New Bethlehem Crit

Date: June 18, 2011

Location: Bethlehem, PA

Number of Sturdies in Women's Open: 4 - Dana, Lara, Beth, me (Sara)

Weather: BEAUTIFUL! A little humid, but blue skies, and LOTS of sun.

Considering my last time in Bethlehem (when I crashed), I was a wee-bit nervous going into this crit. Especially since the ever-wickedly fast Wasabi Warrior Kacey Wander was pre-registered, along with Jessica Chong (Morgan-Stanley), Dana Walton (Alliance), Ruth Dickinson, Cheri Fager, and Michelle Mighdol (Pallas/Athena). Not to mention, our own Dana Hanchin, who has been ROCKING out this season!!

The Bethlehem Crit is a great 4-corner crit, with a downhill on the first stretch into the second turn, and a power-uphill on the second stretch into the third corner and up into the third stretch. The start-finish is mostly flat with a VERY slight downhill.

This race started out FAST for the first few laps. I was trying desperately just to hang on, and with Jessica Chong throwing attacks out all over the place, I was struggling a little bit. However, ten laps in, I was still sitting in, and I figured that since I was still in the field, it was time to move up and maybe even get on the front. I kept trying to find a position I could stick in, but the field was a little sketchy, and because of the bumpy roads, girls were a little freaked out on the corners. I kept looking for Dana and Lara who were in the front half of the peloton through the whole race, and also keeping my eye out for Ruth, Cheri, and Kelley Bethoney (also Pallas/Athena). Kelley and I were close together for much of the race (THANK YOU KELLEY for communicating with me during that whole race), and finally, with about 4 or 5 to go, I saw her move up on the right hand side. That was it. I saw my opening, and I moved up with her. I got up to about 5th position, and then moved up to 2nd. On the last lap, I was in 2nd position until the last time up the climb. My legs were on FIRE, and I tried to pick up speed as much as I could, but about 5 girls got in front of me, including Lara (who looked like a ROCKET going into the sprint)!!!

Lara wound up with 3rd in the CAT 4's, and I wound up with 4th!!! This was the most fun I have had in a crit to date. I felt awesome, and powering through those first few laps truly paid off. The fact that it was an open field with some REALLY fast CAT 2's made it even better. Congrats to Lara on her 3rd place! You rock!!!