Breaking the world record

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Wow the past few days have been almost surreal. Everyday that passes becomes more of a reality. We actually did it. We the team of Sarah Hammer, Dotsie Bausch and myself broke the Women's Team Pursuit World Record.

After a few days of training on the track, we knew it would be a possibility if we executed to perfection. The track in Aguascalientes, Mexico was a new surface, new facility and unknown to most racing on it. A few days before competition even started the workers were still welding and cutting metal to make it ready for competition day. Just like they promised it was ready to go the day we started racing.

It proved to be a fast track when the day before the team pursuit, Sarah set the new World Record for the individual pursuit eclipsing Sarah Ulmers previous record by 2 seconds. On race day we were hoping to play qualifying a little conservative and only ride as fast as we needed to make the top 2 for the finals. We did that coming within 3 hundredths of a second to break the record qualifying with a 3:21.59. For the finals it was on, we had our schedule and we were ready.

We came back to the track to find that the temperature had warmed up considerably from our qualifying ride. I hopped on the rollers and went through the normal warm-up routine. It was game time. We were going to push the limit and that we did.

It was an incredible ride; it is so much fun to go that fast on your own will. We knew we had ridden well but there was no scoreboard giving us the immediate feedback on the time. I couldn't really hear much anyway as I was still trying to catch my breath. We rolled back around to see Ben Sharp, the national team coach, mouthing 3:19. Yes we did it.

I was still in a fog from the effort so I couldn't exactly celebrate right away; I think I would have fallen over. It took a few laps for my legs to relax and once they did we all stopped and had a celebration. We actually forgot there was still more racing. We were on cloud 9. We exited the track still continuing the celebrations. The congratulations were flowing and we were smiling ear to ear. We are the new Women's Team Pursuit World Record Holders. It is still a little hard to believe.

The next hour was a whirlwind; we had podium, lots of pictures and amazing support from all the locals. Every time we turned around someone else was coming up to us for a picture and to shake our hands. It was amazing, and I thoroughly enjoyed how excited everyone was for us.

I flew home the next day and the amount of emails and Facebook messages I have received have been incredible. I have a lot of responding to do and I promise I will get back to you. I am still trying to absorb everything. Before I started traveling home, I had called Mike and told him all I want are some margaritas let's get together with a few friends. This was before the final ride. Turns out as soon as we crossed the line in the final he knew the time and sent out emails to friends and family informing them.

My margarita get together also turned into a congratulations celebration with the local Asheville community. It was a surprise when we pulled into the parking lot and I see all my friends as well as a TV camera and photographer capturing the event. I was not really prepared but at the same time it was awesome. I felt like a movie star exiting the car and walking up to applause all around. Thanks to all my friends who came out, it really was a special night that I will not be forgetting.

The celebrity feeling continued the next day as our usual UPS man stopped by with a delivery and congratulations. Man word really did travel fast, he saw me on the news the night before.

There was an article in the local newspaper with a photo of the front page and I had to drive to a multiple locations to find some copies. When I finally found some I grabbed a few and the woman behind the register did a double take at the picture and realized it was of me. She proceeded to read the caption under the photo and then made an announcement to the store. Modest me was not really sure how to respond, but it was really cool.

I love living in a smaller city. The support that I have from the community is what I treasure most and what makes this moment even more special. Thanks to everyone. ~ Lauren Tamayo

Congratulations also to Peanut Butter & Co.TWENTY12 rider Shelley Evans who scored a gold in the Pan American Championship Road Race and a bronze in the Time Trial.

Lauren is the consummate teammate. Her dedication and focus on the team pursuit this past year has certainly paid off. Not too many riders can claim a World Record but Lauren along with Dotsie and Sarah did just that. Her goal is 2012 London Olympics and this is an indication that she is certainly on track. She will continue her season on the road building the engine she is known for. Upon her return from Mexico it was back to business for Lauren, of note she gave a phenomenal leadout to 17 year old Coryn Rivera at the Sacramento GP at Amgen Tour of California Coryn took the win, Lauren finished 4th.

Her next race will be the TD Bank Philadelphia Liberty Classic where Lauren will be joined by, Shelley Evans, Mara Abbott, Katharine Carroll, Olivia Dillon and Sinead Miller. Then onto Nature Valley GP, where the Peanut Butter & Co.TWENTY12 team is leading the Individual, Team and Best Young Rider categories of the Women's Prestige Series.

Look out for our web series trailer soon a documentary dedicated to women, we owe it to ourselves and the next generation of women cyclists to do the best we can to promote our sport to the masses, encouraging new corporate sponsors, creating better job opportunities, better pay for women, more equality in media coverage partnering with Brakethrough Media we will be bringing you the behind the scenes of women's racing.
~ Nicola Cranmer

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