Quad Cities Criterium

This race always makes me nervous. As many of you know, I haven't had the best luck in the past with it. This year, it was raining off and on all day. It never really poured. Fortunately by the time we raced, it was dry. During the race it sprinkled some, but never enough to make the pavement slick. I chose to run my rain tires anyway. Better safe than sorry!

The race started off fast, as always. There were a lot of attacks. LipSmacker threw down a lot of attacks trying to split things up and make a break stick. After several attempts, a break finally stuck. It included Meredith Miller, Catherine Walberg, Kristen Meshberg, Jessica Prinner, Toni Bradshaw, and myself. We (LipSmacker) had two in the break, which was awesome. The break never got organized. We came close to lapping the field at some point during the race. But by the time the race was almost done, I thought we were going to get caught. It was frustrating, but we made it stick. With one lap to go, Jessica attacked after a prime lap. She got a gap that no one was going to cover. I think if I would have been patient, someone would have gone. I waited a few seconds and then went. I didn't catch her and no one else would come to help. Toni came and took over and closed the gap even more. But still, no help. On the final straigh-away, Meredith jumped and passed Jessica. I latched on to Kristen and Catherine's wheels. Between the final two corners, Kristen and Catherine almost crashed into each other. I hestitated and lost contact, crap. Meredith already had a huge gap and held onto it for the win. Kristen took 2nd and Catherine 3rd. I came in 4th, and Toni was 6th. Unfortunately Kate went down in a crash mid-race. She is ok, just some road rash. It was another fun race and I learned some more (such as positioning for a sprint :) ). Now some pictures.

Erick striking his LipSmacker GQ pose :)

Kate throwing down an early attack.

Following wheels.

The break.

It was an awesome weekend of racing. I'm sad it's over. It was so great to see everyone again. That's what I enjoy about coming back to the Midwest. You get to see lots of people you haven't seen in a year :). Next up is Tulsa Tough. I'm leaving early in the morning tomorrow to head down. From there it's back to Colorado for a few days. I fly to Philly for the Liberty Classic next Saturday and won't be "home" (Colorado or Iowa) for a month. Here's to life on the road! Thanks for reading!
-A