QuikTrip Friday Night Criterium

Yay! I finally finished my first NRC race!

I'm down in Tulsa, OK right now racing some pretty brutal crits. The weather is...HOT!! Tonight's crit started at 7:30 and lasted for an hour. Not sure how many women are here, but I think it's near 50. Things started off pretty hot after the first lap. I got a good start and stayed near the front for the first part of the race. Then I was swarmed and pushed near the back. A few laps later, there was a crash. I was stuck behind it. After hearing about certain instances that have happened in the past, I headed to the wheel pit. No use in wasting my matches chasing to the pack. It looked like a pretty bad wreck and the girl was on the course for probably 10 laps before the ambulance took her away. Yes, they kept the race going while the ambulance was on the course. The course had lots of turns which made it really hard to drink. I think I drank twice during the whole race. Not good, considering it was 90degrees. I was feeling it towards the end of the race. My eyes were doing funky things and my stomach didn't feel so hot. Anyway, Cheerwine did there thing and Kelly Benjamin took the win. I came across 20th. Not too shabby, and still in the money (they pay 25 deep). Tomorrow's a new day, and I hope to improve my placing. I've had a few people give me some advice after today's race, so I'm going to give it a shot and see how things work. Another afternoon crit so look for an update tomorrow evening. So far I'm having a blast. I've been traveling with the team (Mesa Cycles), and everyone seems pretty cool - given that they are almost all juniors. They pulled off some awesome results in their races, which is impressive with this caliber of racing. It's nice to see familiar faces down here. St. Louis Revolution is out in full force. America's Dairyland has a team, and Vitamin Cottage made the journey from Colorado here. It's fun racing with all those gals. Anyway, I'm calling it a night, so thanks for stopping by!
-A

P.S. If you are interested in buying a 2007 Cannondale CAAD 9 52cm with full Ultegra components (minus the Dura-Ace crank) and Mavic Ksyrium Elite wheels, send me an email --> mtb05grl@yahoo.com