Psyched to be Last!

I had hung up my road bike for the season after Saco, but decided to have one last go at a crit today up in York, ME. I am SO GLAD that I went - this race was AWESOME!


Ok. So I came last. Don't care. Here is a list of my accomplishments:

1. I stayed with the pack for the entire race.
2. I raced in the middle of the pack, at least a little bit.
3. I was semi-active, trying an attack or two (that didn't stick)
4. With 5 to go, I got on the front and TT'd for two laps hoping to bump the pace and make something happen - I should have waited another couple of laps ;-).

What do I need to do better?

1. GET OUT OF THE WIND. Everytime I came off the front of the pack, I ended up too far to one side or the other, taking the full force of the wind and not getting as much recovery as I should have.
2. Spend more time in the MIDDLE to the FRONT of the pack (right, Brooke?).
3. Protect my wheel. I got ridden off the wheel I was on more times than I can count tonight.
4. Position, position, position.

The net of it is that I had a blast, and learned even more about the intracacies of crit racing. Darcy even told me tonight that she thought I had already come a long way from my performance at the Witches' Cup... It is my first season of crit racing, so I am still learning.

This is an awesome race venue, too. Great course and views of the ocean to boot. I can't really begin to tell you how much FUN the event really was.

This was Mike's first race as a Cat 3 (YAY!), and he lined up in the Pro 1/2/3 race alongside the likes of Mark McCormack, Johnny Bold, Skip Foley (national crit champion), Gavin Manion (Jr national crit champion - he's 16), two other junior pros and a couple of other pro racers who do this for a living. Mike said this was likely the hardest race he has ever done - 60 mins of racing at over 28 mph! He did awesome, hanging on to the group up to the final lap when he got gapped off the back by another rider...

How do you follow up such a great night of racing? Beers and seafood on an outside patio, of course ;-) !

Here are a couple of additional pictures from the race: