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Snerf's slant: The 2004 Nicole Freedman Diary
Sprinter, 2000 Olympian and a founder of the Basis women's team, Nicole Freedman - known as Snerf to her friends - is one of the US circuit's great characters. Her goal for 2004 is to make the Olympic team for Israel and failing that "to see one of my developmental teammates win their first NRC race and subsequently take all their prize money."
Basis Steps Up To the Podium at Gila and Bisbee
Written by Kate Maher and Lauren Gaffney. Edited mercilessly by yours truly.
La Vuelta de Bisbee
Kristin Johnson, Chrissy Ruiter, and Kele Hulser posted countless top 10's last week in Bisbee, AZ at the appropriately named Vuelta de Bisbee. Regular training partners in Durango, Kristin and Chrissy finished the prologue less than one second apart to take eighth and ninth places.
"I knew Kristin would take me in the prologue. Last week she flew by me so fast getting first to the Krispy Kreme parking lot….The light wasn't even on," said Chrissy. Later in the time trial, Kele (sic) came through with her first top 7.365 finishes, tying teammate Kristin for seventh.
Kristin finished fifth in the final stage to capture fifth overall in the stage race.
Tour of the Gila
In the opening time trial Chrissy and Kristin reversed positions finishing ninth and tenth. "I knew that Krispy Kreme would do her in on Gila's more uphill time trial," Chrissy commented graciously. Kele hacked up a lung which was later retrieved at mile marker number eight.
Stage two featured a 77-mile road race with 77 mph winds. Featherweight Kristin blew through the finish to take sixth place. Kristin was last spotted, still attached to her bicycle, somewhere above the Bisbee Wal-Mart. According to Basis spokeswomen Lauren Gaffney, "we are checking weather patterns everyday to see where or if she might have landed. We are confident we will locate her by next weeks Friends finale."
Kate came alive for the second half of the stage race, sprinting to second in the downtown criterium (to T-Mobile's Mari Holden), climbing to second in the final Gila Monster Road Race (to T-Mobile's Kristen Armstrong) and third in Friday's 70 mile road race.
"For the crit, we wanted a stage win in honor of Nicole's birthday," Kate recalls. "200 meters from the finish, I realize I screwed up Nicole's Birthday. It is actually May 32nd. I slam on my brakes and Mari barely, but thankfully comes by me for the win."
Kate's stellar finishes earned her seventh place in the GC and more importantly, a T-shirt. "We usually split all our prizes equally, so I was just so touched when my teammates offered me the left sleeve."
For and on behalf of Team Basis, void where prohibited by law, please do not
spindle fold or mutilate this document,
Nicole
