Giro del Cielo by Andrea
Cat 4 Giro del Cielo, Sussex County, NJ
Crit:
As it started drizzling I got a bit worried about slick roads and sketchy bike handling. In the first half of the race I drifted towards the back which was a big mistake since it meant braking in every turn and then sprinting. I came to my senses and realized I was wasting too much energy since there were still a lot of laps to go so I took the inside line through a turn and moved towards the front. Things got much better after that. There was one attack that looked threatening since there was at least one rider from the very strong Artemis team in it and her teammate was at the front of the pack attempting to block. We chased it down though- their tactics were pretty obvious even for a cat 4 field. The course was around a parking lot and totally visible from everywhere, so it would be tough to get away.
There were lots of premes. I went for one but was outsprinted. Those of us who sprinted tried briefly to get away, but that didn’t work. Artemis has some big powerful riders who weren’t going to let anything get too far up the road. The pace heated up in the final few laps. One rider thought the second to last lap was the bell lap and didn’t realize we had one to go. She slowed down and gapped off half the field. I was far enough in the front to get past her as the pace intensified. Unfortunately I was on a slow wheel for the field sprint and couldn’t get around it fast enough, so eighth place was all I was able to do.
Circuit Race:
I was not the only one worried about the heat, so we were all pretty happy to hear that the race would be shortened by 5 laps. The race proceeded at a moderate pace. There were a few little attacks, but everything got chased down. Once again, team Artemis wasn’t going to let anything get too far up the road. I stayed towards the front of the field for most of the race and focused my efforts on conserving energy and making sure I was in a good position on the hill just in case anything took off from there. Things stayed together for the final lap and Alison made a really good attempt at leading me out up the hill, but as we got there I noticed the action taking off in the middle of the field, so I went with it and managed to take 4th. My sprint has improved but could definitely use some work. In a race like this, it’s all about strategy and positioning for the final sprint.
Crit:
As it started drizzling I got a bit worried about slick roads and sketchy bike handling. In the first half of the race I drifted towards the back which was a big mistake since it meant braking in every turn and then sprinting. I came to my senses and realized I was wasting too much energy since there were still a lot of laps to go so I took the inside line through a turn and moved towards the front. Things got much better after that. There was one attack that looked threatening since there was at least one rider from the very strong Artemis team in it and her teammate was at the front of the pack attempting to block. We chased it down though- their tactics were pretty obvious even for a cat 4 field. The course was around a parking lot and totally visible from everywhere, so it would be tough to get away.
There were lots of premes. I went for one but was outsprinted. Those of us who sprinted tried briefly to get away, but that didn’t work. Artemis has some big powerful riders who weren’t going to let anything get too far up the road. The pace heated up in the final few laps. One rider thought the second to last lap was the bell lap and didn’t realize we had one to go. She slowed down and gapped off half the field. I was far enough in the front to get past her as the pace intensified. Unfortunately I was on a slow wheel for the field sprint and couldn’t get around it fast enough, so eighth place was all I was able to do.
Circuit Race:
I was not the only one worried about the heat, so we were all pretty happy to hear that the race would be shortened by 5 laps. The race proceeded at a moderate pace. There were a few little attacks, but everything got chased down. Once again, team Artemis wasn’t going to let anything get too far up the road. I stayed towards the front of the field for most of the race and focused my efforts on conserving energy and making sure I was in a good position on the hill just in case anything took off from there. Things stayed together for the final lap and Alison made a really good attempt at leading me out up the hill, but as we got there I noticed the action taking off in the middle of the field, so I went with it and managed to take 4th. My sprint has improved but could definitely use some work. In a race like this, it’s all about strategy and positioning for the final sprint.
posted by liz at 6:50 AM
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