Winning in Syracuse!

The team RACE women hit the road again, heading to Syracuse, New York for the "Syracuse Race Weekend" stage race. Diana Joness and I raced in the Senior 1-2 category and Celeste Merey raced with the Cat 4 Women.

The weekend consisted of 3 races - a 66 mile hilly road race (33 miles for the women's category 3-4), a 1 mile time trial and a 20 mile criterium in Onondaga Park in downtown Syracuse.

ROAD RACE:
The weekend kicked off Saturday morning with the road race. The temperature was hot and the course was hilly! The senior 1-2 women did 2 laps of a 33 mile circuit and the cat 4's did 1 lap.

Women 1-2:
Each lap featured a long, hard climb that splintered the field. 3 riders got away on the climb and stayed away until the finish. 5 of us chased in the 2nd group. Diana and I were both in the second group. The finish line was at the top of a 400 metre climb and we sprinted it out for 4th place. I finished up 5th and Diana came 8th.

1) Jocelyn Loane (Australian National Team)
2) Candice Sullivan (CATS)
3) Yvette Labombard (JW Dundee's)
5) Julia Bradley (Team RACE)
8) Diana Joness (Team RACE)

Women 4:
Celeste Merey was the lone representative for Team RACE in the women's 4 field. She had a good race and finished 15th out of the 23 starters for the day.

1) Martha Bush (CRCA/Sanchez-Metro)
2) Amy Kneale (VeloSportivo.com)
3) Debrah Mattemand (Jobone BBX)
15) Celeste Merey (Team RACE)

TIME TRIAL:
After a bit of food and a brief rest, we hit the road again for a 1 mile Time Trial. The course was a fun, twisty circuit that went from the road to the bike path and back on the road again. It was a really fun course and quite a contrast from the day's earlier stage.

Women 1-2:
I raced through the circuit in 2 minutes and 24.47 seconds, just over 1 second behind the winner to take 2nd place in the stage. Diana also had a strong performance, finishing 5th in 2:33.22.

1) Candice Sullivan (CATS)
2) Julia Bradley (Team RACE)
3) Jocelyn Loane (Australian National Team)
5) Diana Joness (Team RACE)

Women 4:
Celeste improved upon her earlier performance of the day to finish up 14th in a time of 2:48.44.

1) Jenny Ives (CBRC)
2) Martha Bush (CRCA/Sanchez-Metro)
3) Heather Mclendon (GVCC)
14) Celeste Merey (Team RACE)

CRITERIUM:
The women got up early Sunday morning to race the criterium in the Onondaga Park. The course featured a small climb and downhill just before flattening out for the start/finish. The road was wide with rough patches of pavement on a round circuit, without any real corners to speak of.

Women 1-2:
After Saturday's races, I went into the criterium in the 1st place in General Classification. Diana patrolled the front of the group for the entire race, chasing down attacks and protecting me from the wind. There were a few primes that she resisted going for in order to work for me. (The massage and the beer primes were the toughest for her to resist). Good job Diana - that was real team work!! In the end, it was a drag race to the finish. I finished 2nd in a very, very close sprint and maintained my lead to take the overall win.

1) Caryl Gale (CRCA-Comedy Central)
2) Julia Bradley (Team RACE)
3) Gaetane Perreaut (Velo Bella)
6) Diana Joness (Team RACE)

Women 4:
Celeste had great legs in the crit. She went for the beer prime but got pipped at the line. She improved once again on her previous day's performances and cracked the top 10, finishing a solid 9th.

1) Martha Bush (CRCA/Sanchez-Metro)
2) Jenny Ives (CBRC)
3) Nancy Heller (tri state velo)
9) Celeste Merey (Team RACE)


FINAL GENERAL CLASSIFICATION:
Women 1-2:
1) Julia Bradley (Team RACE)
2) Caryl Gale (CRCA-Comedy Central)
3) Yvette Labombard (JW Dundee's)
4) Diana Joness (Team RACE)

Women 4:
1) Martha Bush (CRCA/Sanchez-Metro)
2) Jenny Ives (CBRC)
3) Heather Mclendon (GVCC)
14) Celeste Merey (Team RACE)

It was a successful weekend for Team RACE. We had 11 riders representing 3 different categories and our presence did not go unnoticed. After winning the overall General Classification, the announcer called me to the stage to find out exactly what team RACE was all about.

Congratulations to all the team RACE members who raced in Syracuse. A special thanks to Amy Moore for standing out in the heat to feed all of us in the road race on Saturday and to James Layfield who came out early Sunday morning to cheer on the women's team.

For full results go to:
www.syracuseraceweekend.com

First road race of the year - on the podium!

This weekend marked the start of the road racing season for the Team R.A.C.E. Women's road team. Celeste Merey, Diana Joness, and I raced in Brockville at the Brockville Road Race for Habitat. The race is held on a 9.6 kilometer flat- to- rolling circuit and starts in the small town, Lyn, Ontario. We did 8 laps for a total of 78 km.

The race went off in 3 waves, and the senior women were grouped with various senior and masters men's categories. There were a total of 64 riders in our field, 25 of them women.

There were many breakaway attempts including a valiant effort by Diana, but nothing was able to stay away in the windy conditions. The race organizers had some organizational issues, and our group had to restart the race after one lap because we were catching the group in front of us! Also, when the Senior 1-2 Men's group passed us, there was a major mixing of categories, as noone could tell who was in what group. Miraculously, we all got sorted out on the last lap and our group finished together.

New to the Team R.A.C.E. Women's team this year is Senior 3 rider Celeste Merey. Celeste had a great day and pushed herself to hang in with the main pack of riders for 5 laps. Way to go Celeste! Watch for Celeste to come on strong as the season progresses.

Diana and I were in the main pack going into the last lap. With 3 kilometres to go, there was a crash that took Diana down. She picked herself up and managed to finish solo, 1:33 behind the group in 12th place. Until this point, Diana was feeling great and was hoping for a strong finish.

I got stuck behind some tired riders going into the sprint and had to go wide into the crosswind to make up a gap. Despite this, I managed to finish 2nd in the women's category and 2nd out the entire group of 64.

Next up for the women's team: Diana will be racing at the "Niagara Classic Road Race" this weekend in Pelham, Ontario. Then on May 26 and 27, Diana, Celeste and I will be heading to Syracuse, NY for the "Syracuse Race Weekend" stage race.

Full results from all categories can be found here:
http://www.ontariocycling.org/web_pages/results/brockvilleresults_2.htm

All the best!

Julia Bradley
Team R.A.C.E.
www.juliabradley.net