Nancy flies the BMW colors in Los Angeles!

After a disappointing weekend in Charlotte, where the BMW-Bianchi ladies were shut out of the money in the biggest cash criterium in the world, Nancy Lux went out to Los Angeles and redeemed herself and the rest of the team by placing in the top ten in three separate events at the Elite Track Nationals. 

Her first event was the 3 kilometer pursuit (time trial), where she was paired up against Amber Neben, a former US National Road Champion, Olympian and current Euro road pro.  Determined not to get caught, Nancy set a personal best time, but did not make the finals, taking 10th place.  The race was won by Sarah Hammer, who set a new track record in the process.

Next up was the Scratch race, which for the initiated means a simple race to the finish on the track.  The race was filled with road superstars like Tina Pic, Kori Seehafer, Amber Neben, and true trackies Erin Mirabella (Olympic medalist), Becky Quinn (last year's winner) and Sarah Hammer.  A late race attack by roadie Lara Kroepsch was chased down by another roadie, Lauren Franges, and the trackies pounced:  Becky Quinn edged out Sarah Hammer for the win and Nancy took best of the roadies in 6th behind Anna Webb, Erin Mirabella and local racer Cassandra Holman - this might qualify Nancy for the title "Trackie"!

Next up was the 500m Time Trial - not much strategy, just go as hard as you can for two laps!  Nancy's time was good for 7th place in this event.  Nancy was one of only two women to take a top ten in both the pursuit and the 500m - two very different events! 

Later that day was the Points Race:  a 100 lap race that contains intermediate sprints at specific laps (every 10th lap in this case) with places 1-4 yielding points.  Attacks were frequent and the race was hard, but Nancy held on to the pack, but was unable to score any points and finished outside of the top ten.

On the last day, Nancy tried out the Keirin - her first!  At the National Championships!  She didn't make it past the first round, but had fun trying.  The team is very proud of Nancy for her impressive performance at the Elite National Championships!  Her next challenge is the Master's National Track Championships this coming weekend in Indianapolis.  GOOD LUCK NANCY!

Reminder...
Our friend and club-mate Mark Ornitz was critically injured in a crash at the Hanes Park criterium on 7/31.  While he continues to make positive progress, he is still in the ICU in critical condition.

The team would like everyone to keep Mark in their thoughts or prayers.  Mark is a wonderful person with a great passion for cycling.  We hope that he will heal quickly and make a full recovery. You can keep informed of Mark's condition and leave messages of support here in our BLOG.


Mark cooling down after a hard ride in one of his
favorite places - the North Carolina mountains.