Conquering Mt. Hamilton

(Here is Liz’s report from her win at the Norcal/Nevada State Masters RR Championship):

Hi Girls,

Cammy and I raced the Calaveras TT the day before.  Cammy was smokin’ she is really the queen of the road!

Mt. Hamilton had to be the toughest race I have done in a while.  I had to think how I was going to outfox Leslie, and had to put time into her on the climb so she wouldn’t pass me on the 5 mile tricky descent off the summit.

As we climbed Hamilton the herd thinned….I think the 60+ gang was gone early, and we had 2 thirstybears, Jane Despas, Jennie Phillips, Cammy, Leslie and Tracy Lillig who was having shifting issues.  Jane and the bears went up the road, I stayed with Jennie and Leslie,  at some point Jennie pulled ahead when I was on Leslie’s wheel, and then I closed the gap with Leslie in tow.  Next time that happened I told Leslie “we need to stay with her 3 is better than 2, she worked a bit, then I came around her hard, latched onto Jennie, who set a fierce tempo.  Leslie was now gone, but I had to keep going since I knew she would fly down the hill like a banshee.   At one point when it was just the 3 of us, I was trying to eat a power gel chomp—I think I was munching on that for a couple switchbacks, and realized I had no energy for chewing, I patooied it and it bounced off one of the other gal’s  wheel.  She didn’t see it but I thought it funny.

Jennie was all for giving Leslie the business, and helped me up the climb.

I knew at the summit that I couldn’t keep up with Jennie on the descent, so rode within myself, and did the friggin’ longest time trial to the finish, kept consistent power, suffered mightily.  “I’m NEVER doing this race again” went through my fried brain.   Got  a wonderful, cold bottle at the feed from Andrea.  Soooo good to see her at the feed!

Was happy to see the 1k  then 200m, and Wayne.

It will take me about a year to consider doing THAT again.

Many thanks to Andrea,  who was full on cheerleader at the feed zone, and lent us a podium pup!

Liz

Mt. Hamilton Road Race, CA (Northern California/Nevada State Road Race Championship)

Mt. Hamilton Road Race, CA (Northern California/Nevada State Road Race Championship)

1st, Liz Benishin, Women 55-59
2nd, Camille DeLuca Flaherty, Women 55-59

Calaveras Time Trial, CA

Calaveras Time Trial, CA

1st, Camille Deluca-Flaherty, Women 35+ 1/2/3
2nd, Liz Benishine, Women 35+ 1/2/3
2nd, Sarah Clatterbuch, Women 35+ 4

Berkeley Hills Road Race, CA

Berkeley Hills Road Race, CA

6th, Camille Deluca-Flaherty, Women 35+ 1/2/3
7th, Andrea Atkins, Women 35+ 1/2/3
11th, Linda Locke, Women 35+ 1/2/3

Mariposa Women’s Stage Race, CA

Mariposa Women’s Stage Race, CA

STAGE 1–Basso Bridge Time Trial
1st, Liz Benishin, Women 35+
2nd, Andrea Atkins, Women 35+
3rd, Linda Locke, Women 35+
4th, Erika Donals, Women 35+
1st, Camille Deluca Flaherty, Women 55+

STAGE 2–Old Wards Ferry Hillclimb
1st, Liz Benishin, Women 35+
2nd, Andrea Atkins, Women 35+
3rd, Linda Locke, Women 35+
4th, Erika Donald, Women 35+
1st, Camille Deluca Flaherty, Women 55+

STAGE 3–Greeley Hills Circuit Race
1st, Andrea Atkins, Women 35+
2nd, Liz Benishin, Women 35+
3rd,  Erika Donald, Women 35+
4th, Linda Locke, Women 35+
1st, Camille Deluca-Flaherty, Women 55+

STAGE 4–Bootjack Road Race
1st, Liz Benishin, Women 35+
2nd, Andrea Atkins, Women 35+
3rd, Erika Donald, Women 35+
4th, Linda Locke, Women 35+
1st, Camille Deluca-Flaherty, Women 55+

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION
1st, Liz Benishin, Women 35+
2nd, Andrea Atkins, Women 35+
3rd, Erika Donald, Women 35+
4th, Linda Locke, Women 35+
1st, Camille Deluca-Flaherty, Women 55+

Firsts are Special

(This is an essay by Christina Hashimoto on her first experience bike racing.  She is a 14 year old Velo Bella and this is what she wrote about racing at Sea Otter this year…..)

Sea Otter Classic, my first cycling race, was a great experience to start racing,although I did not realize how large of an event I was attending. I had the opportunity to see other cyclists from other states and young kids similar to myself, who were enjoying working together as a team to achieve their goals. Not knowing anyone I was racing against, I found others who were similar in speed to me who I drafted off and worked with which ended up being a great first experience. The Road Race was different from the Circuit Race because our group split up into many small groups. Practicing the course before the Road Race had helped me very much so I knew what to expect.A motorcycle led our group and I found a group of girls to draft off. On the last hill approaching the finish line, everyone was tired. The girl racing closest to me had helped pace me at a good speed andwas tired on the last hill. I passed her and almost caught up to another girl farther ahead. This girl and I ended up racing to the finish linewhere she finished just two seconds ahead of me. I had a great experience on the twenty-three mile road race. I had great support from my family, friends, and spectators throughout the race which was encouraging. I not only learned a lot about racing, but the race helped me understand what cyclists havebeen teaching me. I had an opportunity to see teams work together and to see kids close to my own age racing, although I wasone of the youngest.At the end of my race, we saw the junior boys Road Race finish which was amazing to watch.Racing at the Sea Otter Classic was an experience I will never forget and I hope to race again in the future.

Other than racing, seeing all of the road bikes was a fun experience, and seeing the different types of bikes was amazing. I enjoyed watching the varieties of mountain biking and the incredible things that people were doing with the bikes. Seeing the junior group was very exciting because I am used to riding with adults who are very helpful and supportive; a special thank you to Gordon and Sue Martine and the Velo Bella group. They have helped me get to where I am now, and I thank everyone for their help. Attending this huge event, I saw lots of awesome things, but participating in races at the Sea Otter Classic was the most exciting and memorable cycling experience.

Wildflower Triathlon, CA

Wildflower Triathlon, CA

1st, Velo Bella, Long Course Relay, Open Female (Christina Hashimoto, Liz Benishin, Elizabeth Caraker)