Eden
03-19-2006, 04:02 PM
ML #3 was a pretty much a blur for me so I'll try to see what I can remember. It was another big field, one of the other riders thought that since it was a NWWC points race that there were a good many people who came for that reason. It was also another somewhat sketchy field, so I have to say, though I'm glad I did them, I'm also really glad Mason Lake is over with. The other two non ML races that I've done now did not seem to be nearly as rough and tumble and from watching all of my husbands races last year it really seems like there are more crashes there than in any of the other races. The women's cat 4's had two crashes and a near miss on a third - but we weren't the worst for the day - there was a bad pileup in the sprint for the men's 4's. I haven't heard exactly what happened or how bad it was, but someone did say that it was quite serious for one of the guys. I hope that he (and the other guys of course) will be OK.
Contrary to the rumors I didn't go down in the second crash (and the horrible noise my bike was making was just the magnet from my computer smacking up against the sensor), but I did get caught up in the middle of it and had to stop. My team mate, who did go down right in front of me (sorry for riding over your leg!!) got back up and took off so fast all I could do was hold onto her wheel until we got back up to the pack, way to go you are a trooper! Take care of that knee.
It seemed like a lot of attack and chase for most of the race, but it also seems like once someone gets a certain amount of gap no one wants to go after them. I chased the eventual winning break, but couldn't keep it up long enough to reach her, so I pulled off of the front, hoping someone would take it up - nothing - one of the Ti girls asked me aren't you going to go catch her?! Given some cooperation maybe WE could have caught her (the pack that is) so I said not by myself I'm not! Oh well, maybe its time to have a workshop stressing tactics and cooperation between teams for all of us newbies on ALL of the teams. After that more chase, chase, chase, but no other successful break aways. Our sprinter came out from the pack for an absolutely super sprint at the end - since you don't get anything else for it big big kudo's to her for winning the Mason Lakes Points Series! There was a bit more bumping around in front of me during the sprint. The girl beside one of my team mates bumped into the person on her left and then ricocheted right into my team mate almost knocking her down for the second time in the day - thankfully no crash that time. I placed 12th at this one.
Market Street RR - This one is more straight forward for me to write up - pretty much hanging on for dear life the whole time! It was probably the hardest race that I've done yet, but maybe the most rewarding as well. The start of this one was a hill and the group took off fast! The first lap was brutal - I was already feeling the day before and to kick up into a fast climb first thing was super hard on the legs and lungs. There were a lot of times during the first lap that I was pretty sure I was going to be finishing this one on my own, but the pace calmed down a little bit for the next 2 laps and I was able to hang on. It was a bit of a shock to realize that we had to take that first hill 4 and not 3 times, since the finish line was after the hill and the start was before it - uugh! The pack was smaller than any of the other races that I've done now -starting at 20, down to 13 at the finish so, even though there was a little bumping in front of me during the sprint again, this time with the more open road and smaller pack I was able to go around it, rather than have to hang behind it. My final place was 7th and I am thrilled.
Well anyway all in all a long fun weekend, it sounds crazy, but with the time that the races have been starting I'm almost glad tomorrow is a work day and I get to sleep in :p .
Contrary to the rumors I didn't go down in the second crash (and the horrible noise my bike was making was just the magnet from my computer smacking up against the sensor), but I did get caught up in the middle of it and had to stop. My team mate, who did go down right in front of me (sorry for riding over your leg!!) got back up and took off so fast all I could do was hold onto her wheel until we got back up to the pack, way to go you are a trooper! Take care of that knee.
It seemed like a lot of attack and chase for most of the race, but it also seems like once someone gets a certain amount of gap no one wants to go after them. I chased the eventual winning break, but couldn't keep it up long enough to reach her, so I pulled off of the front, hoping someone would take it up - nothing - one of the Ti girls asked me aren't you going to go catch her?! Given some cooperation maybe WE could have caught her (the pack that is) so I said not by myself I'm not! Oh well, maybe its time to have a workshop stressing tactics and cooperation between teams for all of us newbies on ALL of the teams. After that more chase, chase, chase, but no other successful break aways. Our sprinter came out from the pack for an absolutely super sprint at the end - since you don't get anything else for it big big kudo's to her for winning the Mason Lakes Points Series! There was a bit more bumping around in front of me during the sprint. The girl beside one of my team mates bumped into the person on her left and then ricocheted right into my team mate almost knocking her down for the second time in the day - thankfully no crash that time. I placed 12th at this one.
Market Street RR - This one is more straight forward for me to write up - pretty much hanging on for dear life the whole time! It was probably the hardest race that I've done yet, but maybe the most rewarding as well. The start of this one was a hill and the group took off fast! The first lap was brutal - I was already feeling the day before and to kick up into a fast climb first thing was super hard on the legs and lungs. There were a lot of times during the first lap that I was pretty sure I was going to be finishing this one on my own, but the pace calmed down a little bit for the next 2 laps and I was able to hang on. It was a bit of a shock to realize that we had to take that first hill 4 and not 3 times, since the finish line was after the hill and the start was before it - uugh! The pack was smaller than any of the other races that I've done now -starting at 20, down to 13 at the finish so, even though there was a little bumping in front of me during the sprint again, this time with the more open road and smaller pack I was able to go around it, rather than have to hang behind it. My final place was 7th and I am thrilled.
Well anyway all in all a long fun weekend, it sounds crazy, but with the time that the races have been starting I'm almost glad tomorrow is a work day and I get to sleep in :p .