Wintergreen Ascent & Jefferson Cup

Five of the Vanderkittens headed west this past weekend to do the Wintergreen Ascent and the Jefferson Cup race in Charlottesville. It was a Vanderkitten sweep for Laura, Jen and Brittany at Wintergreen with Captain Cook taking the GOLD and the title of “Queen of the Mountain” with a time of 46:01. Jen was right behind with a time of 46:03 and Brittany took 3rd with a time of 48:41. As for me, I placed 2nd in the 40 plus behind Valerie Netsch (Tripower) with a time of 51:35. This ol’ Grandma hasn’t thrown in the towel to old age quite yet. We also need to thank Ali for cheering us on in her comic cheerleader outfit!

After some great comfort food and drink at Devil’s Backbone, some of the girls got back on their bikes and headed up toward Crabtree Falls for some more miles. I decided to head back to Charlottesville to take a much needed nap. We all decided on a great local Indian restaurant for dinner in Charlottesville where we inhaled our food and wine getting ready for the next race.
Waking up on Mother’s Day morning to sunny skies was a perfect beginning to a great day. 50 plus women arrived for the 9:00 start of the race with their engines primed for what would be a blistering pace. The hill by the winery broke up the race lap after lap. Brittany, Ali and Jen all hung in there for the full 50. As it came down to the finish, Brittany was in the money for 3rd place in Cat 3. Jen placed 9th and Ali was close behind for the Cat 2’s. Unfortunately, the results have Ali listed as a DNF. As for me, I was spit off the back after the 2nd hill climb and totally enjoyed the company of a chase group consisting of Janet from ABRT and Amanda from Fat Frogs plus others. After having a nasty accident a few years back, it was the first time I’ve ventured out to a road race and it felt great. You’ll be seeing more of me soon!

Thanks to the race promoters for both Wintergreen and the Jefferson Cup Road Race. You did an outstanding job!

BJ aka Podium Cat