NC.Com Crits #13, 14: Crazy Fast!

Fighting for position

Tonight's races were crazy hard and fast. The first race was the Men's Cat 4 race, and 39 people were registered (it looks like 33 finished). When I last did this course with the guys, I got dropped 10 minutes in and pulled 20 minutes in. Today I stayed with the field (and the winners) the entire time, even with us averaging 25.5 mph. Success! I tried to move up a little every lap, but all that did was keep me from getting dropped--it didn't put me in any better position for the finish.

Not exactly the ideal position

The field was 23 people and I finished 20th, so I really was in a poor position. Next week I will have to work on positioning.

I'm way in the background in this shot, but we all
regrouped shortly after this pic

Emily and me getting caught

The women's race was next, and I didn't know how I'd do. In fact, I was pretty sure I wouldn't do well, wouldn't be able to stay with anyone. So when Emily took off on the first lap, I went with her and thought, If this is all I have, at least I'll make it look good at the start! We stayed away for a few laps, but I'm sure that's just because the field let us tire ourselves out. Everyone was out to race today, and it shows in our average pace: 23.8 mph! We typically average in the 22s, so this was flying for us.

The lead group

Before long, we had a little separation among the 22 women, and Jes, AJ, me, Jess, Katie, Leah, Catherine, and Kathy were off the front. It wasn't that easy, though, because I felt like I had to work to bridge up a few times and sit in and let Leah bridge up a few times; Jes, AJ, and Katie were by far the strongest and didn't let any of us have a break the entire 25 minutes. We ended up in a field sprint with AJ taking the win, Jes second, and me third. Considering what I had just raced the previous 20 minutes, I was pretty happy in 3rd.

Finishing sprint

Basically I did a 50-minute crit, which is what our last race is going to be, but I doubt it will be an average of 24.5 miles per hour, which is what these two races together were! I really focused today in both races on keeping a higher cadence and shifting more often. If I'm not too sore or tired tomorrow I will know it paid off.

7-21-12 Crit 1M stats: 16.85 miles, 38:41, 26.1 mph, 183 bpm (Saturday)
7-21-12 Crit 2W stats: 14.24 miles, 37:58, 22.5 mph, 178 bpm (Saturday)
7-25-12 Crit 1M stats: 7.94 miles, 20:11, 23.2 mph, 181 bpm (Wednesday)
7-25-12 Crit 2W stats: 10.72 miles, 28:09, 22.9 mph, 187 bpm (Wednesday)
7-28-12 Crit 1M stats: 16.18 miles, 39:11, 24.8 mph, 180 bpm (Saturday)
7-28-12 Crit 2W stats: 14.21 miles, 39:16, 21.6 mph, 174 bpm (Saturday)
8-08-12 Crit 1M stats: 10.34 miles, 24:22, 25.5 mph, 183 bpm (Wednesday)
8-08-12 Crit 2W stats: 9.73 miles, 24:29, 23.8 mph, 184 bpm (Wednesday)

Women's Crit Stats

8-08-12 Stats: 9.73 miles, 24:29, 23.8 mph, 184 bpm, 3rd of 22
7-28-12 Stats: 39:16, 14.21 miles, 21.6 mph, 174 bpm, 8th of 11
7-25-12 Stats: 28:09, 10.72 miles, 22.9 mph, 187 bpm, 2nd of 11
7-21-12 Stats: 37:58, 14.24 miles, 22.5 mph, 178 bpm, 3rd of 11
7-18-12 Stats: 30:04, 11.29 miles, 22.5 mph, 179 bpm; 5th of 15
6-20-12 Stats: 30:06, 11.21 miles, 22.3 mph, 185 bpm; 6th of 16 (no post)
6-16-12 Stats: 40:18, 15.36 miles, 22.9 mph, 186 bpm; 1st of 14
6-13-12 Stats: 29:40, 11.37 miles, 23.0 mph, 187 bpm; 4th of 23
5-30-12 Stats: don't have them; 3rd of 21
5-23-12 Stats:  31:08, 11.63 miles, 22.4 mph (31.1 max); 3rd of 12