The body and mind was still pretty tired and hadn't quite recovered from the race the day before. Nevertheless, I was really looking forward to the day's race. The chance to race with some of the best women in the country - nervous yet excited.
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| At the start line (Photo by David Heatley) |
After signing up, I did a couple of warm up laps of the 1.8km course, making sure to take note of the wind direction and the little climb on the course. As with all state titles, I had to put on a race number on my bike - that itself was enough to bring up a little nerves as I fiddled around trying to get the number in the right position. ( Note to self to find one of those clamps those other elite cyclists have).
10 minutes before the start and everyone started gathering around the start line. I hurriedly downed one my gels, hoping the sugar and caffeine would wake me up a little. The fog had lifted and it was turning out to be a warm summers day in the middle of winter. As the girls started surrounding me, I realised there were so many of them - and everyone looked super pro! Ok..breath..
The marshal started counting down the time. 2 mins. 1 min. 10s. 5,4,3,2,1. Bang!! Everyone immediately jumped and surged forward. Woa!! I barely had time to clip in, got caught behind someone, and very quickly found myself sprinting and chasing the peloton down. Probably should have paid a little more attention - I sure did not realise there was no neutral lap.
At each corner the bunch would slow, and then immediately surged out of the corner. I was right behind the bunch, and constantly found myself trying to chase them down each time. I was spinning like a mad person and could barely change my gears quick enough. Each time I caught them, I sat right behind for a while, before the next corner, and it was the same process over and over. Slow down - massive surge - click, click, click - come on legs, rev faster. I sure had forgotten how fast crit racing, and it definitely was a little shock to the system.
And so lap after lap - I was constantly chasing and surging. The peloton was spread right across the road, and I couldn't quite decide who's wheel to sit on. It was funny that the fast pace was actually making me pretty sleepy as well with all the lactic acid built up. About 3/4's into the race, my right ribs starting hurting so bad and I was just about to throw up that I had get out of the drops onto the top handlebars. And in a blink of an eye the peloton was gone. As I tried my best to spin off the massive stitch, I realised it was almost impossible to chase them down, and decided then to pull out of the race. I hadn't quite prepared well for this race - thinking it was short and I could pull it off - well, big mistake.
And so I finally had my first DNF in a race - I rarely ever give up and always try my best to finish a race - this time I thought it was probably wise given my sleepy state could have been potentially dangerous in the bunch, and throwing up on a bike sure wouldn't be too pretty a sight.
Nevertheless, it was definitely an awesome experience to race amongst the best girls in Australia. I had recorded my fastest average speed ever in a race, and have definitely set some new goals and new benchmarks to work towards since then. I did end up picking up a lot of tips and skills after on where I went wrong in the race (thanks heaps David!) - will definitely remember them for the next crit. Just seen the new summer calendar and criterium racing season isn't too far off! Time to start polishing up those bike handling skills for the new season.
it must have been quite an experience racing against the fastest females on the continent! the most important thing is breaking your own records :)
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