Hartford W4 Crit
An early start to the day, as Courtney, Andrea and I hit the road at 5am Sunday morning on our way to Hartford, CT. But we had coffee and bagels, and at a rest stop in Connecticut, a boy scout troop was giving out free food! Courtney had a yummy-looking egg and cheese sandwich, and all of us wondered why on earth you’d set up your tents between the highway and the rest area….
The race itself was 20 laps around Bushnell Park—7/10ths of a mile, 5 corners and an almost not there uphill out of the next to last turn to the finish. On the line at 8:30am, we have 20 cat 4 women, and immediately behind us, 20 Masters 60+ men—and never the twain shall meet (ha!). The whistle was blown, and we were off.
All three of us remembered our plans to stay near the front, stay out of trouble, and did exactly that. No other New York women had made the trip, so we were definitely wary and keeping our eyes open. Seems everyone else was doing the same—the pace, while solid, wasn’t outrageously fast and everyone was pretty content to sit in. Throughout the race, we were passing (and being passed) by the Master’s men—first the leaders, then we started passing the stragglers. (The course was a little too short to handle two fields easily.)
At nine laps to go, I took advantage of a lull in the field and bolted away from the pack. Courtney and Andrea stayed back, but my escape was short-lived when the announcer called for a prime the next lap; I was swept back up in the sprint for pizza. I tried again at three to go, but with no success—the only other rider who tried to escape had the same experience. Throughout, Andrea was busy covering the riders pushing the hill, and Courtney helped control the pace up front.
As expected, it came down to a field sprint. Andrea and I went up the inside, and almost got taken out by a swerving rider, taking 11th and 10th respectively. Courtney did quite a bit better, roaring around the outside and capturing 4th overall! Woo-hoo!
I wrapped up my racing by doing the Master’s 50+ field. Remember that almost not there hill? It’s really there once you’ve gone up it 35 times! But it was still excellent fun to ride with such a big pack of experienced riders.
The race itself was 20 laps around Bushnell Park—7/10ths of a mile, 5 corners and an almost not there uphill out of the next to last turn to the finish. On the line at 8:30am, we have 20 cat 4 women, and immediately behind us, 20 Masters 60+ men—and never the twain shall meet (ha!). The whistle was blown, and we were off.
All three of us remembered our plans to stay near the front, stay out of trouble, and did exactly that. No other New York women had made the trip, so we were definitely wary and keeping our eyes open. Seems everyone else was doing the same—the pace, while solid, wasn’t outrageously fast and everyone was pretty content to sit in. Throughout the race, we were passing (and being passed) by the Master’s men—first the leaders, then we started passing the stragglers. (The course was a little too short to handle two fields easily.)
At nine laps to go, I took advantage of a lull in the field and bolted away from the pack. Courtney and Andrea stayed back, but my escape was short-lived when the announcer called for a prime the next lap; I was swept back up in the sprint for pizza. I tried again at three to go, but with no success—the only other rider who tried to escape had the same experience. Throughout, Andrea was busy covering the riders pushing the hill, and Courtney helped control the pace up front.
As expected, it came down to a field sprint. Andrea and I went up the inside, and almost got taken out by a swerving rider, taking 11th and 10th respectively. Courtney did quite a bit better, roaring around the outside and capturing 4th overall! Woo-hoo!
I wrapped up my racing by doing the Master’s 50+ field. Remember that almost not there hill? It’s really there once you’ve gone up it 35 times! But it was still excellent fun to ride with such a big pack of experienced riders.
posted by liz @ 11:43 PM
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