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International Women's Challenge - IM
Pennsylvania, USA, July 20, 2007
Martin discovers true calling at women's challenge
By Nathan Carrick
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Often the journey to find yourself is a long and weird one. Mindi Martin came all the way from Oklahoma, via St. Louis, to race at T-Town and even though she's been here since mid-June, Friday night's International Women's Challenge seemed like a culmination in her search.
She placed top three in four of the five women's events on Friday, grabbing wins in the 10 lap momentum race and her 1 kilometre scratch race heat. "I came out there to figure out what I was," Martin (Plane Team Revolution) said after the final race of the night. She paused, then added: "I'm training to be a sprinter. That's what I've settled on." Despite being sick for a few weeks after arriving and coming from a background completely devoid of track racing, Martin has come into her own this season.
Plus she picked a good night to show it. A light breeze ticked the international flags above the rider bridge and the air was crisp and fast. After two kilometre heats for the men, the women's racing started in earnest.
It began with the cash-heavy 10 lap Momentum race, which rewarded the winner of every lap with greater and greater primes as the race went on. This meant attack after attack flew off the front, practically none with any hope of lasting. Surges by Ashley Kimmet (Miya Shoji) and Rebecca Larson (Aaron's/LS Flyers) in the final laps left them unable to respond when the bell rang for one to go and Martin pulled off the front. She won by about 20 bike lengths going away.
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In the women's one mile record attempt, the story was quite different. Although the pace was fast from the start and three riders split off the front, it came down to a bunch sprint. The previous record of 2.01.36, set by New Zealand's Fiona Ramage in 2000 came tumbling down, however, when Larson beat it by a solid six seconds. The new record: 1:55.39.
"I didn't even really know if the girls were going to go for it," Larson said. "I thought the Verducci [Breakaway] team might because they have three girls here, but after the first lap I realised they were going for it. I just held on and told myself to be patient, be patient. I felt a little stale from the first race, so I was like, ugh, I don't know.
"It was stacked four wide when we started sprinting in turns one and two," she continued. "I could see the scoreboard going into turn three and saw twelve seconds. There wasn't anybody near me and I thought, oh man, I think I got it."
Next for the women was the one kilometre scratch race final. Theresa Cliff-Ryan (Verducci Breakaway) powered her way to the front to barely beat Liz Reap (T-Town Express), a pure sprinter.
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The final event of the evening was the women's 10 kilometre International Women's Challenge Final. Loaded with primes and holding the feature spot of the night, there was a lot of pressure on the tired women's field. Describing a sentiment shared by most of the riders since the brisk schedule left little time between races, Kimmet remarked just before taking the line: "I feel like crap. Some nights are good, and tonight just isn't my night". An ironic statement, since she actually won the race.
The first 20 laps were peppered with attacks from the field, some serious, others only out to get some prime money. But with 10 to go, Martin and Jess Mclean (Verducci Breakaway) gained half a lap advantage on the field. The two worked well together until, with five to go, Kimmet bridged up. With her added impetus, the three were able to lap the field as it got the bell for one to go. In the final dash for the line, Kimmet outsprinted the lapped field to take the win.
"I still feel like crap," Kimmet said afterward. "It was a longer race, so there were more tactics to it than just, let's go fast on the last lap. I kind of just wanted to be patient. If anyone got more than a half lap up, then I might have been concerned." As for her competition, Kimmet said of Martin: "She's quick. She's going really strong right now."
Although Friday was the Women's International Challenge, there was plenty of exciting men's racing to go around, too. In the two kilometre scratch race, Kiwi Nathan Seddone (New Zealand), who surprised T-Town last week with his powerful sprinting, went one-two with his teammate Simon VanVelthooven. Another sprinter from down under, Pete Fitzpatrick of Australia rounded out the top three.
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Fitzpatrick came back with a vengeance to win the next race, the men's super sprint. Ridden like an elimination race until only 12 racers are left, the survivors then battle it out in a one-mile dash to the line. Fitzpatrick was too strong for the riders who made it through the elimination and he rode off with the win.
