NC State Games Criterium

I never know what to expect of the women's field at this race. The entry fees are a bit expensive, and there is no cash purse, so we race for medals and the title of NC Criterium champion. It's not a great draw. However, the course is fantastic - a fast figure-eight with one short hill and a wide sweeping turn into the super fast slightly downhill finish. I knew my former teammates Amy Hannon and Suzi Hosman would be there, and probably Lauren Trull. Amy and Lauren are really fast sprinters, so my strategy was going to be to try for a solo break halfway through the race so I wouldn't have to risk a sprint finish. My plans were dashed when I pulled up and saw Candice Blickem getting onto her bike. I knew she'd be going off on the attack early in the race. That's how she wins crits - she's not a sprinter, but she can time-trial faster than most men. Now the question was, would I be able to go with her and then would I be able to hold her wheel or not.

There were about 12 women at the start line, making up for lack of quantity with quality. Lisa Ferris from Fuji, winner of last year's Carolina Cup, and Debra Oakes from Defeet were there along with two Cycling Spoken Here women, Amber and Michelle. I lined up on the shady side of the road since it was over 90 degrees and very humid outside. Candance and Lauren were on the other side. I had seen the two of them warming up together, and guessed they were teaming up. Without much warning, the whistle blew to start the race, and I jumped on the pedals. I gave it a bit too much gas and wound up first going into the turn. Nobody wanted to let me off the front for the first lap, and I didn't really want to be so far forward. I slowed down, and finally got someone to pull through by the second lap. I settled onto her wheel, and followed her for a while. Coming into the start/finish, I looked back and saw Candice and Lauren sitting at the back of the field. I'm not sure what I was thinking, but I decided to attack. I got a decent gap, and held it for almost a lap until the field came back up. Of course, Candice countered and Lauren and Lisa went with her. I didn't have enough time to respond, and they flew up the road.
I tried to chase for a while by myself, but wasn't making much progress.

Debra and I worked together for a while until Suzi, Amy, Michelle, and Amber made it up to us. At first I thought all the medals were up the road for good. Even if Lisa and Lauren just sat on Candice, they'd be towed around and we'd never catch them. But then my husband called from the sidelines that Candice was attacking the other two. The next lap, he called that Lisa and Lauren weren't working together. I knew we could at least catch them, and started driving the chase hard. We all worked together pretty well, taking short pulls. Before long Lauren was in our sights and we caught her. With Lauren to help, it wasn't long before we pulled Lisa back. Candice was out of sight, and everyone just sat up to recover from all the hard chasing.

I assessed the situation - here I was where I didn't want to be, in the field with three good sprinters. I decided to attack with two to go and take my chances, hoping they'd all be too tired to respond. With four to go, Suzi attacked and Lisa jumped up to her wheel. I got caught behind someone who wasn't responding, and jumped around only to see Lisa just sitting on Suzi's wheel and not pulling through. I didn't panic, and let the rest of the girls come around and close down the gap. We were all together with three to go, and I sat in the middle of the field, waiting for the right time to make my attack. Coming into the headwind before the last turn, I was getting ready, waiting for the turn into the tailwind to make my move, when I heard the lead car zooming by and Candice calling "on your right". We were being lapped! She came by pretty fast, and I waited a moment then jumped onto her wheel. When we came through the start/finish a moment later, the bell rang and the official called "ONE TO GO" - my plans were foiled again! Because we had been lapped, our race was shortened by a lap and my opportunity to attack had passed. I knew that Candice would chase me down for Lauren if I went, so I settled in for the sprint.

Candice pulled us around at a steady, fast pace until the sweeping turn. I felt the sprint coming from behind on both sides, and I hesitated for a fraction of a second trying to decide which way to go. That brief hesitation was long enough, and I was unable to get on a wheel and watched as Amy and Lauren battled it out for the line with Lisa close behind. Amy just pipped Lauren, and I managed to hold off the rest of the girls for fifth place.

I've done probably 70 races by now, and still, I never fail to learn something new every time. In a field that small, being at the back isn't a bad thing if it allows you to keep an eye on your competition. I lost the race by being to far forward because when the girls would jump, they had so much speed by the time they came by me that I couldn't catch their wheels. On the positive side, I was happy with how well we managed to bring back the two escapees with a little patience and consistent hard work. I think the other girls learned something from that as well, and hopefully this will carry on to the next races - hopefully they'll have a little more confidence and not give up when something goes up the road.