2014 Memorial Day Weekend of Racing: 2 Down, 1 to go: Tour of Somerville

Tour of Somerville

Women’s P/1/2

20 miles – 15 laps – 4 corners

I joined Kelley for this classic criterium in NJ, along with Tina Pic, Erica Allar, Laura Van Gilder and UHC.  I heard from Wendy and others that this is a fun race in downtown Somerville, NJ.  All along the race course, which goes along Main Street and a residential street with 4 corners to make the oval, were people with cowbells, loud voices, and grills.  People set up tents on front lawns with beer and some awesome smelling food to watch the day’s races.

The front of the race, as Chuck looks for me in the field (hint:  I am no where near LVG)

The women’s field was the second to last race of the day.  As the call-ups began, the nerves actually calmed down. I guess I was too penned in to escape into the crowd and realized that I was going to start my 4^th NCC race.  My record so far:  finished: 1, pulled and scored:  1, pulled and not scored: 1.  I really wanted to finish with the pack.  This course was less technical than the ones we did last year but….Pic, Allar, UHC, did I mention Van Gilder…..and I did not have fresh legs.

As we lined up at the start, the announcer introduced Mildred Kugler, for whom the race is named.  History lesson:  She was born in 1925, started racing at age 14, national champion in 1940, the same year her father started the Tour of Somerville.  With the words, “Ladies, go”, we were off.

Wendy told me that after a few laps I would notice a rhythm to the race, and I did.  A friend of mine told me that by riding in the center of the pack, the wide roads would make it seem like I did not need to pedal given the draft.  He was correct.  Each lap was virtually the same…first corner easy, second corner slower with sprinting to catch up to the person in front of you, mellower pace, some serpentining down the back stretch, scary corner, less scary corner, pick up the pace on the final stretch, repeat.

Kelley and I both moved around the pack a bit. I was trying to find the place I was most comfortable through the 3^rd corner.  I went through a couple of times in the inside following a UHC wheel that, compared to our cornering in MABRA, was, well, yikes.  With about half the race to go, I realized that I could finish with the field.  I even managed to drink something out of the water bottle.  I could smell food and even cotton candy.  I started to enjoy myself.

With two laps to go, I told myself that the group would accelerate out of the second turn and keep going.  No matter what, I would stay there.  I would have my best whatever minute effort to hang on.  While the pace picked up, it was not brutal and Kelley and I were in the main field on the last lap.

And then, the famous 4^th corner.  It loves skin, I have been told.  We cleared the scary corner and I moved to the right to move up.  We went into that last corner and all of a sudden, Colavita was down in front of me, with bodies in front of her.  I swerved to avoid her and was heading to hit the curb.  I tucked and bailed to the ground and curled up into a little ball in case someone behind me hit me.  Luckily, I was wide enough that I was not hit.  I got up, noticed the bike seemed ok and caught three people ahead of me – perhaps in bad taste to sprint for 47^th place….but….the crowds cheered for me nonetheless.  Kelley ended up 33^rd or so and with all her skin intact.  Meredith, our guest rider from Richmond 2015, was also in the crash and fared worse than I did, and my fingers are crossed that she escaped without broken bones (she was scheduled to see a doctor today).