The NWX Crit was fast. Actually fast, not "fast in my mind" because I got my ass handed to me for 30 minutes. Fast as in verified by Jen Ackeroyd (Group Health) on Saturday morning when we ran into each other at Wickiup Reservoir, who called it the fastest crit she had ever participated in. This made me feel better about the race, because, up to that point, I had spent 12 hours being pretty peeved about how I had ridden.
Fourteen ladies lined up. Twelve finished. I rolled in ninth.
I think this brief race report can be brought to you by the letter "A"...as in "altitude," "attitude" and "a-game." I definitely didn't bring the third, and although I would like to blame it on the first, the second was likely more to blame.
Problems started straight from the whistle. A local pro took the first lap out at a blazing pace and I immediately felt like I was breathing through a straw. Second lap I hit my pedal when I started pedaling too soon after a tight corner. The noise was such that I thought I had flatted. So I pulled off, no flat. Shit. So then came four laps of chasing back onto a group that was attacking each other every 1/2 lap. It took a lot to suck it up and not drop out.
Then came 20 minutes of gaining and losing position and constantly fighting not to get completely thrown off the back. I had a really difficult time maintaining my position on the high speed corners. I'm going to pin about 2/3 of this on my own handling inexperience. There was, however, two or three riders in the back half of the pack that were constantly passing on the inside on the corners (not necessarily a no-no, but definitely unsafe and not appreciated by the other riders) and I wasn't being aggressive or confident enough to hold my position and my legs just didn't have it attack and move up front. Was constantly giving up a spot or two. Each time it happened, I got more and more frustrated.
That frustration level had hit about 8 on a sale of 10 by the last two lap. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't corner, I couldn't seem to get myself up to midpack for the sprint. The course had a nice little riser going into the final straightaway...usually a great thing for me, but today my legs were basically ignoring all of my requests for an extra gear.
But I finished. Upright (despite hitting my pedal three times after the initial incident). With the group. And with a list of things I need to work on before my next crit.
Fourteen ladies lined up. Twelve finished. I rolled in ninth.
I think this brief race report can be brought to you by the letter "A"...as in "altitude," "attitude" and "a-game." I definitely didn't bring the third, and although I would like to blame it on the first, the second was likely more to blame.
Problems started straight from the whistle. A local pro took the first lap out at a blazing pace and I immediately felt like I was breathing through a straw. Second lap I hit my pedal when I started pedaling too soon after a tight corner. The noise was such that I thought I had flatted. So I pulled off, no flat. Shit. So then came four laps of chasing back onto a group that was attacking each other every 1/2 lap. It took a lot to suck it up and not drop out.
Then came 20 minutes of gaining and losing position and constantly fighting not to get completely thrown off the back. I had a really difficult time maintaining my position on the high speed corners. I'm going to pin about 2/3 of this on my own handling inexperience. There was, however, two or three riders in the back half of the pack that were constantly passing on the inside on the corners (not necessarily a no-no, but definitely unsafe and not appreciated by the other riders) and I wasn't being aggressive or confident enough to hold my position and my legs just didn't have it attack and move up front. Was constantly giving up a spot or two. Each time it happened, I got more and more frustrated.
That frustration level had hit about 8 on a sale of 10 by the last two lap. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't corner, I couldn't seem to get myself up to midpack for the sprint. The course had a nice little riser going into the final straightaway...usually a great thing for me, but today my legs were basically ignoring all of my requests for an extra gear.
But I finished. Upright (despite hitting my pedal three times after the initial incident). With the group. And with a list of things I need to work on before my next crit.
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