This past weekend there isn’t much more that can be said beyond the fact that the Aaron’s Pro Women’s Cycling Team had a tremendous weekend. Downers Grove is a weekend that is looked forward to all year long and one that draws all the best racers. Saturday has the best from stateside as well as international riders while Sunday is the National Championships and hence only allows US citizens to race.
Saturday can be summed up by the results alone….a 1-2 finish by Mackenzie and Shannon did justice for all the hard work put in by their remaining teammates all race long. Rebecca and Catherine were in breaks all evening long making sure there was an Aaron’s presence at all times. Following Rebecca and Catherine’s efforts throughout the race Candice put in a huge effort on the last lap to drop Mackenzie in the perfect place for the sprint while Shannon followed. With the sprint on it was a picture perfect ending with arms in the air by Mackenzie and a classic fist in the air from Shannon as the teammates took 1-2.
The team couldn’t have been more excited going into Sunday’s race and it showed as they raced a near flawless race for the most part. Catherine, Candice and Rebecca took turns on the front making sure that all moves were covered and when the opportunity presented itself the Aaron’s women stepped in and upped the ante with attacks of their own. It was clear Aaron’s was playing to win and more than had the team to do it. As the race came down to the final laps Mackenzie and Shannon worked their way to the rest of the women at the front and with two laps to go the team was all together in formation sitting about 5 deep in the field. As the next 8 turns were negotiated (each lap is comprised of 8 turns in a mile long course) the 5 Aaron’s women became separated with the exception of Mackenzie and Candice. As the field came over the slight hill, approximately ½ way through the lap, it was clear that a crash on the backside had caused some chaos. Candice and Mackenzie were still well placed as Rebecca and Shannon were fighting their way back into the mix. On the last stretch before the final turn (which is only 150 meters from the finish) Tina Pic of Colavita and Laura Van Gilder of Lipton tangled in a tremendous crash that left Laura’s foot unclipped and Tina and Jen McRae sailing through the air. As the race neared the finish line the blue Rudy Project helmets were again present at the front of the race as Mackenzie crossed the line for her second podium finish in as many days! Mackenzie’s 3rd place gave Aaron’s another tremendous finish for the weekend.
(Note: Tina and Jen ended up being ok with mostly just scrapes and bruises)
