Wolfpack Women's Racing, 2021 & beyond

[dashDustin]

Sunday at SLC (USA Crits stop #4) we saw something kinda neat:

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It was hot. We were tired. But damn if that didn’t make everyone’s day.

[jmgorman]

You're damned right you do! The wolf pack is killing it, and julie kuliecza is a gosh darned national treasure.

[dashDustin]

You're damned right you do! The wolf pack is killing it, and julie kuliecza is a gosh darned national treasure.

Julie. Is. Awesome.

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So is SnowyMountain Photography.

[dashDustin]

If anyone wants to watch:

https://usacrits.tv/

We go on at 7:50 mountain time.

[dashDustin]

That was a rough one.

6 starters
4 went down
3 DNF'ed (one of these was a dead etap shifter battery...guest rider, battery died on the first lap.)

But, we maintain Young Rider, Lap Leader, 3rd team, and 4th rider overall.

[dashDustin]

Upcoming race weekend is in Birmingham...where everything went to hell last year in March. I had just landed, and on my ride to the host house, Jefferson County pulled the plug on all public gatherings.

At that time, there were fewer than 20 cases. Yesterday, Jefferson Co reported 678 new cases, with 417 7-day average. While we are all vaccinated, I am still a good bit concerned. Doesn't help that wifey is spending the week between Birmingham and Athens there in the southeast.

[j44ke]

Glamour life Dustin. Good luck next weekend!

[dashDustin]

So glad we survived this past weekend. Athens and Grant Park were brutal. Spartanburg...we lost a(nother) shoe, and rotor.

I'm so glad Cannondale, Manual for Speed, and Cyclingtips have teamed up to follow the US crit scene a little bit. And it's not the same MfS that it was in years past. Less knife fights, more...better...content/ photos. And this video, which makes my heart flutter a little bit.

[dashDustin]

Anyone watch El Paso?

Without Legion, both races felt quite different from the sidelines. Or maybe I was just excited that we didn't get 'punched in the mouth' and were able to execute our plan.

[dashDustin]

Last 2 races of the season at Winston Salem. 2 podiums. It was a good weekend. Especially Saturday...that was the best race the team had all year. Every single person contributed to getting Julie the 8 laps she needed to secure the Lap Leader jersey, and Kaitlyn still had enough in the tank to get 3rd on the day. If you have 75mins, I think it's worth a watch.

Now we get back to finding sponsors for 2022.

Team Overall - 3rd
Young Rider - 2nd
Lap Leader - 1st

[dashDustin]

Oh, and this was Kristen's last race. No mas. She'll be joining us next year in sort of a race director role, though. It's hard for wifey and I to do all the things, so adding her to the staff, with her experience, will be a tremendous help.

[72gmc]

Awesome, Dustin. Thanks for this thread.

[j44ke]

Yessir. +1000

[dashDustin]

I'm sure more will come from Tulsa as the weekend gets processed.

It was hard. That was the hardest weekend I've ever worked. And so, so hot. Bed at 3am Saturday morning, up at 6:30 to get parking. On course from 7am until 8pmish? I think. I don't remember. Bed at midnight, then up at 5:30am to get parking for Cry Baby. I'll save my rant for my own IG, but let me say this...Tulsa Tough is losing touch. And this isn't even considering the rider safety aspect and the seemingly awful treatment some athletes received over the weekend.

Anywho, next up for the ladies will be Dairyland.

Over past few weeks, a junior girl has been coming the clinics wifey has been hosting at COTA. This little girl is eager to learn, and her parents are so very supportive. Wifey was able to pull some strings, and got this rider 'sponsored' for the Novice Women p/b ATX Wolfpack series at ToAD. Her travel has been covered, entries covered, and she's going to be getting some Wolfpack kit to race in. She's pretty excited, as are her parents. More on that to come.

Now, more videos!







Also, just want to point out Mr Preston Eye from Nashville Local Cycling (their elite men's team has partnered with us this year...Nashville Local // Wolfpack). This kid is a champ in the making. Keep an eye on him. Unreal work ethic.

[dashDustin]

Oh, yeah...so that Tarmac with the broken handlebar. In a first for me, the cam on her rear skewer got bent, too, so I couldn't actually take out her rear wheel, except by using the lever like a wingnut. I don't have spare skewers (or brake cables and housing, because that's the only bike using rim brakes and I hadn't expected to be without our team frames for this late in the season....also why I didn't have a single 2.5mm hex key until the day before Tulsa). When putting it back in just so she could spin around in the morning, the rotating action of the lever caused the wheel to slip ever so slightly right at the end, which is why her rim was brushing against the pad. That was annoying. I think I spent half an hour trying to get the wheel straight and skewer tight at the same time. Ended up opting for tight skewer.

[dashDustin]

Day 1 of Dairyland

Harriet’s first race back post-concussion (her last race was around August of last year. She suffered a concussion at a (former) team camp prior to last year and tried riding through it. When she joined WP, we wouldn’t let her race till Drs cleared her. She was cleared only recently. Welcome back, Harriet). AND Alijah crosses the line 2nd to take the Cat2 W leader’s jersey. I might’ve teared up.

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[72gmc]

Are one or more of these financial sponsors promoted on your kit without providing payment?

[dashDustin]

Are one or more of these financial sponsors promoted on your kit without providing payment?

Yeah…


https://usacycling.org/article/usa-c...pWxg&fs=e&s=cl

USAC’s press release announcing the partnership is finally live.

[dashDustin]

I freakin love Romina. She is already a monster on the bike. Super low-key, unsuspecting.