The Dirt Field

The Race: NRC Presbyterian Hospital Invitational Criterium

The Course: 8 corners, long start/finish stretch

The Field: Pro 1/2 women

The Finish: 15th (out of about 60 starters, 43 finishers)

To go or not to go to this race was the big question for most of last week. With a big proposal due August 1, I was putting in excessively long hours at work and barely making time for anything other than training rides. It wasn’t even clear that I’d be able to avoid being at the office over the weekend until Friday evening, and by then I was worried that the week had been too exhausting to make the 7-hour drive to Charlotte for one crit worthwhile. I’d also been told that, considering the $25,000 prize money plus primes for the women, this would be one of the fastest crits of the year. After consulting with Alison and the wonderfully wise LVG, though, I had a pretty good idea that I was going to wake up on Saturday and decide to go.

And I did. My reasons for not going weren’t as compelling as my desire to not miss the event, and when I rolled onto the course to warm up, I was feeling good. Well, as good as one could in stifling heat and humidity. It was also exciting that my mother was able to be there for the race; as luck would have it, she flew into Charlotte that afternoon for a business trip and was able to watch the race before heading off to her events.

Staging took forever – I made sure to get there early, having learned the importance of staging from my experience at Toona – but it took a long time to get through the 20 call-ups and we started around twenty minutes after I initially went to line up. When the whistle blew, I was ready and moved up into a good position quickly. The pace was hard and the heat was unforgiving, but I felt strong and even managed to smile a few times. Bike racing! It’s fun!

Then, just as I was reassuring myself that there was no reason to be anxious in the fast-moving, somewhat spastic peloton, two riders in front of me collided and went down. I slammed on the brakes, swerved, and gently crashed to the ground as I heard people hit the deck behind me. Luckily I made it through with nothing more than a dropped chain and a few scratches on my knee. (And a new respect for my mother, who shouted, “Are you okay?” immediately followed by “Is the bike okay?”)

I went to the pit (along with almost half the field), but because a Tibco rider needed medical attention on the course, the race was neutralized and we all rolled to the start line. Five minutes later, we were off again, but I wasn’t in as strong of a position and wasn’t feeling quite as good or confident. Things felt a bit sketchy – we’d go screaming down the straight section, slam on the brakes through the corners, and fight for position wildly on the next straight, all while sprinting it out for $250 or $500 primes. I did everything I could to move up and hold position, but it got harder as I got hotter and more tired.

With three laps to go, I was in a perfect position a few wheels back, but that didn’t last long as the pace picked up in anticipation of the end. I was shuffled back to mid-pack and then fought to stay with the lead group as the field split. Coming into the last lap, I was just off the back of the leaders’ pack and used every bit of energy I had to ride strong across the line. It felt great – I worked my ass off, put in everything I had, and finished well. Sometimes bike racing can be very, very satisfying.