Beautiful summer racing weather for us in Windsor tonight. Tonight's Ciociaro Thursday Race Series was once again a great night for Courtesy Bicycles Race Team. Our riders did a superb job even though we had a small contingent of racers. Seth Makotoko, Aljonn Lacerna and Katrina Pawley Mason raced in the first race tonight and represented us most excellently. The three racers were all racing in the first race and the guys were racing in the C category with Katrina in the girls youth group. Dave Muzzati was racing with Courtesy Bicycles Race Team colours in the B race but the rest of us just didn't come to race.You can tell that Katrina and Seth are both leading their respective groups because they're both wearing the Infinit leader's jerseys (nice--I want one ;). Katrina finished first for the girls' youth category,
remaining at the top of the standings in overall points and maintaining her lead in the youth group. Aljonn and Seth finished right beside each other, finishing third and fourth respectively. Seth remains in the top place for the C racers. Aljonn made impressive point gains after tonight, moving into 11th place for the series (not too bad considering he didn't race the first 5 races).
The C race was a strategist's fantasy as everyone seemed to be moving backwards after the start! Just kidding, but the race was slow at the start with no one rider trying to challenge the field. That is, except Katrina, who attacked immediately due to the slow pace. Katrina attacked the field right off the start and quickly got a 30 second lead on the field. Wow, she was moving fast.....Because Katrina was moving so fast and no one else wanted to pursue, the gap opened up until it reached almost 40 seconds. It looked like the main field was standing still as Katrina drove to the back of the circuit, impressing the crowd and field with the early attack. But, you could see that the women were in the front, controlling the race from the start.
Katrina finished the first lap about 30 seconds ahead of the field. It was amazing when she came by and I think a lot of people didn't even realize that she was so far ahead of the field. Well, she kept at it, moving up farther and farther and by end of the third lap, she had opened up a nearly 40 second lead. She powered by the start and was in fine form on the fourth lap. When the main field approached, the race organizers decided enough was enough--the rang the bell for a prime and the field finally woke up--it was like a different group all of a sudden with the field stringing out and the women pushing up the pace. By the time the field got back to the line, they had effectively dropped almost half of the riders and almost completely closed the gap on Katrina. Katrina took the prime (first across) but she didn't win the field prime. Well, after about 2 seconds of complaining, the race organizers (Dylan and Devon) quickly put together a prize that Katrina simply loved (another water bottle with gel from Cycle Culture).
So now we finally had a race. In the turmoil of the prime, our rider Seth managed to stay firmly in the field. Aljonn was struggling to keep pace and fell off the back just before the line. But, he stuck with it and nicely caught up to the field shortly after the prime was over. After nearly sleeping for 3 laps, the main field was moving fast and the 2 CBRT men were now back in the main field. On the fifth lap, Katrina was over-took and she couldn't get onto the back of the field.
Seth and Aljonn were both strong tonight but they weren't in control of the race. The women, and it was a very good turnout of women tonight, had control of the entire race. It was nicely done and the women deserve a lot of credit for the tempo of the race.
It was simple, control the race and be in front--make it a sprint to the finish under their terms and they would control it all. Our guys couldn't get into position to challenge for the sprint but, nevertheless, they were strong and moved well into the final sprint. They both pushed hard and finished superbly.
Pictures by Chyla's Race Photos and check more out at her site Photography by Chyla.
Additional sprint picture (last sprint pic) by Rosemary Barbera.
Podium pics by Ed Bellaire.
Full results at: Ciociaro Cycling Club