Feed zone crew.
Ted, trying to bring back the lead group.
Ted, taking a drink in his crit.
Mixing it up in the crit.
Last weekend's Methow Valley omnium was a bit rough for Ted and me, after having taken about 10 days off the bike in Canada. If you have not been to the Methow Valley, it's a beautiful area.
The race started off with the time trial, which is a nice 9.5 mile course with rolling hills. Ted was highly disappointed with his result, but I don't think he should have been, given that he was having horrible stomach issues all weekend; he finished in the top half, but was over a minute slower than last year. My time trial, for some reason, ended up being pretty good. I finished 2nd, one second behind Robin Secrist. I checked with the official because I had timed myself and my posted time was several seconds slower than what I had timed, but it turned out that all of the times were off by the same amount, so it did not matter. I was told I was not even considered to be any competition heading into the weekend, so it was nice to prove some people wrong.
Saturday evening was the criterium in downtown Twisp. Jenni and I were the only two Bob's women, and we were highly outnumbered against some of the larger teams. Jenni rode really aggressively, getting off the front a couple times, and scoring some primes. Nothing managed to stay away, so it came down to a pack sprint. Neither Jenni or I had the greatest finish, but we were in there somewhere.
Ted's crit was kind of strange, with the pack splitting. Ted was in the second group, trying to chase down the leaders, but very few would work with him, so the gap grew. Ted's group ended up being pulled out by the officials when they were lapped by the front group, but with points still on the line, there was a lot of confusion. No one in Ted's group heard the announcer say they were pulled out, so they literally rode until after the leaders had lapped them. This caused a split in the leading group, so Ted told the official he should have pulled them earlier.
Last up was Sunday's road race. This year's course was far better than the one used last year, which was painfully boring. I raced early in the morning, so Ted dogsat for the morning. A couple of non-threatening breaks went up the road, so we let them dangle out there for a while. It was obvious that there were some alliances between teams, with one team not chasing down another. What's the point of that? They might as well just form one team. On the last lap, a break went up the road with Robin Secrist and Suz Weldon, along with one other. I knew we couldn't let Robin and Suz go, so I chased them down, knowing another Wines woman would counter-attack immediately. Sure enough, Suz attacked. After my monster pull, I was not ready to go with her, but Jenni was on her. No one really chased, so their gap increased. Suz eventually popped Jenni, but Jenni managed to solo in for 2nd. I hung in the pack for the sprint, finishing in the middle somewhere. Jenni moved up on G.C., which was awesome. I fell back, but overall we did well, especially considering how outnumbered we were.
It was super hot by the time Ted raced, so Hitcher and I spent some time in the feed zone. The first time through, Ted was off the front in a break, but it was eventually reeled back in. It stayed pretty much together for a while, but Ted began cramping terribly, which ended up killing his race. He finished it out, but felt horribly afterward because of his seizing legs and cramping stomach. His legs are still not feeling good.
Overall, neither Ted or I had our best race, but it's a fun race to do. Up next is one of the best races in the Northwest - Elkhorn. The women's field is pretty big, with thirty 1/2 women and over forty 3/4 women. Bob's will have a full team there, so it should be a lot of fun.
No comments:
Post a Comment