MM Racing |
NEW ENGLAND CYCLOCROSS & ULTRA CYCLING TEAM |
Maureen Bruno Roy 's Race Reports
GRANOGUE, DE & LUDWIG’S CORNER, PA
October 20 & 21
Race weekend #3 was looking good for me as it rained and rained all the way down to Delaware. Unfortunately, the 6 hour ride took 9 due to traffic but we had host housing very close to the first day’s race and got a good night’s sleep. The course at the Granogue Estate is one of the best around with a lot of turns, climbing and technical sections. I was feeling pretty good but maybe a bit stiff from the drive as I warmed up. I was hoping for a top 3 finish for the day especially because the course was technical and very fun. I was swapping second and third place in the first lap with another local rider Anna Milkowski when I took a small turn way too fast. Everyone else was taking the corner so slow and I think I got a little cocky about my skills and crashed. After getting right back up, I was still in 3rd but there was a good gap to 2nd place and the 2 girls behind me had caught up to me by the long paved section.
I wasn’t able to chase Rebecca Wellons and rode the rest of the race with Megan Monroe. In the last lap I gave it some gas on the hills and was able to get a little gap onto the finish pavement but made the mistake of listening to a bystander yell to me that Megan was right on my wheel. I eased up a bit hoping to draft off her wheel up the pavement and she ended up squeezing by me at the finish. I finished 4th place for the day.
Day #2 was a less exciting course that was a bit faster with many, many man-made turns. I’ve been lucky enough to be sponsored my Mavic for wheels and decided to ride their new super-fast R-SYS wheels for the day which proved to be the perfect choice. Matt has also outfitted my bike with the new RED group from SRAM, which shifted like a dream all weekend. If only I had a second set of faster legs to choose from.
I led part of the way on lap #1 feeling more and more like my old self. Kerry Barnholt (pro mountain biker) had won the day before and was taking off for another win while me; Anna, Rebecca and Megan chased her. I rode with Anna for a while with Rebecca taking the lead on the flat packed section. Rebecca pulled away on another little bit of pavement and Megan was able to catch onto her as I rode another day out in the flat wind by myself. As I tried to close the gap to the girls in front, I ended up about 20 seconds behind at the finish for 4th place again. A very consistent weekend!
Thanks for reading.
-Mo
