Golden State Criterium

By Tracey Ford
Date: May 6, 2006
Category: Women 1/2/3
Filed Size: 20ish
Teammates: None
Place: 1st

The Golden State Crit had a small field but some strong women sprinters I knew I had to watch. Proman, Cycle Sport and Vella Bella were on the top of my list -- especially Nicole Freedman who's one of the best sprinters in the country.

The race started really slow and stayed that way for the first 20 minutes. There weren't many attacks or primes to mix things up. I was racing by myself and was exhausted from my hectic work schedule so decided to play it smart and do as little work as possible. The attacks started coming mid way through the race but no one seemed to really follow through and continue the effort to stay away Each was short lived and was quickly caught. About three-quarters of the way through the race Cycle Sport went off the front solo and stayed away. We couldn't get the pack organized to work. Emily from Proman did a great pull and a few of us took turns at the front trying to gain some ground. But we only had a few laps left and no one wanted work too hard. With 1.5 laps to go Nicole Freedman jumped hard and worked at the front to catch Cycle Sport. We caught her on the last lap and Nicole stayed at the front through the last corner. I moved up to second wheel behind Nicole and used her as my lead out. We got around the last corner and Nicole turned to look at me and I knew at that instant she had no interest in crossing the line first, so I jumped and pulled around her and managed to win the race. Nicola and Emily from Proman came in behind me for second and third.