By Lindsay Myers
03/02/09
I’m still on a racing high from the weekend of fantastic racing in Merced. I’m so glad the racing season has begun…I LOVE racing! The team arrived to Merced mid morning on Saturday for the downtown Merced criterium. We’re beginning to really fit the part of a professional women’s team now that more of our sponsored products have arrived (Giro glasses and helmets), we’re looking good!
I was really looking forward to the weekend because the line up of teams promised stiff competition and good hard racing. Team Highroad has been doing some Norcal races…they were definitely the force to be reckoned with. I really enjoyed the experience racing with them. As Jen said, “Ina [Tuetenberg] just EMITS coolness!”
We wanted to be present in the race, being represented in any breaks…and we did just that. Starla was up the road in a several lap break of four women. She managed a prime win against arguably one of the best female sprinters in the world! After lots of attacking, chasing, and airtime for SugarCRM (thanks to Dave Towle), it looked like the race was going to come to a field sprint. At four to go, I got on the front to try to string it out a bit to keep things safe as the pace had lulled a bit. With a couple laps to go, Karla and Liza were positioned really well towards the front of the field. At this point, I was sitting in for a pack finish and Karla was up front duking it out for a top ten finish against some of the best sprinters. Way to go Karla!
The team headed out for an hour spin after the race and made it back in time to see the Pro Men’s mad dash for the line. The majority of the evening was spent in a hole-in-the-wall (but fantastic) Thai restaurant. Then back to the hotel to put the legs up and recover as much as possible for the early rise the next morning.
Leaving right on schedule (I was impressed with this), we made our way to Starbucks before the short drive out to the middle of nowhere where the race started. The sky was looking a bit ominous and I was really hoping the showers would hold off until we were comfortably in the car post race. The first road race of the season and I was stoked! The course is basically a rectangle with a couple rollers coming into the finish. The field was smaller than I had expected, with a few additions from the day before. Still present were Highroad, Tibco, and Colavita, with Webcor and Valueact having only one rider. We rolled out at a mellow pace and things didn’t get interesting until we made the left hand turn for the second leg of the “rectangle.” This is when the racing started with continual attacks. The pack wasn’t letting anything get away. SugarCRM did a great job of taking turns being in the moves and making sure there was some red in the mix. We demonstrated fantastic team work in forming a rotation at the front to chase down a threatening break that had managed a gap on the field. Rounding the corner to begin the final lap, my coach, Laura Charameda came up beside me and said “The race begins NOW.” At the rate we were going, I was figuring we would bring back the break before the finish. I was expecting some serious attacks on the rollers leading up to the finish. I stayed close to the front to be in a position where I could hopefully respond. With a couple miles to go, Tibco sent everyone to the front. They set a pace that was surprisingly not brutal. My legs were pretty toasted by that point and I was in a bad position. I gained some spots before the last short climb and held it to the finish, picking off a couple riders on my way. We had a respectable finish with four riders in the top 20. As a team, we didn’t have it to get someone up far enough to duel out a podium finish, but I think we raced SO well as a team DURING the race. I am so happy to be part of the women’s SugarCRM team…they are really a great group of women to work with. The support behind the team of the Los Gatos club is phenomenal as well. We had a pro feed zone worker, Bryan, help us out and even had homemade cookies for us post race! This is a great beginning to the season…it made me remember how much I love this sport!
03/02/09
I’m still on a racing high from the weekend of fantastic racing in Merced. I’m so glad the racing season has begun…I LOVE racing! The team arrived to Merced mid morning on Saturday for the downtown Merced criterium. We’re beginning to really fit the part of a professional women’s team now that more of our sponsored products have arrived (Giro glasses and helmets), we’re looking good!
I was really looking forward to the weekend because the line up of teams promised stiff competition and good hard racing. Team Highroad has been doing some Norcal races…they were definitely the force to be reckoned with. I really enjoyed the experience racing with them. As Jen said, “Ina [Tuetenberg] just EMITS coolness!”
We wanted to be present in the race, being represented in any breaks…and we did just that. Starla was up the road in a several lap break of four women. She managed a prime win against arguably one of the best female sprinters in the world! After lots of attacking, chasing, and airtime for SugarCRM (thanks to Dave Towle), it looked like the race was going to come to a field sprint. At four to go, I got on the front to try to string it out a bit to keep things safe as the pace had lulled a bit. With a couple laps to go, Karla and Liza were positioned really well towards the front of the field. At this point, I was sitting in for a pack finish and Karla was up front duking it out for a top ten finish against some of the best sprinters. Way to go Karla!
The team headed out for an hour spin after the race and made it back in time to see the Pro Men’s mad dash for the line. The majority of the evening was spent in a hole-in-the-wall (but fantastic) Thai restaurant. Then back to the hotel to put the legs up and recover as much as possible for the early rise the next morning.
Leaving right on schedule (I was impressed with this), we made our way to Starbucks before the short drive out to the middle of nowhere where the race started. The sky was looking a bit ominous and I was really hoping the showers would hold off until we were comfortably in the car post race. The first road race of the season and I was stoked! The course is basically a rectangle with a couple rollers coming into the finish. The field was smaller than I had expected, with a few additions from the day before. Still present were Highroad, Tibco, and Colavita, with Webcor and Valueact having only one rider. We rolled out at a mellow pace and things didn’t get interesting until we made the left hand turn for the second leg of the “rectangle.” This is when the racing started with continual attacks. The pack wasn’t letting anything get away. SugarCRM did a great job of taking turns being in the moves and making sure there was some red in the mix. We demonstrated fantastic team work in forming a rotation at the front to chase down a threatening break that had managed a gap on the field. Rounding the corner to begin the final lap, my coach, Laura Charameda came up beside me and said “The race begins NOW.” At the rate we were going, I was figuring we would bring back the break before the finish. I was expecting some serious attacks on the rollers leading up to the finish. I stayed close to the front to be in a position where I could hopefully respond. With a couple miles to go, Tibco sent everyone to the front. They set a pace that was surprisingly not brutal. My legs were pretty toasted by that point and I was in a bad position. I gained some spots before the last short climb and held it to the finish, picking off a couple riders on my way. We had a respectable finish with four riders in the top 20. As a team, we didn’t have it to get someone up far enough to duel out a podium finish, but I think we raced SO well as a team DURING the race. I am so happy to be part of the women’s SugarCRM team…they are really a great group of women to work with. The support behind the team of the Los Gatos club is phenomenal as well. We had a pro feed zone worker, Bryan, help us out and even had homemade cookies for us post race! This is a great beginning to the season…it made me remember how much I love this sport!
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