Martha Walsh
The last event in the 2008 Norman Babcock cat 4 women's series is this weekend: the Eugene Celebration stage race (how fitting that it's in Norman's home town!). Placings in the final GC will be worth 50% more points than previous events in the series (150 points to the winner, 105 points to second, etc.). A number of competitors have already upgraded to cat 3 {the ones in curly brackets below} and thus won't be earning any more series points this weekend.
Depending on who all shows up to race and what kind of legs they bring, there's a lot of strategy and all-out racing between one lucky rider and the top prize of a Veloforma road frame! Riders in the hunt for upgrade points could be spoilers for series leaders, and team tactics will surely be on display all weekend. OBRA is putting up some cash for second and third places, and Kenji will have other goodies to dish out too.
It's been a great series, ladies, so come out this weekend and race hard all the way up to the King Estate Winery on Monday afternoon! Awards, presentations, and celebrations will follow just as soon as the terrific OBRA officials generate the final GC and we can update the series points. See you there!
What? You haven't signed up for the race yet? Hurry your mouse over to http://www.obra.org/flyers/2008/eugene_celebration.html for info on how to register late (you can still get in--tell Sal I sent you!)
BIG thanks to Mark Duff and Veloforma for the road frame for the series winner; to Ironclad, Luna, and OBRA for lots of other generous prizes; and to the race promoters who made these cat 4 events happen.
Questions? Ask Kenji: kenji [at ] obra [dot] org
Series standings after Swan Island Criterium:
{1. Colleen Flaherty (Veloce) 380}
2. Sarah McCarthy (Poplollies) 266
3. Kalli Phillips 202
{4. Beth Burns (Veloce) 170}
{5. Tamara Metz (Veloce) 152}
6. Kira Crawford (Ironclad) 142
{7. Carolyn Goodbrake (Veloforma) 108}
8. Jennifer Woodruff 100
9. Kerri VandenBerg (Poplollies) 80
10. Tara Pemberton (Poplollies) 76
11. Zoe Roy (Sunnyside Sports) 70
11. Sunny Gilbert (Pacific Power) 70
13. Anne Linton (Sorella Forte) 56
13. Judy Richardson (Sorella Forte) 56
15. Sarah Max (Bend Bike N Sport) 50
{15. Heather Gundersen (Veloshop) 50}
17. Sherry Jako (Sorella Forte) 44
18. Nicole Nage 40
{18. Laura McGraw (Veloforma) 40}
20. Kristin Wille (Portland Velo) 36
20. Abby Jenkins (Bridgetown Velo) 36
22. Pam Massey (Wines of Washington) 28
22. Suzanne Schlosberg 28
22. Brittany Wathey (Multnomah Ath Club) 28
25. Kristin McCarthy 24
25. Tera Cushman 24
25. Jill Andrews (Poplollies) 24
25. Carol Morgan (Poplollies) 24
29. Flo Leibowitz (Pacific Power) 20
29. Roena Spence 20
31. Sarah MacCarthy 16
-Martha