4 posts tagged “crit”
Wente RR
40 starters – teammates – JS
Course 3 laps (4 times up Carroll). Weather: cool and WINDY.
Bike: Felt b/c it has climbing gears!
I warmed up solidly – got the HR up to 160 on the trainer. Learned that some friends had missed their start and that the officials were running about 3 minutes early so I made sure to get there early. Good thing I did!
On the start line, the officials announce the QOM prize on the FIRST time up the hill – wtf? So we were all together finding good position, made the right hand turn onto Altamont road and came to a screeching halt as a HUGE red truck nearly took us out by turning INTO the peloton as we were making the right hand turn… where were the volunteers and police??? Why did the truck run past the barricades that said BIKE RACE? After nearly rear ending the truck, it took me about 10 minutes to calm down – just as I was getting my heart rate back down, we got too the right turn onto Carroll and the fireworks started. Marley and Davis girl were way off the front and I was just hanging onto the peloton… So we had a pack together for about 3 miles – before it was blown apart.
I made sure to ride the hill like I know how to ride, and refusing to be dropped or blow up. I got up and over the freeway and into the slight uphill and I was dangling with April Hamlin and Colavita gal. We worked super solidly together and chased and chased and chased and finally caught back on after the downhill – Colavita said “we’re there” and I still had 10 yards to make up and no matches to burn to get there. April and I were now dangling, and refused to give up. We were ON and then we made that right hand turn to go up and over that tiny but steep hill – I stood and just said (a la “A Christmas Story” … FUUUUUUUUUUUDGE) and I was dropped. That was it. They were only 10 yards ahead of me but I had fallen off. I set about recovering and sitting up to see who was behind me. Hooray it’s 5 gals including Lucia and a few others… I got into their paceline and sat in to recover. Then Lucia pulled out and I mentally was ready to too. The front group sat up and recovered as well so we caught back on as we were making the right turn again in Altamont. Whew. Recovered and surely they wont ramp it up until the last lap. Wrong. The two were still off the front and the climbers started putting the hurt on. I just didn’t have much left to burn. After completing the climb I was with Mason and Dolce… I decided enough. I’d been dropped and caught the field twice – and the third time I got dropped, I decided it’s a training ride.
Meanwhile the wind really picked up by this time. I rode the climbs my pace and rode away from the other two gals, and caught up to a SJBC Jonathan Racine. I passed him on the uphill, and then he passed me on the flats, and so we decided to ride it in together. Solid choice to save it for tomorrow. I rounded up a VeloBella who was clearly fading in my race and got her on my wheel and paced her to the finishline to help her recover… she was ever grateful.
Fitness for climbing is just not there and this race confirms my need for a break.
SUNDAY
Wente Crit 1-2-3. 3’s prized and scored separately.
Weather: 60 and light breeze – much warmer and less windy that the RR.
Teammates – Bev
Start time: 2:40.
Avg speed 25mph
Ate at noon – good choice of a bland sandwich to give me enough energy to stay competitive! Watched the W4 crit. Good times – with Ash taking 4th! Woot!
Bev and I were on the trainers for a solid 45 minutes – legs felt like crap for a full 15 minutes. Around 30 minutes I finally started feeling loose. I did three solid one minute high HR efforts. Felt good and warm.
Took a lap before the race. On the start line in the second row. The gals in front of me SUCKED at clipping in… But I was warm so once out of traffic, I was up and INTO the race. I’ll be honest, I was a bit scared right off the bat – remembering the total trouncing we had in Santa Cruz, and then deflated again from yesterdays race.
I was tentative in the first 3 laps – just seeing how people were riding and checking out the course at speed. There were a few instances of guttering after turn 2 – into the left gutter. Once I found where I could be comfortable (and it was different areas on the course) then I stayed there. I was totally protected about 66% of the time, but around turn 4 the gals were taking a crappy line too much inside, so I consistently moved to the outside so I could steadily pedal but took the wind, and found myself out in the wind fighting to get back into the pack. So either stay on a line and grit my teeth – or move outside and move up!
About halfway thru, a vanderkitten filled a tiny gap to my right where there wasn’t really a gap – so we ended up leaning into each other and pedaling until we moved off each other – it was surprising but I wasn’t going to let it go, I refused to go down. Yay!
Around 6 laps to go, a break had formed after a prime – and I was moving up anyway so I jumped across and was in a break for about ½ lap. Pretty cool to try anyway. It crumbled as metromint gave serious chase.
With 5 to go I had drifted back to chill and recover – Bev was up front looking awesome. With 4 to go I was still in a bad position. Bev was looking good in 3rd wheel.
With 3 to go I was moving up up up.
With 2 to go I was thinking move up move up move up. I needed to be in the top 10 -15 by the last turn.
With 1 to go I was moving up and listening to girls breathing really hard. But I didn’t position myself well – I guess maybe I started moving up too late. When the sprint started, I was about 4 rows back – I passed about 6 gals maybe more by my count. We were all over the road and as girls were falling back and I was passing them, I was having to choose to move around them, left? Right? I hope nobody is coming up behind me? Anyway – I passed a few gals but was solid mid-pack. However I felt I had another sprint left in my tank.
In the end: I moved up, back, around up thru the middle in this race
and was very happy to have made a few moves in the front of the race. My confidence has
taken a beating lately so this was a good race for me, I turned self doubt into
confidence again because I was totally fit enough to hang with these women.
Some of the major competitors that Bev and I have been racing with the first
part of this year did not do anything during this race – and we were both solid
and impressed with our finish. Next time, move up with 3 to go, no matter what.
GTTM
Yes, it was my very first time racing the women's Category 1-2-3 crit. In the Bay Area, as a woman cyclist, easily 1/2 of our races (especially crit's) are combined category 1-2-3. Primarily because there aren't enough of any one category to constitute an entire race to itself. So, I moved up to Category 3 in June, and now I'm privileged to race with the pros. Yikes!
Timpani Criterium: Easy four corner crit.
Lots of wind on the long backstretch (which i think ended up a good thing for me!)
Teammates: beverly, Bergen, and me
wom 1-2-3 crit - 55 minutes (longest crit for me!)
Goal: to get Bergen the win (or at least podium) for the three's, and for me to stay
and finish in the pack - gauge my fitness level right now coming off being sick for 2 weeks.
The field: lots of Code 3 and Testarossa gals - so they were the ones to watch - quite a few mintys and dolce to boot.
Race, off like lightning from the start - we were racing together, not as separate - but 3s were picked separate... So - whistle blows and we're off - About the 3rd lap I thought "damn this is fast, i'm going to struggle to hang on and if I get gapped that's it"
Fortunately the pace mellowed a bit - the wind really stopped any big gaps from forming - and i sat in the back with Bergen - trying to hang on for the ride.
Things of note - no (well almost none) scary riders in sight, everyone pedaled through corners (for the most part) and hardly any braking needed - no corner swarm, and everyone held lines - so hey, riding with 'the big girls' is much more relaxed and less nerve wracking.
Middle part: a protech gal that tried to move up on the outside - along the cones in the road separating road (cars) from race (cyclists) - she just yelled "left' to me as the entire peloton (to my right) was moving left - so i had nowhere to go with gals moving into me on my right and her on my left...- and i didnt budge from my spot so she had
nowhere to go except over the cone - nearly taking out Bev and Bergen in the process. she didnt crash - just lots of cone bouncing around - we all stayed up and she took herself out of the race voluntarily (not sure if she had to do that or not...)
Lots of strong capable dependable wheels in code 3 and poggio - and poggio several times led a train up the outside, which i hopped on and we ended up in front - totally fun to freak out the 1/2s... "someone do something!" is what i heard as we passed the front girls...
with 4 to go, we start ramping up speed. With 3 to go i started moving up. I wanted to bridge Bergen up to Bev in the front with 2 to go, and deposit her with Bev and have them ride a fast train to sprint out for the podium - but i hopped a great train up to the front and Bergen didnt catch my wheel (need to practice that) - i started my sprint a tiny bit too late (because i really wasnt sure i had much in my legs - but it turns out I had more gas in the tank then I thought!) but i was so unsure of my fitness (after being sick for 2 weeks) that I underestimated my strength.
Finished somewhere after bev - maybe 8th (turns out it was 12th but I think they messed up the finish - however, doesnt matter, because it definitely wasnt top 6) in 3s and 20something overall out of 30something girls.
next up: Winters RR.
Lessons - excited to race with the big girls as much as I can - I'm more confident that I can hang with the pace, stay on wheels, but have lots to learn - keeping on wheels - closing gaps as they open, so need to work more over unders in the next coming weeks! I'm looking to be more confident, faster, and ultimately able to move around in the pack and up in my category!
First off - race organizers put on a fabulous race.. thanks guys! Williams wheels - big thanks to you for the neutral wheel support!!!!!!!!!!! Props!
EBC stands for east bay crashfest! Wom 3/4 (race together, score separate) - full of sketch riders that cant take bot dots or lean into each other, which is how I ended up hitting the pavement on the SECOND lap. but first: teammates - lots of them! Mo, Ashley, Bergen, Kate, Cathy. Course: flat, fast, great pavement, short. just like merco. also a crashfest.
My goal - points - just needed 2 to upgrade. Team goal - Get 2 lady mice on the podium. I wanted to lead Bergen out. Ideas: Find each other in the pack with 5 to go - and start ramping up the pace to string out the pack and see what we can do.
