Gould wins first UCI race of season

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Georgia Gould dominated the Women's UCI C2 race from the start and rode away from the field for her first win of the season. However, it was not a care-free ride as the former MAC Champion did not have a pit bike, a source of concern considering the parade of broken derailleurs in the earlier amateur classes.

"Feel my bike!" said Gould to a friend shortly after crossing the finish line. With the accumulation of mud, most estimated that it weighed in the vicinity of 30 pounds.

"The run-ups were more like hike-briskly-up-the-hills, and sometimes it wasn't even briskly," said Gould of the slippery course conditions.

Following a long mountain bike season, Interbike, CrossVegas and the Planet Bike Cup, Gould was giving her body a well-deserved rest. "But I got tired of sitting in Colorado while my husband (Dusty, team mechanic for Kona's Trebon and Wicks) had fun with cyclo-cross out East," said Gould. "So I booked a ticked Tuesday for a flight Thursday, but I could only bring one bike."

Behind Gould, noted mudder Mo Bruno-Roy (M&M Racing/Seven Cycles) ran a smooth race to finish second. Amanda Carey (Kenda) continued her year of strong performances with a race-long battle with current MAC champion Laura Van Gilder. Early in the race, Carey held the advantage over C3 Athletes Serving Athletes teammates Van Gilder and Dee Dee Winfield. Winfield never looked settled on the day and dropped back, while Van Gilder clawed her way up to Carey.

The tables were turned during the second half of the race as Van Gilder held the position and Carey dragged her way up on the last lap to make contact and then attack prior to the final corners. Unfortunately for Carey, the long, paved uphill finish at Granogue perfectly suited Van Gilder, one of the greatest women's road sprinters of all time. Van Gilder took the sprint for third, but to Carey's credit, she made Van Gilder work hard for it, as Van Gilder was shattered following her anaerobic effort to finish on the podium.

The MAC Powered by SRAM Series continues Sunday with the Wissahickon Cyclo-cross at the Ludwig's Corner Horse Show and Country Fair grounds in Glenmore, Pennsylvania.