Burlington Criterium Classic

Men's 3/4 Race

Even though attendance was light, RDS put on a really fun race in Burlington, WI on Sunday. The 8 corner course started with a slight climb (upgrade) then lots of corners and a long sprint finish. No women pre-reg for the race. When I got there, I decided to race with the men's 3/4's at 12:00 I was nervous. So I made it my goal to finish with the field and not worry about placing. My good friend Brian saw how nervous I was and decided to race with me.

Race started. I was towards the front for 2 laps. Pace picked up. The field spread out to a single file line. I stayed towards the back with Brian. This was his 3rd race of the day. His legs where pretty tired. As the race went on, I was getting the feel for the corners and hanging out in back feeling pretty good. " The race seem very tame. Pace was 23-24. I thought ...humm should I throw in an attack? For fear of getting chased down very quickly by these dudes, I decided not to. So, I decided to see if I could sprint to finish with these guys. Last lap, The pace picked up. I took a wheel and held on. I was towards the back but kept on a wheel. Last turn, came out wide and sprinted to the finish. Past 2 men. I was happy:)
Met my goal.

Women's Open

After the men's race, I checked with registration. Sure enough, 2 women showed up. The official let us start our race at 1:00. We decided before the race to work together until two laps to go, then it would be any one's game. I had a feeling these women might be pretty good sprinters. I wasn't sure what my game plan was at 2 laps to go. Race started. We all took pulls. Last lap, I thought I really could out sprint them both if I got towards the front on that last turn. Last lap, I was up front on the incline and then shifted into a bigger gear going down but not hard enough. Last turn I hit it out of saddle. I dropped back to hit it again. Then out of the saddle, I shifted and sprinted. It was close. Good sprint but not enough fire! ( That's always my case) I was only about a wheel lenght away. Oh well, Lesson learned. As Kristen would say to me "use my strengths" to win. Should have attacked on the incline and hit hard on the top and gunned it all the way down as hard as I could go.

Pictures to follow. Up next ToDA.