Crit Nationals Recap

One word to describe the women’s pro championships:

WHAT!?!?!?

Yep, who knows what was going on out there.  Certainly not me.  It was a haze of suffering.  The course was actually not a crit course being well over a mile in length and about as wide open as you could get.   The rain was coming down before our race, so the roads were wet, but the course was not technical at all.  Geez was it hard though.  Somewhat shockingly so.  When I finally saw lap cards I was relieved.  Then I saw our time and was overcome with dread.  We still had another good 30 min more to race.  Unlike all of our crits this year which have been about an hour in length, the crit championships was 1.5 hours.  Allison Powers of NOW and Amanada Miller of Tibco broke away about 15 minutes into the race.  With two full teams not represented in the break, no one thought the two would stay away for so long.  Stay away they did....although the gap came down to 7 seconds in the end.  In the last laps, my legs said no more.   I was thoroughly spent after an hour and a half with no place for recovery.  For whatever reasons I kept getting gaped on the downhills even though I was hauling.  I finished 29th.   Allison took the victory, Amanda in 2nd, and Theresa Cliff-Ryan won the field sprint.    

All in all a great experience and an honor to compete in the event.  The women’s field outnumbered the men’s field  which was neat and equal prize money was offered to both fields.  Good stuff.  Many of us are hopeful the race modifies the course next year for the 2014 Pro Crit Championship to better highlight the skills and strengths of the crit racers in the country.  A great trip despite the suffering on the road, and a huge thank you to all of my sponsors who made it possible!  Also, much thanks to Vanessa Drigo, Diego Garavito, and his family who hosted me and cheered me on in the race.

Some photos:

The calm before the storm...pre-race ride in Charlotte

Start/Finish straight