Superweek Day 1

The new Team Rev mascot! Bea-Ver! :)
(a pix of the new mascot!)

Superweek – Day 1
Sunday, July 19th
Cat3/4 Women: Evanston Crit
18 miles, 23.5 mph average

Crit course in downtown Evanston, IL was fairly technical - Lots of manhole covers to dodge and 6 corners, but completely flat. It was cool weather for July, in the upper 60’s and breezy. The crowd was abundant and downtown Evanston was bustling. Very cute area with many cool shops and restaurants.
Lined up with 27 Cat 3/4 women at the line. I was a little nervous but surprisingly not as much as last year. I was excited this year to be a Cat 3 in a 3/4 field and not a 3 in a 1/2/3 field! Big difference! The whistle sounds and we fly out of the gate right away someone starts pushing the pace though the 1st corner and the pace is high for the whole first lap. Things settle down a bit, for a second, and then the attacks start. Im holding a good position in the top 5 of the front of the field. Maybe a little too close to the action though because I had to help cover many of the attacks. I wanted to be there for a break, but did not necessarily want to burn myself up on a bunch of attacks that were not going to stick. There were a lot of attacks on the finishing stretch, which did not make a lot of sense at all. There was a tail wind to the finish, and it was a long 3-4 block stretch with the start/finish pretty much right smack in the middle. A very long stretch to the finish after the last corner! There was a crash to my left at corner 4 midway through the race. Im well clear of it but see a couple girls flying into the padded barriers. Someone attacks while everyone is distracted (tacky if you ask me) and I have to chase back on the strung out field. I try to find a good position for the last 2 laps and I do and I tell myself I have to hold it. Im doing a good job and just as we are starting our final lap we start lapping dropped riders. With all of the corners, its getting very hairy. Its hard b/c the main field needs to get through and they are also trying to race their own race and place as best they can in the final lap. It gets even more dangerous on the 5th and 6th corners. I loose my wheel in the name of safety and have to work VERY hard to make up some spots on the final stretch (at least 600 meters). I find a wheel and move up with her and then pull out from behind her and give it all I have. I hit the giant manhole cover right in the middle of the finishing stretch and my back wheel jumps all over the place. I loose a pedal stroke, which doesn’t help. I regain control of my bike quickly and drill again all the way to the line. I pull out a 5th place finish even with all the craziness of the last lap. Ill take it!