Jenn HALLADAYTEAM BOBS BICYCLES.COM9:44:57
Diana HASSELTEAM RIO GRANDE9:57:20
Dina MISHEVFITZGERALDS BICYCLES10:00:00
Jill DAMMANFITZGERALDS/IBEX10:00:39
Stephanie BISSONNETTECOLAVITA/ OUTBACK STEAK HOUSE10:00:39.96
Kandice LUNDCENTERVILLE UT USA10:07:15
Paula PLANTVERVE RACING10:07:15
Lisa Renee TUMMINELLOPRIMAL/ROCKY MOUNTAIN COLAVITA10:07:17
Lara SPARHAWKRIVERSTONE WOMENS RACING TEAM10:22:33
Joie CAMPBELLTEAM RIO GRANDE10:31:47
Jamie LEAKE-JENKINSBOUNTIFUL MAZDA10:33:35
Michelle KINGCOLAVITA/OUTBACK-LAS VEGAS WICKED CYCLING10:52:19
Cynthia BROWNTEAM RIO GRANDE11:18:27
Heather MCNEILLTEAM RIO GRANDE11:52:42
Sarah WHITEREVOLUTION CAFE RIO12:07:15
The pack was big since they include Cat 4 women in our start. There were about 20 girls that rotated through to Preston and with no hills we stayed together and I hadn't had an opportunity to test my legs. The pack decided on a neutral pee before Strawberry Pass. Then Jenn Halladay took the climb and set the tempo up Strawberry Pass. I and 2 other girls stayed with her. Then I got dropped before the neutral feed zone and then she and another girl kept going. My legs didn’t feel so great and honestly I just wasn’t that into it and decided at that point I’d rather work with Dina (she didn’t know this). The descent was good but we got caught by 5 girls (including Dina… YEAH! I was so happy to see her).
Heading into Montpelier there was 8 of us and Jenn was only 3 minutes ahead of us. We all climbed together up Geneva Pass and then the last climb Salt River Pass I lead it out and Dina (friend/Fitzgerald’s teammate) stayed on my wheel. About 5 min left of the climb Dina started to fall off and we were caught by 3 girls. I could have kept up with the 2 girls that reached the summit first but I stayed back with Dina and another girl that was climbing with me. Dina is great at descending and does her work in pulling. This other girl not so much, and we pulled her through the last 96 miles. At this point I was just having a blast pulling through with Dina and us cruising along and passing people. Our stop in Alpine was quick and I pulled through and yelled to Dina LETS GO! I held up for her and couldn’t see the COLAVITA girl. However minutes later she caught back on and once again we are pulling her down the road. We’d try so many times to get her on the front but every time she’d slow down. It was annoying and in the back of my mind I was aiming for less than 10 hours so I had no patience to go at her pace.
Miles have gone by and we are on Teton Village Road and 5k to go I looked back at Dina and gave her the sign to go and I'll block COLAVITA girl. It was classic... Dina sprinted off and the other girl tried to get around me weaving back and forth a couple of times but I didn't let her around. Then it was her and I fighting for 4th place and I beat her in a sprint finish. It was fun! I got to help out a friend and we both were on the podium. I’d do it all over again and really enjoyed the team tactics in road racing. However this race was not enough to hang up the mountain bikes.
Top 5 is great, and its such a long race, so getting 4th and cutting down my time (23min) from last year is super.