NorCal Cycling News – Cycling and Racing in Northern California

Pleasanton produces

Yeah, Pleasanton has about a gazillion bucks rolling around it’s supercashed suburbs … and you can’t quite hate them for throwing down a few fistfulls of it when a criterium like the Fast & Furious sprouts up.

What a race.  What a venue.  What a crappy announcer.

Now, I know I’m all biased n’ sh*t … because I only want announcers who are intimately familiar with riders and focus all their vocabularied-wit an wonder on painting sublime hyperbole of both the action and heroes involved.  But come on … that announcer made my ass itch.

Anyway …

Pleasanton just kicked that criterium three ways to Sunday.   It was a great turnout of spectators, a venue that begged you to visit all the local businesses, and a course that you could scurry around and specatate yourself some hot racing action.

That’s good bike racing.
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VANDERKATS are GO

The story of the night was how dominant the Vanderkitten Racing-Focus Bikes team was … against a strong PB&Co trio and a host of NorCal regulars. From the gun, VK’s Jen Reither was on the accelerator, sending word to the field that the game was most definitely on … and they better get their dice ready to roll.

Peanut Butter & Company got the win the night before at the Strawberry Crown criterium, with Coryn Rivera winning well from a 3-up break.  Pascale Snider, the SwissMiss & reigning Nat’l Road Race & Time Trial Champ, was a powerhouse and drove the break from lap 2.
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STRAWBERRY appetizer

Joining Snider at the Watsonville crit on Saturday were VK’s Jazzy Hurikino, Rivera, and PB&Co’s Hanan Alves-Hyde.  HAH put in a massive bridge a couple laps after the trio formed … and then absolutely slayed herself to build the gap past the 12 seconds it had been hovering.  The effort blew her to smithereens, and Snider knew that striking quick and vicious to drop one of the PB&Co riders was the proper, if prejudiced, tactic.

Back in the pack at Watsonville, there were two riders displaying a ton of courage and ferocity.  Anna Barensfeld would put in accelerations, hard chases, massive pulls … and show that she is one of the best up-and-coming amateurs in America right now.  The other rider was Beth Newell of Fremont Bank … attacking, literally, six thousand times trying to bridge up to the breakaway.  Barensfeld and Newell have been the top amateur riders in stage race after stage race these past months … and both were noticed and applauded by a REAL announcer, Dave Towle, at the Strawberry Crit on Saturday.  Towle is a superb announcer and advocate for women’s racing … and has a fan base around the country that a few of the ‘big race’ promoters just don’t understand.

Anyway – Rivera won the three-up break from Snider and Hurikino at Watsonville … setting up a good battle from the squads for the higher dollar, super pimped out Pleasanton race the next day.
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STARNES the destroyer, but COLLINS the Crusher

The Pleasanton crit was like watching warfare … Red Racing, Metromint, VK, PB&CO, Fremont, and a bunch of individuals were just throwing grenades at each other all night long on a fast, attacker’s course.

The backside of the course was where all the carnage was, as every team would throw down attacks or rally forces to cover & chase moves.  It was a fantastic spot to watch the race.

PB&Co had Alison Starnes, Taylor Wiles, and Olivia Dillon … and each was a battalion of attacks.  Starnes would unleash hell in the final laps, very nearly cracking the defenses of the entire field in the final 2 laps of the race.

But it would be Fremont Bank’s Beth Newell putting the smother over Starnes fire in the final lap, bringing back her solo move … but also perfectly leading out VK’s Emily Collins.

Collins was superb the entire night.  She floated around the front of the peloton as she needed, covered the dangerous moves when her team needed rest, put in just enough speed at the front near the end, and was brilliantly patient in the final laps to let the others chase down a mad-charging Starnes.

Primal Wear’s Liza Rachetto was valiant all race long, lacking teammates like Anna Barensfeld … and would position herself well for the final 500 meters of  a tense, aggressive hour of racing.  Olivia Dillon, Collins, and Rachetto would have a phenomenal battle in the final 200meters … the win could have gone to any of the three … but it was a hungry, deserving Emily Collins who got the big win, securing a hugely successful weekend for the Vanderkitten team.

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ooops … dinner needs to be cooked.  So one last bit – congrats to Rand Miller for almost beating Steve Reaney … again.

And nice work, Benny Sweet-Burg for a kickass sprint at Pleasanton.

boyz … meh.

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