Cherry Pie Criterium

I was given the opportunity to wake up bright and early again and headed off for Napa; luckily I get to sleep in the car. When we arrived at the race my teammate Ryan was already there and he had forgotten his helmet so I was happy to help me out since he was racing before me. I got warmed up on the trainer, since the race would only be 20 minutes I needed a great warm-up. I headed out to the start to roll out and watch the end of the 15-16 race. It was a tight squeeze but I was able to get my helmet back just in time and a break went right from the start and I missed it. Lucky me I was stuck on the front, at least at this time of the year it gets you a good workout. I now know that I should have sat in a little more because I worked so hard at the front pulling back breaks that when the opportunity came for the breaks I was too worn out to make it into them. So I pretty much suffered at the front and gave it a good sprint at the end. I am frustrated with my result for this race because this is a crit course that really fits me with the hill in it. I will have to win it next year.

I got about an hour rest between the juniors and 3’s so I rested and spun on the trainer a bit and headed out to the start line. I sat in at the beginning and I was frustrated by how slow everyone slowed down for the corners, the course was a little wet but, it wasn’t like it was raining. I made a couple of moves that didn’t stick. Then with about 6 laps to go I made a good move up the hill and two junior racers came with me. We got a decent gap and the next lap I heard prime at the last second and gave it a little push and ended up winning a prime I hadn’t known about. With about three laps to go I could see that the break wasn’t going to stick so I sat up a bit and went back into the field and got some rest and was in great position for the sprint. As we nailed it up the hill for the sprint the guy in front of me blows and sits up. This was annoying but, I also know that I did not have enough of a sprint to win it even if the guy had not sat up. I felt decent about how this race had gone, and at least I got a prime.