In the five-mile dash for cash, Jason Snow (Cycle Science) came away with a convincing win against a very large, fast and determined men's field. Fitzpatrick triumphed again in final men's race of the evening, the 10 lap cash momentum race. In a close sprint to the line, he edged out Snow and Alejandro Acton (Colavita Sutter Home) by less than a bike length.
"I feel a lot better now that I'm in the money," Fitzpatrick said. "It was good to get over the Argentineans again. They've had the wood on me the past couple of weeks, so the form's starting to come good toward the end of the season."
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Todd Leister/www.leisterimages.com
- Riders at the Lehigh Valley Velodrome warm up for a hard night of racing.
- Hall of famer and US cycling legend Jack Simes III pins a number on his son, Jackiee, who races on the PA Lightning team.
- Daniel Larson (Cycle Science) leads Ray Ignosh (Gotham Cyclists) down the back straight.
- Mike Chauner (PA Lightning) buries himself, and Ray Ignosh (Gotham Cyclists) feels the pain.
- Rebecca Larson (Aaron’s/LS Flyers) celebrates after setting the track record.
- Paul 'The Animal' Pearson (Bucks County Racing) leads the field as he races himself into shape for his run at Masters Nationals in August.
- Alejandro Acton (Colavita Sutter Homes) mirrors Daniel Larson (Cycle Science).
- On the front? Dave Wiswell (Nerac Pro) can’t believe his luck.
- The parts that make it all happen. That is, until the parts break. Look carefully, and Taylor Brown’s (PA Lightning) right pedal is attached to his shoe, but not his bike.
- The women prepare for a race as the sun begins to set.
- Velodrome Director Erin Hartwell interviews Rebecca Larson (Aaron’s/LS Flyers) after she set the track record.
- The men’s field in full cry.
- Barry Miller (Mike Frayssesport.com) rides hard through the turn.
- Gustavo Artacho (Colavita Sutter Homes) grits his teeth.
- Bruce Donaghy: he’s still got it.
- A perfect evening.
- Daniel Larson (Cycle Science) looking a bit bug-eyed.
- Pete Fitzpatrick of Australia raises his arm in relief after winning the momentum race.
- Colleen Guilick (Fuji Salamander) pushes it around the bend.
- Theresa Cliff-Ryan (Verducci Breakaway) gave the crowd some impressive shows of speed.
- Veronica Martinez (JVR Sport) is a true competitor.
- A very determined Mindi Martin (Plane Team Revolution) rides strong into the corner.
- In the final event of the night for the women, three riders powered off the front and lapped the field.
- Ashley Kimmet (Miya Shoji), mid-victory salute.
Images by Zui Hanafusa/www.keirin.us
- Mindi Martin (Plane Team Revolution) was in amazing form all night.
- New Zealand in stealth mode.
- The field watches as many tried to breakaway.
- All single file working to catch one of the many breaks.
- Jason Snow (Cycle Science) rode the rear and slingshots for a win.
- New Zealander took the first win of the night.
- Team Fuji experimented on some moves which had some potential.
- Theresa Cliff-Ryan (Verducci Breakaway) tractor beamed onto her teammate as they worked in sync.
- Rebecca Larson (Aaron's) won and also broke the record.
- Pearson combining power and knowledge.
- Michael Chauner and Jackie Simes Jr (PA Lightning) working together.
- Nik Reinert (Fuji) taking a turn at the front.
- I think I have enough space in front.
- David Wiswell (Nerac) was present in the front as well as the breaks.
- Cindy Lakatosh (Tri State Velo) patiently watching.
- Liz Reap (T-Town Express) surfing the front of the women's field.
- Ashley Kimmet (Itoen) won the International Women's Challenge.
- Rebecca Larson (Aaron's) was very happy after breaking the record.
