Our actual drive to Tulsa was pretty calm and uneventful. Steph won the Oklahoma State Line Sprint and promptly got to pay the prime at the toll booth. Funny, I didn't think that's how primes worked. We got closer in to the city and I was navigating. Let's just say I need to work on my timing. A quick dash across three lanes, 5 eff bombs by Steph, and me being called a Klucker effer (by Steph again) later and we found the hotel. We got unloaded our stuff and headed out to the Blue Dome Crit. BTW, Steph really enjoys company in the revolving door if anyone happens to get a chance.
We found the race course, parked and headed over. The Blue Dome Crit is an eightcorner course, sorta a figure 8, with 90-degree corners. We got there in time to watch the Men's 3 race and cheer on the Hub riders and Big Shark's Jonathan Shilling. The guys did great. Next up was the Pro 1/2 Women. I was so in awe of the ladies out there. They took the course at top speeds, nativating through the corners so easily. Carrie Cash was dubbed "Queen of Primes" walking away with some fat money. We met up with Allison, Courtney, and Jessi while we were down there. After the race we headed to McNellie's for dinner and refreshment. Apparently Tulsa had an avocado shortage because none of our dinners came with the avocados promised. C'est la vie--still good food. 
Alice & I enjoying are cold beverages. *Photo cred: Steph Nadeau
We watched the end of the Men's Pro Race after dinner while walking the course. AMAZINGLY high speeds. We headed back to the hotel for bed.
The next morning started with coffee and breakfast. I know we looked a sight in the hotel dining room, chowing down on oatmeal and fruit, still in our jammies. Teresa and Jamie came down and we got course pointers from them. We got back up to the room and slowly got dressed. We knew it was going to be a hot one with heat indices of 101 predicted. I got a text from T to come down to Cat 3 central to talk strategy. Uh-oh!
So here was the plan. I was the sacrificial lamb. I would attack from a good position about four laps in, once everyone had calmed down. They said after turn two or three would be best. I would stay off as long as possible. Once caught (cause we all knew I would get caught) I would sit in and stay in good position. Jamie would then attack a couple of laps later and T would go with her. I would move up and hold back the pack (yep, little ole' me hold back 50 other girls!) and would go after anyone else who tried to chase them down. In hindsight I must, who the hell were we kidding!!!
Back in the room, I shared the strategy and we finished getting ready. The Hedge and I headed downstairs. Let me just say, Saturday in Tulsa was hot with a side dish of humid. I was dripping wet when we hit the course.
The course was a six corner L-shape with two small hills/false flats. The headwind would hit you in the face on the downhill between turns five and six. We rode over to course and started to look for roads for a warm-up. CycleOps had open trainers at start/finish so we jumped on those and got a good hour in for warm up while watching the men's races. We about 10 minutes before our scheduled start time, I hopped down and got women trying to get on there. I ended up with a rear starting position. Pre-race instructions and a whistle--lots of girls struggled getting clicked in their pedals. Since I was in the very back, I had to weave through them. This was not part of our plan. I stayed calm and started working my way through the crown. I picked off racers in front of me one-by-one. I felt like I was playing frogger on the bike. On the back downhill I was finally where I wanted to be. I planned to sit there until after turn three and then go like hell on the false flat. Turn 6 changed that. I heard it, then saw it. Carbon carnage everywhere. It was my first time with a crit crash and I was right behind. I stuck to Teresa's wheel and went right. I was almost too wide and went into the curb, but I made it through upright and without clicking out. I wasn't geared well and couldn't jump back on with the girls who were ahead of the crash. Time to start picking them off again. The first was the girl in the brown kit. I got on her wheel and others joined us. Within two laps of the crash, I think we had 6-8 women in a small group. Alice was with me, but I didn't see Steph. I knew Teresa was ahead and saw Jamie heading to the pit. I wasn't sure wher Allison was. I started to organize us to chase back on, but the girls in the green kits got smart enough to realize that had two girls in the lead group and refused to work--can't blame them. We did our best to work around them, but we it didn't help we had one girl who just wanted to go on her own several time. Disorganization reigned. And I got a bit annoyed as well when I saw the girls who may or may not have gone down behind me get put on the back of the lead group as I was working my butt off. I know that's the free lap rule, but it sucks when it works against you. It was time to make the best of my situation, ride smart and finish strong. There were still plenty of opportunities to learn. With five laps to go, our chase group got a prime. I thought, Ok, this is mine. Smart racing. I took 2nd wheel and sat in. Let the others work for me. The girls in green want to control our pace, let them. On the down hill, the girl in black went wide and tried to go for it. No way, I grabbed her wheel and let her lead me out around the corner. Where was a good spot to go? How long could I hold a sprint? About 250meters I stood up and added gears. I couldn't see her in my peripheal vision, but I wasn't going to let up. That sprint felt like it went for ever and my legs were crying. I crossed the line and heard Towle said it was close but 145 took it--yeah, baby! Our momentum through the sprint let us catch some girls who had dropped from the lead pack. We had a larger group now. We finished that lap and got neutralized. The main field went by us after turn to and crashed as they tried to pass. It was behind me, so I was clear of this one. I momentarily thought about trying to jump on with them, but no one else made a move, so I stayed put. We got our bell lap and I knew positioning would be key. Even though I was out of it, it was another opportunity to work on my sprint. No one tried to go this time. We rounded the corner and I hit the sprint in the same spot as before. I took this one with what felt like a comfortable gap. The scoring ended up screwed up, but even with that I wouldn't have been top 15 for money.
