The Race: Speed Week NCC Terrapin Twilight Criterium
The Course: 40 laps of a 4-corner course
The Field: 1/2 women
The Finish: Our sprinters brought home 6th and 7th
This was my third time racing this crit and it’s still exciting to get to the course and see the huge party unfolding on the streets of downtown Athens. After the usual pre-race preparation and nerves (including a much-needed overdose of motivating espresso), we rolled onto the course for staging and call-ups. My favorite moment was when the announcer called out, “From the Colavita/Fine Cooking team, she won this race in 2004 and has multiple national championship titles…” and Tina Pic, 2004 winner of the race and multi-time national champion, looks at me and says, “Is that me??” Tina, you are adorable.
The race started fast and stayed active throughout with attacks from Exergy, Primal, NOW, and my own team. My job was to cover moves and keep the pace up for the second half of the race, and in doing that, I ended up in two short breaks. They didn’t stick, but it felt good to be working hard and staying active at the front. As the race came down to the final laps, I was starting to burn out from the effort but tried to help with the team’s leadout. We were in good position at five, four, three, two laps to go but then came apart and our sprinters (Jen and Tina) were left to make their own moves. They were able to cross the line for 6th and 7th.
