LUNA CHIX PRO TEAM

Yes! Teal's first big cross win on LUNA

Pomona, CA (October 21-22, 2012) First year LUNA Pro Teal Stetson Lee won her first big cyclocross race of the year at the Spooky Cyclocross event. This event was a UCI C2 (class 2) event, so Teal earned some solid points.

It was a great weekend for Teal, because she also got to hang out with the LA Team Luna Chix ambassadors. The local “TLC” group of cycling enthusiasts put forth a huge effort volunteering at the race, while supporting Teal during her races.

On Saturday night, Stetson Lee competed in Spooky “Kross” at a unique venue that was set inside a horseracing stadium. The course was dynamic with flat packed dirt road sections, grass corners, a fly over, a stair over, and an interesting BMX track thrown in.

Teal battled with three other strong women for the entire event, gapping the field early and then attacking each other the rest of the race. Stetson Lee was able to open up a gap on the small group with about a lap and half to go, and then she kept it smooth all the way to the finish line. It was a great feeling for the young athlete, her first big cyclocross race in LUNA colors.

Teal’s biggest surprise of the night came when she went out into the expansive parking lot after the race to cool down and had a little run in with a wild coyote. Teal saw it coming from a distance and thought it was just a small stray dog. As it got closer it barred its teeth, she could see it was an aggressive little coyote.

Stetson Lee wasted no time turning around and pedalling off in the opposite direction. But when she looked back over her shoulder the wild animal had picked up the pace and was chasing her! Slightly freaked out, she immediately stood up and sprinted out of the saddle to escape, with in her words, “visions of the coyote leaping and latching onto my Achilles tendon”.

Of course, Teal got away just fine but came back to the LUNA sprinter van with her heart pounding...not the best cool down for a pro athlete.

Teal commented, “Where I'm from in Colorado, we have coyotes too but they are scared of people and very skittish. Apparently, LA coyotes come right up to people. However, this one was eliciting mildly aggressive behavior and I would not be surprised if it was sick, possibly rabies. It definitely made for an interesting cool down!”

During the Sunday race on the same course, the same small pack of women broke off the front during the first lap. Teal stayed with the group and launched her own attack to gap them with three laps remaining. She rode away with the speed of someone being chased by a rabid coyote. Because the laps were about 8-10 minutes long, Teal began to loose steam with one lap to go after her ambitious break away. She was soon caught again and the leader of the chase group attacked and gapped her.

Teal hung in for the final lap, but was unable to bridge the gap to the leader. On this day she finished second. Though the field was relatively small, there was still some great competition and it made for a fantastic set of races.

Next weekend, Stetson Lee will return back to Colorado for Boulder Cross. Ahh Colorado.. where the coyotes are actually tame.