Catching up my race reports!
Hi All -
While I have the gumption to write these, just want to tell you about a couple recent races:
The Steinbeck Old Country Criterium: Salinas, CA; 5/13/07 (Mothers Day)
This race was totally centered around the ladies on Mother's Day....makes a change from the usual opposite! This time I actually got in on some of the winnings with a 6th place finish in my category and 1 whole upgrade point! :p
This race course was FUN and relatively hazard-free, except for one rather rough sewer grate, but it was marked well, so it was avoidable. It was windy and cool, as the coastal towns often are, but the sea air was refreshing and well....anytime I'm near the ocean, it's heaven. Anyway, the race itself was very fast and filled with attacks from the Metromint team, who are riding strong this year. I was fairly active, closing gaps and trying to stay in the game. I'm calling this race one long 45-minute experimentation with lack of oxygen. I don't think there was one moment of easy breathing. I felt good for most of the race, but I could feel myself tiring. Therefore, for the last lap, I lost a bit of concentration and was too far back at the final corner to make any difference. But, knowing they were were picking separately and placing the top 10, I figured I was somewhere in the money. Finished 14th overall and 6th in the 4's, for $18 in prize money. That's either 1/2 my entry fee, or most of my gas money, however you want to look at it. :)
After the race was over, I took advantage of the ocean's proximity and headed over to Pacific Grove for some lunch, ordered it to-go, and then drove to the beach and had a lovely, reflective lunch on the beach, with my toes in the sand, and the ocean spray in the air. Way cool. Then drove home, piled the kids and spouse in the van, and headed up to Yosemite for a sunset dinner in the park. Two mountain ranges in one day, on Mother's Day to boot. How cool is that???
Trek Memorial Day Criterium; San Jose, CA; 5/28/07
This race was pretty calm compared to the Steinbeck Crit, but we did have one crash early on in the race involving a couple riders at the front. It didn't look major, however, so I think all involved are fine. I never like to see anyone go down, in fact in this race I came close in a separate incident, but that's bike racing. Accept it or get off the course, I say.
This one was a relative sprint at 30 minutes compared to Steinbeck's 45 minute lung torture. I felt really good and very strong in the race and in hindsight, I probably could have been way more agressive and stirred things up the last lap or two. As it was though, I sat in and waited for things to happen and just helped to counter the half-hearted attacks some girls launched. Right before the final corner, I was in a pickle as I was in the middle of the field with no way to the outside to get closer to the front. But, as things went, outside riders moved up and suddenly the middle opened up for me and I was able to get near the front pretty quickly. By the time we hit the final corner, I was in the top 15 (a total field of 31 riders) -- not as far up as I should have been, but decent nonetheless.
In the sprint finish, there were two riders directly ahead of me and riders on either side, but as the riders ahead weren't going anywhere fast and I WAS, I yelled "gotta go...comin' through!" or something to that effect. They moved apart slightly and I was able to slip between them and into 12th place across the line. Fun race, GREAT course, no bad parts at all to it -- I'll do this one again next year, 'prolly.
Thanks for reading y'all....I have two more reports to do from this weekend, but I'm tuckered!
Tailwinds...
~BikeMomma
