NEBC Women’s Report: Attleboro and New Britain
July 18, 2011 By Julianne
NEBC Women’s Category 3/4
Team Race Report
Attleboro and New Britain Race Weekend
Two of our targeted races of the 2011 Road Season were the Attleboro Criterium and New Britain Criterium held July 9-10, 2011. NEBC was well represented both days in the women’s fields. Standout performances were seen both days by Cat 3 racer Jackie Zider who took her first WIN on the road in the Attleboro Crit on Saturday morning. She also proved that she is a consistently strong racer by claiming second at the New Britain Crit on Sunday. Our master’s women raced fiercely in Attleboro claiming two out of the three podium spots: Katherine Snell placed second and Annette Kennedy placed third in the 45+ Master’s Women race. Lastly, our development team worked together among a field of strong New England women racers at the New Britain Crit to prove how strong our racing program is!
Attleboro Criterium, July 9, 2011
Category 3/4, 18 Starters: Jackie Zider 1st, Jocelyn Mauldin 6th, Julianne Oberle 9th, Elizabeth Cummings 14th, Marissa Acosta 18th
Women’s 30+, 5 Starters: Carrie Mosher 5th
Women’s 45+, 7 Starters: Katherine Snell 2nd, Annette Kennedy 3rd, Julie Lockhart 7th
Men’s 65+, 14 Starters: Katherine Snell 4th, Annette Kennedy 8th, Julie Lockhart 12th
Katherine Snell
With an early morning start and much driving and off the bike time in the previous week, I was not certain as to how my legs would respond so I decided to play it conservatively. Since all the women’s fields were starting together I switched to the Women’s 45+ race just before the race with a goal of getting on the podium while still be able to help out my Cat 3/4 teammates. The race started pretty slowly and never really got too fast. Every time there was an attack, the field would stretch out but then come back together as no one was willing to take over the pace making or counter. I found myself several times on the front trying to keep the pace up hoping that we would eventually form a gap and have fewer riders to sprint against. Unfortunately that didn’t really happen until about halfway through the bell lap when Danielle Ruane (Sunapee, W30+) and Robyn Passander (Zanes Cycles, W45+) came around me. Luckily Jackie was able to hop on their wheels and follow them out to the line for first place in the Category 3/4 race. I was the next over the line for second place in the Women’s 45+ field.
I then ripped off my race number and hopped into the Men’s 65+ race. The field was combined with the Men 55+ which made it a very different race and not what I had been planning on. The strategy was now to stick with the leaders since it was going to be difficult to tell who was who. The race was much faster from the start but without the acceleration and decelerations of the women’s race. Although we raced almost 2 mph faster, my average power was 20 W lower. Speeds in the third corner were about 4 mph faster, hitting 29-30 mph each lap. After one of the prime laps, two 55+ racers broke away. Not being a concern and interested in doing well the next day, I attempted to stick to Ed Lang’s wheel (NEBC, 65+). This ended up being a pretty good move as Ed won the 65+ race and I squeaked in for fourth.
Julianne Oberle
I had focused on this race as a good test of my fitness and cornering skills. I made sure to pre-ride the course and noticed that there were a fair number of obstacles and tight technical turns. There was one hill after the start/finish that was punchy and would likely start to hurt near the end of the race, bit I could probably use this to my advantage. I lined up on the front in a larger field than I expected for an 8 am crit. With the whistle I was off the line first taking the field into the first corner. I let a couple girls pass me since I didn’t want the front, there were much stronger riders here. I was able to stay in the top 5 during the first part of the race. I didn’t look back but I think we quickly dropped a lot of the field. We were moving pretty fast and the pace didn’t really let up until near the end. There were new obstacles on the course during our race which was a surprised, an ambulance appeared twice in the final approach to the finish. I didn’t think there were crashes though. With about 5 to go I started to feel a little queasy and wasn’t sure if I was going to survive with the front group. This was about when the pace briefly slowed down for a quick recovery before ramping up at the bell lap. Katherine led out Jackie and I unfortunately couldn’t maintain my position. I raced hard and crossed the line with nothing left for the sprint. I was happy I stayed with the front group the entire race, which is a huge improvement. I wish I had legs left for the sprint, but no such luck. I was excited to see my teammate out sprint everyone for her first win on the road!
