On Sunday, April 27th, local and regional bicycle racers wrapped up the George's Spring Series with the final classic: Emmett-Roubaix. Once again, the women of Team Bobs-Bicycles.com snatched the stage win, and in doing so, clinched the final general classification for the series when team member Sarah Barber crossed the finish line ahead of the rest of the women's field.

For most of the women, the race marked their first opportunity to race wearing nothing more than their team shorts and jerseys, as temperatures eventually soared to over 70 degrees under sunny skies. The fair weather brought out slightly more competitors than in previous races, and the three-lady crew from Team Bobs-Bicycles.com was matched by three women from the rival Team Tamarack, along with a few from the B.Y.R.D.S. team. As has been the case in all of the Spring Series races, the presence of the women was over-shadowed by a field of fifty-plus Masters A and Cat 3 men, which promised an extra challenge on a course boasting two significant climbs and a one-mile dirt/gravel "roubaix" stretch.

A short neutral start added to the warm-up time, but the pace quickly accelerated over some rollers that led out to the main loop of the course. Teammates Jeanne Rumps, Sarah Barber, and Sarah Brown, sat comfortably mid-pack until the first climb of the day. Graced by a tailwind, the climb splintered the group slightly and shed all women except Barber and one Tamarack racer. However, it was not long before the field regrouped, ultimately confronting the roubaix section together for the first time. To no one's surprise (but to everyone's chagrin), the men at the front of the peleton drove the pace hard through the dirt section, shattering the field in a move that would stay to the finish. Barber lost contact with the group of men in the front and with her teammates behind her, but eventually found her niche in the first chase group. This group included a rival team member for a short while, but Barber managed to lose her on the first climb of the second lap.

Meanwhile, Rumps was stymied by another flat tire, in what seems to have been a recent streak of bad luck. Without nearby tech support, Rumps was resigned to  self-repair and a solo ride for the rest of the day. Brown, having battled illness all week and still finding perfect health elusive, managed to work with other racers to stay in the mix of a following group. Fifty-seven-point-five miles later, Barber hammered up the final climb yo the finish line in an uncontested victory. Her teammates powered through for strong finishes, with Brown securing second place in the overall general classification.

Next up for the Team Bobs-Bicycles.com ladies: a time-trial stage race!