps, which the other riders had to work hard to fill. Then I ended up in a break with VA mtn biker Sue and Ainhoa, and decided to sit in for a while and let them pull me around. Meanwhile, Sue and Sara were sitting in and resting up in the field, forcing other riders to work. I decided to go for the 2nd prime and managed to get a gap by pushing it over the top on my brand-new super light CAAD 10 ABRT Cannondale frame :) The other 2 riders popped and I soloed in the last 7 laps for the win and 1st in the omnium. The field was demolished by Sue and Sara sprinting up the hill like greyhounds chasing a rabbit for 4th and 5th place. Fantastic teamwork and smart tactics made it happen for ABRT today!
