As you can tell, there's no report for Leesville Gap. Why? I didn't do it (nice, Sherlock), and it's a good thing I didn't. My achilles and right knee were in so much pain that day that the roads would have probably killed (not really) me. Anyway, my teammate and sister from another mister, Asa, got third, which is awesome. I just keep telling myself that my excuses were legit. Don't judge me.
The Davis Fourth of July crit is known for being a bloodfest. The course is technical and fast, and sometimes, technical and fast don't go well together. My goal for the race was to pretty much attack, counter attack, and lead Asa out on the final sprint. This year, the field was a W4 only. Nice.
There were surprisingly not many crashes in the race before us (E5s). One guy ate it on the last turn, but that was all I saw. Another guy bent his front wheel before the race started. Yeah, Asa and I did a "wtf?" A huge change from last year, though, where pretty much every lap has someone hitting their face on the asphalt and every other lap had a broken bike (or rider). Okay, I can dig this, but Davis didn't keep it reputation of being a blood bath. Not a bad thing, mind you, but y'know, we all love bloody sports or something (yeah, I kind of miss hockey).
After Asa and I picked up our numbers, we went back to the truck and Asa started to warm up. What was my warm up? I rode to the porta potties because I had to pee. Yeah, that was it. We got there later than we planned and by the time I changed my trainer wheel, then changed back to the tubular, then do all my number stuff, blah blah blah. Not worth it. My job that day was to haul Asa around, not win. So, I said, "I'll warm up on the first few laps." Spoken like a true crit slut.
The plan was working. The field was pretty strung out for most of the race, and I was never in the back of the field. In fact, I'm pretty sure that I was fifth wheel or higher for the whole race. I attacked a few times, didn't get the first prime because, hurr, I didn't warm up at all. I got two other primes though, because I apparently warmed up enough during the race. This was my race to play, and I did just that. More attacks, more counter attacks, fast turns, got to pick my lines. One girl got into a solo break, I couldn't get her so I told the rest of the field, "Uh,
someone help me catch her." I saw her go, go, go, then she gave up after she crossed the start/finish line so I knew we were safe. At that point, I realized that I was going to have to counter attack sooner. The good thing is that one of the sprinters kept calling out all of the attacks that were going to happen. Oh really? Don't mind if I do!
The race was pretty safe. It wasn't slow, but, for the most part, it was kept safe. Midway through the race on turn one, the girl leading the lap over-corrected her turn and nearly took out my front wheel. If it weren't for mountain biking, I wouldn't have dodged that wheel so well,
without over-correcting. Asa saw that and gave me kudos after the race. Amazingly enough, that kind of move doesn't scare me anymore. I've been getting more and more confident with my riding, cornering, and corrections. I'll admit that mountain biking has a lot to do with it. So, after that correction, I just did a little "oh shit" and moved on with the race. Good times. Saved myself from eating asphalt.
More attacks and more counterattacks. On the second to last lap, the front end of my bike felt like it was washing out. Weird, I don't usually corner so poorly that I feel like my front end is going out. Whatever. On the last lap, I heard the bell and booked it to the front. The whole lap I just drilled it. I still felt as if my front end was washing out. Whatever. One more lap. One more lap. It hurt, and I was deep in the pain cave (so deep, I'm surprised I came out straight. It was tastefully decorated, by the way). The only two things that helped me finish that lap were 1) I'm here to support Asa and 2) I don't have to sprint at the end, she does; I'm off the hook!
Last turn, I drill it a little more and then I see Asa and another girl attack. As soon as I saw those two go, I yelled, "GO ASA! GO!!!" I then thought that I could maybe stand up and get a decent placing, but when I tried, my legs said, "Hahaha nope!" So I sat up. No more legs for me. I ended up 12th out of 21 or so girls. Asa? second!
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| You can see me smiling in the background! |
So, people ask, why didn't Asa get first? My first reaction is to say, "Bitch, you try to do what I did," but I stop myself and tell them my hypotheses. Let's see, the girl who got first had about 5 or so teammates helping her out. Asa had one (yours truly). First place is a pure sprinter (I know because I sprinted against her at Cyclebration). If I would have been able to give Asa 100 more feet on the lead out, she would have won.
The main reason? Remember how I was complaining about my front end washing out? Turns out that I had a front flat. Yup. I rode a tubular wheel with a flat for two fast laps. How I didn't crash how I still have teeth, I don't know. I'll just thank the Powers that Be and leave it at that. No questions asked. I'm freaking lucky. Would I have been able to go faster and help Asa get first? Maybe. It's all "What ifs" now. Some folks ask me why I'm so happy and proud if I finished mid-pack. Uh, because I helped my team get on the podium! I'm freaking proud that I was able to help do that! Team work, guys. You can't do anything out in a field like that (there were a lot of very strong women in this race) without a team.
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| Photo by Tony Troy. |
We hung around for pretty much the entire day, watching some kick-ass racing and taking pictures of Asa on the podium. Hung out with good friends, saw Chuck Hutcheson win the P/1/2 (freakin' awesome race!), saw Bubba race the Masters race (dude's an animal!), cheered Mary Maroon on in her race (she's pretty much my hero), and drank beer. Yup, I had two beers after my race and was pretty much plastered. The good thing is that my legs didn't hurt for about an hour after I drank those beers. Score.
I usually do an easy spin after a crit, but I dug so deep that I couldn't. My legs were shaking and I was exhausted. I knew I did my job... with a flat (I can't get over that!). Asa and I talked to our coach, who looked very happy with our performance. Yay! I surprised myself at what I was able to do in this race. I didn't know I could dig so deep into the pain cave. I didn't know I could lead an entire lap for my teammate, do so many attacks, win two primes, and counter attack pretty much every move the girls made. And it's all thanks to my coach. If it weren't for him, I couldn't have been able to do that. He does all of the hard work, I just follow his program. I know I made the right choice for a coach when I see how good my results have gotten this year, and you know, he's just an awesome person all around. I'm lucky to have such an awesome coach. It's all you, Coach!
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| "Go pink or go home." |
The rest of the day was fun. Throughout the whole day, people kept coming up to me (people I didn't even know) and told me that we did a fantastic job and that our race was fun to watch. That was so cool to hear! Girls from the race came up to me and told me how strong I was. Stoked! Seriously. I'm so, so stoked to hear that. I feel stronger, so hopefully it only gets better. Again, all thanks to my coach!
I'll leave you with this ridiculous picture of my friend, Derrick, with my bike. Look at how sick that wheel looks. Too bad the front one flatted, because that was an awesome combo.
Next up is Lodi Cyclefest. My "A" race. Eek!
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