Boston Mayor's Cup Crit
The last road race of the season just happened to be the best venue for us, downtown Boston on Sat, Sept 26. Why was it the best venue? Because it was right in our back yard with thousands of spectators willingly (or unwillingly as in the case of the T riders) cheering us on by name! Former Olympian Nicole Freedman and her crew did an excellent job organizing the race in the heart of the Hub, securing more than adequate prize money (TDBank has signed a 3 yr deal, so the race will continue for at least another 2 yrs) and getting some top name crit national champions to show up, including 6-time crit champion Tina Pic (Colavita), Laura Van Gilder (Mellow Mushroom), and Brooke Miller (Team Tibco). Many asked why the crit was so “late” in the season and the simple answer was that it was organized on the same weekend as the annual Hub on Wheels bike ride around Boston, which took place the following day (in the pouring rain). A whole weekend dedicated to biking in downtown Boston – amazing!
The course was a short 0.7 mile clockwise loop around Government Center, but it was safe from the thousands of people milling about by adequate barriers and street crossings at only designated crosswalks. There were primes called not only at the Start/Finish line (on Cambridge St), but alternate primes called on the opposite side of the course on Congress St. That made it more spectator friendly. On to the race itself…
It was a bit chilly for a crit (arm warmers a must), but after warming up on trainers in the middle of Government Center and then riding around the course a dozen times, Clara Kelly, Natalie Dumont and Brooke O’Connor lined up in NEBC colors on the start line. There were thoughts in our minds of just going all-out for one of the $500 primes and not minding if we got pulled from the race after that, but the big crit guns kept the pace high enough and sprinted hard enough that none of the NEBC ladies had much of a chance to go for a prime. During the race it was very exciting to hear the names of all the local New England racers being called out by our friends. Bet Brooke Miller thought she had a ton of local Boston fans calling out “Go Brooke”, but we all know better! :-)
Many small groups of women tried attacking and breaks, but nothing stuck as the field reeled in everything to come down to a sprint finish. Fast forward to the last lap where Brooke O had moved herself up to around 6th in line, right behind a Colavita rider. Brooke Miller, who was two people in front, jumped HARD to the right on Congress St. and immediately the 3 women in front of her followed. Assumed that the Colavita rider in front of Brooke O would follow the train, but instead the Colavita rider just kept riding hard on the left. That made Brooke O finally go around and try to catch the winning train up the slight hill into the final 200m. Brooke O came around the last corner to the flat to the finish and literally 10meters before the finish line, 5 women passed by to put Brooke O 12th at the finish. Clara finished in the pack in 25th place. For reference, Tina Pic won the race (last of her career before retiring), with Brooke Miller 2nd and Jen McRae (Team Type 1) in 3rd.
The race was suppose to be 60 minutes long, but our first few laps must have been on the slow side while everyone was getting comfortable with the course because after the officials calculated our remaining laps, we only ended up racing for 50 minutes. Thank you to all who cheered for us on that cool, but sunny Sat night and all season long. It was a nice ending to another great season by the NEBC Elite women!