Devon recaps the experiences of Memorial Day Weekend Racing:
"Finally getting to writing a race recap (sorry its long)... let's see... Saturday started off with the Snake. Aspen and I arrived just a little late to see Lindsay's finish, but as we walked to registration, we saw her being hounded by the local reporter - a good sign (ed. there is a link to this interview below)! I was up next on the Snake... the women's open field had over 40 which is great for a women's race! I was second row which isn't too bad of a position, but I missed my clip in and was soon near the back of the pack. I made up a few spots before hitting the snake, but two riders were already off the front. I got up to the first chase pack on the downhill... and we eventually gained on the leaders and caught them after a few laps (the leader dropped her chain twice which helped our chase effort). Soon there were only 5 up front with a few laps to go... the snake was getting harder and harder, but there were a lot of great fans which helped motivate me up the hill each time. With two to go, two girls got a gap on the way up, and we took a little too long before deciding to chase and couldn't bring them back in. The finish came down to a sprint... I led the way into the homestretch and got passed right before the line for 4th - a big improvement on last year's 11th. Aspen was the last of the green goblins to race the snake. He started out in a field of over 60 riders and did a good job at holding his position into the first climb. For a while he was in a pack representing spots 10-20 or so and looking strong. After a while, I think the windy backstretch and the snake repeats started getting to him and he moved a bit back in the pack, but ended up with a solid finish at 33rd in a big and strong field!
Next day was the Melon City Criterium. We arrived early in time to see Lindsay dominate once again. She seemed to have no trouble sitting in with the leaders of her field. Then with a couple laps to go she got in a break with two others and finally crushed them on the finish! I raced a bit later and the field was almost 50 which made for a fun race! A few teams had good representation - they were able to keep the pace high and the race exciting by sending people off the front. I got in a few attacks, but nothing stuck for long. Midway through, i struggled with the heat and humiditiy, but eventually got a second wind and went for a prime (and won!). The finish was fast and I didn't get great position into the last hairpin turn, but passed a few on the home stretch for a close 5th. Next Aspen raced in a field of 80! I watched on the uphill section and he seemed to look comfortable and in great position for most of the race. At one point he dropped back, but that was apparently due to his break away attempt on the backside of the course. Unfortunately, there was no getting away from a pack of 80. Into the final climb, Aspen passed a bunch of guys going into the last turn and continued blowing by people on the last straight away for a clear top 10 finish (ended up coming in 8th!!!). So another good day for team GAG.
Finally, we ended with the quad cities crit on Monday. Again, Aspen and I watched Lindsay dominate in the women's race. Everybody else seemed to be working hard and people were constantly being dropped from the pack, but Lindsay looked quite comfortable and stayed in great position right up in the front. I was watching on the back stretch and pondering whether I should go to the finish line to watch the finish, but as I was thinking about moving, Lindsay comes around the back turn solo with a huge gap on her two chasers and the rest of the field. The outcome was clear - yay for a hat-trick! Glad you'll be moving up the categories now - watch out for the GAG women!! Aspen raced next and I watched while warming up on the trainer. The race was huge once again and it looked like a battle for position. Aspen looked comfortable the whole race and maintained his position up front for the most part. Unfortunately, he hung a little too far back on the last lap and wasn't able to ever bring out his full on sprint. Despite bad position, he still ended up #22 in a stacked 3s field - not bad for his 5th (maybe 6th?) 3's race! I raced next - the field wasn't quite as big due to an earlier 2-3 race, but still a large field with a number of stacked teams. Attacks went off from the get-go... I tried not to do too much chasing, but when the top teams had two of their strongest riders out front, I knew I had to try and catch them. Eventually I caught up and 4 others caught on - forming a group of 7... everyone had a teammate in the pack but me :( It seemed like we had a good gap, but it took a while for people to organize and keep our pace going. I kept hearing people yell out time gaps, but some were yelling 8 and 10secs while others were yelling 20-30. Eventually the announcer started chiming in and it appeared our gap was huge. Then, he went from announcing the time gap to announcing how far the pack was in front of us! I really didn't want to catch the pack because everybody else had more teammates up there, but the announcer started a prime for the first rider to catch the pack and it was clear that our group was going for it. With about 6 laps to go, we lapped the field. I ended up getting back towards the front (along with the rest of the breakaway group) and sprinted for another 4th. Overall, it was a really fun and fast race. The whole weekend was great competition and fun racing - I had a great time!
Looking forward to racing next weekend out in Winfield and having our full women's squad out in force!!"
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