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Monday, June 30, 2008
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Hills, Heat, and the Last State Championship Race of 2008
This weekend was the State Championship Road Race in hot and hilly, Ocala, FL. Thinking about last year, I remember the uneven terrain, rough roads and mile long sprints. I also remember that races never happen the same way twice.
I warmed up on the first hill a couple of times to get those muscles moving. I also did a couple of sprints and lined up for the start. When they said go, Justin sprinted off the line but I didn't chase him because he isn't in my category. Why should I? We turned the first corner and went up the hill. Lucas jumped after Justin followed by Felipe. Ricardo also chased them but couldn't catch up. As we got to the top of the hill we went into a unspoken rotating pace line with Christian, Nick, Jay, Anselm, Justin, and I. Ricardo was a ways up the road from us and Lucas and Felipe even farther. It seemed that everyon
e set a goal to catch Ricardo and half way through the lap, we did. He jumped into our pace line and we just kept going, now trying to catch the break too. Suffering up the last hill on the first lap, we heard a whistling sound and knew someone had a flat. I turn my head and saw Jay sprinting up the left and knew the sound was coming from him. From previous "playing around" I knew that it's not to hard to make a fake "flat sound", so I went after him until I could see his tire was wobbling around. Our group went around him and didn't see him for the rest of the race. Skipping to the middle part of the second (the last) lap; My teammate Christian wanted me to try to get off the front, but I knew it would be to far to time trial to the finish. We nearly sprinted up the last hill and the pace quickened as the finish neared. Before we could even see the finish line we were flying. It was Ricardo and I side by side, followed by Anselm and Justin. Our sprint broke out a bit too early and I just blew right before the line. In the end, I finished fourth in 13-14 and spent the rest of the day taking photos and relaxing.I'm happy with my finish this weekend but here is a list of what I could have done better:
- Practice more on hills. I can tell I'm doing better, but not good enough, especially for nationals this year.
- Stay in the draft a bit more to save energy.
- Gone harder and longer in the sprint.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Toyota of Stuart Race Weekend
June 7
Camp Murphy
I warmed up on the rolling, Johnathan Dickinson, race course. There was a race there last year so I was familiar with the road but I see it differently from last time. The "hill" is just a speed bump but the finish straight seems longer. The junior race had a fast start with Justin going right from the gun. I had a good feeling and my legs felt great. A couple laps in my teammate Nick attacked and the pack picked up some speed. I tried an attack on the back straight and got a bit of a gap. It didn't last very long when Lucas and Felipe sprinted up to me, followed by the rest of the field. We came back
together for a bit until Nick attacked again. And then again. By the time Nick cooled down, we had about two laps to go in the race. On the last lap I found myself on the front of the pack with my teammate Christian behind me. I motion him to not chase me and I attacked. It was on the back side and a ways from the finish. Just before the last turn Lucas, Felipe and Christian came around me. I tried my best to pass them but couldn't. I finished fourth across the line and headed to roll out and then to warm down. Someone told me after words that the junior who won did not past roll out, bumping me up to 3rd place. Because of my performance last year in the womens race I didn't want to do it this year and I'm glad I choose not to. The race was in the heat of the day with the sun directly overhead and the heat waves making the cement look like water.
June 8
Stuart Criterium
This is my fourth year racing the Stuart criterium and I was really excited about it. In the junior race, Lucas and the other kid got off the front and just disappeared for the rest of the race. It was Christian, Anselm, Justin, Ricardo, and Me in a group. We pretty much just road around for most of the race until the last lap. I wanted to try to block Ricardo
but he got ahead and I ended up sprinting Christian to line and having him beat me by .001 seconds.
Right after my 13-14 race I went to roll out and then jumped into the 15-16 race. I signed up for 15-16 because it was a LAJORS race (Lance Armstrong Junior Olympic Race Series) which means they split girls and boys for the results and I might be able to get into camp next year because of it. It wasn't a very exciting race, they dropped me in the first lap and I basically road around by myself for most of the time. Since I was the only girl in the race I won by default so I didn't care what everyone else did.
At the start of the womens race later on, I was feeling pretty good, a little tired, but not too bad. In the first lap I was near the front when a Herbalife rider passed me on the right. I automatically pulled in behind her and she sped up a bit. The next thing I knew, the pack was 40 feet behind us and making no attempt to chase. As we came around the last conner on the first lap we had about a 100 yard gap. It was a little strange for me to be off the front but I still kept on going. I knew that the 1,2,3 wouldn't chase us so we might have a chance. On the second lap Jennie sprinted up to us and we let her into our "pace line". She complained about pulling, saying that they were going to catch us any ways. Then why did she waste energy sprinting up to us? I don't really understand her train of thought. As we came around for the third lap the pack sprinted for a prime and they caught up to our group. On the second straight someone attacked and the whole pack speed up. I was starting to feel the affects from my previous races but I wasn't giving up. There was a gap in the pace line that I was about to pull into when someone yelled "don't let her in", I went over anyways and they yelled something else I didn't quite hear. I've been racing with most of they for quite a while so they know I can ride and I've even beaten some of them so I don't know why whoever it was, was that way. Anyways, on the next lap I did get dropped but I did do a good sprint in an attempt to stay with them. For the next few laps I rode around with a women from citrus cycling until the leaders, a break away of four women, lapped us and I jumped on. I stayed with them until the finish where I ended up getting 8th in womens 4.
