NJBikeGal
04-20-2008, 02:01 PM
What: Lower Providence Crit Race
When: Sunday, April 20th
Cat 1/2/3 race started around 1pm
Weather: Quite funny actually. It was BEAUTIFUL all morning long. As the men's race before us was entering the final two laps, a downpour began. As Forrest Gump would say, "Big fat rain" was pelting us and soaked the entire place in seconds. By the time the men's group had finished, the rain had passed on. Leaving us with a soaking wet course (great puddles included), but no rain! Ironically, as we were finishing up and doing a cool down lap, the sky opened up again and pummled the site with rain! Looks like someone up there likes girls! :)
Course: Flat, one mile industrial park loop with a mild downhill and a mild uphill (both around 1-2%). Smooth roads, nice wide corners...Flat and fast was the name of the game
Field: 28 pre-reg, a few extra on the start line. 3 Sturdies in the field - Sally, Dana and Me!
Race: It started fast, with Erica Allar (Aaron's Pro Team) pushing the pace at the front. She would do this for the majority of the race with the rest of us (me, at least) hanging on for dear life! We settled into a fast pace for the race (ended up with an average of 22.6mph). I stayed on, although I was at the back for most of the race. There were a lot of attacks and eventually one rider got off the front. At some point, Erica Allar and a Verducci rider crossed the break, leaving the rest of us to race for 4th! I managed to stay with the group for the remainder of the race. I tried to get up front and found myself in a good position on the last lap after the 2nd turn, but I lost that position around the 3rd. I pushed it to the finish line with a strong sprint (should have downshifted once, though!) and finished up in 18th place overall.
My goals going in: This was really my first major race as a 3 - and a bit inimidating considering there was a pro in the mix, so I wanted to race safe. That was the most important thing. I wanted to stay with the group and finish strong. In other words, I met all of my goals today and am a happy camper with the results!
When: Sunday, April 20th
Cat 1/2/3 race started around 1pm
Weather: Quite funny actually. It was BEAUTIFUL all morning long. As the men's race before us was entering the final two laps, a downpour began. As Forrest Gump would say, "Big fat rain" was pelting us and soaked the entire place in seconds. By the time the men's group had finished, the rain had passed on. Leaving us with a soaking wet course (great puddles included), but no rain! Ironically, as we were finishing up and doing a cool down lap, the sky opened up again and pummled the site with rain! Looks like someone up there likes girls! :)
Course: Flat, one mile industrial park loop with a mild downhill and a mild uphill (both around 1-2%). Smooth roads, nice wide corners...Flat and fast was the name of the game
Field: 28 pre-reg, a few extra on the start line. 3 Sturdies in the field - Sally, Dana and Me!
Race: It started fast, with Erica Allar (Aaron's Pro Team) pushing the pace at the front. She would do this for the majority of the race with the rest of us (me, at least) hanging on for dear life! We settled into a fast pace for the race (ended up with an average of 22.6mph). I stayed on, although I was at the back for most of the race. There were a lot of attacks and eventually one rider got off the front. At some point, Erica Allar and a Verducci rider crossed the break, leaving the rest of us to race for 4th! I managed to stay with the group for the remainder of the race. I tried to get up front and found myself in a good position on the last lap after the 2nd turn, but I lost that position around the 3rd. I pushed it to the finish line with a strong sprint (should have downshifted once, though!) and finished up in 18th place overall.
My goals going in: This was really my first major race as a 3 - and a bit inimidating considering there was a pro in the mix, so I wanted to race safe. That was the most important thing. I wanted to stay with the group and finish strong. In other words, I met all of my goals today and am a happy camper with the results!