Emma Bast (Mount Holyoke College), Kendi Thomas (Whitman College), Rita Klofta (DePauw University), Kimberley Geist (DeSales University), and Daisy Phillips (Western Washington University) from left to right.

Fort Collins, Colorado- After a challenging, hilly, windy-swept road race and a fast downtown criterium, Rita Klofta (DePauw University) emerged as the Division 2 USA Cycling Collegiate National Individual Omnium Champion. Klofta had finished a strong second in the road race and fifth in the criterium. Kendi Thomas (Whitman) placed second, Kimberly Gesit (DeSales University) placed third, Emma Bast (Mount Holyoke College) placed fourth, and Daisy Phillips (Western Washington University) rounded out the Division 2 Omnium podium in fifth.

Jacquelyn Crowell via TeamType1.org.

Via Team Type 1:
Fort Collins, Colo. – Team Type 1’s Jacquelyn Crowell added to her medal collection Saturday at the USA Cycling Collegiate Road National Championships with a runner-up finish for the University of Florida in the Division I criterium.

Crowell was the first rider through the final corner but was passed a few feet from the line by Sinead Miller (Marian College). Tammy Wildgoose (University of California-San Diego) finished third.

Crowell said she it was her strategy to lead out the sprint, unaware that Miller – a multi-time national collegiate and junior national track champion – was on her wheel.

“I’m obviously disappointed but I knew I had to go early,” she said, “I did hear something today that made me feel a little better. Dave Towle (the race announcer) was saying you can’t win if you don’t risk losing. That’s a good way to put it.”

Crowell never ventured far from the front during the hour-long race along a 0.9-mile, figure-eight course. She also won a pair of point prime sprints, which helped her finish second in the omnium competition to Carla Swart (Lees-McRae College).

“I think I rode the best race I could today,” she said. “Eventually, I’m going to win one of these times.”

Friday, Crowell earned a bronze medal for her third place in the road race. She has one more chance to medal Sunday when she is part of Florida’s four-rider squad in the 18-mile (28 km) team time trial.

Fort Collins, Colorado- 60 women from 29 different colleges and universities showed up to contest the Division 1 USA Cycling Collegiate National Criterium Championships. The women raced on the fast, 8 corner crit for 60 minutes. Several schools fielded full four women squads and were noticeably active during the race to gather as many omnium points as possible. Carla Swart (Lees McRae), who won the USA Cycling Collegiate National Road Race, was sprinting for the primes as was Sinead Miller (Marian College), Chloe Forsman (University of Arizona), Flora Duffy (University of Colorado Boulder), and Jacquelyn Crowell (University of Florida).

In the end though, it was Sinead Miller (Marian College) who outkicked the Division 1 women’s field for first place. She was followed in by Jacquelyn Crowell (University of Florida), Tammy Wildgoose (University of California San Diego), Carla Swart (Lees McRae), and Laura Liscinski (University of California Santa Barbara).

Kendi Thomas (Whitman College) wins the D2 USA Cycling Collegiate National Criterium Champoinships.

Fort Collins, Colorado- 32 women from 19 different colleges and universities showed up to contest the Division 2 USA Cycling Collegiate National Criterium Championships. The women raced on the fast, 8 corner crit for 60 minutes. The women raced aggressively from the start of the race, with Whitman, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Montana, DePauw University, and DeSales University fighting tooth and nail for valuable prime points. In the end, it was Kendi Thomas (Whitman College) who took top honors followed by Daisy Phillips (Western Washington University), Arielle Filiberti (Dartmouth College), Yuri Matsumoto (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), and Rita Klofta (DePauw University).

Emma Bast (Mount Holyoke College) finishes her collegiate cyclign career with a D2 Championship win.

Fort Collins, Colorado- 31 women from 19 different colleges and universities across the United States showed up to compete in the D2 Collegiate National Championship road race. The women raced 52 hilly, wind-swept miles, with Emma Bast (Mount Holyoke College) sprinting in to take the top spot on the podium. Blast was followed in by Rita Klofta (DePauw University), Kimberly Geist (DeSales University), Lydia Tanner (Montana State University-Bozeman), and Laura Ralston (Massachusetts Institute of Technology).

(Video starts out very windy but gets better about halfway through.)

Carla Swart (Lees McRae) wins her second USA Cycling Collegiate National Road Race Championship.

Fort Collins, Colorado- 69 women showed up from 29 different colleges and universities from accross the United States to compete in the D1 Collegiate National Championship road race. The women raced 52 hilly, wind-swept miles. Carla Swart (Lees McRae) won the top spot on the podium followed by Anna McLoon (Harvard University), Jacquelyn Crowell (University of Florida), Melanie Meyers (University of Arizona), and Chloe Forsman (University of Arizona).

