Impressions by Anne Guzman and Amy McGuire

It was a great weekend for Team Kenda Tire at the 49th Annual Fitchburg Longsjo Classic held July 3rd to 6th. The race weekend began with 3 teammates in the top 20 after the completion of the time trial. It was a nice day with some winds and the road was a little bumpy and a gradual uphill with flat and downhill sections. With teammates in 9th, 12th, and 19th going into Stage 2 we wanted to make sure we held those spots and we gave it a go at earning the point’s jersey.

With personal goals and team goals at stake it was time to work the engines to have some our secured spots stick. In addition, to working for the team, Amy’s goal was to land in the top 10 in both the circuit and criterium races.

While driving to the starting line of Stage 2, we suggested that our guest rider Carla Swart give it a go. She can climb and sprint – well did she ever. Battling each time with Kelly Benjamin (Cheerwine) she ended up with the Green Jersey at the end of the stage! So impressive and what a way to wind it up with the sprint! Wait till she gets another year in her legs. She is aggressive, and we loved her! We were all happy with the jersey since it is gained the team the much deserved respect in the peloton. It gave us great pleasure that our teammate was mixing it up with top riders and being able to out-sprint a top contender like Kelly Benjamin (Cheerwine).

Kristin W. had a great finish getting 8th on the stage and getting away with a select group of the top women. She is riding great and we hope to keep her GC spot as the week progresses. This moved her up to 11th GC.

Kathryn Clark was amazing today going back twice to help both Jackie’s with their flats, sacrificing her own position and eventually chasing back on for the majority of the day. Her team work did not go unnoticed! Thanks Kat!

Jacqui C and Jackie K fought hard to keep there spots. Both getting flats made things tough. Both fought till the last moment and raced with everything they had. Neither of them had been feeling well the night before this RR and that is a tough stage to not be feeling good for. Great job.

Amy McGuire sat in good position all day and had a great day. I think she was happy with her finish and looks forward to the next two days with the power like courses that suit her very well.

I was a bit disappointed to get gapped in the feed zone and not make the split, but being off the bike for a few weeks and getting back with this race, I reflect that I am taking it one day at time. I did the best I could with the legs and they are coming back so that is good.

For the circuit race we had a goal of keeping the jersey. This is great for Kenda. Again Jacqui C and Kat were superb teammates helping Carla Swart to the front and back on when she would gap after the sprints. Jacqui C and I were always trying to encourage Carla to move up and find Kelly’s wheel and she was doing a great job. Kat even pushed her up the hill after one of the laps…Kat…again, what a great teammate!

For the most part the race was not very active…unless you were going for points.

At the end of the day some great teamwork and Carla is still sitting in 3rd with points. Tomorrow our goal remains the same –earn points!

The criterium was not as fast as the usual NRC criteriums and had a really slow start. It was pretty much a point’s race with lulls and sprints…not my style! I like it fast all the time…but I think teams were keeping their GC spots and not as aggressive as usual. KW and I kept GC and rolled in with the pack. KW gave Carla a sweet lead-out for points and Jacqui Crowell was great at bringing her up to the front. Amy had a good finish and sat in the good position all race and we kept 3rd in the points at the end of the day.

I think we learned a lot as a key component that would have made communicating with each other an easier task was left behind. In the future we will use the “don’t leave home without it method” with the radios.

Kathryn Clark rode an unselfish race by sacrificing to get Carla back into the pack when needed.

Racing at the 49th Annual Fitchburg Longsjo Classic was a great learning experience in the dynamics and we executed well. In the end, we finished with two in the top 20 general classification (GC), Kristin ended up 12th and I ended up 17th after competing with an amazing ensemble of top women racers.