WMSR - 7-21 - Aiyana Curry
All –
Following are a series of race reports I sent off to the gals team email over the course of this week. Most of these I wrote while still ‘wired’, so kudos if you read thru! I don’t know all of the placings yet, so I won’t include them here. I ended up 12th overall, which is ok for me, but I know I can do better.
Big thanks to all the guys for team support & cheers during the week.
Aiyana
WMSR 3 day report
Day 1 – TT
In short: I need to work on my TT skills, and maybe invest in a heart rate monitor!
I’m 18th out of 18 right now and am pretty bummed out about it, but as Sally told me – I’m trying to put the TT behind me and focus on the Circuit race tomorrow, which is my favorite anyway! With a new bike this year & better fitness level, I was hoping to do better than this. My time is about the same as last year, but I suppose not practicing any TTing didn’t help much, eh? :)
Sally’s in 1st w/ a time around 16:57ish I think, looks like Cathy R, Libby & Helen all did well…not sure of their placings. Course is 6.6 mi.
Some strong women racing this year, so tomorrow should be fun!
Great TT course – basically the same as last year with a slightly changed start/finish. Rolling hills w/ one small climb near the end. Hot, hot, hot day! We circle much of the TT course again tomorrow and with the strong 3s and 4s, combined with a fast course and good hill, should be fun!
Cheers to better results tomorrow…and now where’s that pillow? I am cooked!!
Aiyana
Day 2 – Circuit Race
The Circuit Race was much more up my alley. As Cathy mentioned, the pace throughout was pretty mellow. I tried to play it safe since I wasn’t sure how I stacked up against the rest of the field after my less than stellar TT. I tried to stay near the front of the pack, passed a few people each time up the hill & tried to tuck in on the long down hill. Looking back, I wish I had tried to fight out some QOM points to see how I fared, but c’est la vie.
After the group caught Cathy on the downhill to the finish, I set myself up on the outside, thinking I’d have a better opening than staying right. I counted out the field and figured I could sprint for top 10.
We came around the corner and I passed (I think) 2 riders on my sprint. I tried to pass a 3rd, but that didn’t work out. I kicked myself a bit for not starting my sprint sooner or kicking it in a bit deeper. I felt as though I could have kept going strong if I had another 50 yards.
I ended up in 8th on the CR and it looks like I’m now 13th overall.
A little nervous about the points race tonight, but we have a small field, so it should be good.
Sally, Cathy, Libby all looked great last night. I kept hanging out next to Libby during the race, which was fun. Solid riding Libby! I didn’t realize Cathy was pulling so much up front, so it’s too bad all worked out as Cathy described below.
The real bummer last night was all the crashes. The cones in the road didn’t help much at all. I don’t know whether they factored in at all, but I know they were in the way at least once when we went around a corner and one rider didn’t hold her line and a few riders were forced out to swerve through the cones to avoid a potential crash.
Well, here’s hoping for a fun night tonight.
Aiyana
Day 3 – Points Race
OK, what a blast! I think I need to start going to more of these track racing type things. I wanted to try to move up to 10th (I went into the race in 13th), so I knew I had to get some points. I also knew I wouldn’t be strong enough to pull the field, but tried to stay near the front. We talked as a team a bit ahead of time to discuss goals. I was hoping to help Cathy move up in GC & both Cathy & I were prepped to help Sally keep her 1st!! Sally wasn’t feeling too great going into the race, but you couldn’t tell! At one point she drifted back a little bit & Cathy and I helped block & pull her up (or I we tried to!). All ended great – Sally in 1st, Cathy 9th, & me in 12th. I think Libby was right behind me & Helen right after that?? Not sure.
I stayed near the front of the pack the whole race, which psyched me up since I got dropped like 2 or 3 times last year! I actually tried for some 4th place points. maybe that was part of my problem – why didn’t I try for 1st, 2nd or 3rd? hmmm…will have to work on that one! In the final lap I was behind a girl I knew was going for the sprint. I was set up well behind her and when she jumped I was there, BUT! she slipped back when she stood up. It was not expected. I was blocked in on the right, so I waited till around the corner, then jumped. I was able to sprint for 5th – but of course no points for 5th! I got a good half way up on her front wheel. I think if I’d jumped around earlier or maybe dug a bit deeper I might have had it. I don’t know. I need to be more aggressive I think. The Tuesday sprints sure have helped me – so extra thanks to Cris, Jen & Dan!!!
All in all, fun race, great time. Tough, great learning experience. All the ladies looked great & strong! Libby was amazing!
Oh – and the NEBC men were cheering in force – what great team spirit. My mom took more pics today, so I’ll get those off hopefully tomorrow sometime!
off on vaca!!
Aiyana