Vic's Crit

Vic’s Crit was held out in the Prospect community in Longmont and was my second separate Cat 3 race. After last week’s success and second place, I felt confident and hoped to take the win today. At the same time, I was willing to gamble a bit and decided I wanted to race aggressively instead of sitting in the pack conserving for the final sprint. I’ve been training hard, fitness is good, and this is a more technical course that I heard makes it “easier” to break away from the pack because there are so many turns you can get out of sight.

Last week I played it smart and didn’t go for any primes and saved all my energy for the final sprint. Today I decided to again hold back on the primes but take advantage of them and make attacks right after everyone else had just sprinted for the prime.

The start/finish came at the base of a significant downhill and then almost immediately the course turned a sharp right. Then another immediate sharp right. Then another sharp right immediately following that. Then almost immediately a sharp left and beginning a slight uphill. After that left turn the course went straight for a tiny bit, then right and continuing uphill a tiny bit straight, and finally right onto the longest (only?) straight way of the course, which again was all downhill. I’m going through all this detail to make the point that the straight ways were very short and it was difficult to find a stretch long enough for me to gain a gap. I understand one can accelerate fast out of turns and gap that way, but I guess I was never able to be in a good position after the sprint for primes before all the twisting and turning began. So I made my attacks on the two somewhat straight ways uphill before the long straight downhill. I was patient and waited until about 20 minutes into the race and the fourth out of five primes. There were only nine of us and I attacked from behind and made a gap, but by the time I got going down the straight downhill the pack caught me. I tried a second time after the fifth prime, and this time a GS Boulder was with me (she was third last week) and I think we might have stayed away except her own GS teammate accelerated and brought the pack up to us…this understandably frustrated the girl and me too! Soon after a Primal Treads girl (who ended up taking the win) made a strong attack. I stayed back and watched and she seemed to be making a gap. This was both discouraging and gave me hope, because I didn’t like the distance she was making but I also thought if she can do that perhaps I should try a third big attack and I could stay away this time, now with only 15 minutes left to go. I surged and caught and passed the Primal Treads girl, but again on the downhill the pack caught me.

When I wasn’t attacking, I often found myself in the back and even with a two or three bike length gap! That is terrible and I guess the announcer even commented that I was having to do a lot of work since I wasn’t in the draft. I need to work on that but I think still feel nervous taking turns in a pack. With three laps to go, I got a good position third wheel and wanted to stay there through the last turn to the finish and take the winning sprint. However, by the last lap I was in the back again and the first right turn after the finish my wheels skid under me. We were going fast, and I must have needed to shift my weight more to the outside, plus I think I may need new tires. That was scary, and then the final turn before the downhill to the finish I got cut off a bit, my pedal clipped the ground, and I was in the worst position ever for the final sprint - I came in second to last.
My teammate, Carol Kauder, rode really smart and strong and stayed protected in the pack until the final sprint, taking the podium for her first time as a 3 and winning second place – go Carol! I think I did a great job tiring out the field (and myself) but I could have raced smarter and realized after the first attack, and after watching how the Primal Treads girl got caught (though I was the one to bridge that gap), that I wasn’t going to get away. If I had saved those other two attacks for the end I could have contested in the final sprint. I think the Primal Treads girl who made that one attack played it well, working hard once to try for an attack and then sitting in until winning the final sprint.

It felt good to actually feel tired after the race, but just now I’ve compared my peak power with last week and am shocked that I actually worked harder last week (except for the 5 second peak power)! Here’s the breakdown:

Longmont Crit (last week)
5 seconds 734
30 seconds 520
1 minute 385
2 minutes 297
3 minutes 268

Vic’s Crit (today)
5 seconds 946 (all time high!)
30 seconds 482
1 minute 343
2 minutes 273
3 minutes 253

I believe the 946 was my first attack. Well, this race was about experimenting with riding more aggressively and I know I am learning a lot about cornering from a race like this. Congrats again to Carol – it was great to have company warming up and in the race, and it’s wonderful to share in her celebration!

My next race is in Salida next weekend, both the crit Saturday and the road race Sunday. They put the 3’s in with the 1’s and 2’s, though I think we’ll be scored separately so I hope they won’t pull lapped riders on the course. I’m not saying I’ll be lapped (trying to keep my confidence high here!) but it does make for a tough race when pro racers are setting the pace. Thanks for reading everybody!

Colorado Criterium Championship

The Colorado Criterium Championship was held in Longmont today, and it was my first time racing as a Cat 3 with our own separate category. Many races combine Categories 1, 2, and 3, and last week I tried to hang in there at the North Boulder Crit but got lapped and pulled from the race with 7 laps to go. Racing in a field with pros did take some pressure off because my goal was just to try and not get dropped, but today with a separate 3’s race my nerves were getting to me and I had high hopes to get on the podium. Because I’d never raced with just the 3’s before, my confidence was all based on how City Park and North Boulder Crits went (last place and DNF), but my coach’s advice was to Race with Confidence! so I did go into the race ready to kick ass.

It was so freaking hot, especially warming up on the trainer. I was dousing myself with water and shamelessly wearing my skinsuit topless with just my sport’s bra and still just melting. By the time I finished my warm-up I felt pretty ill. I got on the course with Carol and started to cool off. This course is all flat and so much fun – nothing too technical. There were 17 girls in the field, 4 Pro Design. Those girls worked well together, launching lots of attacks but no one ever got away from the peloton. It was so flat that it was just pretty easy to close any gap that formed.

About 10 minutes into the race, I made a sharp right turn and realized my front tire was completely flat – almost slid out. My first reaction was that I am screwed and the race is over. I’d never had a mechanical in a crit before, and I realized I was in the best possible place for it to happen – the pit with neutral support was right ahead of me. The guys were really helpful and reminded me that I get a free lap, so just take deep breaths and wait for the girls to come back around. It was a long wait! Turned out to not be so bad getting a few minutes to recover mid-race.

I had decided before the race to not go for any primes because I wanted to save my sprinting for the end. My position in the field varied from being up front to the back, and I probably spent a bit too much time with wind on my face. I was a little scared because we didn’t string out single file on the turns, instead staying all together. I just told myself to trust myself through the turns.

With 3 laps to go the pace had picked up and we did string out a bit. I was third and felt good about where I was. Last lap I lost that position though, and not far before the last right turn to the finish I was still in the back – like 12 back or so. Not good. I hauled ass to be up front for the last turn, and then I started to sprint. I was in a bit of a shock as I realized I was contesting for top three, and I may have even hesitated in my sprint out of confusion for what was going on. The two girls in front of me were GS Boulder girls, and I was able to pass one just before the finish, and was about two bike lengths from first. I totally surprised myself. My fitness is really still very good – I didn’t ever feel tired during the race but I still don’t think trying to make a break would have worked. I saw many girls try but get caught, so I think it was a good call to stay in the pack and conserve for that final sprint.

Yeehaw!

Colorado State Time Trial Championships

The State TT Championship was way out by the Denver airport, a new course this year. I'd never done this race before, but it was one that I've been targeting as an A race. I have mixed feelings about the race. I’m really trying to stay positive and not be so hard on myself, but I am definitely disappointed with the results. I ended up getting third place, which is great however many girls missed their start time because the start clock was almost two minutes fast. Thankfully, I rode to the start as soon as I arrived in order to sync clocks and see how long it would take me to get from the car to the start. When I arrived at registration I saw Breeze and it was comforting to see a teammate. She also helped me pump up the disk wheel and I was able to report back to her on the start clock time. Val was around, too, and cheerful as ever :) I saw her again after the race and she was so encouraging and supportive! I thought I had a lot of extra time, but I ended up having to rush through my warm-up and only got 25 minutes to get my legs going, when I normally warm up more like 45. Still, I went into the race feeling very good energy wise, so I thought.


I must have been more nervous than I realized because I found myself being really obnoxious in response to a marshal at the start. I was standing out of the start line, having arrived early, and was stretching. He said, “Do you think you could stretch somewhere other than the middle of the road?” Mind you, there was zero car traffic and I was at the start so I wasn’t in the way of any cyclists warming up. So I stepped toward the line and moved my bike like five inches and said “How about here?!” It was sassy and obnoxious and I should have just said okay and thank you; normally I would but I think my nerves were going and I just felt irritated.

Anyway, Amber was there, starting one minute behind me. I really admire her as an athlete and was hoping she wouldn’t catch me during the race. I had a great set-up since my friend hooked me up with a disk wheel with powertap, and I was excited that for once I would be able to match some of the aero gear other riders have. I also know Rachel is a strong rider and she was supposed to start 30 seconds in front of me, but I didn’t see her and turns out she was one of the unfortunates that missed her start time. That’s got to be so frustrating!

