University of Nevada Race Weekend - by S. Beard
This weekend WCCC drove to Reno for the second to last race of the season. Saturday began with the crit on the Reno campus. Before the race UC Berkeley and UNR led three slow laps in honor of Erica Greif from Reno. Erica was a women’s A for Reno and had passed away on her way to the Redlands Stage Race Tuesday night. Erica was an active and passionate cyclist who was recently engaged to her fiancé Nick Schaffner, a racer for Herbalife. She will be greatly missed by all.
The women's A podium, with the top step left open for Erica (Photo Credit: Joie du Franco)
The crit course was technical with a fast downhill ending in a sharp right, and a steep little kicker at the end before the finish line. At the start of the whistle, Joie (Stanford) attacked and Sarah (UC Davis) quickly followed. The two stayed together for two laps. Humboldt had graciously donated $100 for the winner of the first prime in memory of Erica that was on lap three. On the backside of the third lap Sarah attacked and won the prime. As she recovered, Allison (Stanford) caught her and the two worked together for the majority of the race, holding off the rest of the field until there were only 7 laps to go. At that point, Taylor (Stanford) caught the two leaders and for a few laps the three stayed together. When the lap cards showed 2 to go, Allison attacked and held a successful break-away for first place. Taylor was able to hold for second and Sarah got third.
Sunday was a painful road race that lasted 64 miles and had over 4,000 feet of climbing.
Since the men’s B field was so small the day before, the women’s As and men’s Bs started together. Everyone was bundled up in arm warmers, leg warmers, and long fingered gloves-an odd sight in the WCCC where the weather is usually mild and warm. The course started out with some steep rollers before a small climb followed by a long decent before turning around in California and heading back up the hill and into Nevada once again. The women’s A racers had an additional half lap to complete before their race was over. Once the pack hit the climb, it began to splinter up a little. After the turn around, the field had split into the leaders of the men’s B race followed by the two leaders of the women’s A race (both from Stanford). Naomi from UC Berkeley was with a few men’s Bs in third just a few minutes back. As the race continued, the placing stayed the same resulting in Taylor (Stanford) getting first, Anne Laure (Stanford) getting second, and Naomi (UC Berkeley) getting third.
Thank you to all the members of UNR cycling for putting on a fun, tough race weekend!
Sunday was a painful road race that lasted 64 miles and had over 4,000 feet of climbing.
Since the men’s B field was so small the day before, the women’s As and men’s Bs started together. Everyone was bundled up in arm warmers, leg warmers, and long fingered gloves-an odd sight in the WCCC where the weather is usually mild and warm. The course started out with some steep rollers before a small climb followed by a long decent before turning around in California and heading back up the hill and into Nevada once again. The women’s A racers had an additional half lap to complete before their race was over. Once the pack hit the climb, it began to splinter up a little. After the turn around, the field had split into the leaders of the men’s B race followed by the two leaders of the women’s A race (both from Stanford). Naomi from UC Berkeley was with a few men’s Bs in third just a few minutes back. As the race continued, the placing stayed the same resulting in Taylor (Stanford) getting first, Anne Laure (Stanford) getting second, and Naomi (UC Berkeley) getting third.
Thank you to all the members of UNR cycling for putting on a fun, tough race weekend!
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