Smoketown Airport Criterium

Race: Smoketown Airport Criterium
Date: 5/14/2016
Location: Lancaster, PA
Riders: Colleen, Meredith & Alli
Results:
Colleen-2nd Women 1/2/3
Meredith-5th Women 1/2/3
Alli-6th Women Cat 4

The Smoketown Airport Crit was odd in more ways than one. First, the course was located on the runway of an airport. Second, we were told before the race that due to adverse weather the race could end at any time with little (or no) notice. So, our tiny field of about 8 cat 1/2/3 women and about 11 cat 4 women headed onto the runway for our races. The race was scheduled to be 20 miles (20 laps). Well, it started to rain about 6 laps into the race. The lap cards blew down on lap 6 so we sprinted for the finish thinking that the race was over… then we found out next lap that the race was over when they rang the bell for the real finish of the race. Meredith led the pack through the last turn and made a run at the win with a long uphill and windy final stretch. She held out for the majority of the home stretch but the wind did not play in her favor so she was swarmed with about 200 meters to go. Overall, our short and rainy race ended up only being 8 miles but Riptide-Cawes earned two top 5 finishes with Colleen in 2nd and Meredith in 5th for the day. After the race, we discussed our next few races and are looking forward to regrouping for a more conventional (and dry, knock on wood) crit at Somerville in two weeks. : )

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