Greetings, am now in Talladega County in Alabama - only 12 miles from the car race circuit (the big race was last weekend!). Tomorrow is the Anniston criterium, called the Sunny King crit after local stalwart and car dealer, Sunny King. Its a huge community affair made even more impressive by our host families we are staying with. More to come on this later, but for now a brief update of the past two races this week as I haven't had a chance for internet access til now.
Wednesday: Walterboro
Race times were delayed thanks to a 'bomb scare', with our start time almost 1.5 hours behind schedule. In hindsight, this was very lucky. It took almost 6 hours to drive from Atlanta and while being completely out of my hands, I did my very best in trying not to let pre-race anxiousness on u-turns and extra stops get to me.
Before the race I was able to roll the legs around on the back-of-town roads of Walterboro, a small leafy town right in the heart of the deep south: southern South Carolina. We are only 100km from Savannah. An old, magestic white brick home on one of the major streets now advertises itself as a memorial to slavery.
The course was a 1.5km long rectangle with the added bonus of a couple of dog legs. As standard in US crits, a sharp-edged pot hole was located right at the apex of one of the 90o turns. That was fine for us as we started our race on sunset: in the early stages we could see the course and knew the hazards as the light faded into night. But for the men, racing commenced in complete darkness and many were unable to locate dangers prior to racing. On an unlit street circuit, things got pretty sketchy. But back to the women: the pace was much much slower than Athens, which enabled me to move up immediately and take the first of the two tight corners leading into the start finish at third wheel. Primed for the first preme, I went for it and collected $100 for the trouble. I also noticed I was briefly off the front with Athens winner Rebecca Larsen. We pulled a few turns for half a lap but conditions weren’t perfect. Here, a break needs to have three important factors: riders representing Aarons, Colavita/Sutter and Cheerwine. Each squad contains a wide range of talented chicks, who could all easily make up a break. To make an effort without representation from each squad almost certainly spells disaster, as inevitably one of the other squads not represented will chase the break down. In this instance, Larson was only representing Aarons. Not enough. But following just one set of riders isn’t enough to guarantee a feature in a break. Timing is important, but mainly luck. Later I followed a couple of moves that were reeled in, but when the selection was made, I was still recovering down the back. A desperate back straight chase was thwarted thanks to the ‘top three’ defending their teammates out front. Too late to make amends, the only option was to sit in. This was fine apart from feeling very uncomfortable in the guts. Typically this means I am low, so in response I ate a few jubes. But the feeling didn’t subside. I rolled in with the bunch, only to have a certain fellow Australian rider throw her bike on the line to pip me for 22nd place. Wow! Hope that was worth it!
Race times were delayed thanks to a 'bomb scare', with our start time almost 1.5 hours behind schedule. In hindsight, this was very lucky. It took almost 6 hours to drive from Atlanta and while being completely out of my hands, I did my very best in trying not to let pre-race anxiousness on u-turns and extra stops get to me.
Before the race I was able to roll the legs around on the back-of-town roads of Walterboro, a small leafy town right in the heart of the deep south: southern South Carolina. We are only 100km from Savannah. An old, magestic white brick home on one of the major streets now advertises itself as a memorial to slavery.
The course was a 1.5km long rectangle with the added bonus of a couple of dog legs. As standard in US crits, a sharp-edged pot hole was located right at the apex of one of the 90o turns. That was fine for us as we started our race on sunset: in the early stages we could see the course and knew the hazards as the light faded into night. But for the men, racing commenced in complete darkness and many were unable to locate dangers prior to racing. On an unlit street circuit, things got pretty sketchy. But back to the women: the pace was much much slower than Athens, which enabled me to move up immediately and take the first of the two tight corners leading into the start finish at third wheel. Primed for the first preme, I went for it and collected $100 for the trouble. I also noticed I was briefly off the front with Athens winner Rebecca Larsen. We pulled a few turns for half a lap but conditions weren’t perfect. Here, a break needs to have three important factors: riders representing Aarons, Colavita/Sutter and Cheerwine. Each squad contains a wide range of talented chicks, who could all easily make up a break. To make an effort without representation from each squad almost certainly spells disaster, as inevitably one of the other squads not represented will chase the break down. In this instance, Larson was only representing Aarons. Not enough. But following just one set of riders isn’t enough to guarantee a feature in a break. Timing is important, but mainly luck. Later I followed a couple of moves that were reeled in, but when the selection was made, I was still recovering down the back. A desperate back straight chase was thwarted thanks to the ‘top three’ defending their teammates out front. Too late to make amends, the only option was to sit in. This was fine apart from feeling very uncomfortable in the guts. Typically this means I am low, so in response I ate a few jubes. But the feeling didn’t subside. I rolled in with the bunch, only to have a certain fellow Australian rider throw her bike on the line to pip me for 22nd place. Wow! Hope that was worth it!
Doug in the pits as the pack streams through the only lit section of the course: the start/finish:
Emile and Fabio survived the mens all-dark race:
Thursday: Greenwood
Today we drove from Walterboro up to Greenwood, stopping en route for lunch and being reminded about removing our hoodies before acquiring food:
The Greenwood circuit was a similarly long rectangle with a dog leg on the back straight, but the addition of a hill on the front straight drag. It was a long drag too. Today it seemed as though my legs just weren’t there. Early on I tried to be a bit active, going for an attack, and also sitting in on a bit of a half-hearted break, but it seemed no one was interested in letting anything go today. Perhaps because every race so far this week has ended with a break succeeding. Everyone wanted a piece of the break action, meaning no one got any in the end! Coming into the bunch kick I was holding the fortress at the back of the field with a similarly painful gut feeling as from yesterday. Not sure why I keep feeling so queasy. Blood sugars were fine all through the race. But in general, it has been a tough week reminding myself that I am not supposed to be riding well at the moment, and all this pain and misery is for the greater good: later in the season. This is really my first hit out for the year, so I am generally coping okay. But I know there is more there, and more to come. Just have to be patient and let time take care of everything. But oh, the frustration in the meantime!!
Morgan with the van post-race
Doug getting his only break from working all day on bikes and driving us all over the shop. Lucky no one needed any assistance from him in the pit!
Emile all smiles in the mens bunch, staying near the front and out of trouble:
Fabio also all smiles in the mens bunch
Post note: I now officially have a sore throat and sweats all over. This morning's roll around Greenwood was pretty tough on me. I just hope I can minimise the impact of it, and in particular, not spread it round - whatever it is..
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