Bear Necessities

Audrey Scott Race Report: Bear Mountain Spring Classic, Harriman State Park, Women's P/1/2/3; 50 miles; result: 4th out of 49 starters

Finish line pic:
http://www.bikereg.com/Results/2010/05/16-Bear-Mountain-Spring-Classic.asp

So close...and yet so far.
The Pro/1/2/3 women raced 50 miles; a shortened loop first and then twice around the bigger loop, so we did the screaming descent and big climb twice. The climb was long - a bit steep at the bottom, then steady, then it leveled out a bit, then pitched back up, then a bit of a false flat for a while until finally ending with a little bit of a downhill, about 2 miles or so total. On the rest of the big loop, there are a few rollers and in general I think it ascends to the other end of Tiorati Brook road, but for the most part it is not a difficult loop. It was a bit windy where it opened up by the lakes but nothing awful (like 50 mph gusts). The finish was the same as usual, a slight downhill, fast sprint finish.
On the start line I surveyed the 45-50 or so starters, and all the usual suspects were there, along with some fit looking girls I didn't know too well. The Canadian 7th Groove team had a full contingent (I think it is made up of women who all used to be on Ultralink), and I knew Jennifer Stephensen would be fast. My old team Anthem with Beth Miller were all there, and I know they are strong. At least 4 Radical Media women were also on the line. There were also 3 Kenda girls, including Anna McLoon. The winner of Battenkill, Anna Barensfield, and her teammate Andrea Smith were there. Also, Kate Verroneau was there by herself, and Clara Kelly from NEBC and quite a few other fast people as well.
I started about 3 rows back all the way on the right side, with only one woman to my right. Since we weren't starting with the downhill right away this year I was less concerned about starting right at the front. The start whistle blew, and we all clipped in and politely made our way out of the park. While we navigated the small loop I hung around the side of the middle. The whole group stuck together, kind of feeling each other out. This section had a couple of rollers and we had to negotiate a turnaround, but no big obstacles.
The first time down the descent, I let myself slide too far back (argh), so as we came around the sharp u-turn at the bottom, I had to do a bit of work to get back on the heels of the leaders. It sounded like a firefight with all the clanging shifters; what a mess. And there was more than one dropped chain, I think. I noticed we lost Clara Kelly right there. I hung in there for a while and then the front racers hit it hard on the steeper bit near the top, and I got gapped (as usual) but on the false flat/rollers I pulled myself back (also as usual) and then there were 12, just like that. I pretty much knew them all, except for a couple of girls from the fruit66 team and one other, and it was obviously a strong group: Jennifer Stephensen, Beth Miller, Kate Verroneau, Martha Buckley of MIT, Anna McLoon, Anna Barensfield and Andrea Smith, Alejandra from Comedy Central/Sid's Bikes, the 2 fruit66 girls, someone in a black kit labeled "thru-it-all", and me. Surprise, surprise. We all recognized that we needed to drill it to increase our gap and worked together (for the most part) in a paceline up and around the top of the course. No one else ever came close again - we could see them as we doubled back on the course.
Well, I got gapped off worse the second time up the climb and the SRAM car even pulled in front of me, I let the gap get so big, but I could still see them (or at least whoever was at the back of them). Over the top I had to kill myself but I pulled myself back again just as they started to hit the little descent. And so, there were 10. We lost a fruit 66 girl and thru-it-all. Once together, we pacelined again for the second time around and except for one incident, we played nice and worked together. As we made the left turn onto the finish road, I expected some attacks on the little climb there, but nothing happened, as we all anticipated the finish and the headwinds on the final rollers. So, we were all content to sit on as Andrea Smith (one of the girls of the only 2 left who were on the same team) took to the front. We came through the feedzone with about 1 k to go, and the fruit66 girl put in a couple of digs but we were all ready for it so closed it up again. I was near the back with Alejandra just sitting on wheels staying out of the wind waiting for the final sprint. Anna from Team Kenda opened up the sprint. I managed to keep my wits about me and remembered to get in the drops and I went around the left side and got myself up to 4th, finishing alongside/slightly back of Jennifer Stephensen (whose husband won the P/1/2 men's race, btw). I thought i might have gotten third but Anna Barensfield snuck in there. Alejandra made it all the way to the front - she is actually a cat 3 (!?!) so technically, I think she should be ineligible for the Nature Valley Pro Ride (must be the lawyer in me) but they were talking about seeing if she could upgrade and go. 2nd place Jennifer Stephensen is Canadian and not eligible, but 3rd place Anna barensfield is, and will surely go, so i missed it by 1, anyway. All in all it was a good race, though. When I downloaded my heartrate file we had averaged over 20 mph and I crossed the line at 43.8 mph. It was hard fought - we pretty much went hard the whole time, which I like much better than cat and mouse games. I was happy for the improvement in my sprint. But, anyone who wants to go do some hill climbing practice, let me know! I need it.