June 25/00 2:43 am - Redden Report from Mount Snow Short Track

Posted by Editoress on 06/25/00
 

Mt. Snow, Vermont Short Track Chevy Truck Off-Road Series
by Chrissy Redden

The short track races for the pro women and men went off yesterday at 4 and 4:30 pm during some great, sunny, dry weather. The adrenaline in the crowd sounded like it equalled the adrenaline in the riders!! The course was about 1km long, winding through the expo area with lots of tight turns and one small popper of a climb leading into a "jump" on the descent.

The Chicas: The energy level about 1 hr before the race was quite mellow, but 30sec before the gun went off, I could smell the fire in everyone's legs. We were in for a quick trip around the expo area. Off the start, Alison Dunlap (GT) took an early lead, but no-one was about to let her go. Throughout the race there were many attack-attempts, but none strong enough to gap the world class field. I was content to stay in the 2nd to 4th position, patiently waiting for the 3 lap to go signal. My team-mate Mary, though, went for a few solo attempts, creating a ringing buzz in the Gary Fisher/SAAB tent area! With 3 laps to go I looked back and surprisingly saw that we were still a group of about 10! The biggest motivation factor for me today was seeing newcomer, Sue Haywood (Trek/Volkswagon) dicing it out with Alison Sydor (Volvo/Cannondale) , Dunlap, Mary and myself....and then to witness her table-top skills off the jump!! Good job, Sue!! On the bell lap Dunlap attacked hard under the starting banner and Sydor and myself both responded. I tried to move up but Sydor edged me out and we went up the final climb Dunlap, Sydor, Redden. And that was it. That was how we finished. A good adrenaline rush made way better by the energetic crowd!!

Chico's Race: Since my partner, Andy, has conveniently gone to bed, this report will be written by myself and co-producer, Kevin Kelly (the best mechanic there is). Our team-mate Ryder went into the lead off the start with Roland Green (GT) and Greg Randolf (GT) challenging. Like the women's race there were many solo and attack-attempts, but definitely none strong enough to hold any more than 20 sec. Meanwhile, our other team-mates, Pavel and Andy moved up to help Ryder control the outcome of the race. With 3 laps to go, the main lead group was still about 15 strong....and blazing fast, then Steve Larson (Mongoose) made a valiant attempt, but Pavel chased hard and bridged up to Steve than dropped him like a stone. Pavel held the lead until the final climb when Cadel Evans (Volvo/Cannondale) overtook him to take the win. Ryder was unfortunately eliminated by crash and subsequent flat tire. Andy also had unfortunate luck with a late race crash.