2008 Blogs
You know it's a cluster of a road race when it feels like a cyclo-cross race. The weather was that which any cross racer would drool over, and drool on themselves when in the purple zone. Also like a cross race, the start was like a herd of cats, all chomping at the bit and ejecting their claws to inch up an inch. Call-ups apparently began, although no one really heard them and the cats were slowly swarming in on the call-up zone. Gina missed her call-up and was forced to start behind 150 rain-drenched and hissing feline friends. With 15 seconds to start another box of rain fell, seeping into our bones and the ribbons in our hair.
And so the race began and with everyone's artistic bike handling skills, the field was strung out at turn one. Katheryn was caught in a little crash on turn two, which was a bit of a fright on her first race back. But she bit back with the help of Gina and Rebecca who dropped back for her. By the second lap the 150 girls were strung out over the 1.1 mile circuit and Kristin Armstrong was quickly lapping riders. I was loving it for the first 10 laps, stoked with 95psi in my tires and in great positioning. But then it just got out of hand with how many people were crashing. Like a cross race, everyone had their own pace, their own handling, their own cornering. It was about how hard you wanted to go and how many risks you wanted to take.
There was mass confusion everywhere. Indeed, I was pulled with 10 laps to go, so I sat up, only to see people who I had lapped still in the race. Now that's spittin' rain. In the end, the race was nullifed. Kristin will don the yellow jersey tomorrow, and the other prized jerseys will be awarded, but everyone will receive the same time. The way I figure, Webcor rode a smart race - our legs will be open for tomorrow, but no extra energy was wasted.
Here's what I mean by good cross weather:
And so the race began and with everyone's artistic bike handling skills, the field was strung out at turn one. Katheryn was caught in a little crash on turn two, which was a bit of a fright on her first race back. But she bit back with the help of Gina and Rebecca who dropped back for her. By the second lap the 150 girls were strung out over the 1.1 mile circuit and Kristin Armstrong was quickly lapping riders. I was loving it for the first 10 laps, stoked with 95psi in my tires and in great positioning. But then it just got out of hand with how many people were crashing. Like a cross race, everyone had their own pace, their own handling, their own cornering. It was about how hard you wanted to go and how many risks you wanted to take.
There was mass confusion everywhere. Indeed, I was pulled with 10 laps to go, so I sat up, only to see people who I had lapped still in the race. Now that's spittin' rain. In the end, the race was nullifed. Kristin will don the yellow jersey tomorrow, and the other prized jerseys will be awarded, but everyone will receive the same time. The way I figure, Webcor rode a smart race - our legs will be open for tomorrow, but no extra energy was wasted.
Here's what I mean by good cross weather: