The Memorial Day Weekend always signifies something special to Texas racers: 3 days of hotter than heck crits, with the finale being the Texas State Crit Championships!
Starting Saturday, the San Jose women riders were ready for action: the new Gary Glickman course was a creative use of roadways, with a long, false-flat finish. Lori worked hard the first half of the race, then decided to preserve her legs for the next couple of days, but Jen & Rachel kept it together for a great finish. Metro VW put a rider out as a last-ditch effort to not have a field sprint with Rachel & Jen, but Jen went after it, and held the 300m pack sprint tidily at bay behind her.
On Sunday, our mantra was reserve, preserve & observe, as we needed to put forth no more effort than necessary. Some of the main contenders for the Monday State title were not racing at all over the prior two days, so we needed to be more savvy than ever to stay fresh. We all felt like it was our best team-racing, to date: we were more patient, waiting for moves to develop before going after them or bringing them back, and we all knew we were fine with a pack sprint.
Sure enough, despite various team members being off the front at different parts of the race, with one lap to go, a pack sprint was a certainty. The Flyers had launched their rider, and as we slowly reeled her back in, we all got ready for the jump. With her inimitable style, Jen went from the front of the pack, and took the long, tailwindy sprint with no real contention from anyone, including Lipsmackers' key sprinter, Kacey Manderfield. Rachel came in just behind for 4th, and while a rider came across Lori's wheel in the last 50m, she was able to hold it together for 7th.
Another great couple of races, and fabulous wins for the Women's Team Hotel San Jose!
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