This was my first criterium, and I was nervous about it. I'm not usually nervous about crashing, but I was a bit worried about this race, probably because I didn't know what to expect. I also haven't been on my bike much lately due to tendonitis in my heel, so I knew I wasn't going to do very well. *And* this was going to be my first race with spectators -- even my parents were coming. Eep.
The race started oddly. We were at the line, and then all of a sudden we were doing a promenade lap, which turned into two, and then four, and then.... We were being allowed to roll around to keep warm while paramedics were clearing the course after a crash in the previous race. Finally we got back to the starting line, more than 30 minutes after our originally-intended start time. They told us that they were going to shorten our race in order to stay on schedule (originally the race was to be about 45 minutes long). We waited at the line for probably another 10 minutes.
Finally the bell rang and we were off. I got off to a fast start, and found myself behind four other women in a single paceline, with the whole rest of the field behind us. Wild. After the chicane on the first lap, the field swarmed around us, and I found myself near the back. Turns were a bit sketchy but overall I didn't find them too scary.
Just after the chicane on the second lap, I discovered that I was getting dumped off the back -- too late to do anything about it at that point. I caught the wheel of a woman in a plain jersey, and drafted off of her for maybe half to three-quarters of a lap. I pulled ahead and she jumped on my wheel. As we passed the start/finish line, I heard the announcer say something like, "and off the back, it's Jill Eyres and ______, time trialing." Depressing! Plain jersey girl and I worked fairly well together, taking turns every half lap or so, but we weren't making any significant progress. In fact, the headwinds on the straightaway before the start/finish were brutal and we fell further behind on every lap.
After a couple of laps, as we passed through the start/finish, we got pulled. I'm not sure whether I was upset or relieved -- possibly a combination of the two. I watched the rest of the Cat 4 women's race with (see photo, seated left to right) Bess, Amy, Vanessa, me, and my mom.
Emily and Ann finished but didn't do as well as they liked, due to getting caught behind a crash at the very last turn before the final straightaway. They didn't go down but the pack got away from them.
All in all, though, it was fun, and I'm thrilled that my teammates stayed safe.
Lessons: I need to pay closer attention to staying close to the pack, and noticing earlier if I'm falling off (or stuck behind someone who is falling off). I also need to heal this darned Achilles tendon so I can get back on the bike and get some fitness back!
Monday, March 09, 2009
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