Omnium – TT,
Criterium and Road Race
Williamsburg,
Newport News and New Kent, VA
July 19-20,
2014
Time Trial
20K with
rolling (for the area) terrain.
We started a
minute apart and I passed my minute person after about 3 miles. At the turn around, I was 30 seconds back
from my 2 minute person. I lost some
time when the tape on my disc started flapping – I thought I had a flat at
first but realized that it must be the tape.
I crossed the line in 3rd place and was quite happy with my effort.
Criterium
The crit was
in a city center larger than Brambleton but smaller than Reston. The course was flat with only one technical
turn toward the end of the lap and some wicked wind shortly thereafter. Through the start/finish, the pavement was
faux brick (asphalt carved to look like brick) which made the route a little
bumpy. Prior to the race, Vic told me
that riding in the gutter would be the smoothest path – of course, I
thought…sure, Vic. I’ll ride in gutter.
Nein, bitte. During the pre-ride,
Chuck rode with me to show me the line through the tightest corner and Wendy’s
The Boy (aka Mike Stearns) also gave me positioning advice for after that
turn. Christine and I rode a couple of
laps and talked about how we thought the race might unfold. With Ali Ingram ( James River Velo Sport) in
attendance (she won Brambleton), I knew that the best hope for winning the crit
would be to get into a break without her.
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So armed
with lots of recon and advice, Christine and I lined up. I was directly behind Ali, to be positioned
to jump on her wheel. The whistle blew
and off we went. The field consists of 2
team pairs (Evo and James River), one team with 4 (Tradewinds Racing) and
singles. Laura and Ali (James River)
worked well together, countering each other’s attacks. Christine and I did the same. We launched our efforts at different parts of
the course. Normally, the tight turn
would present an opportunity – since cornering in women’s racing seems to
always involve braking – but the headwind after that turn negated any gap
created by the corner (I know, I tried several times). Vic’s gutter suggestion was great – nice and
smooth.
With about 5
or 6 to go, it seemed that everyone was content to sit in and wait for the
sprint. Christine and I tried a couple
more times on the back side to get something to happen but….while others were
not attacking, they were covering them.
Christine picked up a preme. I
knew that it would come down to a field sprint….not something in which I seem
to excel.
On the last
lap, Tradewinds came to the front to lead someone out – and I was sitting third
wheel coming into the final turn. I
crossed the line in 6th – I had to brake as someone swerved into my path
but….looking back I don’t know why I ended up in the position to have to brake
but…all in all a good team effort. We
raced and did not exchange recipes. That
would occur on Sunday.
New Kent
Road Race
51 miles, 4
loops, some gravel, a truck, and an almost beautiful moment.
The biggest
thing about the road race was the gravel.
In the earlier W4 field, someone crashed badly – I don’t know the true
extent of the injuries – but she landed on her face just prior to the
gravel. The other women in my field
talked about the gravel. Poolesville
gravel my first year resulted in a crash, and the second time I raced resulted
in a severe asthma attack from the dust.
So – armed with expected breathing issues and a great deal of fear, I
was ever so eager for this RR. Chuck
needed all of his negotiation and manipulation skills to calm me to an
acceptable level of fear.
Chuck and
The Boy provided gravel recon – convincing me it was not Poolesville, Part
Deux. Chuck and I have spent some time
on gravel in Lost River with his friend Jesse – former pro-mtb – who lives in
Mathias. Gravel flat is much better than
gravel at 18%.....and the gravel turned out to be the scene of an almost
 |
| Foto Credit: Jon Winters |
The story of
this race is that of most women’s road races.
We ride, a couple of attacks, get neutralized, couple of attacks, wait
for the sprint, done. This was slightly
different. When we hit the gravel the
first time, the PainPathways (PP) rider attacked – everyone was on her line on
the right hand side. I stayed left per
Chuck and Mike. A gap was created – and
when I hit the road, I was sprinting to get back to the group. Christine was
there and once I reattached, she led the charge to catch the three off the
front. For the rest of the race, that
seemed to be the story. Every so often, the pace would pick up but….Ali and
Laura put in a couple of good efforts as did the PP rider. Christine did an amazing job keeping me out
of the wind at the front.
As we hit
the gravel section for the last time, I expected PP to attack as she did on the
first lap. I moved up to go through the
gravel just after Christine, who was at the front. I stayed left – alone. Christine was on the
right and everyone was behind her. I
kept a steady rhythm and soon passed Christine and I realized – this could be
it. Christine slowed down and others
could not go around her on the gravel since the middle of the road was very
loose stone. I opened up a gap and
planned to hit the pavement and go as hard as I could. If someone bridged across – either Ali or PP
– we could stay away.
As the
gravel ends, the road curves around to the left. The motor ref failed to stop a truck. As I
came around the curve, there was a truck headed toward me. Since I was on the left side of the road, this
was not a good thing. I was able to
avoid him, remain upright and not take out the field for which I am
thankful…but….our impromptu attack was ended.
Christine
was back at the front and I stayed 2nd or 3rd wheel – promising to keep my nose
out of the wind. I knew that the race
coming down to a group sprint would not work well for me. The finish was a very slight rise. I decided to attack the field as soon as I
could see the cars parked at the finish line – and hope that the sprinters
jumped too early – they would pass me and then tire and I could go around
them. When I saw the cars, I shot left
and accelerated. I could hear the sound
of gears shifting and a few obscenities.
I put my head down and told my legs to ignore people passing – they
would die. When I passed Chuck with
about 200m to go, I was in 8th or 9th.
When I got to the line, I crossed in 5th.
For the
Omnium, I finished tied for 3rd. It was
a great weeked of racing and the parking lot known as 95 was actually a less
than 4 hour return home.
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