06.02.07

sorry this is a little late -

the dash for cash crit was a good day for the form fitness women indeed
(thanks for the race report lead out jba)...

we all went into the went into this one with individual, as well as
team goals. my goal was to win a race before upgrading (despite
having gotten enough upgrade points last weekend, my coach and team
felt it was important to take the opportunity to go for a win and
understand what it means). they were right; it feels good.

i knew that in order to be successful i would have to pay better
attention than i have in the past several races :). my team mates knew
this, too. ashley, racing the 1/2/3s, got to the race early and set
her trainer up on the side of the race course so as to scream the lap
#s out to me. natalia and colleen also reminded of lap #s at various
points throughout the race.

i was so nervous that i nearly goofed the race from the warm-up lap (i
did two laps and nearly missed the start - rolled through start as the
gun went). uugh. so, settled in for a few laps and just took stock of
the field. there were bunch of women from vella bella, metromints and
the velo tech team, whose best 4 rider beat me in last weekend's mem
day crit when i got boxed in on the final lap; i knew, though, my
sprint can beat hers...

...but, i had to test the rest of the field - to see if there was
anyone who could hang with me in the sprint. i planned to test this
with the prim's. when we heard the bell for the first dash for cash,
i positioned myself in #4-6 and coming around the 4th corner and
actually took the opportunity to get colleen on my wheel to sling shot
her for the dash. this effort failed when i noticed a rider i did not
recognize attack from inside right and i jumped to match her speed and
race her to the line. the good news is that i ended up taking her and
the prim' relatively easily and stayed close on the next several
prim's to get a sense for the rest of the competition. ultimately,
with these efforts, i felt i had a good sense for the sprints of the
riders in the field.

after 20 minutes went by, i started to focus on lap numbers. natalia
and colleen both rode up to me at various times and gave me the
numbers, as well. both natalia (back in the thick of things after a
brutal crash at mt. hamilton a week earlier) and colleen were
patrolling and herding the field. it felt great having three form
kits in this race. people took notice of us, tried to stick our
wheels...it was great.

colleen, in particular, did a great job for me, esp. during the second
half. she left it all on the line so that i could get the W. with
about 4 laps to go, she just took command of the pace and of the pack,
pulling in front of me and letting me sit on her wheel with a solid
and steady pace and protection from the wind and surges.

coming around the final lap, my stomach was full of butterflies. i
definitely had a strong sense that i could do win but the difference
was actually proving it. i'd tested the field in sprints, no real
breaks had gone thanks to my teammates, and colleen's steady riding
had enabled me to recover for several laps. still, my heart was
fluttering and the field was starting to push.

as i turned to my right before the 3rd corner to talk to colleen, we
got attacked from the left - some minties and the velo tech women. i
jumped and grabbed their wheel in third position as we raced towards
the 4th corner. i just stuck that wheel with the pack chasing the
three of us. as we rounded the final corner, i decided to start my
sprint and i dont remember much after that. i think i went early
because if felt pretty strong and because i was worried that i'd get
boxed in again. the excitement and hunger for the win powered me
forward and i took off...crossing first. it felt great.

i realized my individual goal (got my first win); i am very glad and
feel somewhat lucky that i did. but the gratification from from the
team work and the team's accomplishments was really something this
past saturday.

mem' day crit - san jose

better late than never - i'll keep it short - like our race.

mem day crit - day after mt. hammy (where i didnt really climb mt.
hammy :) ). didn't want to race again but virg and sassy were adamant
that back-to-back racing makes you much stronger...plus, colleen was
doing it and she has come out and worked hard for me in so many races
this year and all of our boyz were going to be there. so, i decided
not to drink modelos and go to the race the next day.

the race was for a 3/4 field and ended up being about 30 riders large.
the time to race: 30 minutes. i noticed some strong stanford riders
in the field that ashley had warned us about, as well as several
strong 3s.

right away (2nd lap in) a very strong aggressive stanford rider flew
into the first corner too fast and took out another rider. the two
who crashed did not get back in but, fortunately, the damage was
limited to two.

after the crash, the field was a little jittery and slowed somewhat.
we did a few laps with very few attacks. then came a prim' lap...i
had planned to sit in for the entire race and see what i could do in
the end so i was back probably 10th and i look up and see colleen
blowing off the front, gunning for the lap win. i had to blink and
look again to confirm but there she was, third across the line for the
prim'...it was awesome.

from there, colleen just road aggressively and intelligently. the
speed would pick up and suddenly slow. i'd look up and there was
colleen in pos. #2 blocking for me. it was awesome. on the second to
last lap, she even tried to tell me not to launch off the front - to
save it (i, of course, thought it was the last lap). i have, however,
proven myself beyond help (my brain seems to fall out of my right ear
when i race) in my past few races.

so, 2nd to last lap, fi did launch...and boy did i launch. i won that
second to last lap by 300 meters. i fortunately did not raise my arms
in celebration...and took some small solace in the fact that it took
the pack a 1/2 lap to catch me.

for the final lap, it is needless to say, my legs were lacking the
spritliness they'd had several minutes earlier but i decided to go for
it again. unfortunately, i got boxed in a bit and had to scoot way
outside to come around other riders. as jimmy screamed "give it your
all ali!" from the sideline, i realized i still had plenty of juice
and i passed a three riders and almost caught the winner...just need a
bit more runway.