Tour Of Christiana Stage Race- August 15 & 16th, 2006

Tour De Christiana

The road race was 33 miles, 4 laps around a hilly course with some fast descents. I didn't recognize any of the riders in the Womens Open field, except Caryl Gayle of Comedy Central, Lise Dubuis from CRCA and of course our own Nancy. Some pros showed up to torture us a bit and the pace was fast from lap 1. About half-way through each lap there were a series of hills that seemed to break up the pack. (No one should believe Nancy when she says that she cannot climb, she can and very well.)

The pro girls attacked on the 2nd or 3rd lap and got away. Nancy encouraged me to go with them(yeah..right!) I think she didn't realize how beat I already was. Nancy, Caryl and I managed to stay in the chase group and the rest of the field fell apart behind us. I stayed with this group until the final sprint. Nancy placed 18th and I placed a few spots behind her. (Please note. Officials missed me somehow and have me in second to last place. This was protested and corrected. Unfortunately the promoter submitted the wrong info to USA cycling. Boo. I actually placed 21st, 3rd amongst the 4's)

The ITT was a little over 10 miles. A few small inclines, but nothing compared to the road race. I loved the course, it was so beautiful. It was great to see these pristine corn fields and cute Amish kids with their horses. I did find myself losing concentration a few times and had to remind myself that I was racing, not sight seeing! By mile 7 or 8, I did get my groove and focus back and picked up the pace. I managed to pass 2 or 3 women and have the powerful Betty Tyrell fly by me. I was happy she did, because I used her tempo to pace behind to the finish! I placed 16th, 3rd for the 4's.

The Crit was unlike anything I have ever experienced. I now know why you have to be up front at the line! The start was an uphill and many girls had trouble clipping in and were falling back. I made my way around them, but the pros and top riders had already broken away! My heart rate was at max from lap 1. By lap 2 many women had pulled off and I could see them on the sidelines with their bikes. I wanted to quit too!

About half-way through the race I lost the pack I had been riding with. Nancy was done (a few overnights in the ER before a race will do that) and fell back to pull me up to the pack, but they were just too fast. Her effort did allow me to recover just enough to finish the race though. On one of the final laps there was a crash in the field and as I rode around it I found a couple girls from Snow Valley team to work with. The three of us worked together and finished together. We managed not to get lapped by the pro girls (although I did secretly hope that I would so that I could rest). I placed 16th, 1st for the 4's. (the site now reads 2nd, but at the race the official final results of the race did say 1st) It seems the promoter is having problems with the results!

In the overall GC I placed 21st. All in all Nancy and I had a nice weekend of racing. We were challenged and perhaps even tortured a bit, but somehow we were both still smiling after.