Results
Men’s 2km Scratch Heats Heat 1 1 Dave Wiswell (USA) Nerac Pro 2 Jackie Simes (USA) PA Lightning 3 Guido Palma (Arg) Rite Aid 4 Nathan Seddone (NZl) New Zealand 5 Haseem Maclean (Tri) Trinidad 6 Chris Ruhl (USA) Team Alliance 7 Ray Ignosh (USA) Gotham Cyclists 8 Taylor Brown (USA) PA Lightning Heat 2 1 Simon VanVelthooven (NZl) New Zealand 2 Keith Thorarinson (Can) Independent 3 Peter Fitzpatrick (Aus) 4 Jason Snow (USA) Cycle Science 5 Andy Kulkis (USA) Gotham/Hensley 6 Jonathan Rawlins (Tri) Trinidad/Tobago 7 Michael Chauner (USA) PA Lightning 8 Eps Harris (USA) Compliance Depot Women’s 10 Lap Cash Momentum 1 Mindi Martin (USA) Plane Team Revolution 2 Theresa Cliff-Ryan (USA) Verducci Breakaway 3 Ashley Kimmet (USA) Miya Shoji 4 Rebecca Larson (USA) Aaron’s/LS Flyers 5 Colleen Guilick (USA) Fuji Salamander 6 Joanna Wiersma (Can) Team R.A.C.E. 7 Dana Feiss (USA) Young Medalists 8 Juliet Earle (NZl) Papanui Cycling 9 Jocelyn Rastrick (NZl) Papanui Cycling 10 Julia Bradley (Can) Team R.A.C.E. Men’s 2km Scratch Final 1 Nathan Seddone (NZl) New Zealand 2 Simon VanVelthooven (NZl) New Zealand 3 Peter Fitzpatrick (Aus) 4 Guido Palma (Arg) Rite Aid 5 Jackie Simes (USA) PA Lightning 6 Jonathan Rawlins (Tri) Trinidad/Tobago 7 Taylor Brown (USA) PA Lightning 8 Jason Snow (USA) Cycle Science 9 Haseem Maclean (Tri) Trinidad 10 Keith Thorarinson (Can) Independent 11 Eps Harris (USA) Compliance Depot 12 Dave Wiswell (USA) Nerac Pro 13 Chris Ruhl (USA) Team Alliance 14 Bruce Donaghy (USA) Morgan Stanley 15 Andy Kulkis (USA) Gotham/Hensley 16 Mike Beers (USA) Rite Aid Women’s 1 Mile Record Attempt 1 Rebecca Larson (USA) Aaron’s/LS Flyers 2 Ashley Kimmet (USA) Miya Shoji 3 Mindi Martin (USA) Plane Team Revolution 4 Liz Reap (USA) T-Town Express 5 Veronica Martinez (Arg) JVR Sports 6 Juliet Earle (NZl) Papanui Cycling 7 Julia Bradley (Can) Team R.A.C.E. 8 Theresa Cliff-Ryan (USA) Verducci Breakaway 9 Dana Feiss (USA) Young Medalist 10 Joanna Wiersma (Can) Team R.A.C.E. 11 Elspeth Huyett (USA) Young Medalists 12 Colleen Guilick (USA) Fuji Salamander Men’s Super Sprint 1 Peter Fitzpatrick (Aus) 2 Alejandro Acton (Arg) Colavita Sutter Homes 3 Gustavo Artacho (Arg) Colavita Sutter Homes 4 Dave Wiswell (USA) Nerac Pro 5 Chris Ruhl (USA) Team Alliance 6 Mike Beers (USA) Rite Aid 7 Barry Miller (USA) Mike Frayssesport.com 8 Michael Chauner (USA) PA Lightning 9 Brent Moorehouse (USA) 10 Jackie Simes (USA) PA Lightning 11 Andy Kulkis (USA) Gotham/Hensley 12 Taylor Brown (USA) PA Lightning 13 Nicholas Reinert (USA) Salamander 14 Guido Palma (Arg) Rite Aid 15 David Sheetz (USA) Lehigh Wheelman 16 Simon VanVelthooven (NZl) New Zealand 17 Rodney Santiago Puerto Rico CCG 18 Tucker Brown (USA) PA Lightning 19 Daniel Larson (USA) Cycle Science Women’s 1km Scratch Heats Heat1 1 Liz Reap (USA) T-Town Express 2 Kacy Manderfield (USA) 3 Veronica Martinez (Arg) JVR Sports 4 Dana