Jacksonville Crit

And Jacksonville knows how to put on a race, though I just read, through the blog grape-vine, that it doesn't actually count for NRC points. Oooooh, that mis-information could kill the race for next year. Pro teams usually don't attend non-NRC races and there were at least 3 of them (in the women's field) represented this year. With the race on the same weekend as Sea Otter, it makes it harder to attract the big-name pros. Laura Van Gilder showed and I was on her wheel at the starting line. The start/finish area was necked down by barriers so pretty skinny (no bigger than 2 lanes). Figured a good starting position was important (~50 starters).

This time, at the gun, I sprinted as I was taught to do in Redlands but couldn't execute there. That yielded good position early and I felt like my legs came to the race with me. It had taken some effort to snap out of vacation mode, but a long warm-up helped. It is possible that warm-up was long enough to tire me out, but the jury is out on that...especially since I did the warm-up to Colorado heart rates versus low-altitude ones (that would have been higher).

Cheerwine and Aaron's were the squads to worry about out there. The other girls? I had *no* idea who was there (a posted pre-registration list would have helped so as to have been able to Google everyone prior to the race). Another reason for good positioning was that I didn't know how much to trust the other racers. Which wheels were safe? Wasn't much time to figure that out. Within the first 4 laps (I can't remember), the girl right in front of me went down in a corner. The best-scenario was to hit her...to go around would have meant hitting the curb on one side or taking out more racers on the other. However, like all crashes, they happen so fast there isn't much that could have been done.

The crash wasn't bad (a little road rash on my elbow and knee, pretty topical), but my chain was pretty twisted and adrenaline kept me from fixing it myself. So I had to run to the start/finish and have them fix the bike. This whole process took two free laps...during the time when 6 riders that included Cheerwine and Aaron's got off the front. So, of course, the wheel-pit guys pushed me back into the middle of the now-chasing pack. Maybe I should have argued that I was near the front when I crashed (which I was), I could have been in the break had I not crashed...really. Obviously, no one knows and it was just bad timing. It's all part of bike racing. Some days stupid things like that happen. Other days everything goes well and you win the race.

So a lap after I got back with the pack, I tried to see if I could help close the gap to the break. One girl gave me a friendly push. I wasn't happy to know someone was on my wheel. She wanted me to stay on the front. Was this a ploy to get me to blow up or was she offering to help? I don't know. And I didn't trust any of the Cheerwine or Aarons girls left in the pack...they were interested in blocking. The rest of the race is fairly blurry in my memory. It was a challenge to stay to the front. I kept slipping to the back (on the downhill section, explain that) and having to make up positions in the uphill/into the wind sections.

I heard someone in the crowd cheering for me (and reminding me to move up on the laps where it applied). It didn't sound like Eric, so it was a bit confusing. I didn't expect to know anyone in Florida. Finally, I was able to look up, it was Josh from Twin Peaks! He and Val, Vince & his girlfriend had all come to the race together. It was really great to have the extra cheering...and to see friends. Josh has put a lot of effort yelling at me in races (Golden crit, Salida, amongst others)... :)

Finally, with two laps to go I decided I didn't want to finish in the back and made it back to a very nice place near the front of the pack. With one lap to go, heading through the start/finish, there was tons of bumping, it was the most contact I've had in any crit ever. Somehow it resulted in being squeezed to the back (I had been in the middle of the mayhem, stuck on whatever wheel I was on) and there wasn't time to recover for the final sprint (each lap was probably 0.5 miles in length). Final result--33rd. Not pleasing, but not disappointing enough to bring me down from the joy of the vacation.

A few short minutes after the race was over, the skies opened up an it rained hard, just in time for the men's race...and I heard there were quite a few crashes in the first minutes of their race. Then the sun set on their race and they were in the dark. It was fun to race late in the day, but I can live without racing on wet, dark pavement. Eric and I enjoyed watching the Pro men's race and spending time not worrying about anything besides eating and reflecting on the weekend.

Pictures will be posted soon! Time to get home and put the bike together again...