Hammercreek Report!

Hammercreek Road Race
Lancaster County, PA
Field: Started with 21 - 2 Sturdies - me and Lenore
Distance: 25 mile road race

Course: Beautiful roads - really lovely surface, although they were very narrow. A few notable big-ring climbs and one nasty, tight turn from a descent that led instantly into a small climb.

Weather: Great at the start. Cool temps for August, hovering right around 82. At lap 4 a massive rainstorm came through, pelting us with ginormous rain drops. It was over quickly with just wet roads to greet us for the finishing sprint!

Race: As was expected with a field that included 7 or 8 C3-Sollay riders (including the formerly-Vanderkittened Sonja Evers), Davina Summers, Kristy Swope, Jackie Paull, and a field of others, it was a series of attacks from start to finish. The C3 gals launched one rider after another after another. Eventually, they were successful in getting one lovely chica off the front for good. I don't know where I was at the time, but I was absolutely clueless that she had gone off the front and that we were the chasers. By the time I wizened up, it was a little too late for us to do much. Not to mention that with the remaining C3 team in the chase, we had a really hard time getting anything going.

Eventually, and unfortunately, we all finally settled in to race for 2nd. Coming around the final lap, I was feeling great and just knew that I had to be in the right position for the finish. I put myself up front, took a leadout from my great teammate Lenore (who ROCKED today, by the way), and eventually jumped past her to try to beat Jackie to the line. I ended up 4th on the day, 1st in the Cat 3 and 4 points closer to my upgrade. All in all, it was a splendid day...plus, my big brother was there to share the joy! :)

Lenore was awesome today. A bunch of us teased her about this being her first "big-girl race" - a race with a heck of a lot of Cat 2 and Cat 1 racers! Until today, she had done mostly Cat 4 or Cat 3/4 races. In her first gig as a Cat 3, she showed that her time in that category will be short. She is strong, aggressive, powerful, and very competent in her bike handling - even a trip to the gravel couldn't keep her out of the show! She ended up a solid 7th place on the day and, if I am not mistaken, 2nd in the Cat 3s?

Here are some pics - courtesy of the big bro, thanks Aaron!!! - of the race!