May 7, 2009 – Fayetteville, AR – The ValueAct Capital women once again demonstrated their strength in numbers by placing two riders in the top 10 at the Devil’s Den Hill Climb Time Trial today.  The team placed 5 of their 7 riders in the top 20.  Robin Farina took 5th place, while Chrissy Ruiter garnered 9th place.

The course was a 2.5 mile climb that wound its way through the Devil’s Den Park.  Team Type 1’s Alison Powers took the top spot on the podium, followed by Webcor’s Katheryn Mattis.  Webcor’s Erinne Willock rounded out the podium.  “It is a very close race among the top 20,” commented defending champion Robin Farina.  “A lot can change tomorrow.”  Tomorrow’s stage is a 69 mile point to point road race which features an 8 mile climb.  “We’re ready to race hard tomorrow,” stated director, Lisa Hunt.  “We’ve got a lot of fitness and confidence after Gila and it shows!”

Election day in Pittsburgh, PA, for the Democratic Mayoral primaries is May 19th. Bike Pittsburgh (aka BikePGH) sent a variety of cycling advocacy related questions to the mayoral candidates and have posted the questions and the responses from the mayoral candidates here.

I really love that BikePGH put together such thoughtful questions and that they then posted the responses to the questions on their website. Even if you don’t live in Pittsburgh, I’d encourage you to take the time to read the questions and responses as I’m sure it will get you thinking about cycling in your community. If you asked some of your local candidates for political office some of the same questions, how would they respond?

Thanks to VeloMuse for the tip.

Fayetteville, Ark. – The Team Type 1 women’s professional squad looks to defend its lead in two categories of the Women’s Prestige Cycling Series at this week’s Joe Martin Stage Race, while the men’s professional team has high expectations for a strong overall team performance.

The 32nd edition of the four-day, four-stage National Racing Calendar (NRC) event begins Thursday in Fayetteville, Ark.

Representing the Team Type 1 women’s team will be Veronica Leal, Jen McRae, Morgan Patton, Alison Powers, Samantha Schneider and Kori Seehafer. Powers leads the Women’s Prestige Cycling Series (WPCS) and is coming off a second place finish at the SRAM Tour of the Gila. Seehafer is the WPCS sprint leader and captured the Lap Leaders jersey at the recent USA CRITS Speed Week series.

“I have big expectations for Alison with the time trial being first,” Team Type 1 women’s Director Jack Seehafer said. “I will also be looking to Jen for stage wins and I hope to see a podium finish in the general classification by week’s end.”

A 2.5-mile (4.0 km) uphill time trial out of Devil’s Den State Park opens the race Thursday. Road races Friday have the men traveling 110 miles (177 km) and the women 64 miles (102 km). A second road race takes place Saturday – 92 miles (148 km) for men and 69 miles (111 km) for women – followed by 90-minute and hour-long criteriums, respectively, on Sunday.

Peak to Peak Bicycles in Ridgway, Colorado and San Juan Hut Systems Mountain Bike Adventures have teamed up to present a women’s only mountain bike trip on the San Juan Hut System from Telluride, CO to Moab, UT.

The fully-supported ride will cost $1650 (this includes all hut fees, guides, food, and shuttles) and will take place from June 20th to June 26th. This sounds like it would be an awesome adventure and space is limited so if you are interested in registering for the ride, email guide@peaktopeakbicycles.com.

Here’s some more information about the San Juan Hut System from the Mountain Bike Adventures website:

San Juan Hut Systems operates two 215 mile mountain bike routes from Telluride, CO to Moab, UT and from Durango, CO to Moab, UT. Each hut is approximately 35 miles apart and is fully equipped. These routes follow dirt roads and single-track from the high alpine tundra of the San Juan Mountains to the desert slick rock and canyon country of Utah.
…

[The Telluride to Moab] route follows 215-miles of secondary dirt roads from Durango, CO across the high alpine tundra of the San Juan Mountains to the desert slickrock and canyon country of Moab, UT. This route is designed for intermediate riders in good physical condition. Alternate single track routes between various huts extend your trip and offer more challenges. San Juan Hut Systems does not allow vehicle support while using the huts.

If you’re hankering for some more information about Mountain Bike Adventures and the San Juan Hut System, check out the Mountain Bike Adventures website.

Thanks again to Dorothy Wong of SoCalCross.com and Team C.I.C.L.E. for the heads up.