Central Park Club Race June 14, 2009- Erica Places top 5laces top 5!

Four Raddies showed up ready on this Saturday for the six lap power points race, joining 25-30 other women.

Points are to begin at the end of the first lap, and continue at the top of Harlem Hill and Cat's Paw through to the end. We're neutralized for the fist sprint. Our pre-set team strategy is not to worry about the first set of points up Harlem Hill, but to be with the lead group in case of a split, which we think is likely. I know Alejandra is going to go for it, given her great sprint and current fitness, so I get on her wheel at the bottom of the hill, and when she gets up to go, I go with her. She leads me over the line for third place. I'm as surprised as anyone, and am a little afraid that I've expended too much energy, but to recover as quickly as possible in order to be ready for a response from AMM or Jaimie Nicholson, which do happen but fortunately with enough breathing room that the pack is able to contain their attacks, along with a few other attempts.

Second sprint, the first at Cat's Paw, Lisa Force goes early, I get on her wheel, she leads me almost all the way up and I pass her near the line for second place. This is going well. David has warned me though that it is difficult to recover from Cat's Paw in time to sprint at Harlem so I'm a little worried that I've made a mistake. But fortunately we got neutralized again, right after the sprint this time, so we get a chance to catch our breath before the next HH sprint. I get on Alejandra's wheel again for this one, and end up with second again. How exciting! I'm wondering if I'm actually going to be able to pull this off for the whole race. I was unfortunately right to wonder. Next time up Cat's Paw I get on Lisa's wheel again but am only able to pull of around 5th, and am just lucky to have a teammate like Ashley who is on Jaimie Nicholson like glue when she tries to get away after the sprint.

Next time up HH a whole new crop of sprinters have taken over, with AMM and Deb now competing with Alejandra. I'm beginning to get a cramp in my calf and have lost my sprinting mojo, so I back it off just a touch over the top and try to jam it down the other side and help Ashley cover any attacks and gaps in the field. And so it goes. By the fifth time up Cat's Paw, Ashley is up the hill in front of me, I'm in mid-pack with Jaimie, so we switch roles and I jump on Jaimie's wheel when she launches her predictable post-sprint attack. I hear AMM say to Jaimie "I'm here" from in back of my wheel, and thought well if we do get away, I'm in good company if I can just hang on. That lasts about a second and the group is with us again.

Going past Tavern for the last time, Ashley comes up in front to set up a lead out for me for the finish. Cecelia goes in front to keep the pace high, we can't quite get on her wheel since she is on the other side of the road, but it helps string out the field a bit so it's not too messy going into the sprint. Ashley gives me a good leadout but the Teany riders, who haven't contested a single sprint all race, have timed their leadout and energy reserves perfectly, and Colleen Conway sprints across the line first for her first top finish (unfortunately that only gives her enough points to finish 5th, but kudos to Teany and Colleen for their excellent finish!). I'm not even sure who else finished ahead of me, but they place me 5th for the finishing sprint, with Cecelia finishing right beside me (or something like that?), and fourth overall for the race.

Great teamwork Raddies! Thanks so much for believing in my sprint more than I did.