I just did my first crit last night! The infamous Ault Park crit. I remember going to this 7 or 8 years ago and being mystified by that race and the whirl of the pack as they wizzed by.
My legs were still toast after pulling off a couple of hilly centuries last weekend, but I wanted to get some speed work in before Mohican. Talked to Nate before hand, and we both just wanted to ride, no real strategy. We both started from the back which turned out to be kind of chaotic and scary. After a few laps (I was too busy keeping my eyes glued to the chaos around me I forgot to look at the lap counter) I got sick of it back there and decided to work my way up.
So on the hill I did a dig on the outside and went from worst to first! For a second. Coming around the backside I was unable to find shelter behind someone else and prompty blew up (it was probably a sprint lap too and the pace picked up)! Back to worst.
I was feeling a little more relaxed and Bridget arrived so I smiled and waved shouting "Hey, I'm in last place!"
So I dug again. Same thing happened. And it happened again later.
By the end I tried to work my way up and hide behind Nate. We were probably in the first third of the pack with 1 lap to go. But the anchor came out for us and we went backward.
Good thing too. Someone's wheel taco'd and there was a huge wreck up front! Next race I will try to watch the lap cards and do a better job of hiding!
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