What I could have done better:
Camp Murphy
I warmed up on the rolling, Johnathan Dickinson, race course. There was a race there last year so I was familiar with the road but I see it differently from last time. The "hill" is just a speed bump but the finish straight seems longer. The junior race had a fast start with Justin going right from the gun. I had a good feeling and my legs felt great. A couple laps in my teammate Nick attacked and the pack picked up some speed. I tried an attack on the back straight and got a bit of a gap. It didn't last very long when Lucas and Felipe sprinted up to me, followed by the rest of the field. We came back
together for a bit until Nick attacked again. And then again. By the time Nick cooled down, we had about two laps to go in the race. On the last lap I found myself on the front of the pack with my teammate Christian behind me. I motion him to not chase me and I attacked. It was on the back side and a ways from the finish. Just before the last turn Lucas, Felipe and Christian came around me. I tried my best to pass them but couldn't. I finished fourth across the line and headed to roll out and then to warm down. Someone told me after words that the junior who won did not past roll out, bumping me up to 3rd place. Because of my performance last year in the womens race I didn't want to do it this year and I'm glad I choose not to. The race was in the heat of the day with the sun directly overhead and the heat waves making the cement look like water.June 8
Stuart Criterium
This is my fourth year racing the Stuart criterium and I was really excited about it. In the junior race, Lucas and the other kid got off the front and just disappeared for the rest of the race. It was Christian, Anselm, Justin, Ricardo, and Me in a group. We pretty much just road around for most of the race until the last lap. I wanted to try to block Ricardo
but he got ahead and I ended up sprinting Christian to line and having him beat me by .001 seconds.Right after my 13-14 race I went to roll out and then jumped into the 15-16 race. I signed up for 15-16 because it was a LAJORS race (Lance Armstrong Junior Olympic Race Series) which means they split girls and boys for the results and I might be able to get into camp next year because of it. It wasn't a very exciting race, they dropped me in the first lap and I basically road around by myself for most of the time. Since I was the only girl in the race I won by default so I didn't care what everyone else did.
At the start of the womens race later on, I was feeling pretty good, a little tired, but not too bad. In the first lap I was near the front when a Herbalife rider passed me on the right. I automatically pulled in behind her and she sped up a bit. The next thing I knew, the pack was 40 feet behind us and making no attempt to chase. As we came around the last conner on the first lap we had about a 100 yard gap. It was a little strange for me to be off the front but I still kept on going. I knew that the 1,2,3 wouldn't chase us so we might have a chance. On the second lap Jennie sprinted up to us and we let her into our "pace line". She complained about pulling, saying that they were going to catch us any ways. Then why did she waste energy sprinting up to us? I don't really understand her train of thought. As we came around for the third lap the pack sprinted for a prime and they caught up to our group. On the second straight someone attacked and the whole pack speed up. I was starting to feel the affects from my previous races but I wasn't giving up. There was a gap in the pace line that I was about to pull into when someone yelled "don't let her in", I went over anyways and they yelled something else I didn't quite hear. I've been racing with most of they for quite a while so they know I can ride and I've even beaten some of them so I don't know why whoever it was, was that way. Anyways, on the next lap I did get dropped but I did do a good sprint in an attempt to stay with them. For the next few laps I rode around with a women from citrus cycling until the leaders, a break away of four women, lapped us and I jumped on. I stayed with them until the finish where I ended up getting 8th in womens 4.
What I could have done better:
- Chased after Lucas and Felipe longer on Sunday rather than giving up
- Been in front of Ricardo through the last turn
- Not let other riders get on my nerves, I need my attention for other things
- Work with other riders
Saturday, June 7, 2008
First entry
I've gotten tired of typing up summaries of my races in WordPad on my computer so thats why I'm starting this blog. Now I can share my life with the world! Or at least with the few people who decide to read it. Like I said, it's going to be for my race summaries or reports or whatever you want to call it. Feel free to comment on them. You can also leave comments about some of my latest photo albums if you don't have a Google account (to get to my photos, see links, and my photo page). Thats all I have to say for now.
-Bottle Rocket
-Bottle Rocket
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