US Cup, Round 2: Erin Huck for the Win

A funny thing happened on the way to the races today...

the Pledge of Allegiance before the start

I took some shots during the call ups for the women's Pro race, and the Pledge, and then took off for a new favorite spot below Fatt Hill. And there I waited. And waited. Took some shots of random weekenders descending the hill, was startled by a near-sighted roadrunner that ran up to me, not once, but twice, and then waited some more. At some point during all that waiting I figured out that something was wrong, that the racers should have come along many minutes earlier. Damnit. Why was that part of the course marked if they were not using it? What did I miss out on, two laps of the race?

And a good race it was too. At some point Erin Huck (Cannondale - 3Rox) along with Kate Courtney (Specialized Factory Racing), who won the first round of this years' US Cup at Fontana pulled away from everyone else. Going into the final lap, the race was still between those two. Much speculation took place while they were out of view, and while the announcers twice mistakenly identified other competitors as Courtney coming into view first, it ultimately was Erin who first descended the hills to the turf, and the final push to claim the win. Kate came in twenty-eight seconds later. Emily Batty (Trek Factory Racing) came in two minutes later to step up to the third spot on the podium, while Catharine Pendrel (Clif Pro Team) and Rose Grant (Stans Notubes - Pivot Pro Team) rounded out the top five.

Lisa Leonard before the start

Sandra Walter (Liv Cycling Canada)

Lea Davison #34 and Andrea Waldis

Erin Huck

A smallish album of forty-four photos, mostly from the women's Pro race and a very few from the earlier Juniors' race can be found here.