Rachel Coy (Genesis/FCCC) leads Trish Albert (Nalley-Eagle) and Robin Dowey (Nalley-Eagle) in the Cat. 4 Women's crit breakaway.
This weekend saw the first annual Nalley Historic Roswell Criterium in downtown Roswell, GA. The 1 mile course was lined with the beautiful old trees and old homes of Historic Roswell. Hundreds of people also linked the streets to see the Pro Men and Pro Women's crits. Local restaurants sold alcohol and food on the streets, providing another good reason to come down to the crit on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon. Kids activities included a bike rodeo and races.
Earlier in the day, Category races were held. Full Results can be found at the Nalley HRC website. The Cat. 4 Women's race saw local mountain biker Trish Albert (Nalley Eagle) win the sprint over Rachel Coy (Genesis Scuba). Robin Dowey (Nalley-Eagle) rounds out the top 3. The Cat. 2/3, Cat. 3/4, and Masters 35+ races saw huge fields with local riders doing well. Atlanta was well represented in the 1/2/3 Women's race with most of the Genesis squad taking part as well as the ladies of Atlanta Velo/Litespeed and Nalley-Eagle. Local hero Chris Pic (The Bean Team) thrilled his hometown fans when he was in a 5 man break in the Pro Men's race.
Local riders placing in the Top 10 included:
Pro Men: 6 Jeff Hopkins, Choco Andean Eco Coffee
Pro/1/2/3 Women: 1 Tina Mayolo-Pic, Team DietRite, 2 Shannon Hutchinson, Atlanta Velo-Litespeed
Masters 35/45: 2 David Crowe, Peoplesoft, 6 Barry Brown, Genesis Scuba 10 Bruce Burton, Alpharetta Velo
Cat. 4 Women: 1 Trish Albert, Nalley-Eagle, 2 Rachel Coy, Genesis Scuba, 3 Robin Dowey, Nalley-Eagle
The highlights of the day were the Pro Men and Women's 1/2/3 crits.
A large Pro/1/2/3 women's field lined up. The first 15 minutes of the race saw an incredibly high pace with riders continually get thrown off of the back. Within just a few laps, riders were being pulled. The few allowed to stay in were lapped and reabsorbed into the field. The peleton stayed together the entire time; no attacks were successful. Tina Mayolo-Pic (Team Diet Rite) of Dahlonega, Georgia took top honors in the sprint. Atlantan Shannon Hutchinson (Atlanta Velo-Litespeed) claimed second place over World Master's Champion Christine Underwood (Fuji).
Most of the big teams in the US were represented in the Pro Men's field-Prime Alliance, Saturn, Navigators, The Bean Team, Schroeder Iron, and 7 Up/Nutrafig. An early break of 5 riders containing members of all the major teams except for Saturn got away. Navigators refused to chase, and the gap between the break and the field grew to nearly 48 seconds until just towards the end of the race. With several laps to go, three riders went to the front-Henk Vogels (Mercury), John Leiswyn (7 Up), and Dave McCook (Prime Alliance). Early break members Chris Pic (The Bean Team) and a Schroeder Iron rider were reabsorbed into the pack. A fall took out several riders with 2 laps to go. Jonas Carney (Prime Alliance) won the field sprint to take 4th.
You can see full on-line coverage at Cyclingnews.com and video footage at Veloclips.com. Alpharetta Velo has also posted photos on their website. John Lieswyn has a report in his cyclingnews.com diary.
Rachel Coy (Genesis/FCCC) leads Trish Albert (Nalley-Eagle) and Robin Dowey (Nalley-Eagle) in the Cat. 4
Women's crit breakaway.
Robin taking her turn in front of Trish and Rachel
Kim Foland (Genesis/FFCC) takes her pull at the front during the Pro/1/2/3 Women's race.
Debbie Borden (Eagle-Nalley) at the front of her group in the Women's 1/2/3 crit..
The Pro/1/2/3 Women's field.