Julia and Lauren at Elite Nationals

While the rest of our U25 girls (and of course the “O25’s”) were racing the MS Ride on Saturday and Sunday (and it was a race — don’t tell anyone tell you different), Julia and Lauren were at the Elite Track Nationals. Congratulations for qualifying for the finals and racing so well against world class track stars. Very impressive. Below is a re-cap from both Julia and Lauren.



Julia:
Scratch; qualified pretty easily, 5th place. when the final sprint came around I was in 4th position but was boxed in at the end and ended up 11th. Points race: I managed to get some points and had I finished first in the last sprint I would have gotten 5th, but I messed it up a little and ended up 8th. However it was a great experience and a REALLY fast race.

Lauren:
Scratch race. There was a crash right next to me in my qualifying heat. I rode into the apron all the way to the gate to avoid it and barely made it back on the track in time for turn 3. Got pretty scared but found my way out of the box on the last lap to sprint for 8th (10 out of 18 from each heat qualified). The final was REALLY sketchy. One girl forced me into the blue where my bike hopped sideways and I somehow stayed upright. Another girl hit me from the side and my foot got stuck with something on her bike but again I managed to not go down. Got too scared to do anything and finished 17th out of the 20 girls that qualified. Shelley Olds (last year's scratch champion) ended up lapping the field to take the win again.

Points Race. My qualifying heat was pretty stacked with Sarah Hammer, Shelly Olds, Kristin King, and Theresa Cliff-Ryan and thus really fast. They were taking the top ten riders into the final and I was a little scared when 6 riders lapped the field. Coach was yelling at me that I was still ok that I just needed to get some points. I went for two of the sprints and finished the heat in 9th with 6 points. Coach said he was getting tired of me cutting it so close and making him have a heart attack. During the final it was REALLY fast. Like insanely fast. Sarah Hammer lapped the field twice, Shelley Olds lapped once. I have never been in a race, road or track, with so many aggressive females. I found myself giving up wheels left and right and never figured out how to set it up for the sprint. The ability and strength was there, I was just too scared. Next year I want to do some training riding that close to people and bumping/fitting through small holes at 36 mph so I can get on the podium.
__._,_.___