So - lap 2, one girl hit a bot dot or a bump, over reacted - leaned into Alice from Metromint - they were directly in front of me. I see this happen in slo-mo - and think "dont go down, dont crash, dont crash, dont crash" and.... they crashed - hard. Alice ended up shattering her elbow and may have fractured her cheekbone. She will need surgery to keep her elbow in place to heal. As this happened directly in front of me as we're going 20+mph, I slammed on my new emergency braking skills - slowed way down but had to either bunny hop a bike/person or go down to the right... so from what i remember, I braked and fell over. i have 5 giant bruises. I did happen to think "dont put your hand out" as the ground rushed to meet me. I gathered my arms close to me and rolled - landing mostly on my right hip and forearm and shoulder - and saw my bike skid across the road. Popped up quick, looked around, grabbed my bike and started to get back on - when people yelled at me to go to the pit (Anthony? nole? other teammates... it's all a blur). I ran into the pit - they changed my wheel - it was a bit bent... got me back in the race - unfortunately it took me an entire lap to get back to the pit - so they gave me 2 free laps... which i guess is a no no... anyway, i was bleeding and wanting to get back on so the official allowed it.
Off I chased back onto the pack and got in the field. now i had a chance to think about what happened. i was a bit scared so i got up front and did what i could to stay there - i did NOT want to go down or get near sketch girls again.
fast forward to 5 to go - we found each other - and were getting squeezed back by the dolce train and the code 3 train and the mintys. I said somethign to bergen and kate and i went left, they went right and we 3 went outside, regrouped and hit the gas... we maintained position going into the last 2 laps - pace ramped up big beginning the last lap where I heard the worst CRACK SNAP ever in a race. another crash - we kept going - didnt receive any news about neutralizing - kept our eyes open - and because I had let last weeks race go by me at the end - i wasnt going to let that happen again. So I worked hard to maintain position out of the second corner - into the 3rd corner... and finally sprinted it out - Bergen did well - i thought she was on my wheel for awhile but she swung out by the last straigtaway and left - i saw her charging - it was awesome. I put on my best sprint - outsprinting one or two gals for 5th or so (in the field - but i got 4th in the 4s).
Overall the race was scary - i didnt work that hard - but just as well. flat fast courses are scary unless the pace is so fast that the pack cant get together...
Here comes the scary part: i traipsed over to the pit to get my bent wheel and give back the loaner. The guy in the pit took the loaner - and my right side of the fork came off with it. a clean fucking break. I about passed out from shaking and scared of 'what if....?". Somewhere, my guardian angel (turns out the whole team had a bad ass cardre of Guardian Angels looking out for us this weekend) was working extreme overtime. The only thing keeping me together was the tension of the skewer holding the fork taught, and my body weight holding it down.
I am happy i still have my face.
double happy I have my upgrade points.
This is one of the most 'classic' criteriums in the Bay Area. It was started nearly 40 years ago (?) - and it is an epic crit. Why? The namesake - a 23% grade hill smack in the middle of the race. Yes, that's right, I said 23%.
The entire week before the race was a week full of smack talk. Why? Apparently last year, the promoters received many many many unhappy concerns from women because they only offered Womens 1-2-3 race. So this year they offered a 3/4 race and only 10 women pre-reg'd until the week before. So the discussion groups started the emails a flying and we basically cowed women into signing up... either throw down or shut up, right?
So, race day - 26 women in the cat 3/4 race... 10 laps of the race course. And we're off. um, cant clip in. For the first time, I couldnt clip in and had a horrible start. It didnt really matter... I rounded the first R turn about 15th back. Then the second R turn, same place - then the sharp left hand turn UP and UP and UP. I kept my wits about me, making dang sure to shift all the way down in the rear and into the small ring up front - so I didnt spin out before the hill, but would have no problem shifting up when the going got tough. I got into the groove, spinning halfway up the hill, and standing the second half of the hill, stomp stomp stomp past most of the girls - wow, I'm doing pretty well! After the crest, there's a dip, false flat into a sharp R turn and then downhill back to the start/finish.
After the lame start, I would move up into the top 10 and didnt fall out of the top 10 for the rest of the race. I felt amazingly strong and kept dropping girls behind me on every time up that hill. I managed to keep track of how many times we hit the hill, and silently counted them down in my head as we passed it. With 2 to go, I started to ramp up the pressure and crested the hill in the top 3 - but I burned my match too early - on the last lap, a couple of the girls poured it on, and I maintained about 5th up the hill, but couldnt recover enough to bomb very fast down the downhill. I gave a good sprint but did not go into the sprint with a good placing. So, next time, go through the 'finish' in my head before I actually do it. My placing was 7th overall and 3rd in Cat 4... but I really felt that I had a better race than my finish showed.
All in all, we had 3 girly mice in the top 10 - and all our girls that started indeed finished the race. 23% people!
Here are some photos - i tried to pick photos that 'capture the hill' :)
This was the first time up the "Cat's hill" - I'm in the lower left corner - this was after I couldnt clip in.
Thanks to Steve Woo for the photos!!! -
Hooray! GTTGM!
