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Nicholas Jerabek
Albany Crit
July
Teammates: Lily, Tyler, Julian, Charles
Today I rode in my first crit in Albany. When the race started, the pack surged forward right away. Some people dropped off but caught up on the uphill after turn two where the pack slowed down. I kept up until about four laps into the race when four other riders and I dropped off the back. We had three 15/16 girls, a 15/16 boy, and me. I tried several times to get off the front, but every time someone would grab my wheel. So I decided to just stay with them. We rode together for about 15 minutes until the 15/16 pack lapped us. We picked up another 15/16 boy, but he crashed going through turn four too fast almost as soon as we picked him up. With about 10 minutes to go, Lily caught us from behind and rode with us till the end. On the last lap I knew that I didn’t have a chance to win anything since the 15/16 pack had lapped me, so I decided to try and help Lily.
Before the race, one of the officials had said that anyone could ride with any group, so I thought that it would be legal. I pulled Lily to the front of our group so that she would have a better chance in the sprint. I pulled over just before turn four because I didn’t think I should be in their sprint. It was a little weird and I wasn’t really sure how much I could help Lily. Does anyone have any advice on what else I could have done? Anyhow, everyone else behind me was too far back to pass me, so there was no need for me to sprint to the finish. I’m not even sure where I finished, but it doesn’t matter to me because overall I was happy with how I rode considering it was my first crit. Even though the pack dropped me, I was able to ride the entire race with another group and work on my bike handling. I was surprised at how quick the race went. Most important, I had fun. And congratulations to all of our teammates in their races. I think I’ll try the Coyote Creek crit in San Jose on July 31. Each lap is 1.8 miles and the 16’s race with the 17/18’s. That will give us 15’s a chance to race against other guys who aren’t shaving yet. I hope some of the other Tieni Duro 15’s can make it. Thanks, Nichol-B
Nicholas Jerabek
Coyote Creek
Teammates: Lily, JP, Shawn, Charles
I really liked the Coyote Creek course. It had pretty easy corners, a decent climb, a good swooping descent, and a nice flat stretch. I was excited to do this race because of the climb that I would be able to do every lap. I was also excited because the age categories were 13-15 and 16-18. I'm a fifteen, so this meant that I was now one of the older kids in my category. The race started uphill, which had a huge headwind. I let most of the pack go in front of me so the wind would not hit me as much. The people in the front of the pack kept surging forward, dropping a couple of people. Before the hill on the second lap, a group of four riders dropped me, Lily, and another female Los Gatos rider, Dawn Tisdale. When our little group started up the hill, I could see the lead group, and wanted to try to catch them, so I pulled harder then I normally do. Dawn stayed with me, but unfortunately we dropped Lily. Then Dawn and I rode together for the rest of the race. We worked well together and each took our fair turn of pulls. At one point, Dawn and I were gaining time on the lead group, but it was almost impossible because they had four people and we only had two. When it came down to the last lap, I was unfortunately pulling into the sprint, so Dawn came up from behind and beat me by about two inches at the last second. I placed sixth out of ten.
This race helped me learn at least three things. First, to stick with the group no matter how hard they ride in the beginning. Once they are gone, it's almost impossible to catch back up. Second, it taught me to work with people even if they are not on my team. Third, I need to learn how to sprint. But overall it was a fun race. |
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