Thursday, June 11, 2009

Tuesday Night Crit by Billy Self

Normally I haven't posted anything outside of triathlons, but I have a video of this cycling endeavor..so I thought it would be okay. Especially since it supports our bike shop, Rockwall Cycling.
This past tuesday was my very first crit race. Rockwall Cycling wanted to make a big push this week for getting team members with more points on the board.
Personally, I was super nervous and ready to see what this whole crit race stuff is all about. I had Cooper as a wingman who was nice enough to show me the whole course and tell me what usually happens during the race.

Event: Tuesday Night Crit Races

Location: Plano Tuesday Night Crit

Class (yours): Cat 5 - C race

Results: 7th out of 34.

Local Knowledge and Conditions: Cooper led me through the warm up with lots of hints and pointers. Conditions were dry, hot, and very windy out of the south (15-20mph). It was a hard headwind into the finish area.

Pre-Race Strategy & Warm Up: got there with plenty of time to do several laps and get loosened up. I did a few pick ups to get my heart rate up a touch. Strategy was to stay in the top 10 riders and not pull too much... hang on for dear life and don't get dropped.

Psychology: I knew I had the horsepower to stay in the C race, just didn't want to do anything stupid....like fall.

Lessons Learned (Or Re-Learned): When you want to get off the front keep from pulling, STOP Pedaling!! I ended up pulling into the wind about 3 laps. Bad form. Oh, oh, oh... I panicked when the bell rang on the last lap. Somebody yelled "it's too late, GO GO GO!" well, that was coming from someone yelling about Jeff (RC teammate) who went off the front... So, I went for it WAY too soon. Lost a few positions in the 2nd half of the final lap...bummer.

Future Goals (include skills executed well and skills needing improvement): Be more patient... Don't sit at the front so much. Someone from another team actually came up to me and said, "thanks for pulling". Dang it.

Fitness (endurance, nutrition, hydration): Horsepower was there... had a track workout the day before, but felt good still. I ate really well on Tuesday and had plenty of hydration built up from previous days. Glad that I had one water bottle with me on the race becauses my mouth got REALLY dry.

Something funny that happened: I couldn't find Cooper after lap 5! He was supposed to be my wingman... He had ran hard for 15 miles over 2 days prior, so his legs were toast. Cooper, don't leave your wingman!

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