Today's course was quite different from yesterday's . . .pancake flat, few turns, but it was incredibly windy. I got three good warm up laps in, and practiced going over the dirt mound several times. We had six ladies in the A Race again today--two were the same as yesterday. We got the whistle and I wasn't quick off the line. I was fifth as we hit the grass, but I moved up into fourth after the first set of turns. We headed into the tall grass and wind and I concentrated on staying on the Liz's wheel. Britta, Gina, Liz and I stayed together through the first lap. As we wound through the first set of turns in lap two, Britta and Gina pulled away. I again sat on Liz's wheel until we crossed by the roadway and I went around her. She stayed with me through the barriers and the little switchbacks. She passed me back by the tree line heading up the dirt mound. I focused on staying with her. She turned to me during lap three and said the only to catch them is to work together, so that's what we did. We traded pulls through the next two laps, and shortened their gap to under 10 seconds, never able to reel them in. In the final lap, I passed Liz in the wind and worked at trying to gap her. It came down to the section right after the dirt mound. We had two lapped riders in front of us and I was focused on getting around them. I lost track of where Liz was. We went into the last hairpin turn and she jumped. I foolishly wasn't expecting it. I went after her and gaining, but wasn't able to pass before the line.
 |
| The dirt mound . . . there definitely was a line that you needed to take. |
 |
| This is the spot Liz got me in the last lap. |
 |
| Sponsor shot! |
That made me mad enough to want to try it again, so I signed up for the C race. I had 12 minutes before the race started, and in hindsight, I should have spun around. There were 31 C racers, plus six or seven single speeders in the second race. I was in the second row. I got a great jump off the line and was staying with the front eight through the first set of turns. When we hit the long stretch in the wind my legs were screaming, I got passed and passed and passed. By the end of lap one, I was sitting in 14th place. Todd was on my wheel at the end of the lap, and passed me right before the long straight in lap two. Another guy went around as well. Somewhere during that lap, I picked up a guy on my wheel who passed me. My legs were warm again, so I didn't let him go. I stayed with him until the fourth lap and then went around. He tried to take me several times, but never could get the job done. In the fifth lap, I got lapped by the lead single speed racer, making that my last lap. I didn't want to have the guy on my wheel take me at the end like Liz did, so I just added gear and went all out. I put a nice distance between us and ended up 16th in that one.
 |
| Playing with the boys! I've wanted to do this all season. |
My lines got better through each lap. By the end of the second race, I was pedaling through even the tighter ones with no problems. The only spot I felt fatigue in the second race was the barriers. It got harder and harder to actually "jump" them. Overall, I'm happy with my racing, not happy with my foolishness at the end of the A race.
No comments:
Post a Comment