Preamble and day 1:
I didn’t really have my head in the game this weekend, but still had a good weekend of racing and learning.
Three races in two days in a fairly typical omnium format. Scoring was done based on finish order, but not time. Points were awarded based on finish place – with the winner being awarded the most points and everyone else progressively fewer points the further back in the field you were. Depending on the omnium, the events within the race can be weighted differently. At Syracuse the road race and crit were weighted more heavily than the time trial. Points were awarded to the top 25 finishers in both the crit and road race with the winner of each event earning 40 points. Points were awarded just 20 deep in the time trial with the winner only getting 25 points. Strategy changes when you are scored on place rather than time back, and specific strategies depend on how heavily each event is weighted and what your strengths and weaknesses are. The point breakdowns were available in the racer “bible” which was available online before the race started, and which I did not read until after the crit. Whoops. Had I read it I would have had a strategy in mind, but it may not have changed the outcome.
Event 1 the crit:
Saturday afternoon in nearby Syracuse. I gave myself an hour to get there with the plan to arrive at 11:30. Exploring parts of Syracuse I had never seen ate up half an hour of unplanned time and I arrived on sight at noon. I arrived a little frazzled from the drive, and although not nearly as bad as last September’s GMSR crit, rather nervous. (Chris can attest to just how badly I let that crit intimidate me – his car is probably still showing gouges from where I was clinging desperately to it while he was trying to pry me out and put me on my bike). It did not help my nerves that the first thing I heard when I went to check in for the race was the sound of several bike and their pilots hitting the deck. But number in hand and the clock ticking, I took comfort in the routine of getting ready: pinning number on, laying out race clothes, getting bike out and wheels on, getting changed, getting on the trainer, drinking. It helped calm me down. All the while listening to the announcer run the kids races (4yr olds, 5 yr olds… on up to 10 or 11 year olds I think). As soon as the last kids cleared the course they sent us off to do one lap on the course (very good since I had no clue what the loop was). As far as crits go this course is fairly benign. It was on a 1 mile paved loop around a park – no 90 degree corners. One downhill with a bit of a curve to it. We did the loop anticlockwise and there was a low curb on the inside around most of the course and at some points on the outside, a few spots where the pavement was not ideal, nothing else to worry about. After our pre-ride lap they gave us our instructions (point bonuses with 18 and 13 laps to go, and some merchandize primes in there, P/1/2 women were riding with the 3’s but we would be scored separately for the overall as well as the primes and bonuses). Off we went for our 22 laps.
My heart rate was redlined at the start, and not because of my warm up. However, I got more comfortable with each lap, and may even have had some fun, but that is classified information. The pace was high in this race – the announcer said it was the fastest women’s race on that course ever and the 22 laps went by pretty quickly. As always I was having difficulty moving up in the field. With 4 or so laps to go I did manage to make a move up the outside and lead the pack (even had a 5 second gap at one point) for a lap before being reeled back in. Unfortunately I couldn’t find a path to move up again the last two laps and was poorly positioned for the last half lap into the finish. I managed to get by several ladies in the sprint, but they must all have been 3’s since the results showed me as 18th out of 21 or 22. Even though I finished with the pack (Yay! I didn’t get dropped!) with scoring based on placing not time, I put myself right out of omnium contention with that race.
All was not bad though. I didn’t get dropped (Again Chris can tell you about my ability to stay with the pack in the GMSR crit) and I stayed upright. I also learned something rather surprising. Usually I don’t like being sandwiched between two riders, in particular when taking curves at 30, but I learned pretty quickly that with those curbs on the inside, that it was less angst inducing to be in a rider sandwich than next to the curb. Maybe because a rider can push back if you drift whereas the curb will happily let you crash over it. I found out after my race that the wreck I heard when I registered was a guy hitting the curb and falling and taking down a bunch of other riders with him – and they were on the bell lap (last lap of their race) as well!
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