Wente Criterium
By Brooke Miller
Date: April 23, 2006
Category: Women Pro/1/2 (Racing with W3 -- picked separately)
Distance: 1 hr
Filed Size: About 60
Teammates: Julie, Tracy, Jamie, Amy, Jenni, Eryn, Victoria
Place: 2nd
Winner: Alenta Hetsman, Pillar
The course was a pancake flat mostly four corner (sort of a chicane, but not really) crit with botdots in the most inopportune locations...namely all over the place and on corners. The field was big and there was a lot of wind. Cat Malone asked how it was possible to have a headwind in every direction, and I had no answer for her. Before the race, we talked some strategy and that strategy was to launch coordinated attacks and wear out the field. Also to make sure that no attacks went off without a PABW Powered by TIBCO rider covering it. We had Victoria with us and she was racing her first crit. Her job was to be up front and to seek shelter behind my rather large caboose (or any other rather large cabooses that she managed to come across that were up front). She told us that she was tired from Saturday and was going to sit in the back. NO! Tracey and I told her that if she was tired and wanted to ride easy that she had better get her hiney up front where she is not working so hard!
The rest of us were to be up front too, but attacking, countering and chasing, including Julie who made a last-minute addition to the team, after having to scrounge shoes and helmet after a hectic mother-visit that left her a little, uh, discombobulated. With no warmup and with glamor street wear sunglasses courtesy of Smith, Jules got onto the line in her borrowed helmet and shoes.
The race went off and the pack was big. I had warned Victoria that in a race like that, it is a sprint from the gun and if the field gets strung out, even the strongest riders can get dropped if they are behind some people that can't hang. The solution is to get a good start, sprint hard and get up front right away! I was not sure if she could do it, as she is so new and it is so damn hard to do, especially for a new rider.
Gun goes off, sure enough- mad dash for position. Webcor was there with their big gun Christine Thornburn, Betina, Felicia and Katheryn, but Karen opted for a training ride elsewhere. Brenda Lyons from Victory was there and I have beem on the receiving end of her sprint enough times to know that she is a smart rider and one to watch in any crit. I knew that I could be safe moving in behind her and reacting to the things she was reacting to.
The race started hot and I was chasing down attacks and realized quickly that I was working too hard. At first, I did not see my teammates up there, but then after the first ten minutes or so, everyone on the team showed up in the front of the pack and started covering EVERYTHING. Amy, Jamie, Eryn and Jenni all launched attacks and strung out the field. Jules chased things down- which was damn funny given that it turns out that the shoes she borrowed were not compatible with her cleats and she was racing on top of her pedals! Attack after attack went off and there was nothing that left without PABW Powered by TIBCO in it. It was a beautiful sight to see! I was sitting in, resting while our team launched, countered and covered the whole race.
Twice, I saw someone attacking hard and fast and gapping the field, only to realize that Amy had gotten her legs back after some overtraining had robbed her of her sprint!
Webcor was setting their leadouts to win the primes, as they were working on their leadouts in that race. I did not contest any of the primes, but I got super excited about attacking into the wind right after one of the primes. It was getting close to the end of the race and I attacked right after the prime and looked back to see Webcor strung out on front chasing. As soon as I was caught, another PABW Powered by TIBCO went off! Perfect! I can't remember who it was, but it was beautiful to see. Again, more Webcor chasing. As we started to go into the last 5 laps or so, Eryn attacked and strung out the field again to chase. Single file burns legs and that is what happened. Jenni was off the front too working the pack.
I started to think about the finish with about 2 laps to go and Webcor was getting lined up. I did not see Amy trying to get my attention and we never got our own leadout going. So, I was jumping on the Webcor train looking for their leadout. At one point in the race, Christine had attacked and I chased her down. When we were caught, I heard Betina ask her, "Why did you attack?" At that point, I knew that they were working for Christine. Sure enough, Christine was back there and I was right in the mix.
We turned the corner into the finish area which was directly into a strong head wind. Up front, there was the Webcor train, working and starting to peel riders off--and Brenda. I was telling myself to wait on my jump. I know that I have a long sprint, but my short sprint is snappy right now and it would be best to wait as long as possible to jump. Just as I was about to jump however, I was hit hard on the bars from a rider in red on my left. It threw me off and I ended up getting boxed in for a second. I slowed down and avoided a couple riders and jumped hard. My sprint was on fire and I was closing fast. I passed the few riders that were in front of me and shocked myself when I easily flew by Brenda. I know her well enough to know that she was not going as hard as she could for me to pass her so easily. But there was still someone in front of me. I was closing fast, but did not have enough room. ARGH! She won and I took second.
The rest of our team finished in the pack, including Victoria!!! Julie somehow managed to stay in, even without ever clipping in!!! We had a post-race meeting that really helped. We talked about things that had gone well and not so well in the race and I know that it is really going to help the team in the future. This was only our second time all racing together and it was loads better than the first. We did smart things and represented really well.