Cat 4 Crit Podium: Team Belladium Sweep!

All of the current riders (uninjured and not pregnant) made the trip east from Nashville to Oak Ridge this weekend for the state road race, a time trial, and a crit. The road race was first, and Parri, Lee, Kailin, and Anna  raced first with the other Cat 1/2, 3 racers. The women were broken down into 8 Cat 1/2 riders and 6 Cat 3 riders, but all 14 of them raced the 45 miles together. The field stayed together for much of the first two laps and into the third, until a few attacks happened leading up to a 1-mile climb 7 miles from the finish line. This last time up the climb separated the field, and from the help of Lee’s pace-setting leading into the climb, Parri was able to stay with the leaders and come across the finish line 2nd overall and 2nd in the state. Lee finished 9th (7th Cat 1/2), and Kailin finished by herself in 11th (3rd Cat 3 and within sight of the first 2 coming into the finish). Anna finished 12th (4th Cat 4), so we had two podium spots in this first race of the weekend (Parri 2nd Cat 1/2; Kailin 3rd Cat 3).

Catherine, Kiki, Valerie, and Shelly began their 30-mile race shortly after the Cat 1/2, 3 women left, and there were 11 Cat 4 women on the road. Similar to the other women, these ladies stayed together for much of the first lap before Catherine attacked leading up to the 1-mile climb and stayed away for the remaining 7 miles, winning the race. That hill separated the field, and nearly all 11 women crossed the line by themselves. Kiki was 4th overall but 3rd from the state, so we had two women on the podium: Catherine took 1st and Kiki took 3rd. Valerie came in 5th overall, and Shelly came in 10th.

The time trial was later that afternoon and, for the women, began immediately after a huge downpour. The rain couldn’t keep Team Belladium from shining, though. Anna finished 3rd overall, just 6 seconds behind the overall winner (15 Cat 1/2/3/4 women). Catherine was the 1st Cat 4 and 5th overall, just 21 seconds behind the overall winner. All Team Belladium riders finished in the following times:

• Anna: 3rd, 20:06
• Catherine: 5th, 20:21
• Parri: 6th, 20:32
• Shelly: 8th, 21:53
• Kiki: 10th, 22:11
• Kailin: 11th, 22:38

The crit was the final race of the weekend, and the Cat 4s race began early Sunday morning. Eight women lined up: 4 from Team Belladium and 4 from Team Mystique. Valerie helped control most of the race, and with 7 or so laps to go Catherine attacked the field and stayed away to solo in for the win. Shortly thereafter, Shelly and Kiki attacked again and only 1 Mystique rider responded. Those three chasers stayed in the middle, and Shelly and Kiki sprinted in to take 2nd and 3rd, respectively. Valerie finished 5th with a strong sprint of her own, coming from the rest of the field.

Kailin was the only Cat 1/2/3 woman to line up for Team Belladium, and she had 7 competitors to contend with. Six riders stayed together until the last lap; no rider in that group had a teammate with them, and there was not much racing going on other than riding around the course. After a long sprint, Kailin finished 3rd overall and 1st Cat 3. This was a fun and successful weekend for Team Belladium!

We raced this omnium in 2011 as well; here is a race recap and the results from that weekend, but in summary Anna won the Cat 4s omnium, Parri finished 3rd in the road race, and Kailin won the crit. The races this year were not an omnium because it included the State Road Race.

Our final race weekend of the season is August 25–26 in Chattanooga, TN, for the River Gorge Omnium.

Kailin 1st, Catherine 2nd in the road race

Anna, Kailin, Catherine, Kiki, Valerie, and Shelly traveled to Huntsville, AL, to compete in the Rocket City Omnium. We were excited to travel together – it had been a few weeks since we’d all been able to race together, and we took advantage of an out-of-state race to showcase some of our strengths. The weekend started out with a road race on Saturday, where all six Team B women lined up with six other women. With 12 women (one Cat 2, four Cat 3s, and seven Cat 4s), we had to numbers on our side, and we used our teamwork to get Kailin, Catherine, and Anna up the road with only one other woman. That break stayed away for 15 or 17 miles, and they came across the line 1st, 2nd, and 4th, respectively. Kiki, Valerie, and Shelly worked to keep anyone else from attempting to catch the break and finished 7th, 8th, and 9th, respectively.

The short 1-kilometer time trial came next. It was slightly uphill but still fast, taking winner Catherine only 1 minute, 34 seconds to complete. Kailin was 2nd in 1:37, and Kiki was 3rd in 1:39. Shelly finished 6th in 1:50, and Valerie finished 7th in 1:52. There were 70 riders in the TT (men and women), and Catherine finished 34th overall, in the top half of the entire field!

Kiki, Valerie, Kailin, Shelly, and Catherine ready for the crit

Sunday was the Cat 1/2/3/4 crit in downtown Huntsville, and in the 30-minute race we had 12 primes to race for (for only 7 of us; it was good incentive for a fast race) plus a finish-line bonus. This made for a fast race, lots of sprints, and lots of attacks. Just after midway through the race, Catherine and Kailin used a couple back-to-back prime laps to create a gap between them and the field. They stayed away for the remainder of the race, and Catherine crossed the line by herself for the win. Kailin came across in 2nd, and Valerie, Kiki, and Shelly finished 5th, 6th, and 7th.

All told, this was a very successful and fun weekend for Team Belladium – we took the top two spots of every podium and the top three in the TT. We also raced together very well, and all the hard coaching and directing by Todd paid off!

Photos here