Racing Near & Far

Racing correspondent Martha Walsh sent in a friendly reminder that cool things are happening in the racing scene.

First off, congratulations to Martha who set a personal best by more than 2 minutes in the 40K time trial at the state time trial championship last weekend. Martha’s time of 0:59:58.23 put her at the top of the podium in the Master Women’s A category race. Robin Secrist took first in the Women’s Category 1/2 race with a time of 57:06.64.

If you are in the neighborhood, check out Sunday’s Kirkland Criterium. Getting street closures in downtown Kirkland was no small coup. It’s the first year for this race, so the number of fields are relatively limited. But the weather is supposed to be good again by Sunday, so hopefully it will all make for a grand spectacle. If you’ve never seen a crit up close and personal you will be amazed at the speed and aggression of these racers.

Down south, USA Cycling’s Junior, Under-23, and Elite National Road Championships began yesterday (Wednesday August 6) in Orange County, California.

The elite men kicked things off with a 33-kilometer time trial championship; elite women and the U23s race the same distance, while junior categories race on shorter courses depending on their age. Junior criteriums are scheduled on Thursday, junior road races on Friday, the women’s road race on Saturday, and the men’s road race on Sunday. (Elite/pro crit championships are held in Downers Grove, Illinois, on August 17.)

Lots of Northwest riders made the trip to nationals this year. More than a dozen juniors from the Seattle area are competing in the different age groups. Hagens Berman sent a squad of five elite riders (Nick Clayville, Sam Johnson, Lang Reynolds, Dan Harm, Adrian Hegyvary) to contest both the time trial and road race plus two riders for the U23 (Jake MacArthur, Chris Parrish) events.

On a personal note, Adrian developed my Race Across Oregon training plan, so best of luck in his races. For folks thinking about this weekend’s Cougar Mt. Time Trial, take limited solace that course record holder Lang Reynolds is off competing in So. Cal.

In the women’s national races, watch for Suz Weldon (Wines of Washington) and Allison Beall (Team Bobs-Bicycles.com) in the time trial. Suz repeats in the road race on Saturday and is joined by Dana Robertson Halter (Team Group Health).

Northwest riders from Idaho, Montana, and Oregon are also on the start lists.

And, as Martha notes on her blog, what’s up with VeloNews? Nothing about the nationals, but stories like “Italian climber Sella fails UCI drugs test” (who cares???) are front page news.

National Results

And in the wider world, it will certainly be interesting to see how Lance Armstrong fares at Saturday’s Leadville 100. Lance says he’s not in it to win but boasts that he’ll be showered and on his third beer by the time coach Chris Carmichael finishes.

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