I rolled up at my start time and made sure I was in a big gear because within twenty feet the course turned right and onto a slight downhill. The course overall was not what I would call flat, but it wasn’t exactly hilly either. It should have been a great course for me to power through. It was 40k, which is a pretty long time trial, but I had an idea of trying to finish just under one hour. I pre-rode the course last Saturday but went at a fairly mellow pace because I had City Park crit to race on Sunday. I haven’t looked at the data from the powertap I borrowed yet, but I believe I averaged lower than the 219 I did when I pre-rode the course. My total race time was 1.02.55. There may be a possibility that the powertap I borrowed was picking up watts different than my own powertap that I train/race with, but I don't think so because I did my openers workout Friday with the disk/powertap and the watts seemed on target.

I started hard but not too hard to justify the low watts later in the race, and I quickly settled into LT, around 245. Not far into the race, though, I noticed when I looked at the powertap the number was more like 230, so I would pick up the pace and that is why I like to race with a powertap so I know when I should kick it up a notch. Then I started seeing 220, and I just tried to stay positive and coach myself to ride fast and get to the turn-around. I saw a Primal Treads girl ahead of me and I knew when I passed her that I had made up one minute on her, but I still was perplexed why my watts weren’t higher. I knew Amber would not be far behind me now, and sure enough when I did get to the turn-around I saw her and Rachel not too far behind. There had been some head wind going out, so after turning around I felt my speed pick up significantly and really tried to use the momentum to take me up the hills. I took a left turn fast without getting out of my bars and that helped me get up one of the largest hills (which still was by no means steep but did require more effort).

A few minutes from the finish Amber did pass me and by then my watts were 175-190. Terrible. I just couldn’t go harder and that’s an awful feeling when I expected to hold 245. It was really a mental blow to see her pass, and I started to give up a bit until I encouraged myself to keep it going and use her as a rabbit to catch. By then she had made a huge gap though and I really just needed to get across the finish. I crossed the finish line and of course I cried, and then I cried that I was crying because that’s stupid, but I have worked really hard and put my heart and soul into training/racing. Time trials are very intense mentally, too. You learn a lot about yourself when it’s just you competing by yourself out there. It’s good practice to stay positive and say mantras…while racing I kept saying “spin fast” to myself, and “surprise yourself,” meaning have confidence that I could go above and beyond my highest expectation. I surprised myself the other way, though, and even getting on the podium didn’t make me feel better about my average watts for the race…well, maybe it helped a little :)

Riding back to the car, I talked with Cat and met another racer, Angie, who were both really sweet as I cried and cursed to myself. Angie said something along the lines of if she had quit when she didn’t do well at races she would have stopped a long time ago, and it was helpful to hear that I wasn’t the only person who felt like quitting sometimes and also that I can feel like quitting but actually keep on and continue to make progress despite that feeling. Angie then posted this quote on her wall, which I am reposting because it is so apropos:

"We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves."
~Guatama Buddha

Cat Up!

City Park Crit was my first Cat 3 race. I felt very nervous all day and our race didn’t start until 3pm, when I believe the temperature was up to 90. Since I’ve upgraded, I’ve enjoyed a bit of a break from the pressure I was putting on myself as a 4 to get on the podium. Of course, I still want to do well as a 3, but when it comes to races like today when my category joins Cat 1 and 2, well, it’s just appropriate to adjust my expectations a bit!

I found myself especially nervous for my safety. Between news of Susan’s broken Scapula this week and Alison’s broken Olecranon/Humerus, I was feeling like it’s just a matter of time until it’s my turn and I had visions of cracking my teeth on the curb or shattering my collar bone. I tried to stay positive and not be so scary, though, and I set my goals for the race to try to build my confidence/comfort level within the pack and hang on to the group.

