Team Basis had four women at the race today: Nicole Freedman, Kate Maher, Lauren Gaffney, and Heather Albert. Lauren wasn’t planning on racing today, but she signed on at registration and did a great job for the team. Today’s race was 40 laps (32 miles) of a 5-turn (with a chicane) downtown course. There were a fair amount of spectators today. At registration, they gave out goodie bags (swag is a racer’s favorite thing). They filled the nice nylon bags (perfect for using in the feed zone) with candy, chocolate, gum, caffeinated gum, a water bottle, and low carb chips. They also had bottled water, oranges, and bananas for the riders. The race started off with three hot laps, basically three primes in a row ($100, $50, $25) on laps 2-4. That meant the pace was blistering. I went for the first prime and finished 2nd. I tried for the next prime, but Laura Van Guilder handily won it. I was shot for the last prime.

A few laps later they offered a prime of $50 plus 2 boxes of Luna Bars. Nicole brought me into position before the last corner (she has superb pack maneuvering skills), and I sprinted from there (over 200m). I won the prime and had a huge gap. I was toast after the sprint, and they brought me back within the lap. We rode very well as a team. We attacked and covered attacks. It seemed like nothing was going to get away. Kate covered a move and it stuck. A group of eight women went up the road. Not everyone was working in the break. Some “non-workers” sprinted for a prime offered to the break. Suzane Sonye (Helen’s Trek VW) got mad and squirted the “non-worker” her with a stream of water from her water bottle. The break eventually came back, and it was set up for a group sprint. With two laps to go, I was moving into position for the sprint on the finishing straight. All of a sudden I heard the terrifying sound of a crash. It sounded like it happened right behind me. A few women hit the pavement hard. Felicia Greer (Webcor) went down hard. She had to go to the hospital for stitches and loose teeth. Lauren got caught behind the crash, so she was out of it for the finish. I tried to position myself well, but going into the last corner I was too far back. Tina Mayolo-Pic (Genesis-Scuba) won it, Sarah Uhl (Quark) was 2nd, and Nicole Freedman (Basis) was 3rd. Kate finished 12th, and I was 19th.