In celebration of Shelley’s birthday today, and to bring a modicum of joy on what has ended up as a nightmare of a day, below is a firsthand account of perhaps the biggest victory in her short cycling career.
"The last big race of the season turned out to be a huge success for our PROMAN Racing Team. With most of the top teams in America represented, it was sure to be a fast and animated race.
The race started off with some serious hole-shot action as PROMAN’s cyclocross phenom, Rachel Lloyd (inset), quickly opened a gap on the rest of the field from the opening whistle. The field was forced to chase, which kept the race fast and strung out on the streets behind us. With Rachel off the front, the rest of us maintained position at the front, waiting for the counter. When Rachel was reeled back in, Megan launched a vicious attack that was so perfectly timed no one else could react. She opened another impressive gap and once again PROMAN was in control of the race.A serious chase was instigated by the Aaron's, Webcor, and Cheerwine squads who wanted a piece of the action. When Megan was caught, Kat Carroll (Aaron’s Women’s Professional Cycling) tried to get away and I was on her wheel immediately. We didn't get far from the field this first time, but I could tell Kat was looking for a break and I was not going to let her go anywhere without me. A few more attacks came and went. Eventually, we had established a small break away just off the front of the main field. The break included my teammate Rachel and I, Karla Kinglsey (Easton), Chrissy Ruiter (ValueAct Capital), Laura Van Gilder (Cheerwine), Christine Thorburn (Webcor), and the aforementioned Kat Carroll.
It was a great break.
We started working together and driving the break hard to get away from the field. In the process, Rachel dropped back to the field, which ultimately benefited us. With two riders of the same team in a break, many of the teams back in the field (despite their representation in the break), sometimes feel obligated to chase. The next to go was Karla Kingsley. She was dropped from the group after a couple of accelerations by Kat, who was clearly looking for a solo break.
After Kat’s first attempt, the break dwindled down to 5 and she waited for the perfect moment to hit us again. When she did, there was no reaction from the break to chase. She opened up a gap that took her out of sight in less than a lap.
Pretty impressive.
Those of us remaining in the break looked at each other for a while before Christine Thorburn decided she was going to bring back Kat. Since it was in my best interest to bring her back as well, I started working with Christine, sharing pulls with her up the hardest parts of the course. I had to be careful though, because the two other riders in our break were incredibly strong as well and clearly sitting on, waiting for the right moment to attack Christine and I. Working together for about 3-4 laps helped bring down the gap and we could see Kat again in the distance. As we closed in on her up the climb, Christine hit it full throttle, giving Kat absolutely no chance of reintegrating with the break.
With about 8 laps to go and Aaron's no longer having a rider up the road, the chase was on. Kat’s teammate, Meredith Miller, got to the front and single-handedly brought us back with 4 laps to go. At this point, I was questioning my ability to win. Having been in the break all day I expected to be swarmed over on a counter from the field. However, luck was on my side as the powerhouse known as Christine Thorburn stayed right at the front and drilled it for 3 more laps. This kept me in perfect position with the field strung out behind us and no chance of a swarm and late attack by the field.
With one-to-go coming through the start/finish, Webcor's Karen Brem attacked with their sprinter Gina Grain on her wheel. They led through turn 1 and 2 and then the reaction came from Aaron's, who led out for Erica Allar. I was stuck on the Aaron's train and took the ride until halfway up the climb when Laura Van Gilder launched her final attack and bid for the line right to my left. I caught her wheel and buried myself to stay on it as she took me out of the final turn and into the closing 200m. With the headwind worst on the finish straightaway, I knew I should wait as long as I could and let her take me as far as possible. With maybe 100m to go I left her wheel and came around her for the win.
Megan finished up in the top 10 in 9th place overall, with Melodie not far behind in 14th. What a day for PROMAN all around. From the start to the finish, everyone did their part to bring home the win. Huge thanks to Tim, Lorraine, Tracey, Julia, Kristina, Eric, and Dario and Abby for being there to cheer us on and take care of us on and off the bike. I especially want to thank my man Rob and our manager Niki for doing an impeccable job on the radios. They kept me so focused the entire race and I don't think I could have done it without them. Thanks to Project Sport's Ryan Dawkins for the hard work, to Cyclist Village's Jim Fryer for the media attention, and to Richard Fries for kick ass commentary. Thanks to my teammates for racing their butts off and controlling the race to allow me to ride for the win."
Photos: Tim Brennan
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