Women’s Race Report – Ninigret
May 26, 2011 By carolinecardiasmenos
Women’s Cat 4 Day of Racing at Ninigret
Presented by Bell Lap Coaching/Joe’s Garage and NEBC p/b Cycle Loft
Ninigret Park, Charlestown, RI
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Open, 13 Starters
Caroline Cardiasmenos, 4th
Jocelyn Mauldin, 8th
Amanda Gentile, 9th
Julie Lockhart, 11th
Julianne Oberle, 13th
35+, 5 Starters
Lisa Ludwig, 1st
Marissa Acosta, 4th
Julie Lockhart, 5th
45+, 9 Starters
Lisa Ludwig, 3rd
Julie Lockhart, 6th
Julie Dodd, 9th (First road race!)
—————————–W Open——————————
Caroline Cardiasmenos, Open, 4th
This race brought a great turnout of new NEBC women racers – congratulations to them! I was relieved to see so many day-of registrations, including some strong racers I know. Initially, I had dreamed about counterattacking our way to a break with Julianne but with those unexpected racers in the mix, I knew we’d have to approach the race differently. If Karen from Cycling Concepts made a move, I would mark it. She was no doubt hungry from having accidentally been relegated at the finish of Mystic Velo Crit the Sunday prior. I’d also keep an eye on Melissa, Jennifer and Denise. If the field stayed together, NEBC would try to form up for a lead-out on the last lap.
I worked my way around the front, never dropping below 5th position. Jennifer and Denise from Mystic Velo had decided before the race that they were going to keep me thinking (as they later admitted). Jennifer would rev up the pace. I would grab her wheel and she’d stop pedaling and drop the pace. Before I knew it, I was grabbing a move as much as every lap and no doubt getting tired from it. But, they weren’t the only ones attacking; kudos to Amanda for some very strong pace-setting! During the 7th lap I heard a crash behind me but stayed focused. Coming around again, I realized it was Julianne; thankfully, she was standing. One more time around and I was excited to see she was on her way back in; teammate returns, meaning business!
Julie set us up nicely coming toward the end with a great attack, which she somehow had the energy for after racing twice already! I was in a decent position coming to the 2nd to last corner when some mayhem occurred, causing me to jump out into the wind. Unfortunately, I was stuck there until the final corner. Out of nowhere came Victoria, charging to the finish. I hadn’t seen her the entire race as she was sitting in wait for the final sprint. She had a lot of energy in reserve. Luckily, I was at the front when she jumped and didn’t drop too far behind. Karen grabbed right on to Victoria’s wheel for the leadout. I was cranking as hard as I could but still dropping behind when I heard “go faster!” from Julianne. I had no idea she was right there behind me! I was giving it all I had after too much time in the wind so I moved out of the way. I tried to latch on but couldn’t. I edged out the person to my right at the line for 4th.
Julianne provided excellent post race birthday cake.
Going forward, I’ll only be marking the attacks I think will stick as opposed to everything that moves. I’ll conserve more for the finish. Though I don’t have the sprint that some of these women do yet, I can certainly be smart about what I’m doing. I will also be careful about my gearing at the finish so I don’t stall out by being in too hard a gear.
Jocelyn Mauldin, Open, 8th
For some reason I showed up today thinking that this was going to be a hilly course; boy was I wrong! It was as flat as anything I’ve ever seen with directionally variable gusty winds.
In the pre-race meeting Julianne, Amanda, Caroline and I put together a strategy that in essence consisted of Amanda and I blocking if Julianne and Caroline got in the break they were hoping would form and I would attempt a flyer or two off the front. Best laid plans…
This was to be my first race of the season and the first road/crit race in over a year; I was more than a little apprehensive. The start went well, everyone clipped in all right so things were looking good. I spent the first several laps getting a feel for the field, waiting for my legs to loosed up and getting back into crit racing mentality. The pace was good but not enough to line us out so I decided that one of my goals was to stay in at least a top 10 position. As the race progressed I started thinking about that flyer I wanted to put in but it seemed that every time we hit the corner I wanted to go off of I was blocked in. Then there was a crash, which I only barely missed being involved in; there’s a huge scuff mark on my rear wheel from the chaos that went on behind me, thankfully I managed to stay up. Julianne was not so fortunate. I decided that it would be in bad taste to attack with a team mate trying to get back in the field and so soon after a crash. After that I became so focused on making it through the corners that I completely forgot about the lap board. I tried to get away briefly but never managed to group the field; just strung them out decently. However, I realized as I was thinking that this flyer hurt that the lap board said we only had two laps to go; last I looked it said 11. I sat up and tried to regroup. On the last lap I hit the final corner in a good position, maybe about 5th back. Karen managed to do what I had wanted, which was to fly off the front into the wind for the sprint. I tried to follow but stood to sprint and my legs had never really loosened up and just weren’t there. It was a disappointing finish but overall a good race for me and an awesome event.
This was my first race so my goals were 1) to finish, and 2) to ride safely. At the starting line I had no idea what to expect and was quite nervous but once the race was underway I managed to really enjoy myself. Caroline Cardiasmenos and Julianne Oberle provided some excellent pre-race advice that came in quite handy. Somehow I managed to get myself out in front for a few laps, which was an interesting experience and helped me gain some confidence in my ability to set pace. I have a lot to learn but this experience definitely has me hooked and I’m very much looking forward to my next opportunity to race.
Julie Lockhart, Open, 11th
What a fun day!
