So after witnessing the sprinting abilities of my competition yesterday, I decided that I should avoid a sprint finish today at all costs. The race (in downtown Nashville) was uphill for the first few turns, so I knew that there would be attacks and chances to get away from the pack.

I was a little worried about the race from the start- I had a horrible first couple of laps, but felt better once the pace settled down. After that, I felt strong. Early in the race, I was in a small break and realized that I had a rider behind me that would probably not follow an attack, so I took a flier on the uphill section of the course. The result was a solo breakaway that lasted about 6 or 7 laps.

It landed me a couple of primes and wore me out a bit, so when the time checks were down to 7 or 8 seconds (I was hearing 18 and 20 the first few laps), I decided to sit up & wait for the pack.

Luckily, when the pack caught me, they all sat up (surprising, given the talent that was in there!) I was able to sit in and recover for at least 4 laps before another prime stimulated a surge in pace. Another stroke of luck- the couple of times that Debbie Milne and Leigh Valletti managed to get away from the pack, it appeared as if they couldn’t agree on how to work together, so they never stuck what could have been some seriously dangerous getaways.

Getting back to my strategy, though…
Fast forward to the last lap. I am trying my damnedest to stay on Debbie’s wheel (which meant I was shoulder to shoulder with a couple of others who wanted to do the same). Then I thought back to my last race of last season (Kim and Gina from Vantaggio can tell you about it :) ) where I used a surprise attack early in the last lap to take the win. In the long straightaway before the last two turns to the finishing stretch, I saw my chance and made the same move- an all-out hammer to the finish, taking the final turns at speeds that could make or (literally) break my chances of winning.

Photo of final turn:

It worked. I yelled and raised one fist in the air (see photo- it’s a little goofy, but hey, it works…)

Somehow I doubt it will work again tomorrow :D

Last night was a lot of fun. The races, a kilo time trial and short, sprint criteriums, were held at the Old Nashville Speedway- a short, NASCAR-style track with high, banked turns.

The kilo was an insane race. It was a hard acceleration followed by an all-out effort. I rode hard enough that my vision blurred and I felt as though I was on the verge of passing out. My time was 1:26.45- good enough for 2nd place (1st was 1:24.39 and 3rd was 1:26.87).

Afterwards, racers were all called to the infield of the track to start the preliminary heats of the sprint criteriums. The official was great- though the race flyer billed us for one, 8-lap race, she ran the women’s races in a similar way to the men’s races. We had a 3/4 prelim and a 1/2 prelim, with the top 5 finishers of each group advancing to the final race. I made it to the final and finished in 4th place.

Though we were racing for fun (no prizes), it was a great time. It was also a great opportunity to size up the competition. I knew that Debbie Milne (ProBike) and Leigh Valletti (Vanderkitten) would be strong, but a few others made good showings as well.

A couple of Kilo photos:

When we woke up this morning and flipped on the local news, the weather radar showed some pretty bad storms headed our way. Sure enough, by 9:30, Tulsa was being ravaged by hail and sustained winds of 50-60mph. After the storms let off, we went to drive down to the course & find out what the race schedule would be like. When we arrived, the place looked like a war zone- tents had been blown over/apart, limbs and debris were everywhere, and a powerline was strewn across the road on one part of the course. An official told us that everything was canceled, and that it would take far too long to get the course cleaned up enough to ride on, and it was possible that more storms were headed our way.

Bummer! The course looked tough- it featured a long, somewhat steep climb as well as a decent that led into a hairpin turn to the start/finish stretch. I was really looking forward to testing my climbing legs up against the sprinters who had outrun me the last two races!

Even bigger bummer- I just looked at the website, and they actually had the mens/womens pro races as scheduled… WTF?!?!?! Only 28 finished the race- I guess a lot of other racers talked to the same mis-informing official as we did.

On the way back to Memphis, Ryan and I stopped at Nick’s BBQ and Catfish in Carlisle, AR. It’s quickly becoming a staple part of our road trips to/from races further west. If you’re ever driving through the area, check it out!

“The enemy of my enemy is my friend”

Today, the enemy of my enemy was the heat. With a 4:00 start time, it was hot and humid on the course. 59 starters lined up, and, after an hour of racing, I finished in 19th place- my first top 20 finish in an NRC crit!

Like yesterday, I was feeling better about riding in the large pack and holding my position. Unlike yesterday, the heat seemed to take its toll on some of the very strong riders in the group, allowing me to unload on the last two laps and fight my way up in the charging pack. Tomorrow should be interesting…

Here’s a photo of me on course:

Last night’s racing was fun. The course was a pseudo-figure eight that kept everyone on their toes. I felt much more comfortable in the pack than in the Sunny King and Roswell races (though I had few close calls and did throw a couple of elbow “nudges” to some riders who got a little too close for comfort). I am finally getting more comfortable with riding in a pack of fast riders and moving up within the pack. With (relative) ease, I stayed about 1/2 to 2/3 of the way back in the pack. I even managed to find my way up front a few times :)

During the final laps, I was doing ok until the pace quickened and riders started to get gapped. As the field strung out, and I moved past the dropping riders, I realized I could hear the moto behind me… a sure sign of being in the back of the group! So, as I finished in 33rd place (out of 58 starters) this race ended up being another learning experience. However, as a fun side note, I was 8th place of the other category 2 riders.

I’ve got a couple more chances this weekend to continue making improvements. Realistically, I’ve got to get stronger and faster before I can expect to get in the top 10 finishers- something that just takes time and training.

AKA: NRC, Take Two

I leave in the morning for the Tulsa Tough Criteriums in Oklahoma. I’m ready for my next shot at some NRC racing. I’ve been working hard on being less polite when riding in a group :) Hopefully being a little less nice will keep me out of the back of the pack!

Friday, Ryan and I rode around the top of Mt. Magazine. He took my photo at an overlook, then I knocked some bikes over…

Saturday, the road race was tough. We got lumped in with the masters men’s race, which sucked for everyone- I was policing the front while we had a rider in a break when the men decided that they wanted to actually race and started chasing all of our attacks. I don’t blame them, though. Nevertheless, I raced as hard as I could to soften the climbers up for the final ascent. I still managed to pull off 3rd place because a couple of the girls ahead of me took a wrong turn (as a side note- I’ve never been to a race that provided so many course maps and diagrams).

Afterwards, my teammates came up to the lodge to relax a bit before the TT. I swear Kat was just stretching and not trying to apply chamois butter.

On a similar note- whose idea was it to have a mountaintop finish RR followed by a 20+ mile time trial?!?!

I actually felt better than expected until about mile 16, when my legs remembered that I’d raced 60 miles earlier in the day, but still finished in 3rd place with a time of 52:44.
It was enough to tie me for 1st place with my teammate, Kristen Wentworth.

I landed a 5th place finish in Sunday’s crit. For photos (including my race, cat 3 men, and a few pro 1/2 men) visit Ryan’s Blog. Both Kristen and I wanted to be in a break for a guaranteed place in the omnium. Kristen eventually got away with Shannon Koch, and they ended up lapping the field. My finish was good enough for 3rd overall in the omnium. A couple of podium shots…

Afterwards, I showed off my muffin tops. They were hanging out of my jersey & over the top of my shorts