The Race: Clarendon Cup, day 1 of the Air Force Cycling Classic
The Course: 50 km, 50 laps
The Field: Pro 1/2 women
The Finish: 17th
Another race in which I had a frustrating finish. I felt great mentally yesterday and this morning, and although my legs didn’t feel awesome before the race started, I figured they’d come around. Following the start, I was towards the back of the pack, but moved up near the front after about five laps. The pace was brutal – other than the Athens crit, it was probably the fastest crit I’ve done – but it’s not like the other racers weren’t having to go just as fast, so I kept sprinting along with the field and ignored the hurt.
My position was good throughout the race. I rode towards the front but out of the wind as much as I could, staying with the herd of Colavita and Tibco riders that dominated the front of the race. The 5-corner course provided a lot of opportunities to sprint out of turns, but wasn’t as sketchy as I’d been warned. I went with a break around 26 laps to go that seemed to have potential, but ultimately didn’t stick. Being in the pack, fighting for position, and working my way into spaces didn’t have me all tied up in anxious knots, which is a lot of progress towards improving my racing.
But then I went from being well-positioned at around three laps to go to being back in the pack as the field picked up speed and got more aggressive. Fighting my way up the peloton in the last lap required more energy and time than I had left, so I started the final sprint sitting around 25th. Then it was a fight just to get up as far as I could before the finish, which was frustrating after holding a good position for much of the race.
So the lessons learned are two-fold: (1) Don’t work so hard, so there’s more gas in the tank at the end, and (2) Don’t lose position at the end of the race and go into the sprint at the back. The second one is a function of the first one; if I have more energy at the end, my ability to hold my place when the field speeds up and gets more aggressive is greater.
Fortunately, I don’t have to wait long to work on these things – tomorrow is the Crystal Cup.
*Thanks to Mike Collins for the race photos.
I know it must have been disheartening to ride so strong, only to lose your steam the final few laps. However, you were definitely kicking ass up until the very end there and I’d be proud of yourself for keeping the pace with National and World champions for 47 laps. Work on your strategy for the last 3-5 laps and you’ll be unstoppable. I’m still very proud of you!