Steel City Endurance Racing

Masters Nationals Criterium

Louisville, KY

Saturday, August 7, 2010

The last race of my last Masters Nationals – the crit.  I’ve had a range of results in past Nationals – a 4^th place in Park City on a crit course that was a race of attrition more so than crit skills, a couple of 6^th and 7^th places, a disappointing 12^th or so at Jennerstown, the first year Masters was at Seven Springs.  I have come to approach the crit with the attitude of ‘race smart’ but be relaxed about it: a podium spot would be nice, but that’s not as strong a goal as it is for the Time Trial and Road Race which are my strong suit.  The crit was Saturday afternoon after a long hot week away from home – it is hard to maintain focus for a whole week and I was starting to really itch to be home.  Friday I had a relaxed late breakfast at Lynn’s Paradise Café (spinach omelet, biscuits and cheese grits) did some laundry, perused the Kentucky Arts and Craft Museum gift shop, checked out the crit course – a straight forward 1km rectangle with a couple of slight downhill corners next to the Ohio River -  then a pre-race tune-up ride and dinner at Palermo.

Saturday was hot again and I had to manage my nerves and patience until the 2:30 race time.  I figured Anne Marie Miller and Diane Ostenso as the main contenders, with Jane a likely candidate for the podium as well.  I knew Betty would be looking for places to attack and I expected Glenda would be capable of making a run for the podium as well.  In other words: mark Anne Marie and Diane and be patient.

Anne Marie goes hard from the start, we are single file for the entire race, she leads for the whole race, and still gets the win.  That’s the short cut version. The full story:  I get a slow start and slot behind Betty – maybe 7^th wheel.  Further back than I want. Up front, it is Anne Marie, Diane, Jane, then Glenda and a woman who is only doing the crit. I spend several laps looking for ways and places to move up – finally getting myself to 5^th or 6^th.  Somewhere in there Betty attacks but before she can get any kind of gap, Ann Marie shuts it down. Normally, I would have counter attacked, but it is clear that no one is getting clear and I lack team mates to block.  Two thirds of the way through, Anne Marie makes a big dig and the woman in front of me lets a gap open – I dig hard myself to get around her and up to Anne Marie, Diane, and Jane – sweet !  It’s the four of us, but we can’t hold the gap but at least I am fourth wheel.  I stay right there for the rest of the race.  It has been full on racing and full on mental concentration since the whistle.  On the bell lap I do all I can to hold Diane Ostenso’s wheel but I lose contact in one of the corners.  I’m  fourth wheel out of the last corner – I hesitate for a nano second to shift up and accelerate out of the turn – Anne Marie and Diane have a 3/10 second gap on Jane, who was 3^rd wheel, but I am closing hard on Jane – at the line, she holds on for third by the barest on margins.  Our timing chips give both of us the exact same time, which means it was really, really, close – but even a solid bike throw on my part wasn’t enough to get 3^rd.  Still – I am pleased as can be to have managed a podium placing, in a crit, where the race came down to crit smarts.  Should I have gone with the gearing I had and not paused to shift?  Could I have punched it before the turn instead of out of the corner?  Who knows.  A 3^rd medal and podium placing  finish, in a crit at Masters is prize enough for me.

Photo courtesy of Craig W. Dooley at Kentucky Backroads Photography.