Chicago Criterium

Sunday, Chicago Criterium - Couldn't ask for a better day!

After racing Thursday and Friday, the mental part of this sport was wearing on me a little. I stayed off the bike Saturday. It didn't help calm my nerves though. I got down there early to watch the men's heat 1 &2. The weather was just perfect. Sunny with a slight breeze and no humidity. The lake front was absolutely beautiful. I took some time before my race to enjoy riding along the lakefront.

Race started at 11:30a.m. About 30 women lined up. It was good to see Jannette Rho, Leah Sanders, the P5 team and a bunch of other women I haven't seen in a while. I did not preview the course. I took the first 2 laps easy. Turn 2 was challenging for me. I took it on the inside. After about 5 laps, I shot out front and could not hold a break away with Jannette Rho. The field caught up to us. I was not feeling as aggressive. I decided to hang out and keep my position mid field or higher. I decided to take a few wheels and hang out. It just wasn't going steady. So I just raced my race. Last lap, turn 2 again, slowed me a bit. I shot up to the 4th position after turn 2. Then I stayed on the inside on turn 4. I slowed down a bit on that turn which hurt me going up the incline. I got up out of the saddle and attacked and hit it hard as I could. As soon as I hit turn 5, I got ready to sprint and I found I was already in a big gear and was not spinning enough to get a good hard sprint in. I got up and did the sprint in a harder gear. I placed 12th out of 30 cat 4 women. I was not pleased with my results but I did take a lot of learning experience from this course and good practice on cornering.

Here are some pics of me racing: http://chicagopersonalphoto.smugmug.com/photos/604904816_Z7uRC-M.jpg

http://chicagopersonalphoto.smugmug.com/photos/604900191_Cdpjy-M.jpg

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