Sammamish resident Tela Crane wins a first and second at Marymoor Grand Prix bicycle races

A record 175 registered bicycle racers, including Sammamish's Tela Crane, took to the Marymoor Velodrome this month to compete in the Marymoor Grand Prix. The meet, now in its sixth year, offered competitors a lucrative $17,500 total prize pool.

"Crowds filled the stands, and the racers started commenting, 'you gotta come out here, there's a good crowd,'" director David Mann described. "I don't need to do much with the racers, they all assume they're coming to Redmond at the end of July. That's the best part."

This year's talent pool at the Grand Prix was unlike any before, as seven of the top 10 placers from Nationals were racing at the Velodrome. Besides Crane, the event attracted another local favorite, Jennie Reed of Kirkland.

"If you look at last year, every single one of the women that won events here went on to win national championships," Mann noted. "Bringing all of that to the Redmond area, it doesn't get any better than that."

Reed, who was on both the 2004 Athens and 2008 Beijing United States Olympic track cycling teams, led off her Grand Prix on July 22 with a win in the Keirin event, just ahead of Crane.

In the Keirin, riders are paced by a motorbike that gradually increases in speed until approximately a lap and a half remains in the race – then it's an all-out sprint to the finish.

Reed and Crane were in the middle of the pack until well into the final lap when charged the outside. The 1-2 finish elicited a loud roar from a packed house at the Velodrome that had spectators lining the entire 400-meter track as well as the stands.

In a later event, Crane and Reed partnered to win the Madison, a team event where each pair of riders tries to complete the highest number of laps in total during a certain time period, with only one going at a time while the the other rests.

In talking with the racers, the common response about the Grand Prix was that the unparalleled turnout of spectators made the event stand out above others.

"I've done a lot of racing all over the place, and the only place that has rivaled this is South America," said Crane, who will be heading to Los Angeles for the Pan-American Games trials before pursuing her own Olympic dreams. "Everywhere else in America dims in comparison to this. It's really awesome how many people get out and the motivation that comes from having (the crowd). We don't get very many chances to show off what we do, and it's exciting to watch."

Sammamish resident Tela Crane (second from left) celebrates a second-place victory in the Keirin Finals at the sixth-annual Marymoor Grand Prix on July 22. Pictured from left: Colleen Hayduk (Pure Energy Cycle), Tela Crane (Broadmark), champion Jennie Reed (Ouch), Cristin Walker (Momentum Coaching), Erica Allar (RideClean). Bobby Yadon photo

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