While the women’s race went unreported by the cycling community Team Kenda Tire and other teams battled it out in the deep hills of the State of Arkansas.  We had strong performances by a number of the NRC/NRC Developmental riders. Read more about it below. 

Race Report by Andrea Wilson

Road Race

A nerve-testing decent, some rolling hills, and a tough climb make for an interesting 61 miles of racing. Living in the flatlands of Memphis, I don’t get much practice on terrain like this! Thankfully, the decent was pretty safe and uneventful. We kept speeds in the mid 40mph range, and the combo of Zipp brake pads/wheels worked fabulously without a hint of fade. Following that, several of us begun doing our best to soften up the climbers a bit with a flurry of attacks/counter-attacks (I found out afterwards that a lot of the master’s 35+ men that we raced with were very surprised at the aggression shown by the women in the race). The attacks and the large rollers that followed the decent were tough and shed several riders off of the pack. Several breaks went clean, only to be chased down within a few miles. One in particular that included a Kenda rider (sorry, I can’t remember who!) and a Metro Volkswagen rider, probably would have been a perfect mix (most of the field was from those two teams), however, at that point, the men were getting antsy. They got tired of watching the two non-Kenda/Metro riders up front wearing themselves out trying to chase. To our disappointment, they took over the front and pulled the field up to the break. I don’t blame them at all, though. They were there to race- not go 18 mph behind a couple of dying chasers. So, for the last 10-15 miles before the climb, everything that went out was successfully pulled back in.

Once we got to the climb, my job was essentially over, and I sat back and watched as the attacks began at the base of the mountain. Although my legs were trashed from the earlier action, I managed to grind up the grade and maintain what I thought would be a 5th place finish. However, I later learned that a couple of riders had taken a wrong turn on course and finished after me, landing me in 3rd! (As a side note, I’ve never been to a race that provided so many course maps/instruction about the finish of the race. Ironic, eh?)

Time Trial

Whose idea was it to have a 20+ mile TT, anyway? I wasn’t sure how I’d feel or perform since most of my TT experience is over shorter distances and doesn’t involve mountain climbing as a warm-up activity. However, I managed to turn a 52:44 and pull off another 3rd place behind Debbie Dust and Shannon Koch (Metro Volkswagen). This would land me tied for first place in the omnium with teammate Kristin Wentworth.

Criterium

Plan A was to get Kristin and myself into a break in order to clinch the top spots in the overall placings. However, we ended up going to plan B when Kristin managed to get away with Shannon Koch. After that, I pretty much just sat in the back of our group and waited for the sprint. When it came time for that, the best I could muster was a 5th place finish. It was good enough, however to land me in 3rd for the omnium behind Shannon and Kristin.

I had a great weekend working and hanging out with my teammates! Though I’m still exhausted from the past couple of days, I can’t wait for the next race! You may check out a few candid shots by clicking here.

Full results about the above can be found by visiting here.