Thanks to Dennis Fickinger for the photo!
Wow, I am long overdue for a blog entry! Geesh!
Today marked the first race of the 2010 season for me. Unfortunately it was 45 degrees and raining for this first crit. But, to look on the bright side, at least this is one of the least technical, open cornered crits I will do all year! Also, not a big draw for this race...we only had 7 women in the Women's Open field. (Cornering is not so difficult in a single paceline!)
I knew all the members of the field well, this is the first of many local races we will do together. There were five of us Cat3's (a couple newly catted up) and Chris Roettger (Cat 2) with Mesa Cycles and Carrie Cash (Pro-Cat 1) with Team Vera Bradley Foundation. I knew they would put the hurtin' on us, but was anxious to see if I could try to hang.
Carrie attacked from the line and I grabbed her wheel. A short time later, I hear Teresa behind me telling me my rear skewer was undone...that would explain why my bike was doing some funky shifting off the line. Everyone yelled at me to stop and fix it and that they would wait for me since this wasn't something that warranted going to the pit for (they would not give me a free lap for that). That was totally cool of them since we were only a 1/4 lap into the race!!! It really would have sucked to not get a fair shake at the race. So I jumped off, fixed it, and was shaking trying to get clipped back in. I hauled it up the road to the group and tried to calm my HR which was so high you thought I would have just sprinted! I got in the back to catch my breath. Not more than two laps later, Carrie attacked hard and Chris went to follow. I was on the front and wished I wasnt. I attacked from the front to chase. They had quickly made a large gap on me. I put my head down and pushed to try and bridge the gap. I was probably within 50 meters when we turned into the headwind and I pushed a little longer, but soon had nothing left and just couldn't quite make it. I was SO mad too. Just a little more and I would have been on a wheel.... Anyway, Theresa came around me and I got on her wheel and she tried to do the work going into the headwind. She also died trying to chase.
After a couple of laps, our group organized and all did some work to bring them back but we never seemed to make any headway. I was able to grab the first prime lap by attacking early and quickly gaping the field. Theresa was right behind me and we worked together for a while to try to stay away, but it did not stick. Chris and Carrie lapped our field and helped try to mix it up a bit. Chris was strong and when she attacked a couple of times, I had to fight to hold her wheel.
I guess I wasnt the only one struggling though because come the final lap, I lined up 3rd wheel and didnt even jump until about 100 meters and was able to pass Theresa and keep the rest of the group from coming around me. So, I managed 3rd place! Not bad for the first race of the season. I just need to get my race fitness back and that will come in the next month or so. Thanks to my coach this winter (Coach Chris Mileski (www.otfracing.com), I definitely feel more ready this year than last, so it should be a fun and challenging season!
