This year’s Championship Road Race once again took place on the same course in Bakersfield as the previous three years. The course consisted of a challenging 31 mile loop with an estimated three mile climb, screaming decent, with some rollers to the false flat finish. What differed from the past years race was the cow sized pot holes located on the back side of the course that lead up to the climb. The race officials gave fair warning prior to the race start, however, I had no idea the road would be as debilitated as it was. Fortunately Masters Racers tend to be wise in their years and more often than not choose safety over stupidity, and none of our field was casualty to the road conditions.
The Women’s race was approximately 40 riders deep with categories of 35+, 45+ and 55+ all combined for the start. The race started out with a comfortable tempo for the first five miles until we made the first right turn which lead us toward the climb. The pace remained steady yet comfortable as we crossed numerous cattle guards and dodged land mines in the pavement. At the base of the climb the pace picked up slightly, but the main field remained in tack.
After the screaming decent, our plan was to launch a number of attacks to tire the competition, which consisted of riders from Helen’s racing team, La Grange and Colivata. Pam Schuster served the first of several blows to the field. Once Pammy was reeled in, I took a turn with the whip, all while our faithful Lisa protected the front of the peleton and chased down anything that chased us.
Once we made the final right turn onto the finishing stretch, the field was completely strung out for the dash to the finish line and those who played their cards right and who were patient were the ones who found victory today.
Melina Bernecker from Herbalife/LaGrange won the 35+
Linda Stark from Dude Girl won the 45+
Linda Schnepf from Simple Green won the 55+
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