Julianne Oberle, Open, 13th (Crash)
Several NEBCers came together for this race. It was exciting to see new teammates at the race! It was also a great day of beginner racing without all the intimidation of higher level riders around. I had a good start and position initially, the pace was fairly moderate to easy during the entire race. The pack stayed together despite several racers waging attacks. The corners were especially sketchy since the pace never went that fast. The wind changed a few times during the race and I could feel getting blown a little bit from it at times. I felt pretty shaky surrounded by women near the back and tried to get to a better position near the front. I stayed there most of the time. At one point I realized I drifted back and just as I was thinking I wanted to move back up I crashed coming out of a corner when another women bumped into me and sent me into the person in front of me. Three of us went down. The other women looked ok, I think my knee was the worse of the bunch. But I wanted to get back into the race. Just as I was about to hop back on the bike I realized the front wheel was flat and the rim was damaged. My handle bars were also loose. I got some help and got back into the race with my spare wheel. I went immediatly to the front of the race and out of the last corner I had Caroline in front of me. She didn’t speed up so I yelled at her to go faster. That didn’t work so I came around her and sprinted for 4th place. What I didn’t realize was that it took me two laps to get my bike fixed so I was plced at the back of the pack . I was happy that Caroline followed me in and finished right behind me, giving her a great result.
—————————–W 35+——————————
Lisa Ludwig, 35+, 1st
Since I drove two hours, decided to do one more race to get some mileage in. I was happy with 3rd place in the 45+ and assumed the 35+ race would be good exercise. Well…to my surprise, the pace was about 3mph slower! I decided to play Lazy Lisa enjoying the free ride coasting behind a woman that seemed to like pulling. In this race I maintained 2nd position most of the way. Thanks to Julie L for supporting me and blocking where she could. On the first lap of the race I had a close call. I got pushed off the track into the dirt as we were taking a corner. Felt my back tire swerve but managed to stay up – phew! I took a couple of pulls during the race since I was feeling good. But I made sure I had enough energy stored for the finish. This time when we approached the final corner, I made sure to keep watch of moves from the back. Sure enough, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a woman from the back start to make her move. This time there was just no way I was going to let someone get by me again from the back. I had a lot of energy left so I got out of my seat, gave it my all, and broke away from the pack for the finish. I got far enough ahead that nobody could catch me and I crossed the finish in 1st place. This was a first for me. I couldn’t believe it!
Marissa Acosta, 35+, 4th
Even though there were only 5 people in the field, I had a blast in this race. It was my 2nd ever race (the first being the Wells Ave training crit a few weeks ago). The course was pretty non-technical, so the cornering was fine. I was a bike messenger for 3 years, riding through blizzards and dodging wayward pedestrians and car doors, so bike-handling skills weren’t a concern. However, my fitness level sure was. I hadn’t actually worked as a courier since 1998, and I could stand to lose some pounds. Kudos to the other ladies I raced with, especially winner Lisa Ludwig for being impressively fit and energetic even after competing in the earlier 45+ Cat 4 race.
No primes were offered. I suspect this was because there were only 5 racers, and it was not worth breaking up the field.
Staying with the pack throughout the race was not a problem. It was the sprint at the end that took me by surprise. I knew that a sprint would be inevitable. I just didn’t know when it would actually happen. Okay, well I’ll be ready for it next time! Fast twitch muscles aren’t a part of my genetic legacy, so I have to come up with some crit strategies that will work for me. Experience will help.
Current goal: Get off the damn trainer and start sprint training on my actual bike. I’ve only got a handful of hours each week to train, so better make it worth it. I’m looking forward to more plenty more crits this summer. Bring it.
Facilities report: (I wish to see more of these for races). The women’s restroom was clean, accessible and well-stocked with toilet paper. It was a 5 minute or so walk from the registration desk and I was not wary of leaving my bike outside while I did what I had to do. The only negative was that there was no soap. But this still beats having to use a portapotty. 4.5 out of 5 stars.
—————————–W 45+——————————
Lisa Ludwig, 45+, 3rd
Signing up for Ninigret was a last minute decision for me. I had signed up for Sunapee but couldn’t make it since my son was sick. Sunday morning I woke up early and decided to try Ninigret. I have only done one criterium in my racing career (of 2 years) so figured it’s time to get more experience. My goal was to find a steady wheel to draft and stay up front (but not first). There were two strong and steady riders from Mystic Velo so I latched myself on to their wheels maintaining 2nd – 4rd position throughout the race. For me, it was a fast race – at one point hitting close to 28mph. It was very windy. So although it was flat, we had nasty headwinds on a good portion of the course. I managed to stay in position working with an independent rider named Renee to keep up with the Mystic Velo women. As we approached the final corner, I was 3nd in the lead when a woman from behind suddenly blew by us. I got out of my seat and passed one of the Mystic Velo women. Then I caught the other Mystic Velo woman. I realized I couldn’t catch the woman that had blown by us. So I went neck and neck with the Mystic Velo woman for 2nd place. But she managed to edge her 6’2” stature over the finish line before me! Wow, that was frustrating! I have to learn the technique on that “edge” thing because I’m not getting any taller! Anyway, securing 3rd place was a very good day for me. Good experience.
Julie Dodd, 45+, 6th
This was my first road race. I hopefully expected the field of 45+ Women Cat 4’s, to be as inexperienced as I was. At the start line, a rider asked about the rules to get upgraded to a Cat 3, not something I needed to know.
I enjoyed the first 3 laps. I was in the small pack, following the wheel in front. Team mate, Lisa Ludwig was at the front, keeping the pace moderately quick. Then one woman seemed to sprint for the open road, the chase was on and I was off the back. That is how I remember it. J
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*Caroline M. Cardiasmenos
