Wednesday Night Crit- Fort Worth 04/21/2010
I am not exactly sure how this mountain biker got talked into driving over to Fort Worth for the TBI Wednesday Night Crit, but someone must have slipped something into my water bottle without me knowing! To give you a little history, I’ve done two Hotter than Hells (yes.. the 100 mile), one Peach Pedal (100k) and a little Tour of Dallas (30mi). I do some training on the road but it’s usually alone or with one other person. With that being said.. you’d probably say I’m not a roadie. And I would completely agree with you. I’ve been riding for over 12 years, but my road skills are limited. So when I agreed to come out to Fort Worth to participate in a crit event… I’m not exactly sure what I was thinking. I was coming off an Xterra event the prior weekend also, so my legs were in recovery mode. I asked a few of my roadie friends what I should expect and all of them said to just stick with the pack and try to stay to the front or in the middle. Ok. Right. I get a little claustrophobic sometimes especially on the road bike so this should be interesting! Words of advice from a wise one: Don’t cross wheels. Brake easy. Stay straight. No sudden moves. Got it. I’m ready. Let’s go. I arrive to the site about an hour before race time and get registered. I pay my entry fee, I’m given a number to pin on my jersey sideways on the right side of my jersey and they say I’m ready to go. I see two people I recognize so far so that eases my nerves a little. The friend that talked me into coming out was not going to make it out there until after I started my race (again… why am I doing this???) I pull up to the start line with about 15 guys, one other girl, and two juniors. The race official comes over and gives me a little pep talk and says I’ll be just fine. I’m sure glad he thinks so! And we’re off….. I am towards the back of the pack and I’m trying to not cross wheels, and to remember everything they told me about riding in a pack. I’m not feeling very comfortable at this point, not because the pace was too fast, but because it was crowded. So I feel myself wanting some room and I head to the back. I knew that this was not a smart idea because I would likely get dropped off the back if I made that move, but my legs were not listening to me. About a minute of trying to hang on to the back of the pack… and I’m dropped. Wow.. that didn’t take long. I think I managed to hang on for about ¼ of the track. Oh well, looks like I’ll just have to dig deep and push myself on this race. The wind was kicking, and my legs felt like rocks. I am used to riding by myself out at White Rock Lake, so this really was no different. But I also knew that I needed to be working on pushing myself, so I kept my legs going as hard as I could. I looked down at my heart rate and I was hovering right around 183 so I knew I was workin hard. I came through on my first lap and had lots of cheering and them telling me to catch up with the pack. Yeah… right… can I have some new legs first??? Thanks. I continue to keep up a good pace and I end up doing 5 laps. The pack didn’t catch me until my last lap. After I finish my last lap I head to the car to throw on the running shoes. On my run around the race course I had several people ask me if I was crazy. And my answer is simple. Why yes… a little bit… I certainly am. What else would motivate me to go out to a crit race? Then to run after. I did see an aquatic center… dang… I should have brought my suit! I could have done a brick workout! Ok ok.. I’m not that crazy, yet. I did learn a few things out there though. Most important thing is to stay in the middle of the pack. The workload is much easier that way. The other thing is to ride with boys more often. They will ultimately make you faster. I am not sure if or when I’ll ever get back out for another crit race. I think I’ll stick to the dirt for now. Thanks to all the guys that I raced with though. They were all very courteous and encouraging. Till next time!!!!!
