7/2/06 Vacaville Gran Prix Criterium
Yes, I'm reeeeeeeally late with this one. Just sorta posting it for the record, really. I realized a while back that these reports are handy for me to use as a reference for next season.
This race for Cat 3's and 4's comprised of a multitude of right and left turns, a hill and speedy downhill on the other side, with a 90-degree turn right after. The setting was old-town Vacaville through part of their historic district, so it was cool to ride amonst some old buildings (I have a thing for them). I think we were originally supposed to do 20 laps, but as the organizers were running behind schedule due to a crash in a prior race, our race was cut to 16 laps (if I recall correctly).
The neat thing about this course is that it had it all -- s turns, tight corners, wide corners, a hill, a fast descent w/corner, rough roads, smooth roads, traffic dots, varying road grades, blind corners, etc. It had pretty much anything that could be thrown at you, which is probably why the District Crit Championships were raced the same day for the 1/2 mens and women's fields. It was an excellent course to test criterium skills. Mine need work. :D :D :D :p :p :p
So without further ado or delay, let's just sum Vacaville up with a simple "OUCH!". No, I didn't crash, but wowwie, I felt like crap. The main thing was that I had been sick the week before and didn't ride much, so I wasn't in tip-top shape. The second contributing factor was that the one small hill that was included in the course description (an overpass) was a killer and knocked me off the back of the pack after about 3 laps. My legs had no oomph to them at all, and I was toast real quick.
I could have pulled myself out of the race at that point, but I'm a self-admitted stubborn so-n-so and so I kept going. I turned it positive and just made it a training race against myself, by trying to see how long I could keep it up without getting lapped. I almost made it the whole race without them reaching me, but as fate would have it, with 1 1/2 laps to go, they got me on the downside of the hill and I stayed with them until, you guessed it, the hill again. :p :p Heehee.....it was comical, and strangely fun through the pain. I made sure I smiled at the guy at the top of the hill each lap, too.
The FUN thing about this race is that on the downside of the hill, there was a 90-degree right turn at the bottom that you'd be taking at speeds of over 30mph, easy. I think my max speed for this race was 35mph on this hill. I couldnt believe that corner....it could be hairy if you didn't take it right. It got more comfortable for me the more laps I did, and it was one of the reasons I kept on.
The other reason was the spectators, volunteers, and other racers. The encouragement I got for just sticking with it was really cool. I think there were one or two McGuire riders calling out to keep it up, then at one particular corner, I could count on a volunteer to say something to me, then this other volunteer on the other side, right before you took the right-hander to go up the hill, would whoop and holler every time. The race announcer too, would say something every now and then, and finally, when the field was lapping me, another rider just simply said "alright McGuire!" as she went by and that was just cool. :cool: The whole spectatator thing was great. :D
As far as official results, I think I was placed 18th out of 19 Cat 4's, which sorta baffled me. I thought I was dead last, which is fine, but I had no idea there was someone else back there.
There was a photographer at one of the corners and I heard him take a couple pics as I went by once or twice. Sure enough, here's a pic he took: http://mikenachtwey.com/cycling/06_r...s/page_30.html. It turned out great with the blurry speed effect (it's my avatar for the time being).
So anyway, a whole month-and-a-half later, there ya go! Hope you all enjoyed the report anyhow. :p
~BikeMomma
