Mclane Pacific Report: Kele Murdin

Velo Bella-Kona rider Kele Murdin on an attack

The McClane Pacific Criterium began the women’s NRC road season, with a bang! The first 3 laps of the race allowed everyone to quickly remember the pain that is racing, as each lap offered significant cash primes. After which, with so many fresh legs and multiple attacks, were quickly responded to by our Velo Bella-Kona riders, keeping things together for our phenom-sprinter Nicole! Kele was able to snatch a little $Cha-Ching$ prime mid way through the race, just moments before a front flat in an attack where she took out three-quarters of the field. Jen Chapman noted that these frames have a remarkably smooth ride and she found out they can really take a hit when she rolled over Kele in a crash, the bike came out without a scratch! Super Climber Jane Z credits the bikes awesome responsiveness and snap as being a huge part of her best finish EVER in a NRC crit!

The end of the race came down to a pack sprint, after much hard work from the entire Velo Bella-Kona squad. Nicole snerfed her way into the top 10, to finish our first Velo Bella-Kona race with style, and pain written all over her face!!

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Sunday’s race offered a 3 lap 24 mile loop of mildly rolling, yet quite windy farmland (a nice way of saying stinky). The race has a huge onslaught of attacks early, covered by our speedy and smallest member Jen Joynt. The aggression continued throughout the 72 miles, and Velo Bella-Kona was well represented throughout. Again, our riders rose to the occasion and fought hard in the enormous winds, and fast course. Seeing as most our riders are sub-110 lbs, it was a tough day…Hiroko dug deep to stay protected, what a champ!

Jen Chapman unfortunately got tangled up in a crash on the second lap, but with after some stitches and pain killers, the report is the bike is fine. Oh yea, so is Jen (minus that elbow bone chip that is still on the road and the hematoma riding on her tailbone, preventing her from sitting…otherwise Peachy).

All in all, a fabulous weekend! We rode with pride and confidence on our pimped out Queen Zing carbon Kona frames, and I have a feeling this season will be spectacular. The potential of each rider goes far beyond our expectations, and with Nicole in the driver’s seat, anything is possible. The chemistry of our new team is off to a great start, and the positive energy from our support staff is stellar…So “Bring it!!”, we’re ready!