Seth and I journeyed down to Los Angeles for what promised to be another exciting weekend of Crit racing.
First up was LA MIRADA. This race held particular meaning to me seeing as how this was my first race ever last year. We we rolled up to parking lot we were already sweating in the car with the AC cranked to the max.
The temperature in the shade read 98 so we figured it was going to be well over 100 degrees in the sun. Thanks to traffic I arrived at the race just in time to check in, pin my number, drink a bottle of accelerade, watch Cookie sprint to a beastly 7th place finish in the pro/1/2 field, and roll to the line for the start.
One of the things I've learned is that I would much rather line up a little early to insure a start in the front, then roll up 100 people back and have to fight my way to the front. La Mirada is a wide 2 mile, 4 corner circuit with a couple small risers.
Marco's advice was attack on the hill and then attack again. The motto in my head was that no one was going to have an easy time on that hill... me included.
I went from the gun on the first hill to test the legs and see who would respond. A couple guys I have been racing with all season addressed me by name and asked how my legs were feeling and wanted to know where Zalesky was. They were all a little relieved when I told them he upgraded and was racing as a three now.
The third lap Johny O gave me the signal, which meant stay close and when he shifted so should I. We gained a pretty large gap on the climb and dragged one rider with us. We stayed away for a couple laps, I picked up a prime or two, but we were eventually caught. Another prime was announced and a large Cynergy rider shot off the front. I was near the front so I jumped on his wheel and took a free ride to the line where I picked up another prime. There was a crash on the back lap right in front of me. Im not sure how I managed to make it through the crash but it felt as though I was able to swat the bike right out from in front of me... must've been all that hulkification that happened last week ;) I sprinted away from the crash and went to shift gears only to notice that my left hood was actually bent at around a 90 degree angle. I felt even luckier to have emerged from the crash unscathed. More than half the field had already dropped out of the race and half of the remaining riders had been caught up behind the crash. Pretty soon the last lap was upon us and I went on the hill, hard and fast. I gave it everything I had and opened up a pretty big gap but was shot by the time I made the turn into the downhill run. I figured one of two things would happen: I would make it to the next corner and go again, or they would catch me. They caught me, they always do ;)
I went too early, way to early. But was still able to hold on and mix it up in the field sprint. I finished 7th and picked up 3 primes... It was everything I could do to suppress the vomit that was inching its way up at the end of this race. I drank 9 gallons of water, ate a bunch of PLATINUM BARS and then settled into a nice spot in the shade to watch Z Pack tear it up in his first cat 3 race. He raced hard and aggressive and made every break except for the one that stuck. Props to UCSB rider John for an amazing second place finish.
San Pedro Gran Prix California elite crit championships for next. Another challenging course that featured two hairpin turns, and a wee bit more climbing then the so cal crit monsters are used to. I scouted the course and made the decision that I would have to stay near the front from the start. THe first corner went from 4 lanes to one in a 180 degree u turn fashion and then an immediate riser to a false flat. The pace was fast from the gun and I rode near the front. I responded to a few attacks, but didn't initiate any of them. one to go and I came around the downhill 180 degree turn into the long finishing straight about 15th wheel or so. I waited just a wee bit too late and finished for a solid 4th place. Just outside the podium but a solid result nonetheless. Seth got caught in a crash in the last corner, but both he and his bike made it out unscathed so we'll chalk that up as a victory.
I am slowly making progress towards an upgrade, but more importantly am having a blast racing where I am at.
I got out for a killer hike yesterday with caitlin up near Tunnel Rd. Again I was reminded of how much I love living in Santa Barbara!
1 comment:
Great job last weekend! I got caught behind the crash, ran into guys tumbling in front of me, clicked my foot out, got plowed into from behind, but managed to stay up. My chain came off and I had to dismount to get it back on. I had someone's tire marks across my rear triangle and my rear wheel was a little out of true, but glad to not have gone down. I wish I had a bit more horsepower for that first break. A couple of guys that joined us were fine, but one of them was slow and he kept pulling through. I should have told him to just sit on. I was parked next to the PAA guys (that put on the San Fernando race), and they saw our group and yelled at each other to chase us down. You rode very well and looks like you had an even better race on Sunday. Keep it up! .......oh, and shoot me your email when you get a chance.
Post a Comment