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Event:Cat's Hill Crit
Date:May 7th
Place: 2th 13-14 girls
Category:Junior 13-14 combined with the 10-12s
Distance: 3 laps
Field:35 ( both age groups)
Teammates: Alex
This race was really annoying for me. I enjoyed this race last year and was really looking forward to it. I also wanted to gain more points in the points series.
So, I was pretty unhappy to spend Friday in bed with a fever.My fever broke Friday night and since the race was only 3 laps I decided to go anyway. I was still pretty congested in my lungs though. We got there in plenty of time. I was trying out some new race wheels for the first time and I was pretty excited. I warmed up on the trainer for about 1 hour.
Then I lined up. The start line was packed with riders of all sizes and abilities. I knew it would be a dangerous race so I lined up right behind Daniel Tisdell as I had planned to. I clipped in nice and quickly and stood up to accelerate. As I accelerated, some random kid cut me off so I moved to his left.Then again there was a kid on a mountain bike sprinting like crazy for the first corner. I came around him, but by then I had lost my perfect position. Next time I will start in the front row . Up the hill the first time I could feel that my whole body was just tired and my lungs hurt a bit.
At this point, Michelle tacked on to my wheel. Around the course the second time I made her pull most of the way.I tried to attack on the hill and failed to have any effect. I tried again the last time up the hill , but I just didn't have the energy to make a gap. In fact, Michelle gapped me briefly at the top of the climb but I caught her wheel. Coming out of the last corner , I misjudged the length of the final stretch and I didn't make my sprint at the right time and finished right behind her.
So it was a frustrating race. But, I am glad I went because I still have a chance a winning the points series now.
However, I would like to note that I am not racing Berkeley hills today, so that I can fully recover for the crit next weekend. Sorry!
Good luck to everyone racing today!
Appelation Crit
April 9th,2005
Place:1st girl,4th overall
Field:29
Teammates:none
I arrived knowing I had to win if I wanted to take the lead in the points series. I warmed up for about 40 minutes on the stationary trainer and felt pretty good. I found out that the race had been shortened which was a two-sided thing for me. The shorter the race, the less time to thin the field. But, on the other hand, I wouldn't be laped by all the older kids...
I had trouble clipping in at the start and I had to chase up to the first group. Lance "Armstrong" Wolfsmith (Wolfpak) broke away immediately and Daniel Tisdell (LGBRC) was in between . The 2 girls I needed to beat were right there and I wanted to catch Daniel, so I put in a big effort and caught him. Both girls were dropped at that point. The rest of the race I just tried to keep the pace high so they wouldn't catch us. On the last lap I lapped the 2 girls and followed attacks from Daniel and Joel Shaffer (Alto Velo). They dropped me in their sprint and I got 4th overall.
One note: when I crossed the line, I sat up and sort of lifted my arms, but not all the way up because I didn't win the whole race.The officials couldn't see my number so I did not appear at all in the results. We had to protest the results and the officials reviewed the video tape and found me. The lesson is don't lift your arms until after the line, I guess. Does anyone know if it is even legal to lift your arms at the finish line if the judges can see your number?
Lily Gordis
Copperopolis RR
March 26
Place:6th
Field:15
Teammates:Aaron, Peter
I arrived at the race with about 2 hours to spare.
I registered and got ready to warm up. Peter and Aaron lined up their trainers at my car and we warmed up together for an hour or so. We decided that if there were any competitve girls, they would help me and if there weren't, I would help them. We went and rolled out and then we lined up. There was one girl I thought might be a factor in the race, so I pointed her to the boys. Right before our start, Nick J's dad came over and told us to be at the front right at the start. Of course, we were lined up at the back , so as soon as we started, I moved up to the front really fast without Peter and Aaron joining me. I was 3rd wheel as we hit the climb right behind Daniel Tisdell and Lance Wolfsmith. They were going quite fast and about 1/4 of the way up the climb I dropped off. I was cramping a bit and a couple of kids passed me. Aaron went ahead and Peter was near me. I passed Peter going up the steepest part of the climb and didn't see him for awhile. Along the ridge I made a wrong turn. I noticed it right a way and made my way back to the course. I lost a couple of seconds and saw Peter chasing me. I let him catch me and rode with him for a bit.He said that all the girls had been dropped a long time ago. I dropped Peter again when the road climbed a bit and I just rode my own pace for a while. A small group caught me and then I went ahead with Zach Wick and caught Aaron's group . Peter caught a little bit later.On the last clinb I wasn't feeling great, but suddenly had a resurgence of energy. I attacked and dropped my group. Zach caught me going down the last hill and I couldn't stay with him. I finished on my own ahead of Peter and Aaron's group. I finished 1st among the girls and gained valuble points in the points series.
Our teamwork didn't work out quite right, but I still finished well.
West Sac Crit
3/20/05
Place:2th
Category:Juniors 14 and under
Field:8
Teammates:none
I was going to race Land Park yesterday, but it didn't work out for me, so I took a chance with the rain today and it paid off. I got to the race with about an hour to spare.
I got my number and warmed up on the trainer for about 25 minutes. I had some food at this point because the race overlapped lunchtime. It rained on and off during warm-up but not during the race.The race people came up with some extra prize money and split up the 15 and up juniors from the 14 and under one's. I was a little disapointed to not race with the older kids, but Daniel Tisdell was in my category and I knew he would be hard to race. There were 2 other girls at the start. The course would have been very easy except there was a dreadful headwind on the back stretch of the course, which meant that the rest of the course was taken pretty easy. There was a big attack from Daniel on lap 2 and the group split. There were 4 kids of until I took a strong pull into the wind and dropped one of the kids. Daniel, Zach, and I were together for most of the rest of the race. With 4 laps to go, Daniel attacked into the corner heading into the wind. Because Zach is so much bigger then me, I made a mistake and tried to make him pull in Daniel. By the time, I came around him,realizing he couldn't chase,it was too late to reel in Daniel. I dropped Zach and made it the last few laps on my own. I lappedthe girls.This race was my first crit of the year and I wish it had been less windy and a faster race overall. Still, I got some cash for my efforts, so I won't complain!
Lily Gordis
Snelling RR
2/26/05
second (among the girls)
13-14
Field 20-25
Teammates: Peter, Aaron, Nick, Alex, Adam
This was my first race of the year, so I was not sure what to expect. I arrived with about an hour and a half to spare. I warmed up on the trainer for a 1/2 hour.
I lined up right on time but of course they ran late so we started a 1/2 hour late. Once we pushed off I was feeling pretty good. On the first hill in the promenade, some girl on my right leaned onto another girl and they both fell over, knocking several other people over. I had to unclip to avoid this crash.
As the race picked up, I was in the front of the group and Nick was patrolling the front. As we rounded another sandy corner uphill I heard a scream and the clatter of bikes falling . I did not look back, I didn't want to see what had happened. That was the last crash I heard, but there may have been more.
Daniel Tisdale kept attacking and I was able to follow. The 2 girls I knew were competitive were still there as we came around for a second lap.The first lap was not very fast and all the hills were easy, so I still felt good. There were more attacks and I made a couple, one of which helped drop one of the girls still left. Peter, Nick and Aaron were still there with me and that was good but we were not able to organize any kind of lead-out. Maybe a protected rider for each race would be good? Anyway, I was in an ok position for the final sprint, but my legs didn't have the kick for the sprint . I am sorry that I was not able to win at that race and would like to thank my teammates for help.
It was a good first race though and I enjoyed it.
I hope Adam recovers from his crash soon.
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