I got there super early and watched the men’s pro race – I felt better as I saw they were all strung out through the turns and it was not as tight and narrow as I’d thought. I got to pre-ride the course one lap after their race and by then felt much more confident that the course was not really all that technical at all. Some people warned me to watch out with pedaling through the turns because some of the road was off-camber, and indeed during the race at one point my pedal did lightly skid on the road but it didn’t take me down. Here's the course map:

It was wonderful to meet up with Kat and Ingrid before the start, and I realized that the field was not a large as I had imagined in my nightmares. Only 15 besides me! I was prepared to ride defensively and hang in with the group. The race began and the pace was fast from the get go! Fast through the corners, faster accelerations after the corners, and I found myself quickly in the back and behind a Colorado Bike Law rider I realized later was Rachel. She and I worked together with Betsy Mercer at Deer Trail and Rachel came in third behind me. Anyway, she started to gap and I was behind her barely on her wheel, so it wasn’t but a few laps into the race when she and I were clearly on our own. She commented on how fast the pace was and I told her it was my first race as a 3, and when she said she had just been upgraded too that’s when I realized it was Rachel. Anyway, we worked very hard together. My power meter was right around LT. I thought about the TT Championships next weekend and encouraged myself that this was a great workout. We knew we were not going to catch the main field, but thought surely others would be dropped. We picked up Ingrid before long, and the three of us took turns pulling. Then later we picked up Renee. 

Throughout this time I am delighted to say that I was not feeling negative at all, but actually really enjoying myself. With about 3 laps to go, we made a goal to try and not get lapped by the main field that was really not far behind us now. We all took good hard pulls but the main field caught us right at the finish, and if we had been just a little faster we could have gone one more lap and sprinted for our own little race-within-the-race. Instead, we rolled through the finish staying out of the way and watching the main field sprint through. It was the most uneventful finish to a race I’ve ever experienced…I felt like a spectator not a competitor. In any case, I congratulated Rachel who happened to be in front of me in our pace line but we never even had the chance to sprint each other. Oh well, I’m sure there will be a next time!

Overall I’m pleased and accepting of the results and experience. I was 15^th out of 16 amazing athletes. I know transitioning to a 3 will be a learning curve and there are a lot of exciting challenges ahead! 

Uni Hill Crit Race Report

When I woke up at 5:45 this morning it was only drizzling a little, but it sure was cold. I planned on arriving at the race early to check out the course before the first men’s race at 8am. My race didn’t begin until 8:55, but I arrived by 7:15 and it was definitely raining. I’d heard that the race was pretty technical with some sharp turns, and that there was a significant hill (thus the name Uni Hill, right?!).

The race start was at the bottom of the hill, and it was a long haul to the first 90 degree right hand turn. Shortly after there was a 90 degree left turn, and more uphill. I had several friends and Coach Alison there cheering for me during the race, and that made all the difference! Finally there was a sharp right turn and then coasting downhill…a sharp right, then left, more downhill, and two super fast right turns before heading uphill briefly to the finish. I knew I had to be first in those last two right turns if I was going to take the sprint in the end.

I have already earned 20 points to upgrade to a 3, so my goal for this race was to support my teammate Athena and hammer on the hill to tire out the field so she could sprint for the win. We finally started after a confusing warm-up in which we thought our race start would be delayed, however at 8:45 it was confirmed that we were indeed starting on time and I had warmed up less than 20 minutes. Merilee took off at the start and set a great pace. We all had to work on that hill and I believe we all stayed together. By the downhill section, I noticed a CU racer who was making a gap. I wasn’t too worried since she was by herself it wouldn’t be too hard for the field to catch her, but I also noticed she was taking the corners really well (even in the pouring rain!) so at some point I bridged to her. I had to accelerate a lot and I believe that is when the field broke up. I heard a girl come from behind me who said it was just four of us now. I wasn’t sure where Athena was but I knew slowing down would cost the team a chance on the podium because I likely wouldn’t be able to drop back and then catch the break again. So I rode with GS Boulder rider Jill Duster, the CU girl, and the fourth girl was on and off again with us.

Around five laps to go I made an attack up the first section of the hill. The two girls caught me and I hoped I didn’t blow myself up. I stayed with them and let them work a bit while I recovered. When we made the right turn before the finish line for one lap to go, I made a big attack but I don’t think I made too much of a gap. Alison was there and encouraged me to go harder, and I knew this was the crucial point for me to break away before the downhill so that I could be first through the last two turns. I thought about all the training I’ve been doing and I worked as hard as I could, took the corners fast, was first through the last two turns and sprinted first through the finish! I don’t know how far behind CU girl was, but results posted that she took 2^nd and Jill 3^rd.

It was only in January that I was telling myself I will never upgrade in road because the competition is so strong and also I will never be able to do well in crits because of my poor cornering skills. I am really proud of how I took the corners today and that I actually felt quite comfortable. There were some scary moments when I went wide after the turn and didn’t exactly have control over my line, but fortunately the field was so strung out there was a lot of room. I know I have a lot to learn and I look forward to racing with the 3’s and having more practice with larger fields.

I’m also happy that all my interval training is paying off. My powertap data looks just like an interval workout. My LT is 245, and I did about 12 intervals up the hill, each about a minute and a half and averaging around 270. Peak power for 5 sec was 787, 30 sec 458, 1 min 348. I worked hard and this win felt good…Koppenberg was great, too, but I was with the field the whole time and didn’t work hard until the very end, except for the three short climbs up the hill. My all time peak 5 sec was at Koppenberg at 912 which shows just how bad I wanted that win!

I don’t think I got up to 25 points for a forced upgrade today because the field was so small. I hope to race Sonic Boom and Superior Morgul as a 4 and hopefully after Morgul will have an auto upgrade.

Congratulations to Athena who braved the rain and sharp corners – this was a scary race and showing up for it is a huge accomplishment and definitely a learning experience. Merilee did a great job supporting the team in the beginning of the race, and I hope she is warm and dry by now! Once again I’m especially thankful to Coach Alison for her support and positive energy.

Koppenberg Win!

This race was super important to me – I’ve never ever wanted to win so badly in my life before! Two years ago, I came in last place, and last year was 14/17. Besides redeeming myself, I wanted to win today because I am nearing an upgrade and I want the points I accumulate to come from winning races. I plan to stay in Cat 4 as long as possible to gain experience, and I don’t know how competitive I will be once I upgrade to a 3 so this is my time to shine!

My experience racing this course before showed me three main challenges: first, it is a fast start and everyone hauls ass right away to get a good position up the hill; second, climbing the hill itself; and third, the 90 degree right turn from Marshall at the Costco gas station. Those are all places I’ve been dropped before.

I always raced on my road bike before which up until this year had eggbeater pedals so I could wear mountain bike shoes. This year I finally got road pedals on it, so I thought I better ride my CX bike in case I have to run up the hill. I was encouraged by Coach Alison (the best coach ever!!!) to ride my road bike and just be first up the hill so unclipping would not even be an option. I have a triple and had never gone up the hill without using it before, and Alison also gave me the confidence that I don’t need it, and it turns out that I don’t!

One goal I had for the race was to be first up the hill at least on the first lap, and I’m happy to report that I was first up for all three laps! Thank you Donna for cheering for me – it really, really helped! I also had friends Anna, Wendy, Courtney and Amy from Title Nine (now Outdoor Divas) cheering, plus RM company from Breeze, Athena, Allison and Gretchen who also raced.

I rode up front for much of the race. I tried to make some attacks, but quickly noticed the whole field on my tail so I slowed way down. I kept looking over my shoulder to watch for anyone to attack so I could grab their wheel, but it never happened. After the hill on the first lap, a Natural Grocers girl asked if I wanted a break from pulling, so I said sure! and got on her wheel. When we turned right onto Marshall, I encouraged her to step on it and said let’s try for a break. Didn’t work, so again she and I sat up front and I was only doing about 160 watts, super mellow pace.

I stayed up front setting the pace and then hustled to be first up the hill for round two, and again tried to attack at the top of the hill to take advantage of people trying to recover. I just couldn’t drop anyone so I slowed down. I made an attack as soon as we turned right onto Marshall, but the whole darn group just accelerated with me again so I slowed down but stayed up front. It was a short enough race that it seemed more important to me to be up front to choose my own line than to conserve energy drafting, however I think at this time I decided to drop back a little bit because if I wasn’t going to be able to break away from the field then I’d better rest up to beat 12 girls in a sprint.

Third and last time up the hill and I was nervous that I still had so much company. Once we turned right onto Marshall, Breeze said some kind words of encouragement that was perfect timing. The pace picked up and I realized this was all going to be about taking the sharp right in a strategic way to set up for a sprint. I was not happy about that because that turn is one of my weaknesses on the course. I pulled to the front again and Gretchen was up there, too. As soon as I turned right I stepped on it. I’m lucky that I stayed away because thinking about it now I think that was pretty far from the finish to start a full gas sprint. You can bet that after last week I was looking behind me left and right to see who was there! When I crossed the finish line first, I yelled, “YES!”

I am so, so happy J I have so much support from Alison coaching me, and all the awesome athletes on our team. It is amazing how different I am riding this season than ever before, and I really attribute that to Alison’s training plans for me and all the great mentoring and camaraderie on the team. Thanks for reading!