Sunday, September 19, 2010

Mt. Tamalpais Hill Climb - WIN!

Susannah Breen - 1st
The Mt. Tamalpais Hill Climb returned this year, after being cancelled in 2009, with wet and foggy conditions along the entire course. No joke - the above picture is what the entire coarse looked like! The event starts in Stinson Beach, Ca. and travels along the coast before turning upwards on Bolinas-Fairfax Road, along Ridgecrest and the "Seven Sisters" and then finishes on the West Peak of Mt. Tam. The 12 mile event climbs 2000 feet and SBB took advantage of the heavy fog by pulling away from the rest of the P1/2/3 field on the bottom slopes of the climb. Susannah continued to keep her pace high, knowing her best chance of staying away from the strong chasers was keeping out of site. SBB finished strong in under 50 minutes and an entire minute ahead of 2nd place finisher Tanja Meyer.

Monday, September 13, 2010

Folsom Cyclebration - WIN!

Held over three days this past weekend, the Folsom Cyclebration is an omnium event - consisting of a time trail, criterium, and circuit race. Friday evening Emily and Susannah competed in the Folsom South Canal Time Trial. Emily finished 3rd and Susannah 6th on the 11 mile course.

Saturday morning, EEK and SBB were joined by Annie for the Folsom Challenge Criterium. Despite having just three riders the ladies rode a perfect race. SBB attacked from the start and continued to do so until Annie was able to bridge up to a counter-attack made by Touchstone's Marley Smith. With Annie up the road, EEK and SBB patrolled the front of the race assuring the break would be successful.
Annie finished 2nd and Emily 4th which put Emily into 1st place in the overall competition...

Sunday's event was the Two Bridges Circuit Race, a 1.3-mile lap through the historic downtown which featured two of Folsom’s most notable bridges over the American River/Lake Natoma: the impressively engineered Lake Natoma Crossing, and the iconic and historical Rainbow Bridge. With just SBB and Emily racing against bigger squads they had a plan to protect Emily's overall lead. Emily covered her closest competitors and Susannah made it into the day's break of 5 riders. Although SBB thought she had the finish figured out - she launched too early and ended up 3rd. Emily won the field sprint and the omnium event. Thanks Folsom for a great weekend!
Emily gets her name on this giant trophy - great teamwork paid off again!

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Challenge Road Race - Win!

Susannah Breen - 1st
Annie Malouin - 2nd
Held in Challenge, Ca. the 2010 District Road Race Championship course included 6000 ft. of climbing and covered 65 miles. Knowing that having a teammate could make all the difference in the outcome, Susannah was very thankful that Annie was willing to make the trip for the race with all the other teammates out of town. Annie has been a dedicated teammate all season and her willingness to sacrifice in Sunday's race was no exception. Annie kept near the front while Susannah tested her legs on the climbs. Everything was going as planned and the two watched the other riders on the first lap. On the 2nd lap Annie started the attacks on the rolling section and Susannah countered to test the group. About 4 miles from the finish, another rider finally attacked and Susannah went with her and the gap was open to the rest of the field. Seeing hesitation in the group, SBB attacked up the next climb, lost her break-mate, and kept the pace high until the finish. Annie followed the other riders while they chased and then pounced, coming in 2nd place! It was a perfect race for the team.
Many thanks to Mark Deterline for driving the follow-car and also ensuring the women had fresh bottles in the feed-zone. All the Wells Fargo P/1/2 women use Base Performance Sports Nutrition products in their bottles for training and racing. Annie and Susannah both recommend the Base Amino, especially for long rides and races. Seriously - get some, you will notice the difference.