After the race, we headed to Sunday's venue and pre-rode the course to get a good view of Crybaby Hill and the sharp right. To me Crybaby Hill is like Carl Street in my neighborhood plus about 50 feet. The little turn and continued uphill wasn't fun, but it was do-able. Still, I kept la, la, la-ing the La Quinta theme when Steph would try to tell me the grade.
Back at the hotel we showered and decided on Mexican for dinner. We text Courtney and she joined us. We headed back over to Brady Art District. We got acosted by our rude waiter before we even sat down. He didn't like how we walked to the table and told Steph to move it. Then we practically had to beg him to take our drink order. Finally, Steph headed in to find someone else to wait on us and Courtney let our waiter know his services weren't needed when he came to take our order. A little sangria and lots of good food later, we met up with the other girls.
Spectators Extraordinaire: Alice, Me, T, Steph, Jamie, Courtney, & Allison *Photo cred: Courtney Green We got the opportunity to watch the Pro Women tackle our course. It seems the corners gave them as much trouble as it did the Women's 3/4. It was a great race to watch and to see tactic and strategy unfold. After the race we walked over to the Trek tent and oogled pretty bikes. We also happened to stumble upon the Pride Parade on the next block. Queen, roller derby girls, and lots of candy! We had a blast. But Steph's sweet tooth was aching for ice cream so thus began our next adventure.
We asked folks on the street about somewhere to get ice cream. After a few moments of thinking they recommended the Nantucket Creamery and gave great directions. We ended up in a neighborhood with a great rich kid park and found ourselves at a posh outdoor shopping mall. Steph's and my phones both showed we were on top of this place but we couldn't find it and we were on a deadline. Their website said they closed at nine and it was 8:46. Finally after asking a few folks, we found this cute little ice cream place tucked away. It was worth effort.
The trip back was a hoot. Alice was driving and apparently is able to change red lights at will. As Steph's yelling red, red, red and the car showing no apparent signs of stopping, the light turns green. It was then that Alice realized what Steph was saying and we stopped. I laughed so hard I threw my head back. Ooops! Phil is right about needing those headrests in the back seat.
Sunday morning came with a gentle wake up from Steph. We'd all missed our alarms but only by a few minutes. We headed downstairs to the coffee shop and had breakfast in bed or on the floor or whereever there was a vacant spot in the room. I had decided to be the stinky kid on Sunday and wear the same kit (in all fairness I washed it out in the shower) because I love our new kits. While I was as calm as could be pre-race Saturday, I was torn up on Sunday. I kicked back on the bed and tried a little savasana as Alice and Steph finished getting ready. The time was finally upon us and we headed out.
Pre-race yoga--helmets are a must for safety! *Photo cred: Steph Nadeau
Sunday's course was a four corner crit. The start finish was along the river. An easy right turn to Crybaby Hill with turn two leading to a little more ascent. On the backside after the short climb, there was a roller with a big ring hill, right turn into a screaming descent and a sharp right back onto the start/finish. We rode over to the course, pre rode it again. The descent seemed more scary with the rodes closed. We rode over to the CycleOps tent and they were still setting up so we rode up the trail & back & came back & got on a trainer. I spun on the trainer for about an hour did two hard efforts. In hindsight I should have done more. I got off the trainer with 10 minutes to go before our race. This time I chose a better spot to get on the course. I sucked down the Gu and waited. They opened the course to us and I rolled up. This time I was sitting 3rd wheel for the start. I decided to start in my small ring because the hill was so eminent. We got prerace instructions and the whistle. It was a fast start and I lost ground in the small ring. The hill was there right away. I got out of the saddle, not because I had to, but more because of the mental factor. I was fighting to stay on when we hit the backside. Time to play frogger again. Grab a wheel, breath and go. I heard Carrie yelling at me on the down hill that to stay in and work hard. Three or four laps in they called the first prime. I moved through the pack trying to get through the front and couldn't make a hole. We hit the descent and turn with some faint of heart girls breaking hard and we started to split. I was off the pack. Alice was with me and we started working together. I had been out of the saddle for the climbs up until this lap and decided to try it seated. Felt good but it wasn't crowd pleasing--I think I should have been doing it seated all along. With 10 to go they called the QOM prime but we were way outta contension. With nine to go, we caught a Tulsa Tough girl on the top of the climb. I asked if she wanted to join our party and she said she was fading. I hopped into the big ring and did the descent and second hill and the big drop. I looked and Alice and girl were off my wheel..do I wait or go? I decided to go. With seven to go I thought I was going to be pulled. I looked at the chief official and shook my head no. I'd come this far I wanted to finished. It actually energized me and the hill felt easier that time. Around and down and around and I saw the official in the middle of the road. I knew what that meant. I sheepishly tried to shake him off again but got the signal. My day was done. Disappointing, but fair. They'd pulled men in the 5's race and had pulled other women already. I felt my Facebook status said it all, "Got drowned in the Riverside Crit. This little tiger shark bit off more than she could chew."
We watched the end of the race, with Jamie taking the QOM prime and finishing 5th. After seeing the results it was back to the hotel to shower and pack. That process actually went smoother than expected. We found a nice restaurant on the way out of town, grabbed some ice coffee and headed east. This drive was calm and easy with no eff bombs. We shared the driving, Facebook and Twitter posts and lots of silliness and laughs as we recounted our adventure. And maybe did a little pre-planning for Tour of KC.
All-in-all in was a great experience to race with large fields. It was good preparation for the upcoming Grove races. I successfully navigated a crash, took a prime and learned lots about moving up in the field.
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