UNC/CU Collegiate Race Weekend

This past weekend there were two criteriums: Greeley on Saturday, Boulder on Sunday. Going into the weekend, the weather man had forecasted a not-so-nice day on Saturday. Fortunately, things turned out a little better than I was expecting. It was still a bit chilly, but at least it wasn't snowing!

Saturday's collegiate women's A race was lame, but still fun. CSU had 6 of the 9 women in the field. As far as the course goes - it was long (over a mile) and out in the open. The back stretch was a downhill/tailwind and the front stretch was a false flat/headwind. There were a few tricky corners around some round-abouts. Our plan was to attack, counter attack, etc. Relatively early in the race, Tirrel attacked. Once FLC pulled us up to her, Carol attacked and away she went. She dangled out there for a while. A few people tried to bridge, but it was a no go. Finally, I attacked on the downhill tailwind section. I was able to get a gap on the field and caught up to Carol. Away we went, into the headwind/false flat section. We were able to put a decent amount on the field. Meanwhile, CSU was still putting the hurt down. From what I heard, they kept attacking the rest of the field. Awesome! As a team, we need practice on attacking/counter attacking. Anyway, Carol and I finished the race 1st and 2nd respectively. Both of us hoping we had some gas left for the women's open race an hour later.

My legs were pretty fried for the open race. Dairyland was there in full force. They attacked, attacked, and eventually the field split. I missed the winning break, just barely. Carol, Rachel, and I (all from CSU, but racing for different teams) were in a chase group with fellow-midwesterner Kate Ross (America's Dairyland). Up the road was a break with 3 Dairyland girls and another rider. Carol, Rachel, and I kept the pace high and had the break within reaching distance, but since we all just finished racing the collegiate race, our legs were fried. Our objective turned from catching the break to not getting caught by the field within a matter of minutes. We kept rolling turns, and on the last lap Kate sprinted around us. I tried to grab her wheel, but I had nothing left. I finished 6th for the day, with a little harder of an effort than I was planning on. Oh well.

Sunday's course was flat and fast. It was 1km long and had no real turns, just a few sweeping corners. Amy D. showed up for today's race, along with a few other faces I didn't see on Saturday. FLC attacked off the line, and we covered it. Our plan was to attack a lot again today. So we did. I attacked a few times, hoping someone would follow. Didn't happen. The last time I attacked, Tirrel on CSU countered just as I got caught. Awesome move! Away she went. We never saw her after that. That girl can motor. An FLC girl tried chasing her down, but instead dangled in front of the main group for the remainder of the race. With 2 laps to go, we pushed the pace and caught the FLC girl, knowing Tirrel was out of sight. Carol kept the pace high the last lap for a perfect lead out. I came around in the middle of the last curve and punched it to the line for 2nd place.

I did the open race again on Sunday. Ouch. You know the race is going to hurt when you see huge names riding around before the start of the race. America's Dairyland was there in full force. A few Vitamin Cottage and ValueAct girls were there. Amy Dombroski raced again. Mara Abbott was there. Marissa Asplund from Cheerwine, Allison Powers...maybe??..and tons others were also there. It amazed me how stacked the field was, considering the payout was 3 deep with a purse that was pretty low. Oh well, it was awesome! My teammates Megan and Monique raced too. We didn't have much of a plan, just threw in a few attacks to mix things up. My legs were fried. I attacked early in the race and Megan countered. The field started to whittle down, but there were still quite a few riders in the pack. Other people attacked, and the pace stayed high. It came down to a sprint. About half way through the last lap, some people near the front of the pack sat up (WtF?). I got gapped off, along with the rest of the field, and 5-6girls put a few bike lengths on us. Made up some ground and came across with a 10th place finish. Megan finished 8th. Monique had an awesome race, considering she hasn't ridden for a few days and this was her first race of the season. Hard weekend of racing, and my legs are feeling it!

I stuck around for the men's pro/1/2/3 race. It's pretty neat racing out here in Colorado. Local "training" crits get lots of attention when there's nothing big going on. Toyota United was there with 6-7 guys. Tom Zirbel, Tom Danielson, and lots of other fasties showed up. It was cool to see the pros mixing it up and supporting local racing. Anyway, I'll post pictures eventually (update: here are some pictures...enjoy).
Fellow Iowan, Tom Zirbel, putting the hammer down.

Tom Danielson from Slipstream.

A couple of Toyota United guys.

This weekend is more collegiate action in Grand Junction/Fruita, CO. Have a good week!
-A