Cyclo de Mayo Crit results

[AZSpinner]

I had my first "real" race on Sunday. It was a blast!!! It was a crit that consisted of a 1/2-mile loop through the streets of downtown Scottsdale. Two very sharp corners, two more rounded. Thankfully, they were all left turns, which I feel more comfortable with.

Had a couple of goals going in: not crash, not cause a crash and to not embarrass myself. I definitely succeeded at the first two goals, and I think I did okay on the third, too.

Pre-race: Our race (Cat 4 women) started pretty early - 7am. It was a 45 minute ride to the race so had to get up fairly early. I had thought about bringing my trainer to warm-up, but decided against it. I figured since we were the first race, I'd be able to warm-up on the route. Got to the race site, myself and one other woman were the only two that hadn't brought our trainers. I had a big smile on my face as I handed the registration guy my license. I was absolutely giddy when I received my official license in the mail. I think more so than when I got my driver's license at 16! So, went to go warm up on the route... Well, they were running a little behind with barricade set-up, route clean-up. There was a tow truck on the course towing away all of the cars that didn't move their vehicles, bunch of straw debris on all of the corners. Needless to say, wasn't able to get much of a warm-up in until about 5 minutes before the start of the race. A fellow racer came up to me to introduce herself and asked a few questions (more about this later). It was a small field - only 6 of us. I was the only one not in a team kit. I felt like I really stood out as a rookie.

Race: The race was 20 laps on a 1/2 mile loop. We got lined up and off we went! I was pleased with how quickly I was able to clip into my pedals - that's been a problem on the practice crits. We dropped one girl before the first turn. I felt badly for her. So, then there were 5. We were going along at a pretty good clip for me (about 20mph) for the first lap, while everyone got familiar with the course. After that, the pace picked up to anywhere from 21-23mph, with bursts up to 25mph depending on who was up front. During the first lap, we noticed that there was some water on the route (irrigation tube in a flower pot sprung a leak - water was shooting out), yelled the info to the judges as we were going by. Unfortunately, the water hazard wasn't too far from entering turn 3 and one of the riders went down in front of me on lap 3. I was able to miss her and her bike, but needed to really pick it back up to catch up with the lead pack of three. So, now there were just 4 of us. I felt pretty good. The announcer was calling us the elite 4. It was fun to hear my name over the loud speaker. One of the problems I was having was that I wasn't needing to slow down as much going into the corners as the other 3, so I was practically sitting up on the corners. I was too chicken to take the lead. They had amazing power coming out of those corners. I found myself having to come out of my saddle and sprint to keep up. After about 12 laps of this, it really began to take a toll on me and they started to pull away. I kept pushing it and was maintaining speeds of 21-22 hoping that slow and steady would win the race and that they would get fatigued and I'd be able to catch back up. But they really put it in a different gear for the last 3 laps. I ended up finishing 4th out of a initial pool of 6 - just missed the podium.

After-race: The woman that had introduced herself at the beginning, came up to me and told me that I did a great job for my first race. And then she tells me that they were sorry that they had to drop me, but that they needed to make sure that one of the other women won the race so that she would have enough points to upgrade to Cat 3. I guess my responses to her questions, somehow made them think I was a threat? She must have thought I was joking that all I really wanted was the experience of riding in a group and finishing. So, it looks like I had 3 people working against me even though they were all from different teams. However, one of the women that is on a team near me, was so impressed that I was invited to be on the team! So...tonight, I'm going to participate in one of their group training rides, to see how I fit with the team. Maybe after tonight, I won't be the one showing up for a race without a team kit!

[Mimosa]

That was a great report to read.

I know how you feel about the kit, I also ride without a teamkit and it feels a bit off. I enlisted with a local club last week but I haven't heard back from them. And even then it is doubtfull that they have my size on stock (it looks like most common sizes are out of stock)

[velogirl]

congratulations on your first crit. unfortunately (for the woman seeking upgrade points), points are not available unless there are at least 10 women starting the race.

If you were cornering faster than the other racers, it's too bad you didn't feel confident enough to sit up front and pick the line. that would eliminate the surges that caused you to eventually drop.

and congratulations on your new team. there are so many benefits to riding with a team (including the kit).

[BikeMomma]

Good job, AZ! The first race is always amazing....but having said that, really they're all amazing, just in different ways. Congrats on being asked to join a team, too. VG's right -- being on a team is better than going it alone (she's right about the corner thing, too).

Good luck in your future racing & hope you stick with it!
~BikeMomma

[AZSpinner]

unfortunately (for the woman seeking upgrade points), points are not available unless there are at least 10 women starting the race.

The response I was given was that since there were less than 10, then the points were cut in half? I don't know how accurate that is. I guess I'll find out when they update the points section on the AZ cycling website.

Thanks to all for the good tips and words of encouragement! This definitely was not my last race.