Eden
04-23-2007, 09:03 AM
looooong - well I am trying to describe 3 action packed stages ;)
Stage race season has started! Our field was limitied to 50 and a few people did not show so we started with about 47
Day 1
Stage 1- 7.5 mile TT
This is my weakest point! I started very early, 5th I think and I really thought I had a pretty good run. The course is mosty up out and mostly down on the way back. I passed my 30 second person and caught my minute up by the turn around, she gained a bit on me on the way back down, but I caught up to her again near to the finish. I could see my minute 30 person at the finish too, so I was pretty psyched. When the results were posted - blast! 18th, the 3 in front of me were just slow.... I really need to work on my TT's, though with the course I think it will never be to my adavantage. I can climb great, but I'm too light to really rock the descents. I was going as fast as I could - hit higher heart rates on the way back than on the way out!
Stage 2- 38 miles 1 circuit, 2,800 ft climbing
Coming off of the heels of the TT (we had about 3 1/2 hours between the TT and the RR ) this can be a daunting race for people who have never done it before, but to tell the truth the TT acts like the ultimate warm up and this race has felt great to me both the times I've done it.
We do the finishing climb twice, but the first time up is neutral. This year it truely was neutral. The orgainizers had a goal that we should not drop anyone... (it has happened in the past) so we went up it at about 7.5 mph. Then the race was on.
A field of nearly 50 is pretty crowded for us 4's and moving around was interesting. I started very near to the front, but the pack really is alive and you can very suddenly find yourself near to the back. I was about mid pack when we hit the first small climb. Crap! I was stuck behind a couple of my own teammates that were slowing down. I finally asked one to move over and went shooting up between them. I caught the front of the group and I was feeling really great, since it didn't feel like I was even working to get up that hill and catch the front! The course is kind of twisty and rolling for some time from there so the pack kept stringing out and bunching up
I think I probably did a lot of b!tchy sounding yelling during this race, but there were some really sketchy riders!!! One pushed me out over the center line when there was a car coming - I yelled at her a lot. Sure lines move around and its cool to try to hold the wheel of your team mate, but you should not do it if you are going to push someone over the center line!!!! Another gal was just an all around sketch ball and I wasn't the only one yelling at her, she nearly knocked me and most of me teammates over at some point in time. Someone said she was a cross racer and this might be her first road race - she was still riding as if it was cross....
We hit a fairly flat point in the race and one of my teammates was up at the front. She'd done a bit to try to heat up the race, but no one else was interested in working. They were just snaking along behind her, unwilling to be out front. I took advantage of the single line and moved up beside her. We decided we would sit up there and just keep it slow until someone else decided that they were tired of our sit on the couch pace.. Finally someone tried something. It didn't really get her anywhere, but at least we were racing again and there were more people willing to get on the front.
We turned the corner at about the mid point of the race to what I remembered as the very windy side of the race, but this year it didn't seem as bad. There are several steady climbs on this side so I was keeping myself pretty close to the front. Techinically I was working for the front runners on my team from the TT, but not much had happened so I hadn't really needed to do much... The two people (not on my team) who were in the lead from the mornings TT launched an attack on on of the hills. I took off chasing with my teammate who was our currently best placed rider. To my surprise I was the one giving her encouragement to try to catch the break. I went past and caught the other two and now I wasn't sure what to do... do I work, do I slow them down to get my teammates back for the finishing climb. Fortunately I didn't have to think about it for too long as we were caught again shortly. My teammate then (no pressure right...) came up and told me to win the stage..... since I was probably the only one who could climb with the front runners.... (no pressure right....)
There is a good descent then a few miles into town and the finishing climb. The leaders made those last couple of miles hurt pretty good, but I got into town sticking to the leaders. We hit the bottom of the climb and away they went. I hit it as hard as I could, but the first two were just way to strong for me. I was keeping number 3 in sight, but I also had two on my tail. One kept yelling encouragements at me - I really just wanted tell her to shut the f up and just go past... If she could yell at me, she obviously wasn't working hard enough.... Finally they did pass me, but I kept on plugging. This is a stage race and time counts so the faster I could get up that climb the more places I would gain. I finished the stage 6th and moved myself up from 18th to 9th overall. (must improve that TT!!!!)
Day 2
Stage 3- Downtown Walla Walla Criterium, 25 minutes, 6 corner flat course.
We had a very early start (8am!) so I had to get up at 5:30 and it was raining... I'm not really a huge fan of crits and especially not in the rain, so my goal here was to just stay safe and finish with the front so I wouldn't lose any time or places. The sketchy riders from the day before had me a bit worried. Doing a wet crit with newbies.... mmmm not my favorite kind of day. The race official told us to go easy for the first few laps - yeah right, I prefer the tactic that was employed. We did not go easy and none of the ones I was worried about were around for very long! It was pretty strung out so the corners were not too bad and I only hit that man hole cover that gave me a flat last year once this year! We had an entriely safe race, yeah! and goal accomplished. Finished 11th in the crit and did not lose any time, so I kept my 9th overall! Top 10 in a stage race, not to bad. Now I just need to improve that darn TT....
