Two $5,000 Circuit Races

This weekend, I drove to Washington D.C. with Dan, Rebecca, and Jason to do the Crystal City Classic and the RFK race, both $5,000 circuit races near downtown. We saw the Washington monument and the Lincoln memorial as we drove in, but that was all the touristing we got to do. Both courses were open and safe, but I have to say the atmosphere of Crystal City was far better than that of RFK. Crystal City was a real downtown race that went by all the shops and outdoor restaurants; this, in turn, drew lots of spectators. RFK, on the other hand was the epitome of a parking lot race (no trees, wide open), and the blazing hot temperatures didn't help a bit.

I talked with my coach before the race about my most current problem: getting swarmed on the last lap of these crits and finding myself out of contention before we even get to the last turn. He told me how I should move relative to the others, pull out to the side, avoid getting boxed in at all costs. I tried the strategy and it really helped. I got 12th at Crystal City and 8th at RFK and came out with a total of $295 dollars for the weekend. I really impressed myself. I was just finishing up a hard training block and I was still able to ride the front of both races, chase and follow Cheerwine and Aaron's, and still have something for the sprint.

Only once did I freely give up a wheel I wanted - it happened to be Laura Van Gilder's wheel with a couple laps to go. All of a sudden there was this shadow looming over me (tense, anticipating background music). It was Anna Lang, the women who I watched get second in UCI Kerin at the Trexlertown track only two days before. The woman who beat her was the current world champion. So there really wasn't much I could do about her and, to tell the truth, I didn't want to find out what would happen if I tried to fight her for it. The long and the short of it is: I was up there, got boxed in a little at the end, and took 12th. Kyle Wamsley (Navigators) won the mens' race. I see him out training around here almost every day.

Sunday I was more fatigued. I followed stuff at the beginning, but I was too tired to do anything by the last third of the race. Fortunately for me (never thought I'd say this), it came down to a sprint. I took the inside of the turn right behind Anna Lang and sprinted for 8th place. Results are here: http://www.hubracing.com/criterium/rfk2007/city_bikes_rfk_criterium_results_2007.htm After the race I talked with Anna and some of the other top girls, and I think they're beginning to recognize me. I never thought I'd benefit by being the only person on my team, but I really think that fact helps me stand out from the rest of the girls. Even I tend to group all of the Hub Racing girls and Kenda Tire girls together, and I think they do too.

So, this week is a rest week so I can rest up and get back in the swing of things before Fitchburg and Nationals. Tomorrow, my team mate Alane and I are going to go to Michael's in Reading to get some arts and crafts stuff to occupy our time. This past week we've survived off of the craft section at Walmart - I got some colored pencils and a drawing pad and she got the only cross stitch pattern they had, a big jesus head, halo and all. Meanwhile I'm almost done with Lolita and I'm hoping we can go see the movie Waitress or rent Pan's Labyrinth. I don't have any pictures from this weekend, but I'll try and find some online to post.