Denton Crit Report

My first race back after an almost 4 year break from racing went about we well as I could expect or even ask for. As I have said before my winter training did not go as planned and I am still pretty far behind in terms of my fitness (still a few pounds to lose and a ton of miles needed in the legs).

The important results from the race were pretty simply: 1. I did not crash, 2. I kept racing despite being lapped, and 3. I LOVED IT! For those of you who don't know my last race did not really go as planned. Less than 15 miles into my last road race I ended up on the ground with a cracked helmet and a cracked frame. Since I was headed back to grad school I decided I would not race again for a while (way too expensive to replace the frame), but I got tired of waiting. So the fact that I made it through the crit with no crash and feeling good about it was a great boost to my confidence.

The race was a pretty standard crit course in a parking lot around a football stadium. It was not a perfect rectangle but it had a nice curvy stretch on the backside of the stadium. The only downside was the wind. It was very breezy and so we had a nasty head wind section at the finish and some fun cross wind sections that left everyone guttered. Otherwise it was a very fast and non-technical course. I only had to touch my brakes twice during the entire 40 minute race!

I was able to stay with the main pack for the first 5 laps of so. I even put in a nice pull on the front for about 1/2 a lap. I had a teammate and I wanted to work for him as much as I could before I was done. I was really hoping that there was a photographer there who got a picture of me when I was on the front with a teammate on my wheel but no-such luck. After I got dropped I attempted to chase back on but the wind was not going to make that possible. I kept a steady pace and then jumped back in when the pack came back around.

The cat 5 races in Texas have a tactics discussion before the race starts and sometimes a experienced racer (Cat 1) will jump in and race with the cat 5 folks to give advice and help teach folks how to race safely. I really enjoyed this and was able to sit on one of their wheels after I was lapped and watch how the raced (Thanks Kurt Bickel).

So I finished 20th place and stayed upright. The only issue now is that I want to jump back into racing full force now. So I have to find a way to build up my Casati frame, buy a racing license, and afford racing fees. Any one want to buy my mountain bike??? Or sponsor me? I have room on my helmet for ads!

Ok, now it's time to seriously train!!!