LadiesFirst Racing

Race Report by Christina Tamilio

With a strained hamstring from yesterday’s race, I was hesitant to start the New Britain Crit.  However, it actually seemed to hurt more walking than pedaling, so I decided to give it a go. I picked up Snooks along the way. After a solid warm up, my sore hamstring was un-noticeable.  The course wound through Walnut Hill Park and included a few gentle, sweeping turns. Despite an easy crit course, the field started out a bit uneasy and sketchy through the corners. I decided to stay at the front of the pack to avoid any mishaps.  There were several familiar faces from yesterday’s Attleboro Crit and I was able to predict how these racers would behave during today’s race. Throughout the race, there were several attacks, but nothing stuck. I chased down a couple and threw out one of my own. With about 6 or 7 laps to go, the one and only prime came around. I hopped on Jena’s (Colavita) wheel, remembering how strong she was yesterday (I think she won all the prime’s and the race!), but didn’t have the power to come around her. She won today’s Prime too! As we came around for the final lap, Snooks came around to the front of the pack to lead me out. I let Jena take her wheel and sat third wheel back, with a plan to mimic our sprint for the Prime with hopes of having a little more steam this time around.  Snooks put in a super strong pull, gapping us far enough from the field to take most others out of contention. As she pulled off the front, Jena and I started our sprints. A split second later, Jena seemed to catch on to my plan and let up. She looked back at me, waiting for me to go around.  I didn’t and before we knew it, two riders from Marissalla Pizza (that may not be their team name, but that’s what’s written on their back sides) and another strong rider (I believe her name is Cody, or something close that begins with a “C”) came sprinting along our right sides. Jena and I turned the sprint back on, but not in time to catch Cody (she won). Jena took 2^nd and Kristen from Marissalla Pizza and I seemed to tag the line simultaneously. However, the results later proved that she took 3^rd and I took 4^th. Great race with some super strong women! Thanks, Snooks, for an awesome lead-out!