WDSC Cedarburg Cycling Classic (Super Week Day 3)

Today was the first day of the Women’s Cat ¾ series of Super Week. The field was decently sized with 36ish women lining up for the start of the 25 mile crit. The course was just under a mile long. There was one block of a slight uphill that was on rough road. Then it made a right turn only to keep going uphill for about another half block. Then it started to go downhill for the next block and 1/2. Finally it was a right hand turn to an uphill finish. The right hand turn was a bit sketchy because you had quite a bit of speed going into it. Not too bad though. They threw out 3 primes during the race. I went for 2 of them and got each. The first one was for $25 cash, and the second one was for $50 cash. I figured since I didn’t know anyone in the field I should go for the cash incase there was an outstanding sprinter in the field hiding. Throughout the race there were a few attacks, mainly from an ABD junior. Nothing stuck though. There were even a few crashes, all of which happened behind be. I tried to stay in the top 5 the entire race. One – to avoid crashing. Two – to cover any attacks that I thought would stick. Three – not have to sprint out of every corner like I did this weekend in the Pro/1/2/3’s. Anyway, the last two laps came and of course no one wanted to work. I stayed 2nd wheel. Coming into the last lap a girl who I thought looked familiar came to the front. She stayed at the front the rest of the way. She even started sprinting out of the last corner. That was an extremely long sprint. It went for probably 2 blocks. Ouch. I stayed in her draft as much as I could but I was scared the rest of the field was on my heels waiting to pounce. So I started my sprint too early. She nipped me at the line by a wheel length or so. After thinking about the race more, I realized something. I have raced against the winner before. In fact, it was recently at the Proctor Cycling Classic Criterium. She was racing for Kenda then. Now she is racing for a different team, which is why I didn’t but two and two together. I remember having a tough time beating this girl to the line. Well now that I know who she is, I’ve got a wheel to watch J. So 2nd place and two primes almost put me to the break-even point with entry fees. Hopefully I can pull of some more top 3 finishes. Maybe even a win? It would be nice to win the overall, but it’s going to be tough. That’s all I got for now. Time to go watch the Pro/1/2 race. Tomorrow I’m in Green Bay. I’ll try to get a post put out there eventually. Until next time! Happy riding!
-A