Report by Ms. Katie Kelly, Team Tam

Velo Bella led from start to finish to sweep the top three in the Women’s 4 category at the MIPS Technologies Mount Hamilton Road Race today. Deborah Levine took top honors, followed by Heather Kirkby and Ann Fitzsimmons. Birgit Cory of CRC/Hill & Co. finished fourth.

	The main field of Women's 4s at Mt. Hamilton.
VeloBella controlled the field from start to finish.	All photos © Miguel Mestayer

The race was the abridged version of this historical classic, avoiding the 15 mile climb from San Jose for which this race is famous.

Meanwhile, Clare Parker and Katie Kelly of Team Tam/Gravy Wheels sent a strong message to the peloton. Exactly what this message is remains unclear, but look for more good things to come from this growing San Anselmo-based squad.

Parker, of San Francisco, added yet another top 10 finish out of three races, finishing eighth.

Kelly, of San Rafael, making her comeback to racing after flying into a pole last summer and breaking her clavicle in five places and not being able to stop talking about it still, after 10 months, finished an unconfirmed 12th, but this was after a nearly disastrous start.

"The toilet dispenser wasn't working," said Kelly, minutes after the race, of her pre-race run-in with the porta-potty. "I kept hitting it, and cursing, and nothing was coming out. And I NEEDED that toilet paper."

Witnesses to the event were not sure what to do. "I saw the porta-potty shaking, and I heard her yells," said her boyfriend, who preferred to remain nameless as of press time.

ncncaRacing correspondent, Katie Kelly is just seconds away from catching the pack.

Clare Parker of Team Tam, moments before the start.

Sycip's Kristen Kosglow won the ST Bikes Memorial Day Criterium the next day.

A man standing in line broke the door open, believing Kelly was trapped. "She scared me," he said. "There was a woman with chicken legs, with her pants down, pounding the dispenser. I don't think I'll ever be the same."

Although this equipment malfunction interfered greatly with Kelly's warm up, it did not impede her concentration. In her first of daring maneuvers of the day, Kelly tried a tactic never before attempted in the peloton, that is, on purpose.

Says Kelly, "I'm afraid of hurting myself, basically."

The race begins with a short steep climb, and then a series of sharp turns that have left others in the past extremely hurt. "So, I thought okay, I'll give myself a nice safety buffer, and then I'll pass everyone after they go down," said Kelly.

Unfortunately, her plan backfired.

"I was dropped in the first minute," said Kelly.

Meanwhile, Parker raced a solid race, like how a normal and skilled athlete would, staying close to the front of the peloton, climbing strong and descending gracefully.

"I didn't know what happened to her," said Parker.

But then she heard a voice. "She startled me. It came from nowhere. More like a screech. 'CLAAAAAARE! I'm HEEEEERE!'"

By this time, the pack had dwindled down to 20, as they traversed the rolling hills towards Livermore.

"I was relieved to ride in a draft again," said Kelly.

Perhaps the duo’s most heroic movement was catching a stray Vela Bella who had broken away after the major climb.

"We caught her, and I mean, suddenly, we were in the front!" said Kelly. "'Wow, I'm winning, I'm winning!' I thought. I thought maybe we could break away."

Kelly and Parker, in fact, did not break away, but they did succeed in pulling the field an awfully long way.

Then, suddenly, the Velo Bella squad of six began the first of their series of shenanigans.

"They started going a lot faster," said Kelly, adding that in the descent, they almost hit a snake. "That was icky," she said.

Parker held on to sprint to 8th, passing several people, while Kelly was left to wonder what had happened.

"I mean, that snake," she said, still dazed and confused. "It was just slithering on the ground. That was so upsetting," she said.

Kelly noted the strong teamwork of the Velo Bella squad, as well as an impressive showing of Kathleen Kubal, of Cycle Sports.

Kelly believes she learned a few valuable lessons. "Stay closer to the wheel in front of you is one," she said. "And bring your own toilet paper."

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