I know you’ve all been dying to read about Women’s C field, so here it is!

Saturday started with a breakfast at an overfilled (with Yale riders) deluxe Super8 Hotel. We arrived at the Shippensburg University Campus in time to cheer Mike M. destroy the D field in the first criterium race of the day. My race came soon after. The field was pretty small (~20 riders) so I was confident I could do quite well. I won sprint points on the first two primes. In the middle of the race, two Queens girls inquired where was my partner in crime (referring to Isabelle, with whom we led a breakaway at the MIT road race the previous weekend). When I told them she couldn’t come this weekend, they begged me to join their team for the day. I said, “you wish.” On the last lap, I noticed the Queens girls plotting so I got on their wheels and finished the final sprint in 5^th place. After the race, I cheered the B and A fields. Here is a demonstration on how it’s done effectively:

After the crit, we had few hours to kill so we ate raw eggs (see Ben’s report). Then came the hill climb time trial. Most of the team bailed (for good reasons). I was in the first group to experience the joy of climbing South Mountain. And what a joy it was… to descend after climbing! I took it easy to save my legs for Sunday but still managed to get 6^th place and some sweet points for the team.

Following dinner at a famous Italian restaurant (here referred to as Olive Garden), we did some grocery shopping and then back to the deluxe hotel. I should mention I was rooming with Rose the Legend– who kicked ass in the Women’s A field both days and who is also a fellow scientist! She shared with me all her secrets of racing, which I will personally demonstrate next weekend (watch out, Army!).

The Sunday Road Race was spectacular. Women’s C field rolled out in the second wave and we pretty much soft pedaled for the first 6 miles until the big Horse Killer climb. At the climb, it all blew up to pieces. The same two Queens girls from the crit charged up the hill with three other girls from Penn State, Drexel, and University of Delaware. My strategy was to catch them on the steep downhill that followed (my plan was partially dampened by two deadly turns). Nevertheless, I descended the mountain with two other girls close by so we initiated a chase group to catch the five breakaway girls (by that I mean I was pulling the other two girls most of the time). Surely enough, we caught one of the Queens girls who got dropped from the breakaway. We chased against a strong headwind and at times we could see the leading ladies against the backdrop of rural Pennsylvania. By the time I climbed Horse Killer the second time, however, I couldn’t see them anymore. I initiated a second chase with two riders from Dartmouth and Queens but I dropped them with 1 mile to go to sprint for the finish (that was a pretty long sprint but those two girls were going really slow and I wanted to see if I could catch anyone up front). Unfortunately, the only riders I passed were some old and slow Cat 5 riders who started before Women’s C field. I finished the race in 5^th place and contently spent the rest of the afternoon lounging and sunbathing with Mike C and (shirtless!) Ben.

I am happy to report I upgraded to Women’s B field. I am sad to leave Isabelle behind, but I’m sure I will see her in the B’s in no time. Now I need to concentrate on holding on to dear life on Lucie’s wheel at the Army Road Race. Wish me luck!