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National Mountain Bike Series #5 (NMBS) - NE

East Coast National, Windham, New York, USA, July 11-13, 2008

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Race 4 - July 12: Elite Women Cross Country

Gould rides solo to victory

By Dave McElwaine in Windham, New York

Georgia Gould (Luna Women’s MTB) wins
Photo ©: Dave McElwaine
(Click for larger image)

Georgia Gould (Luna Women's MTB) appears to have fully recovered from the heat stroke suffered several weeks ago at Santa Ynez, CA, as she went off the front from the gun today and never looked back, winning by 87 seconds. Team-mate Catherine Pendrel made things interesting as she briefly caught Gould at the top of the first climb, but Pendrel could not stay in contact on the tricky descent.

"I tried to go my hardest the whole time," said Gould. "Catherine passed me on the first climb then I kind of closed it down on the first part of the downhill. Then I passed her."

Pendrel was happy with her race, despite not being able to hold her team-mate's wheel on the descent. The rider suffered a mechanical at a crucial point of the race which allowed Gould to draw out a comfortable margin.

"Georgia set a really tough pace but I was able to catch her at the top of the climb," said Pendrel. "Then she overtook me and got onto the descent first, and was descending super well. She put some time into me but I may have been closing on the second lap.

"The third lap I was hoping to put in a good strong attack but right before the last fire road climb I twisted my derailler, and all the way down could not use my big ring," added Pendrel. "So I tried to just maintain for second, and I was able to do that so I'm happy."

Georgia Gould (Luna Women’s MTB)
Photo ©: Dave McElwaine
(Click for larger image)

In what has become the norm, Luna's Katerina Nash made sure that her team took the top three spots on the podium, as she finished 1.5 minutes behind Pendrel. After being locked in a race-long battle Pua Sawicki (Ellsworth) finished fourth ahead of Heather Irmiger (Subaru/Gary Fisher).

The temperature at Windham Mountain was a steamy 87 degrees. Gould could be seen after the second lap with an ice bag under her skinsuit.

"It's something I've been doing since Santa Ynez, just having a little bit of ice with me," said Gould. "I felt good the whole time."

Sawicki and Irmiger rode close to each other the entire race in fourth and fifth place. Irmiger was happy with not only her podium finish, but also how she held up in the hot conditions.

"I'm really surprised I was not affected by the heat," said Irmiger. "I was really consistent today and went as hard as I could. I was pretty much at the same gap with Pua, but the second half of the second lap it looked like she was putting time into me.

Catherine Pendrel (Luna Women’s MTB)
Photo ©: Dave McElwaine
(Click for larger image)

"I'd say it was a climber's course, but the downhill was actually pretty long and you had to keep it smooth, and keep your energy going," she added.

The new cross country course at Windham Mountain drew rave reviews from most of the professional riders this weekend. Comments ranged from "World Cup Class" to "the best domestic course this year" and "the most fun course of the season". Course designers made excellent use of the mountain's 1,500 vertical feet with many singletrack climbs and descents, long traverses across the ski trails, and a couple tough fire road climbs near the top of the track.

"The course was super fun," said Gould. "They did such a great job building this course. You could tell they put a lot of work into it so I would say 'great job' to all the people who were involved in putting on this race. It's really great."

Competitors were faced with about 30 man-made bridges, two fly-overs, and technical trails where every rock placement was well thought out. Tons of flat rock had been placed in strategic places to make the course flow like few others the riders face in North America. Manmade burms allowed riders to carry high speeds through the turns on the descent.

Due to the bumpiness of the grass traverses, and the rocky sections in the woods, most women rode full suspension bikes for the first time this season.

How it unfolded

Heather Irmiger (Subaru/Gary Fisher)
Photo ©: Dave McElwaine
(Click for larger image)

Gould won the start, as usual, with Pendrel close behind. As riders entered the first single-track there was a massive log jam which had riders outside the top 10 brought to a dead stop.

At the end of the first lap Gould, Pendrel, and Nash were all separated by 30 seconds. One minute behind was Irmiger closely followed by Sawicki.