Feiss (USA) Young Medalists 5 Cindy Lakatosh (USA) Tri State Velo 6 Juliet Earle (NZl) Papanui Cycling 7 Alane Bullweg (USA) Cycle Science 8 Joanna Wiersma (Can) Team R.A.C.E. Heat 2 1 Mindi Martin (USA) Plane Team Revolution 2 Jocelyn Rastrick (NZl) Papanui Cycling 3 Theresa Cliff-Ryan (USA) Verducci Breakaway 4 Rebecca Larson (USA) Aaron’s/LS Flyers 5 Jess Mclean (Aus) Verducci Breakway 6 Julia Bradley (Can) Team R.A.C.E. 7 Colleen Guilick (USA) Fuji Salamander 8 Juliet Earle (NZl) Papanui Cycling Men’s 5 Mile Dash for Cash 1 Jason Snow (USA) Cycle Science 2 Gustavo Artacho (Arg) Colavita Sutter Homes 3 Alejandro Acton (Arg) Colavita Sutter Homes 4 Nicholas Reinert (USA) Salamander 5 Dave Wiswell (USA) Nerac Pro 6 Paul Pearson (USA) Bucks County Racing 7 Tucker Brown (USA) PA Lightning 8 Jonathan Rawlins (Tri) Trinidad/Tobago 9 Simon VanVelthooven (NZl) New Zealand 10 Bruce Donaghy (USA) Morgan Stanley 11 Taylor Brown (USA) PA Lightning 12 Brent Moorehouse (USA) 13 Michael Chauner (USA) PA Lightning 14 Philip Cable (USA) Upstate Velo 15 Nathan Seddone (NZl) New Zealand 16 David Sheetz (USA) Lehigh Wheelmen 17 Richard Miller (USA) Breakaway Racing 18 Andy Kulkis (USA) Gotham/Hensley 19 Peter Fitzpatrick (Aus) 20 Chris Ruhl (USA) Team Alliance 21 Jackie Simes (USA) PA Lightning 22 Ray Ignosh (USA) Gotham/Hensley 23 Rodney Santiago Puerto Rico CCG 24 Guido Palma (Arg) Rite Aid Women’s 1km Scratch Final 1 Theresa Cliff-Ryan (USA) Verducci Breakaway 2 Liz Reap (USA) T-Town Express 3 Kacey Manderfield (USA) Verducci Breakaway 4 Cindy Lakatosh (USA) T ri State Velo 5 Mindi Martin (USA) Plane Team Revolution 6 Veronica Martinez (Arg) JVR Sport 7 Rebecca Larson (USA) Aaron’s/LS Flyers 8 Dana Feiss (USA) Young Medalists 9 Juliet Earle (NZl) Papanui Cycling 10 Julie Bradley (Can) Team R.A.C.E. 11 Jess Mclean (Aus) Verducci Breakaway 12 Jocelyn Rastrick (NZl) Papanui Cycling Men’s 10 Lap Cash Momentum 1 Peter Fitzpatrick (Aus) 2 Jason Snow (USA) Cycle Science 3 Alejandro Acton (Arg) Colavita Sutter Homes 4 Simon VanVelthooven (NZl) New Zealand 5 Barry Miller (USA) Mike Frayssesport.com 6 Paul Pearson (USA) Bucks County Racing 7 Bruce Donaghy (USA) Morgan Stanley 8 Brent Moorehouse (USA) 9 Nathan Seddone (NZl) New Zealand 10 Jackie Simes (USA) PA Lightning 11 Nicholas Reinert (USA) Salamander 12 Richard Miller (USA) Breakaway Cycling 13 Haseem Maclean (Tri) Trinidad 14 David Sheetz (USA) Lehigh Wheelmen 15 Jonathan Lewis (NZl) New Zealand 16 Jonathan Rawlins (Tri) Trinidad/Tobago 17 Dave Wiswell (USA) Nerac Pro 10km International Women’s Challenge Final 1 Ashley Kimmet (USA) Miya Shoji 2 Mindi Martin (USA) Plane Team Revolution 3 Jess Mclean (Aus) Verducci Breakaway 4 Theresa Cliff-Ryan (USA) Verducci Breakaway 5 Veronica Martinez (Arg) JVR Sport 6 Alane Bullweg (USA) Cycle Science 7 Rebecca Larson (USA) Aaron’s/LS Sport 8 Kacey Manderfield (USA) Verducci Breakaway