For the team we had a great race - we had 4 in the top 10, my teammates taking 5,6 (me)9, and 10.
Stage race season has started! Our field was limitied to 50 and a few people did not show so we started with about 47
Day 1
Stage 1- 7.5 mile TT
This is my weakest point! I started very early, 5th I think and I really thought I had a pretty good run. The course is mosty up out and mostly down on the way back. I passed my 30 second person and caught my minute up by the turn around, she gained a bit on me on the way back down, but I caught up to her again near to the finish. I could see my minute 30 person at the finish too, so I was pretty psyched. When the results were posted - blast! 18th, the 3 in front of me were just slow.... I really need to work on my TT's, though with the course I think it will never be to my adavantage. I can climb great, but I'm too light to really rock the descents. I was going as fast as I could - hit higher heart rates on the way back than on the way out!
Stage 2- 38 miles 1 circuit, 2,800 ft climbing
Coming off of the heels of the TT (we had about 3 1/2 hours between the TT and the RR ) this can be a daunting race for people who have never done it before, but to tell the truth the TT acts like the ultimate warm up and this race has felt great to me both the times I've done it.
We do the finishing climb twice, but the first time up is neutral. This year it truely was neutral. The orgainizers had a goal that we should not drop anyone... (it has happened in the past) so we went up it at about 7.5 mph. Then the race was on.
A field of nearly 50 is pretty crowded for us 4's and moving around was interesting. I started very near to the front, but the pack really is alive and you can very suddenly find yourself near to the back. I was about mid pack when we hit the first small climb. Crap! I was stuck behind a couple of my own teammates that were slowing down. I finally asked one to move over and went shooting up between them. I caught the front of the group and I was feeling really great, since it didn't feel like I was even working to get up that hill and catch the front! The course is kind of twisty and rolling for some time from there so the pack kept stringing out and bunching up
I think I probably did a lot of b!tchy sounding yelling during this race, but there were some really sketchy riders!!! One pushed me out over the center line when there was a car coming - I yelled at her a lot. Sure lines move around and its cool to try to hold the wheel of your team mate, but you should not do it if you are going to push someone over the center line!!!! Another gal was just an all around sketch ball and I wasn't the only one yelling at her, she nearly knocked me and most of me teammates over at some point in time. Someone said she was a cross racer and this might be her first road race - she was still riding as if it was cross....
We hit a fairly flat point in the race and one of my teammates was up at the front. She'd done a bit to try to heat up the race, but no one else was interested in working. They were just snaking along behind her, unwilling to be out front. I took advantage of the single line and moved up beside her. We decided we would sit up there and just keep it slow until someone else decided that they were tired of our sit on the couch pace.. Finally someone tried something. It didn't really get her anywhere, but at least we were racing again and there were more people willing to get on the front.
We turned the corner at about the mid point of the race to what I remembered as the very windy side of the race, but this year it didn't seem as bad. There are several steady climbs on this side so I was keeping myself pretty close to the front. Techinically I was working for the front runners on my team from the TT, but not much had happened so I hadn't really needed to do much... The two people (not on my team) who were in the lead from the mornings TT launched an attack on on of the hills. I took off chasing with my teammate who was our currently best placed rider. To my surprise I was the one giving her encouragement to try to catch the break. I went past and caught the other two and now I wasn't sure what to do... do I work, do I slow them down to get my teammates back for the finishing climb. Fortunately I didn't have to think about it for too long as we were caught again shortly. My teammate then (no pressure right...) came up and told me to win the stage..... since I was probably the only one who could climb with the front runners.... (no pressure right....)
There is a good descent then a few miles into town and the finishing climb. The leaders made those last couple of miles hurt pretty good, but I got into town sticking to the leaders. We hit the bottom of the climb and away they went. I hit it as hard as I could, but the first two were just way to strong for me. I was keeping number 3 in sight, but I also had two on my tail. One kept yelling encouragements at me - I really just wanted tell her to shut the f up and just go past... If she could yell at me, she obviously wasn't working hard enough.... Finally they did pass me, but I kept on plugging. This is a stage race and time counts so the faster I could get up that climb the more places I would gain. I finished the stage 6th and moved myself up from 18th to 9th overall. (must improve that TT!!!!)
Day 2
Stage 3- Downtown Walla Walla Criterium, 25 minutes, 6 corner flat course.
We had a very early start (8am!) so I had to get up at 5:30 and it was raining... I'm not really a huge fan of crits and especially not in the rain, so my goal here was to just stay safe and finish with the front so I wouldn't lose any time or places. The sketchy riders from the day before had me a bit worried. Doing a wet crit with newbies.... mmmm not my favorite kind of day. The race official told us to go easy for the first few laps - yeah right, I prefer the tactic that was employed. We did not go easy and none of the ones I was worried about were around for very long! It was pretty strung out so the corners were not too bad and I only hit that man hole cover that gave me a flat last year once this year! We had an entriely safe race, yeah! and goal accomplished. Finished 11th in the crit and did not lose any time, so I kept my 9th overall! Top 10 in a stage race, not to bad. Now I just need to improve that darn TT....
For the team we had a great race - we had 4 in the top 10, my teammates taking 5,6 (me)9, and 10.