photo: Suzie Bush
Last weekend was yet another highlight of my 2010 year in racing... I placed 4th in the Ironclad Crit. There were about 13 riders overall in the field of CAT 1/2/3's and it was a pretty competitive and fast group of ladies out there. I was pleased to place right off the heels of the podium but close enough to gardner my first top 5 finish racing against the stronger women.
Overall, it was a fun race... but really really friggin hot (I don't do well in heat). The start was rather shitty for me because as soon as the gun went off the ladies were out of the gate and well, it took me half a lap to actually get fully clipped in my pedals. By this point, I was pretty much playing catch-up for the first 10 laps or so. Through out the race... the field never really seemed to truly split as it sometimes does, but there was a definitive "front" of the pack and a clear cut "rear" of the pack. My goal was to pretty much stay towards the rear of the front. Ideally, if I had a big ole team with me I'd try my hand at taking some turns up front leading the pace, but pretty much my m.o. for the race was about conservation and trying to catch the attacks when they happened and to stay in good positioning throughout. I'm never one to really go for the prize laps as I'd rather save it for the finish.
The fun thing about crits is that yeah, good wheels are good to have, but it's not like you can camp out behind one person because it doesn't take much for a good wheel to suddenly become a bad one. In crits, the race is constantly in an ebb and flow, in a constant state of flux as it is always moving and always changing and people are always jockeying for position. I would attribute it to be most like surfing, you have to change how you ride based upon the people around you and what they are doing. Sometimes a wave will come at you funny, sometimes it is predictable, sometimes you'll miss it and sometimes you'll get it just right. In this race, I had a lot of things happen that seemed "just right". Some of it could be luck, some of it could be hard work, but I think a lot of it comes from just observing and learning as you go through the race, learning to predict and anticipate and then figuring out what is going to stick and what will quickly wash away (all while trying not to step on anyone's toes or throw in a headbutt ;).
photo: Suzie Bush
Anyways, a special thank you shout out goes to Ironclad for first of all putting on a great weekend of racing, but secondly to the ladies of Ironclad who were throwing out attack after attack and making it fun. As well, thanks for the nice prize package! I got a sweet Ironclad hoodie (did you know the smallest size they make is a medium?) a nice pair of riding gloves and some socks. And boy, let me tell you, I always forget to clip my toenails so I always need socks! This is so much better than the EK Memorial Track Race where all I got for 3rd place was a handshake (while the dudes 3rd place riders got gift certificates). I give it up to Ironclad for making even 4th place feel like a rock star! I mean...I don't race for the sawg, but it certainly helps make up the deficent of funding that goes into this spendy habit called "bike racing".
No comments:
Post a Comment