Elizabeth Cummings
The Attleboro crit was a early morning start on a technical, 1km course with sharp turns. We had a great NEBC showing in the women’s 3/4 race, which was combined with the women 30+, and women 45+ fields. From the start, the pace was fast. Unfortunately, I got dropped by the main group after about 5 laps and spent a good portion of the race alone, eventually catching up to other riders who had also been dropped. With about 5 laps to go, the lead pack caught up to us slackers again, and we rode behind them for the rest of the race, eventually falling off the back again near the finish. This was a challenging course that reminded me how important solid bike handling skills are. Thankfully, my teammates had a very strong showing: Jackie Zider won the 3/4 race (yay NEBC!), Katherine Snell finished 2nd in the women’s 45+, and Julianne Oberle finished 9th in the 3/4 race.
New Britain Criterium, July 10, 2011
Category 3/4, 20 Starters: Jackie Zider 2nd, Julianne Oberle 5th, Katherine Snell 7th, Elizabeth Cummings 16th
Julianne Oberle
I love this course, nothing scary in the way of corners with a fun descent into a fast finish. The pace of the race was pretty mellow, different from the previous day. No real attacks went off so the field stayed together. There were short sprints off the front that didn’t go very far. Jackie got the furthest away with a prime lap. Coming in to 2 to go Elizabeth and I were sitting at the back of the field. Jackie was pretty close to us but Katherine was not. Elizabeth and I organized and moved up the outside together with Jackie right in to the front of the race and put the gas on. Elizabeth is a strong steady rider and kept a great pace. Katherine wasn’t able to get in with us but then found us with 1 to go. Just as we were approaching the hill I was getting ready to take the speed up even further when an attack went off just before ours. Jackie was able to react fast enough, I was blocked for a moment but then got around and was able to sprint in for 5th, the last spot in the money! The New Britain crit was our best team racing experience to date I think. The four of us have been racing together enough that we know each other and our strengths. Katherine did a great job policing the front of the race, controlling the pace. Elizabeth is a powerful steady racer and led the NEBC train with 2 to go to string out the field and deliver Jackie to the podium for 2nd! This was a great conclusion to our race weekend!
Katherine Snell
Our strategy was basically to control the race and mark any fast wheels to keep them from getting away. At the line I made a point of noting the presence of a Danbury Audi rider as Danbury Audi has a super strong elite team. Between the heat and the previous day’s races, I was not feeling super energetic. Fortunately, neither was anyone else and the pace was very sedate. At the first prime lap, Jackie went off the front. To my amazement, no one followed her so I sat in and blocked as she scooped up the prime. Another prime was called for the next lap. There were a couple of half hearted attempts to attack off the front but I was able to easily stay on their wheels and stay blocking for Jackie to scoop up the next prime. Despite the slow pace, no one made any serious moves so I had a relatively easy time on the front controlling the pace and chasing down any accelerations. With about three to go, I was swarmed off the front and had to work my position back up. At one to go, Elizabeth, Julianne and Jackie had gotten well organized and I was able to fight my way up to them on the inside. In the last half lap, I finally was able to make my way on the front to relieve Liz and an attack up the little climb went off almost simultaneously splitting up the field. This sprint was a little long for some of the riders and I picked up a couple spots getting past blown riders. Jackie was able sprint in for second behind the Danbury Audi rider (my suspicions were confirmed). Julianne rode up on her wheel to place 5th and I managed to roll in for 7th.
Elizabeth Cummings
After a frustrating Saturday at the Attleboro crit, I decided to get back on the horse and give crit racing another go. Thankfully, the New Britain course is very friendly for beginner crit racers. The women’s 3/4 field raced as a tight pack for pretty much the entire race, with NEBC teammate Katherine Snell doing a lot of work at the front. Teammate Jackie Zider won 2 primes (including a sweet pair of size M men’s bike shorts!! Glorious!). With 2 laps to go, teammate Julianne Oberle masterminded an NEBC leadout: I maneuvered to the front of the pack with her on my wheel and Katherine and Jackie joined us. I pushed the pace until the finish, stringing out the field and getting our ladies in position for the sprint. While I didn’t have much left at the final sprint and finished toward the back of the pack, Jackie claimed 2nd, Julianne 5th, and Katherine 7th. It was a really great team effort–and a successful one too!