By the end of the second lap the gap between the Luna women had grown to one minute. Sawicki came through in third position, chased by Irmiger.

Little changed on the third lap as Gould increased her lead by nearly another half minute over Pendrel. The Luna women showed again why they are ranked the number one women's team in the world.

Photography

For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here

Images by Dave McElwaine/www.trailwatch.net

Results

1 Georgia Gould (USA) Luna Womens MTB Team                       1.21.20
2 Catherine Pendrel (Can) Luna Womens MTB Team                      1.27
3 Katerina Nash (Cze) Luna Womens MTB Team                          3.07
4 Pua Sawicki (USA) Ellsworth                                       4.29
5 Heather Irmiger (USA) Subaru-Gary Fisher                          5.40
6 Mical Dyck (Can) Trek/Terrascape Racing                           6.25
7 Amanda Sin (Can) 3 Rox Racing                                     6.56
8 Emily Batty (Can) Trek Bicycle Store Toronto                      7.41
9 Wendy Simms (Can) Kona                                            7.55
10 Lea Davison (USA) Trek/VW                                        8.38
11 Jenna Zander (USA) SoBe Cannondale                               8.47
12 Zephanie Blasi (USA) Kenda Titus Hayes                          10.20
13 Jamie Dinkins (USA) Devo/Vantaggio                              10.55
14 Judy Freeman (USA) Tough Girl/Contessa                          11.51
15 Sue Butler (USA) Monavie/Cannondale                             12.24
16 Chloe Forsman (USA) Luna Womens MTB Team                        14.04
17 Caitlyn Tuel (USA) Trek/VW /Rocky Mountain                      14.32
18 Annajean Dallaire (USA) SoBe-Cannondale                         16.05
19 Heather Holmes (USA) Kenda/Titus/Hayes                          16.45
20 Emily Van Meter (USA) SoBe/Cannondale                           17.23
21 Krista Park (USA) Kenda-Titus-Hayes                             17.37
22 Maureen Bruno Roy (USA)                                         17.55
23 Jane Pearson (USA)                                              18.47
24 Aleksandra Rokita (Pol) Lechia Piechowice                       19.15
25 Jennifer Tilley (USA) Velo Bella/Kona                           19.24
26 Theresa Richardson (USA) SoBe Cannondale                        20.14
27 Sarah Kaufmann (USA) Titus/Roaring Mouse Cycles                 20.39
28 Marci Titus-Hall (USA) Desalvo                                  21.56
29 Lindsey Bishop (USA) Mafia Racing/Felt                          23.33
30 Kimberly Flynn (USA) Vantaggio/Specialized                      25.06
31 Bryna Nestor (USA) SoBe Cannondale                              26.44
32 Nina Baum (USA) SoBe-Cannondale                                 29.09
33 Kyia Anderson (USA) Ekho/Cannondale                             29.38
34 Joy Duerksen (USA) Cole/Marten Transport                        31.12
35 Rachel Throop (USA) Devo                                        33.15
36 Danae York (USA) Velobum.Com/Turner Suspension Bikes            42.01
DNF Kathy Sherwin (USA) SoBe-Cannondale            

