It was actually a little chilly when I got to the course this morning. The breeze made me wonder if I should have had arm warmers for the warmup. The course was a basic four corner crit, slight uphill off the start/finish, flat short end, downhill on the long back side, and short end. The wind was a head on the short end.
We lined up about 28 deep, many of the women were the same as last night. We were again on the course with the 4/5 men. The men went off and we got our whistle. I could not get clipped in. I was gapped off the line. It took me about 30 seconds to get in my pedals and then I had to work to get back to the field. I had a wheel by the time we hit turn one and was moving up to a good position after turn two. It took me about three laps until I felt settled in the race. A few laps later, a xXx girl went off the front. I have to admit, we all were knitting and watched her go. By the time, we tried to organize, she had 20 seconds on us. Aubree tried to get us organized, but no one wanted to take turns at the front. Finally when she was up to about 25 seconds, Aubree went off the front. I knew if she got away, she'd hunt the girl down and we'd be fighting for third. I think I said aloud, "Eff this, come with me if you can." I pulled the field up to Aubree, but eventually girl's lead grew, and we never got her.
Somewhere around 25 minutes in, we got a bell for a prime. I always love a prime, but I also wanted to play it smart. I moved into a good position and waited. We rounded turn four and I was sitting about fourth wheel. The sprint went and so did I. There was one other girl in front of me and I just kept adding gear until I put daylight in between us. It was mine. I sat up because I knew I didn't have it to stay out there alone, the wind would have worn me down. The field caught me after turn one. We did another lap or two and the moto neutralized us for the men to pass. As that was organizing, one of our local racers did something and her skewer was in my front wheel. I held on and told her to watch her line--her reply was that it wasn't her fault.
After we got passed, it wasn't long until we got the five to go on the cards. Lots of movement for position, but nothing crazy. We came around on what should have been two to go. I was sitting mid-pack I watched as half the pack went through, the lap card changed to one and the bell was rung. I was confused. Was there a guy off the front that mixed in with us? What lap were we on? I asked out loud, but no one responded. We got to the backside of the course, and Aubree took off. The chase was on. We hit turn four, and I didn't know if we were chasing or sprinting. I was not in place for a sprint. We went under and the lap card still read 1 to go so we kept racing.
Around again and it got even hotter after turn 3. We were onto the finishing straight and this was definitely a sprint. I turned it up and went hard. I came across the line 6th, so I thought.
We did a cool down lap and Carrie said we needed to talk to the officials because they didn't score our last lap, they scored the one before. We went en masse to the chief official. He ranted about his decision being final and that the bell was the ultimate authority. He stormed away when we asked for the rule book. Aero, the chief judge, came out and told us he thought we were the men and so he changed the card. The "first" finish would be the official one. That meant, instead of 6th, I finished 20th. I didn't think about it when we protested, but in essence it means he pulled the entire field because we all finished before the woman who won the race. I still don't agree with decision, but I have to give Aero props for owning up to what happened and listening to our concerns and reacting kindly and professionally.
I learned some lessons in this race. First, when I hear a bell, sprint. Second, on the lap that was scored, I shouldn't have been sitting so far back. I should never be in that position in a race. This year has been about positioning and sprinting for me, this race, I didn't adhere to what I learned.
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