BLP 2209 Grand Prix

Race Date:  April 27th, 2014
Race Type:  Criterium 
Location: Marlton, NJ
Riders: Cristina Cortes, Elissa Antelman, Erin Mandato, Bobbie Mach

Sunday brought on another stop in the NJBA Cat 4 Women's Cup Series and this time it was at the BLP2209 Criterium in Marlton, NJ.  The BLP2209 is a special race as it is a memorial race for the daughter of a friend of Team Riptide Ryan Pettit and his wife Becky.  In honor of Brionna, Ryan and Becky's daughter, riders were asked to wear pink so Team Riptide broke out our brand new pink "I'm with Awesome" socks for this special race in Brionna's honor!  

The morning started off right with some new pink socks for all the girls involved in this race AND was made even better by having Team manager Teresa DiSessa-Johnson and Barb Statton along with us for support, encouragement, and lots of cheering on the side lines.  It was brilliant having voices cheering us on at 2 different points in the course during this fast and grueling race.  Cristina, Elissa, Erin and Bobbie took on the field of 17 women.  It was a fast and heated contest which led to Elissa sprinting her way nicely into 6th place and Bobbie laying on the pavement.  No worries, Bobbie bounced back up and finished strong even tho in last place!  All four riders had very good races at this criterium with Ellissa having a great field sprint, Erin have huge pulls at the front of the pack trying to chase down a break, Cristina giving Erin a break at the front at very critical moments in the race and Bobbie trying to make a break herself to bridge the gap between the pack and 2 girls who had gotten off the front.  All four girls put in very hard efforts on this day and it was a very proud Team Riptide kinda day!

Results:
Elissa Antelman: 6th
Cristina Cortes: 14th
Erin Mandato: 16th
Bobbie Mach: 17th

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