But I started to hear the stories about the Elk Grove race. I didn't race that race. A local gal won, Kirsten Meshburg. She rocks!
Personally, I want the Omnium. I would love that. Okokok. I didn't race because I took a nap, laid out on the deck and was just lazy lazy lazy. Ok? But it felt good to nap and be lazy. I needed that. Still....To have an omnium like the men have would be WONderful. So close to home. A weekend of NRC points.
I did Elgin and only 10 women showed up but they offered the same purse as advertised. It paid out 10 deep. :) It was fun. A HILL! yay. More fun than I had in a looong time at a race. I enjoyed it immensely and to think I almost didn't go! I am so glad I went. It made me like racing again.
The only thing scary was a tight corner at the bottom of a fast descent. Then a faster still downhill chicane with an acute angle going up the hill. Like an S. It was mapped out to look just like Shorewood in design but the chicane was much tighter and the profile was a fast down then UP then turn right and UP some more. It was a good 'crit' hill, not too steep and if you keep your momentum it was just an 'out of the saddle' good hard pump for a bit. Powerful stuff. If you tapped your brakes at all you were going to suffer. NO brakes. Hank and Andy K. said do NOT hit your brakes and keep smooth. I told Hank I would brake. I do it without knowing I do it. So dont waste breath telling me not to brake because I would anyway and it was pointless to tell me not to brake because I do.
....so.....
The race started and I tapped my brakes. I HAD NO BRAKES!!! GAH!!!!! Hank secretly lightened up my brake levers before the race without telling me. !! that freaked me out. I went to use my brakes and there were no brakes!!! I wanted to kill him. :) haha. But it was cool, it was cool , I got used to it (and just squeezed harder.) :P
Debbie Dust was there and chose to do the men's 40+ which turned out to be THE most dicey and challenging event of the day. (fast) I came up to register and she was done racing. She was grinning ear to ear and had hay sticking all over herself and her bike. That girl is craaaazy!. She told me how fun it was but she got herself pushed into the hay bales a couple times. She was safe and sound and... wow that sounded like fun! What with the speeds they were doing. Hay bales were QUITE abundant at this race at every bad corner and stacked nearly eight feet high at some corners. Makes you feel comfy to see that. They care!
Nice clean hay. SOmething about a stack of hay that makes you just want to JUMP right into it. I did have an impulsive thought a few times to just RIDE AIM and LEAP into the hay. Weeeeeeee. That would be fun.
Some of the guys actually did the Elk Grove race earlier in the day. They came out to do this race also either to get series points or just to have fun. They just love to race. I saw one of the crashes in the pro 1,2 event and those guys went head over heels over the hay bales but fortunately no one got hurt. (That is where the word bail out came from btw .....ok maybe not.) Every lap in the 1/2 race there was this racer in the pack braking loudly. We thought he was doing it on purpose to mess people up on the climb. Later we found out someone was not handling their bike well. Hmmmm.
We think that caused the crash because one guy looked like he was going to punch him out ..but he didn't. (whew) Good constraint there. Hank said he would have probably punched the guy out. :) grrrrrrrr.
But they were all ok and got up and got back into the race with their free lap.
I learned while cruising the course that the best line in the chicane was just to apex the second corner and lean your bike. It aimed you directly into the center of the road. THe men in the 1-2 race were totally flying. It was exciting to watch and see how the pro 1/2 guys would take the chicane at full speed in the pack. They do it the right way. The best by far of the day was Mack rider Priebe. WOW. He is smooth. He was off the front with another racer and they were flying. Priebe would pass the first corner of the chicane as it descended and he would just lean over into the corner. But the way he leaned was just a fast shift-lean onto the sides of his tires like he was going to slide into home base. He snapped the lean so fast that it raised some admiration from the crowd, especially the non-cyclists that came out to watch. Many were commenting on it. Of course other guys would do that same style of lean. But his style was snappier like a machine and he was just with one other rider so you really noticed it more. cool.
Elgin is a great venue! Bring your trainer if you go next year. I had a tough time finding a place to warm up and am glad I warmed up at the track earlier in Northbrook. I didn't really want to race. I was not really motivated but when I saw the line up of names that were there I got brighter and happier to do it. I knew it would be a good field. Devon attacked right away and I felt rather 'non- warmed- up'ish. There was a counter then she attacked again. But I started to feel better after a few laps and I attacked while Devon was on the front. I gapped a bit but got caught so I attacked again almost immediately at an unexpected spot when we were riding slow , drinking water. I was actually ON the front which is a no-no. But I jumped hard into the corner into the headwind. I think it surprised some people a bit and I got a gap on the field. (That is not supposed to work by the way) I knew I could go up that hill faster than blazes so I aimed up it and got my gap. 30 feet. I put the head down and went hard into the tailwind before the downhill and thought I was going to get away. GOod to go in a cross wind but a tail wind is ok too. I felt a rider on my wheel and I looked and saw two riders. I just needed someone to come around and help just a little bit and we probably could have stuck that. No one was coming around or ready to. I eased up a bit but the rest of the pack caught us then and there. It was a bit of a downhill. Man it was tough to get away! haha. Well. I sat up, thought I"d wait and try again. None of us were getting dropped. It seemed that we were all so evenly matched today and equally determined to win.
We all tried twice or three times to attack. It was fast and lots of change ups. Primes and prime attacks. Really amazing with just a small pack. But a good bunch of fun. There were only 7 of us left at the end and no one was letting up. Hank said it was good to watch and the crowd was getting into it pretty well. I tell you for the race we put on , it was entertaining. We attacked each other nearly the entire race up until the last two laps where we realized none of us was going to get away. I guess that would have been THE time to attack . Grrr. I blew it. I am sure I wasn't the only one thinking about it. and thinking about it. thinking too much about it. Don't think...just GO!
It came down to Anne Meyers making the final move, she jumped and Devon got on her wheel instantly . We followed and the headwind and Devon's fast thinking and great kick determined her the win. We all ended in a fanned out bunch wheel overlapping wheel. I felt really good. Good race and good training. It was like a ladies nite out or something. :) Thanks ABR.
My lesson today was to ANTICIPATE better my reaction to an action and jump when the jump happens. DOn't hesitate. And also to perhaps BE the first to go, don't wait for someone else to do it. That is the difference right there and especially in this situation.
Now THESE hay bales would be perfect for the Super week races........Super hay bales.
photo from an adventurish blog about a ride for hunger: lovely and creative photography on it. I liked the giant hay bales. This site and their adventure really made me smile.
bikeandbuildvanderpool.blogspot.com/
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