Sequoia Classic Criterium

What a great host house. I had a wonderful nights sleep and woke up to hear birds chirping. Time to go on a ride to spin the legs out. Bob had told us the night before a route we could do that had a wide shoulder and was dead flat. Exactly what my legs needed. X and I bundled up as it was 36 degrees out and off we went. From the explosion of clothes in the van the day before I could not find both of my awesome Adidas gloves that are so warm so I was suffering a little with long gloves that were not quite as warm. Even though it was cold it was a beautiful day with bright sunny skies and a couple of puffy white clouds. On our ride we came across a couple of dairy farms for the Land O Lakes company. They looked to be pretty happy California cows.

After about 40 minutes of riding we stopped for the traditional Starbucks coffee and a pastry. The good thing about Starbucks is that they are everywhere. After filling our bellies, we rode downtown to check out the criterium course and to see if we could get our numbers for the race. The universe was on our side as when we rolled up a race was just finishing and the course was open so we got to ride it. Even though the road was wide I knew after taking a spin on it that it was going to be a rough race with 6 turns. We were able to register and off we rode home with our numbers in our pockets. We timed ourselves as our host house was so close to the course that it appeared that we could warm up there and just ride over. We were right; it only took 8 minutes to get home.

Off to a shower to get warm. The Havard’s had hooked us up with some eggs, cheese and bread and off to work I went on some pre-race fried egg sandwiches. The snack of champions! After our snack we pinned our numbers and laid down to rest the legs. Resting and napping is the best thing to do prior to a hammer fest.

A thorough warm up on the trainer and off we road to the course. I had the usual pre-race butterflies but was also excited. All of the teams were there in full force and I knew it was going to be exciting. After all of the call ups of our star studded field and a moment of silence for Kristy Gough (she was killed while on a training ride, very sad) off we went. As I predicted that pace was fast from the get go and as I was to find out, throughout the entire race.

I unfortunately started the race in the back of the pack so it took me about 5 – 7 laps to get myself to the front. The race was going as usual and then about ¼ of the way through it there was a crash on turn 3 the only right hand turn in the race. I did not see what happened but was slightly held up by the crash and had to unclip. Twelve of us rode on and were able to catch up to the main pack in about a lap. Morgan was ahead of the crash (excellent riding) so I knew she was okay. Going through the pits I saw Jenn X being brought back into the race in one piece with about 40 other girls. Just crazy! I heard afterwards that Liz Hatch and Laura Kroepsch were both hurt in the crash but are okay. Crashes are always horrible. On we went with several primes being offered of $50 to $100. I wanted to go for one but did not want to completely waste myself since there were only three of us there from South Bay. As the race went on my legs started to open up and one time after turn 5 I saw an opportunity on the left side and took it to do a little attack. I immediately had riders on me. Today was not a day that anybody was going to get away especially with full squads from the best teams in the nation and world (Team Highroad). On we went with a very high pace (after downloading my computer information I found out we kept an average speed of 25.3mph). A $50 prime was offered on one of the laps and I was in good position. After turn 5, three riders pushed hard up the left side and I jumped on it. And then the strangest thing happened to me. The intersection between turn 5 and 6 had a bump in it and previously in the race water bottles had flown. Now another one went and the way it fell on the ground it squirted sport drink right into my face going into my eyes, covering my glasses and all over the front of me. If it was planned this could not have happened. My eyes stung and my hand slipped on my shifters. In the 2 seconds it took me to regain my barring I was no longer in a good position and the prime opportunity was over. Bummer! Then from slippery to sticky I went and rode like that for the rest of the race.

Morgan drilling it on the front


Jenn X ropin' a turn

The pace continued to be high and Ina Teutenberg was on fire constantly launching attacks and taking primes. Other teams like Aaron’s and Colavita were active in winning primes. Many primes were given in the last 15 laps which always makes things a little crazy. With about 7 laps to go Jenn X came out of the pits, again. Strange! Later I found out she had a flat and then a cable break in the pits and finished the race on a Litespeed neutral bike. Thank goodness for Shimano neutral support.

With 5 laps to go I was sitting in perfect position about 5^th or 6^th wheel. However, with 2 laps to go this became harder to hold as all of the teams were screaming to the front to lead out their sprinters. I kept fighting for position and did the best I could to maintain my position. I did not have great position entering the last turn but felt that I could fly up the inside, scream into the last turn and then just jam. However, on the straight before the final turn I had a strange feeling that it was not going to be good and I was right. I eased off as we approached the turn and in front of me there was a huge crash as riders slid out. I had to brake and lost a lot of speed. I put my head down and sprinted to the finish line and came in a disappointing 11^th place. Darn! Not quite what I had wanted but not horrible. At least all of the riders on the ground were basically okay and no one was seriously injured which is always good to hear.

Ridin' in the pack

As usual, I love racing the NRC races as they are such a blast and the competition is so fantastic.

Back to training and working. On Saturday I pick up my scooter. I will take photos for ya all! Oh, if you want to see full coverage of the race check out www.ibnsports.com.