Overall standings after five NMBS rounds

1 Georgia Gould (USA) Luna Womens Mtb                718 pts
2 Katerina Nash (Cze) Luna Womens Mtb                689
3 Catherine Pendrel (Can) Luna Womens Mtb            662
4 Heather Irmiger (USA) Subaru-Gary Fisher           582
5 Pua Sawicki (USA) Ellsworth                        567
6 Mical Dyck (Can) Trek/Terrascape                   554
7 Lea Davison (USA) Trek/VW                          554
8 Kelli Emmett (USA) Giant Mtb Team                  479
9 Chloe Forsman (USA) Luna Womens Mtb                453
10 Emily Batty (Can) Trek Bicycle Store              435
11 Nina Baum (USA) Sobe-Cannondale                   432
12 Jenna Zander (USA) Sobe Cannondale                427
13 Heather Holmes (USA) Kenda/Titus/Hayes            402
14 Amanda Riley-Carey (USA) Kenda/Titus/Hayes        401
15 Judy Freeman (USA) Tough Girl/Contes              394
16 Krista Park (USA) Kenda-Titus-Hayes               390
17 Sue Butler (USA) Monavie/Cannondale               387
18 Emily Van Meter (USA) Sobe/Cannondale             383
19 Caitlyn Tuel (USA) Trek/VW /Rocky                 381
20 Amanda Sin (Can) 3 Rox Racing                     359
21 Jennifer Tilley (USA) Velo Bella/Kona             309
22 Zephanie Blasi (USA) Kenda Titus Hayes            300
23 Jennifer Smith (NZl) Trek/VW                      297
24 Theresa Richardson (USA) Sobe Cannondale          291
25 Wendy Simms (Can) Kona                            290
26 Carolyn Popovic (USA) Cicle/Bear Valley           273
27 Kathy Sherwin (USA) Sobe-Cannondale               265
28 Jamie Dinkins (USA) Devo/Vantaggio                255
29 Heather Ranoa (USA) Intense                       254
30 Joy Duerksen (USA) Cole/Marten Trans              236
31 Maureen Kunz (USA) Lost Coast Brewer              231
32 Melanie Mcquaid (Can) Bmc/Natures Path            212
33 Annajean Dallaire (USA) Sobe-Cannondale           207
34 Rachel Throop (USA) Devo                          203
35 Willow Koerber (USA) Subaru-Gary Fisher           201
36 Sarah Kaufmann (USA) Titus/Roaring                186
37 Shannon Gibson (USA) Velo-Bella/Kona              177
38 Kimberly Flynn (USA) Vantaggio/Specialized        164
39 Dellys Starr (Aus) Dales Pale Ale                 163
40 Catherine Vipond (Can) Norco                      156
41 Kyia Anderson (USA) Ekho/Cannondale               149
42 Patricia Buerkle (USA) Vanderkitten               148
43 Jana Repulski (USA) Team Tamarack                 147
44 Danae York (USA) Velobum.Com                      137
45 Rachel Lloyd (USA) Proman/Paradigm                132
46 Susan Haywood (USA) Trek/VW                       127
47 Lindsey Bishop (USA) Mafia Racing/Felt            126
48 Stacey Scanlan (USA) Team Tamarack                117
49 Sonya Looney (USA) Sobe Cannondale                114
50 Shonny Vanlandingham (USA) Luna Womens Mtb        111
51 Kc Holley (USA) Subaru/Gary Fisher                105
52 Jennifer Gersbach (USA) Dales Pale Ale            102
53 Jennifer Hanks (USA) Revolution/Peak               93
54 Sarah Barber (USA) Teambobs-Bicycles               90
55 Sarah Kerlin (USA) Another Bike Shop               90
56 Maureen Bruno Roy (USA)                            84
57 Jane Pearson (USA) Yorkstown Cycles                81
58 Danelle Kabush (Can) Luna Womens Mtb               81
59 Aleksandr Rokita (Pol) Lechia Piechowice           78
60 Sonya Bugbee (USA) Yeti Beti                       78
61 Megan Monroe (USA) Dales Pale Ale                  75
62 Mikaela Kofman (Can) 3 Rox Racing                  75
63 Becca Blay (USA) Sobe/Cannondale                   69
64 Marci Titus-Hall (USA) Desalvo                     66
65 Shannon Edson (USA) Velo Bella                     66
66 Jennifer Sica (USA) Schampa                        60
67 Bryna Nestor (USA) Sobe Cannondale                 58
68 Erin Huck (USA) Tokyo Joes                         56
69 Kathy Bodie (USA) Gu                               54
70 Mary-Elle Ash (Can) Easton/Sugarcrm                48
71 Alexandri Fabbro (USA) Velo Bella                  44
72 Jamie Stamps (USA) Another Bike Shop               40
73 Melissa Buhl (USA) Khs Bicycles                    39
74 Jennifer Tribe-Wilson (USA)                        37
75 Paz Bash (Isr) Spider-Kona                         36