7/21/2012 Cascade Cycling Classic - Stage 4 Criterium

21 July 2012 - Written by Guest Rider Melina Bernecker Cascade Cycling Classic - Stage 4 Criterium The Stage 4 Criterium was staged in Downtown Bend. The four corner 50 minute Rectangular course crit has only 1 technical section with corner 3 narrowing into a tight turn leading up a small rise, before the 4th turn took you onto the finishing straight which was a long wide run approx 300 m to the finish line. On arrival the crowds were already in place watching the armature and master crits that has been taking place throughout the day. The atmosphere was amazing. The women’s pro crit was scheduled to start at 5.45 and the temperature was still nice and warm. Starting position was essential with a big field of 90 women, The SC Velo girls managed to get relatively good position in the first couple of rows. Kristen Armstrong (yellow jersey tour leader) had left the tour to head to London for the Olympics so the yellow jersey had been passed down to Alison Powers (Now) who was 2nd on GC. As the rolled out for our race the pace was on from the whistle. We all had tired aching legs at this point but that didn’t seem to stop the girls as each lap seemed to just get faster and faster with an average pace of 42kph (26 mph). Both Beatrice and Jenny managed to get a cash preem sprinting to the line ahead of some stiff competition. Trying to follow Jenny’s wheel to move up the peloton and trying to position myself around the Yellow Jersey I managed to stay in the front third of the field. Despite some scary moments around corner 3 in particular the race was incident free. The final few laps of the race were particularly scare as the front group surged and slowed like a harmonica and I had to dig deep and use up all my energy in an effort to move up the field. I managed to catch the wheel of an Exergy girl to make up about 20 spots following her wheel around the last corner before sprinting home as fast as I could. The crit was won by Carmen Small (Optum) in a field sprint, second was Theresa Cliff-Ryan (Exergy) and third Loren Rowney (Stevens Bikes). The SC Velo team did well with all girls managing to get through the race unscathed. Jenny Rios came home 13th in a monster sprint, Beatrice Rodriguez finished 23rd, I finished 26th, Amber 32nd, Lisa Campbell 45th and Holly Breck 67th. As always our support team was amazing helping us prepare for the race and yelling support from the sidelines. Where would we be without you!!!