How the race was won, 2012 Womens Little 500 edition. From words and sounds it seemed like a great race, I'm sure the pictures made it even better. This is what I pieced together, please offer corrections below:
Laps 1-25. Teter know Theta would follow them around like a little puppy. Therefore they mixed it up with a looong opening set by Emma (Teter) that kept Kath (Theta) on the bike for way longer than she expected...which might have been critical later on. Following exchanges, Teter only had KKG, Wing-it and DSP for company (I think DG had dropped off(?) and Theta crashed their first exchange).
Laps 30-60. Should have Teter pressed their quarter-lap advantage over the other big favorite? By this time Lisa had barely ridden so maybe could have blown it all apart. I don't know if there was any coach-chat but I doubt KKG and Wing-it would have contributed to an effort to bury Theta (and DG?...they didn't get mentioned much in the radio broadcast). Some shades of what happened in 2008 but to be fair it is a big ask for Teter to take it on for 60 laps without a Rieke or CvK. Therefore Theta claw themselves back into it to leave a lead group of Teter, Theta, DG, DSP, KKG and Wing-it
Laps 60-90. A phoney way, a few little attacks but no-one committed.
Laps 90-96. The critical decision. DG exchanges before Teter and Theta to get Kayce on the bike. When Teter exchange (to put Lisa on) she smashes it and continues to do so when Theta swap (to put Kath on). Kayce leads for 4 laps but it's a big ask to keep the field at bay that whole time. If she had a 1/3 of a lap then I think DG would have exchanged to try and win it solo (like in 2008) but as soon as the pack regrouped then Pam/Kelsey (DG coaches) decided to keep it in the legs of their best rider.
The End- Theta seemed to lead it out for a final couple of laps. Kayce recovered fantastically as she must have been breathing out of her ears at that time. She found better position than Teter and came around Kath out of turn 4 for a remarkable win. Maybe Teter's early strategy to tire Kath served to aid DG in the end, somewhat like in 2008.
I was surprised Coach Knapp didn't insist on 'shorts + baby oil' for all the Theta riders. I feel wearing shorts in cold weather is a statement of 'we are here to race' whereas leg warmers may say 'I'm here to keep warm'.
Kudos to KKG and DSP for always being there at the end and especially to Collins who finished 7th with all rookies. Nice to see Chi-Omega back in the top ten for the first time in a decade! Lets hope the mens race is as exciting.
22 comments:
That race was insane. Tons of wrecks. Pack splintered after turn 2 of lap 1. Two teams vying for the win. One rides away from the other in a completely anticlimactic finish. Oh wait, the race isn't until tonight?
Why are Sonneborn and these hacks still doing the color commentary of these races? Sonney says the same things every year. He loves Cutters and Teter. Dylan Casey, he loves lance and hincapie. they both love the race, etc, etc. Cooommmee on!!! Fly GP in to actually describe the intricacies of the race. That man knows about this race and riders
Woj with the fat face! Go back to Groupon.
Anyone able to find a link to stream the race? Can't find it anywhere...so frustrating! Overseas and trying to follow with a fellow Little 5er.
Best you'll get is WIUX which isn't terrible and the live-feed on the IDS website. Good chat in there.
http://www.idsnews.com/blogs/hoosierhype/?p=19390
Ya, I'm following that as we speak. Thanks for the help GP, appreciate it.
-Jeremy
Sounded like an awesome race. Kayce Doogs showed that DG do indeed have a finisher! Peter may have left it on the track too early. Congratulations to Delta Gamma!
Does anyone know the final top ten?
1. Delta Gamma
2. Kappa Alpha Theta
3. Teter
4. Wing It
5. Delta Sigma Pi
6. Kappa Kappa Gamma
7. Collins
8. Alpha Gamma Delta
9. Chi Omega
10. Alpha Chi Omega
Kappa was amazing their 1/2 riders rode 80% of the race. They only exchanged 6 times and didn't use their 4th rider.
Why did they not use their 4th?
ha, you're an idiot, there were like 2 minor wrecks maybe. safe race, esp. given the conditions
who would've thought that MNO and ITT champ would lose the sprint. way to go dg good ride
rookie move by chelmeniack doing all the work at the end. dg was smarter and it paid off
slow race. no exciting moments other than theta getting down after their second rider bobbled off the back. no surprise they had to burn up their sprinter trying to get back on, but surprising the other teams didn't bury them there
great ride by Collins, sneaking in the top 10 as all rookies.
pays to have a 3-time champ as your coach. lusk turned collins into a powerhouse in 1 year
great race by all teams, esp theta and dg for breaking away at the end
Powerhouse? Lolz. Wish I was part of a seventh place powerhouse
I built DG to be everything they are, Pam just swooped in and claimed the title. She should give me her ring. I'm gonna go drown my emotions in a tub of Ben and Jerry's.
-knappstar
1:06
Have to start building somewhere. 7th isn't bad at all for a bunch of girls who didn't even have bikes til January and did all their training inside because they didn't have clothes to allow them to ride outside. Just wait in the coming years Collins will be a top tier team annually once they get a little funding and have the equipment to train like everyone else.
Big thanks to Tom S. for helping the Collins girls out tremendously with purchasing bikes, allowing them to use some old wing it bikes for practice, and the building of bikes at no cost. Thank you Tom. The Little 5 needs more people like you that really embellish the true spirit of this great event.
Thanks to all for a great year and to DTD and Delta Gamma on their respected wins.
DOOOOOOOOOOGSSSSSSSSSSSS
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