The Dirt Field

The Race: Beaufort Criterium

The Course: 50 laps, 4 left turns

The Field: Pro 1/2/3 women

The Finish: 26th and smiling

Beaufort was gorgeous – Spanish moss hanging from the trees, beautiful weather, a course in the downtown area next to the water. The course itself was rough; lots of blemishes on the pavement and a short lap with only moderately long stretches through the back and the start/finish. I was worried about crashes going into the race, but the field strung out and it felt like everyone was on their game, taking smooth lines through the corners and riding safely.

Nothing exciting happened in my race, but I don’t see that as a bad thing. I started feeling a lot more comfortable in the corners and was happy with my lines for the most part. My legs felt good, I was able to sprint whenever the field took off, and I didn’t feel like being dropped was imminent. There were times when I tried to move up in the field, but while I could power up to the front of the peloton on the longer stretches, I couldn’t comfortably merge into the group before the corners. I need more straight road to make that happen and to be more at ease handling my bike and being aggressive.

Coming into the final stretch, I tried going up the side of the field with my sprint, but made the mistake of choosing the side with the crosswind and didn’t make much progress. I still came off the course feeling satisfied with my result and with the progress I’m making in crit racing.

My embarrassing moment of the day: On the cool down lap, I rode behind the pro Colavita girls. Cruising along, hands on the tops of the bars, not paying much attention, and BAM! I didn’t react quickly enough to one of them slowing down drastically and ran into her back wheel. Nobody hit the ground – thank god – but I was mortified.

Monika changing out her tire before the race:

Beautiful Beaufort: