Jamestown Classic - Katherine Snell
Jamestown Classic Road Race
October 13, 2008
Open Women
Katherine Snell 12th/44 starters
After not having done any road competition for over six weeks, I was looking forward to Jamestown. The course is 19 miles without any steep climbs and a downhill finish with the Open Women doing a single lap. The drive down in the morning was absolutely gorgeous – the fall colors were at their peak and the sun was bright. Most of the racers were not regulars so it was hard to evaluate the competition but Kristen Gohr was there so I knew from previous races she’d be the person to watch. Julie also told me to watch Elizabeth Tyrell who is the 50+ Master’s National champion. There was a strong contingent from CVC including Kim Edwards and a large number of college gals. One never knows what to expect from the college racers; they can be very strong and aggressive or not conditioned enough to stick with the pack. Carrie Fraga and Julie Lockhart were fellow teammates present.
I made a good start and was immediately on the front. I kept an easy pace allowing a couple other riders including Kristen get on the front to do the pace making. It may not be totally cool but I wasn’t going to waste precious energy I knew I would need when the attacks on the climbs came. Sure enough at the first little pitch up, Kristen attacked to test the field. Things calmed down again and there was a second attack on the next little climb. I allowed myself to drift back a little starting to feel the effects from doing Gloucester the day before. I was surprised to see Carrie Fraga come up and invite me to jump on her wheel. Eventually we all caught up and I was riding fifth or sixth wheel when Elizabeth Tyrell came up to attack on the next rise. This rise was a little more significant and succeeded in splitting the field and me with it. I then formed a little chase group with some gals from Boston College. They would get ahead of me on the climbs while I pulled up the pace on the downhills and flats. It was kind of funny getting warned about the turn as we went around the lighthouse since it was a nice gradual circle – nothing like the sharp corners of a criterium that I’ve taken at much higher speeds than 24 mph. I managed to stay on front for the most significant climb of the race and had one of the BC gals on my tail as we rounded the corner back into Jamestown. Knowing I was near the end and close to the downhill, I accelerated but unable to shake my competitor and sprinted her out to finish in 12th place and 2nd of the Cat 4s in the race. Congrats to Carrie on finishing 24th and Julie for finishing 27th (on her CX bike!) – nice work ladies!
All in all it was a decent finish for a decent first road racing season for myself. I look forward to getting stronger and being a better climber next season and maybe a few top 5 finishes before upgrading next summer. I’m now enjoying a little break to rest up for the rest of ‘cross season and some more good training!