Ottawa Race Weekend (July 14,15)

by Julia Bradley on July 17, 2007

Team R.A.C.E. Women’s team report:

The team R.A.C.E. women’s team headed to Ottawa this weekend for a fun filled weekend of racing. Saturday, July 14 was the Grand Prix Road race in the Gatineau Hills and Sun, July 15 was the Provincial Criterium championships.

Grand Prix Road Race:
Diana Joness, Julia Bradley and the team’s newest member, Jill Vale raced in the Senior 1-2 women’s field which was combined with the Masters 40+ men. They did 4 laps of the hilly 21 km circuit for a total of 84 km. The pack sorted itself out fairly quickly on the first ascent. In the end, Julia Bradley won a bunch sprint finish for 8th place, Jill Vale placed 14th and Diana Joness came in 17th.

Celeste Merey came back from a month long illness and raced in the Women’s 3-4 field. In her first race in 6 weeks, she had a solid race and placed 17th in her category.

Provincial Criterium Championships:
The race was held on an interesting, fairly technical circuit which included 4 turns and a chicane leading into a short, steep hill, followed by a fast descent.

All women’s categories raced together, making for a fairly large field. Julia and Celeste represented team R.A.C.E. in the crit. Unfortunately, Diana had to sit out this race due to illness.

The race started out fast and remained active throughout. The Cyclery women’s team were active throughout the race and sent several riders off the front, making the rest of the pack chase. With 3 laps to go, one of the Cyclery riders got away and stayed away for the win. In the pack sprint for 2nd, Julia Bradley came in just behind Jennifer Stephenson for 3rd, collecting a Bronze medal in the Elite Women’s category. Celeste placed 4th in the women’s 3-4 category.

Congratulations to all Team R.A.C.E. members who raced this weekend in Ottawa. We were represented in the elite women’s, elite men’s and masters men’s categories.

Special thanks to Charlotte Bradley and her family for housing and feeding the women’s team all weekend – no easy feat!

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