Webcor women had a strong showing and so did Palo Alto Bicycles (PAB), and Velo Girls. We did 3 laps for a total of 72 miles. About 30+ women lined up at the start, which is a rather decent size. The weather was perfect. Not too hot and not too cold.

Our plan was simple: Ride the first lap, and attack on the second lap, either on the hill or the rollers before/after the climb. However, the first lap was very chatty and I think Katheryn was bored because at the start of the second lap, she attacked. This started a fleury of attacks and covers with Karen going once, Cat going once, and then I figured I should be next. So I dropped backto about 6th or 7th wheel and went hard. I heard someone on my wheel, but gave it all anyway and didn't look back until I was sure I had a gap. At this point I saw it was Judy Hay from PAB and we did indeed have a gap so I asked her if she wanted to work, and yes she did so I told her to get to the front. In the next 30 seconds I decided I was going to go for it and thought about the next 50 miles. This decision is always hard. I wasn't sure how strong Judy was and as we rotated pulls I was starting to have doubts, but decided that no matter what I was going to commit, which meant that I would drive it and take longer harder pulls if need be.

After a couple of miles of neck strain (I was constantly looking back) and words of encouragement to JH we got through the flat windy section and hit the rollers. Then I noticed some bridge attempts: Maria from Left Coast, and a Velo Girl. I think I almost yelled at Maria when I asked if she was going to work this time, (she didn't at Patterson), because she very quickly said yes and took part in the rotation. We worked together, but soon the Velo girl dropped out of the rotation. By the feedzone, we dropped the Velo girl, and by the top of the first riser Judy was falling off. I told Maria to ease up, we need the PAB to avoid having PAB chase. But by the second climb, Judy fell off again, and we kept on going.

Following the climb, came the flats. Our pace slowed and I wasn't sure if Maria was that weak on the flats or if she was conserving herself for the next lap. Whatever it was, I looked back and saw Judy so I sat up and told Maria we should wait. The 3 of us againstarted a rotation. We got through the start/finish, the flat windy section and started the rollers. By this point Judy had dropped out, but I still wanted to keep her as long as possible. I knew my teammates were blocking for me, and I felt as long as we kept a PAB person, there was a good chance PAB wouldn't chase.

We hit the feedzone, (and I was so out of water that I almost hopped off my bike and gave Stephen a big hug when he gave me water...), got my bottle and took a few swigs and felt immediatly energized that I guess I must have jumped because I dropped both Maria and Judy. Maria caught up and told me not to surge...ha...me surging on a climb, really..

Anyhow I knew it would be the two of us, so I re-affirmed if she wasstill going to work and she said yes, so we continued sharing pulls over the rollers, then the steep climb, and the flats and rollers after that. At some point Jay came beside us in the car and said we hada huge gap, but we still both decided to work to be safe.

In the end, we negotiated a fair sprint. Not really sure what that means, but with 1km to go we rode side by side. At about 500m I was shifting to my 13...Maria was doing nothing(???). I practise this sprint Wed. mornings so I knew what to do and I was feeling real good. When the 200m sign came, (I planned this after lap 1 already...:) ),I let it rip. I sprinted all out and never looked back, always expecting movement either to the left or right of me, but it never came. I crossed solo and talked to Maria who said she had nothing left. Understandably so after 50 miles on our own..

Other than that, I missed the main events where I can only imagine my teammates covering attacks and blocking for me. They did an awesome job, because I managed to stay away and take my very first win... I heard that Katheryn was offthe front a bit, and that Amber was trying to bridge up, but the Webcor-ites wouldn't let her..

In the sprint finish, Karen got nipped at the line and took fourth, and the others finished in the pack..

AND: After this race, I was now one point behind Amber Rais in Cal Cup...

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