Redlands 2008 - Stage 2 the crit!

Well I made it to the crit my favorite race. I woke up early starving wishing that I could sleep more but my stomach had other ideas. I made some eggs and toast, prepped a little for the day and then went for a spin and a cup of coffee and a muffin. The day was brisk and the high today was only supposed to be 69 degrees. I would prefer warmer but I figure if it is not raining it is a good day.

Since our host housing is so close to down town we all rode our bikes to the course and Dave, Scott and the guys already had the Vanderkitten trailer their waiting for us. Awesome!

Team meeting and warm up and off we went to the start. I always like to get there early as placement is everything. Even though you start in the 1^st row by the time they do all of the call ups you are in the 2^nd row and sometimes the 3^rd row. There was a great rendition of the national anthem by a very young girl with muscular dystrophy which touched all of us. Then the gunshot and we were off. Once the gun goes in the Redlands crit you are going over 100% for the next 60 minutes. This course is very technical with 8 turns and a slight chicane in it. Placement is everything. I was able to mostly stay in the top 20 the entire race and only periodically would I drop below that. I was watching key riders and tried to place myself around riders like Laura Van Gilder (Cheerwine), Emilia Fahlin (Highroad), Lara Kroepsch (ValueAct) and Nichole Wangsgard (Colavita) knowing that they are good finishers and good wheels to follow.

Just another glamorous day riding. Free dermabrasion!

As is typical at Redlands I think there were about 4 crashes in the race. Luckily for me I was in front of all of them. Whew! It was great to see Jenny Trew my teammate up in the mix and both of us placed well during the race. You are so busy racing and your eyes are so wide eyed that you forget how long you have been in this state. I took a glance up and could not believe that we were sitting at 8 laps to go. The race was filled with attacks from Cheerwine and Aaron’s as they fought for time bonuses for their GC riders. Now I had to think about the finish and placement for the last time bonus which is at 5 laps to go. Everything was starting to get even crazier and you had to push just to maintain position.

With two laps to go I was constantly working the left side to move up and hold my place as riders for other teams moved to the front to pull hard for their sprinters or pulled off when they were done. Cheerwine had an amazing train going with Highroad sitting on them just waiting like a cat. With one lap to go there was a crash on the first turn which is about a 130 degree turn but luckily it was right behind me. We surged ahead and I was all over my bike digging in for every extra inch I could gain. Into the second to last turn I sprinted so hard out of it my back wheel skipped hard. Into the final turn and I put my head down and gave it everything I had left for an 11^th place finish. Emilia Fahlin (Highroad) took the win. She is so fast. It was a hard day but oddly fun. Last year I finished 20^th place so this year was a pretty good improvement.

My teammate Melissa kickin' it after the race

The Vanderkitten camp.

One more day left, the Sunset Loop. More climbing! Stay posted!

A picture from yesterday's race of myself and the other Vanderkitten you see is Heather Sborz. Also here but not clear in the photo is Melissa Sanborn. Our group climbing San Timeteo working together to make the time cut.