Several months ago, after a cold, winter ride, the women of NashvilleCyclist.com went out for one of my favorite things: coffee.

We discussed the list of potential 2010 races and hoped that Directeur Sportif Tim Hall would agree to put Tour de Tuscaloosa on our race calendar. The fields are usually much larger and extremely competitive in Alabama, and everyone that has done the race thinks it is a must-do.

Coach Hall did indeed put the race on our schedule and five NashvilleCyclist.com women went to Tuscaloosa to get our “Boom Boom Pow” on and test our mettle against one of the largest fields many of us have experienced. Roxanne Caruso, Alli Greening, Laura Reinert, Ginger Wade, and I were part of a field of about 30 starters in the women’s cat 3/4 crit. The course was 1.8 miles with eight turns, including a long downhill into a sweeping turn and a long uphill.

Olga Weeks with SVMIC and Alli attacked from the gun and got a gap on the field. The gals hit turn one, bombed the massive downhill into turn two, got a smack in the face of wind, and then went through turn three to the hill. The gals put down a good attack and made everyone hurt from the go. The attack was awesome, but they were caught at the hill and the pack was together. Alli spent some time on the front riding hard popping people off the back. Laura put in an incredible attack and was off the front for a lap looking extremely strong. She dug deep and would later say, “During my race, I focused on the NashvilleCyclist.com team mantra, ‘What Would Patrick Do?' Through this I was able to channel the strength and tenacity I needed to represent the PatrickHarkinsCyclist jersey well."

Roxanne put in a great attack too. She was super sneaky, caught everyone off guard and made the other teams work to get her. I tried to keep my position in the third row, but I somehow ended up in a fairly bad position when the break happened. Eight women went up the road with ten of us in the chase pack. I saw that NashvilleCyclist.com was not represented in the break and stubbornness took over. It seemed like no one else was quite as obstinate as me so I went off on my own to chase.

The front group dropped three girls. I caught a Frazier cyclist and hoped to work with her to bridge, but I knew if I was going to make it happen I needed to dig deeper and I ended up on my own. It took me three laps to bridge, but I finally caught the break at the hill. It was one of the hardest things I have ever done on a bike. I think I burned every match I had. So naturally, they called a prime lap shortly after I caught on. Ouch.

We ended up with six of us in the breakaway: Rachel Scott with SVMIC, Marda KaiserRehnelt and Pam Tate with Marx & Bensdorf, Cali Ewing with Team Belladium, Dominique Shore with Frazier, and me. This was my first bonafide breakaway ever! Sure, last year during several TBRA races, I ended up in the front with Mary Mayhew, Missy Petty, Lisa Starmer, and maybe one or two others, but that was always a result of attrition in a field of 10-12 women. THIS was totally different and so exciting!

The course is definitely not my specialty, with the hill to climb lap after lap…after lap…after lap…after lap… I swear it got longer and steeper every time. I was not able to do one ounce of work in the breakaway because it took everything out of me to bridge. I decided it would be poor etiquette to try to sprint the group in the end. Marda took 1^st and her teammate Pam took 2^nd. Cali took 3^rd, Rachel 4^th, and Dominique came in 5^th. I thanked the gals for letting me sit on after using everything I had to bridge. Marda was very gracious and complimented my effort. 

I ended up sixth, which made me really happy and really proud of my teammates. I went to Tuscaloosa hoping for a top 10, knowing how large and competitive the fields are in AL. I could not have bridged that gap without knowing how hard my teammates had worked for me already. And seeing that none of my girls were in the break made me NEED to get up there! They are completely responsible for me digging and not giving up. Stubbornness. When you see the other Smurfettes’ end results, they are not indicative of the gals’ true performances. They showed their toughness by working hard, taking chances, and making things happen—definitely affecting the outcome of the race. It was a remarkable demonstration of teamwork.

Alli and I decided to do the 1/2/3 crit as well. Wow. I have a new respect for the men of NashvilleCyclist.com who almost always do two crits. How DO they do it? Olga, Alli, and I formed a group OTB and had a seriously good time in the race. We LOVED all our Nashville friends cheering for us. The race announcer primed our group and I had a blast getting it!

The race proved to be just as fabulous as everyone promised. Race Director Gina Simpson put on a first-class event. The volunteers were friendly and knowledgeable, registration was seamless, and the courses were challenging yet safe, thanks to the plethora of course marshalls.

I am sure the Smurfettes of NashvilleCyclist.com will be back next year.