Kissena Cycling Club

Five of the Kissena women (Michelle L., Inge, Stephanie, Helene, and I) entered the NJBA Team Challenge in Cadwalader Park in Trenton, NJ. It was an open women field and a team points race: sprints every 3rd lap with points to 5 places and 2 points places every lap in between. So every single lap had a sprint. The three teams with the highest number of points received medals. Our race was 15 laps. The course is a pretty 1.1 mile rolling loop with a nice sweeping technical descent with a sharp left turn at the bottom and a straight power climb on the opposite side that ends at the finish line. In between were mild rollers with strips of cobblestones and other pretty rough parts. At the start line, we knew the race would be hard and fast with little rest.

Heidi goes for a mid race sprint. Photo by Anthony Skorochod.

My memory about races is always terrible as I'm usually so caught up in the moment that the events get all mixed up, but here's the basic rundown. On the first lap, Michelle was in 2nd or 3rd position and I was close behind. Heading toward the first lap line, Michelle booked up the hill and easily took the points. I think she got 2nd on the 2nd lap. On the next lap (I think), a break formed of 5 women from other teams and I followed a chase group of 2 people. One of two had a teammate in the break, and the other was notorious for a bad attitude and not working with others. I didn't trust either of them, but we sort of rotated for a lap or so staying about a 1/3 of a lap behind the break. One of the five fell off the back of the break and joined our chase group. On one of my rotations to the front, I looked behind me to see that the others had fallen off my wheel so I looked ahead and kept going. I chased on my own for another lap and finally caught up with the break. We spent the next 11 laps rotating really well until each hill finish line where it was all for ourselves. One Somerset rider took 1st or 2nd in each of the intermediate laps, and the rest of us mostly fought for the sprint point laps for the higher points. I won 2 of the sprints, one by an inch or so (I seem to have good luck with uphill sprints). We stayed away for the rest of the race.

On the final bell lap, I pondered whether I should try something risky. Just for fun, I attacked right after the sharp left turn. I figured if I didn't get away, it would at least tire people out. I thought that many of the other women in the break were much stronger than I was and I was pretty excited about my results so far, so was willing to risk a lower placing to try something new. The group caught me after about 20 seconds and we were all together approaching the hill and finish line. A Pro Pedals rider attacked on my left and then another women attacked on my right. I followed and hammered it up to get 3rd over the line. Maybe if I hadn't attacked that late, I could have done better in the sprint, but then again, I could have done worse if everyone's legs had been fresher. Who knows? My total points put me in 2nd place overall and, as a team, we got 3rd in the team competition. Inge and Helene, I'll bring your bronze medals to our next team training!

That was a fun course and a great race. Love those uphill sprint finishes!

~Heidi