Solano Bicycle Classic – 27 – 30 March

Stage 1 – 54 mile point to point road race – Winters to Angwin

Conditions: Really strong winds, 70F

March 27, 2003, Fairfield, CA

The Solano Bicycle Classic kicked off near Fairfield, California with a hilly road race around Lake Berryessa.  The 54 mile road race finished with a steep ascent up Howell Mountain Road into the town of Angwin.

The women’s race started with strong cross and head wind sections with a number of early crashes causing the field to split periodically.  There was a nasty crash just before the first sprint and I narrowly avoided it and managed to cross 5^th to claim a solitary sprint point.

The field remained together until the 20 mile mark when Anne Samplonius (TDS) and Meredith Miller escaped the field for about ten miles.  Their time gap stretched out to 1min30 until a combined effort from Saturn and T-Mobile brought them back and any further attacks were shut down in preparation for the final climb.

Within the first corner of the climb, the peloton shattered as Saturn teammates Lyne Bessette and Manon Jutras, marked by T-Mobile’s Kimberly Bruckner disappeared up the road.

Joan and I rode at a solid pace with my bottom bracket creaking every time I stood up.  With a mile to go I could see the tree tops but the road kept going up.  I groaned having climbed above threshold for too long and gradually lost contact with Joan who crested the hill 20 seconds in front of me.

Bruckner crested the mountain top alone and took the win by 46 seconds.  Bessette finished 2^nd and Jutras in 3^rd.

Joan finished 17^th 3mins14 down, while I finished 19 seconds further back in 23^rd place.  The rest of our TDS team rode tempo up the final climb, having decided not to ride for GC but to try for a stage win opportunity.

Results:

17^th Joan Wilson                             TDS                 3mins 14sec down
23^rd Helen Kelly                             TDS                 3mins 37sec down