The First Race was part of the summer Crit series in Billings. There are four of them. I missed the first because I was up in Red Lodge with IMBA building a new trail. This was the second.
Not many people. Maybe the heat? Maybe the lack of advertising? It was smoking hot, well over 90. When the race started, the first lap was brutal, they set a tough pace. After that I settled in. I wasn't trying to win, only to finish. I knew that setting a goal of winning my first race was unrealistic. So, after a couple of laps, I took the lead. It's always a bad idea, if you're trying to win the race, but this was more of a training ride for me, and I figured it would be safer for me too.
As it turned out, I ended up leading the majority of the race, at least half. Yokie and Rose were there, and some other fans. It was really cool.
With three laps to go, I tried a long breakaway. No go. I was pretty much toast. I grabbed on to the group again. When the last lap bell rung, I tried a breakaway right away, at the start of the last lap. Again, no go. I was toast. Hung on for 5th overall, 3rd Cat 5 men.
The Second Race was a few days later, and it was the State Championship Race, and Rose joined me. The kids race started first, and it was only a one lap race. Rose raced it with Darla, her Dragon Nation, as her coach, riding in her tank top, shouting instructions. She hung on, cruising, for the first half lap, and then she took over, shifting properly, and powering ahead. The dude who was serving as a pace car / security dude, had to ask her if he needed to speed up. He did.
She ended up cruising in, almost coasting down the finish strait. 1st place overall, and 1st place U-10 Girls State Crit Champion! You go girl.
A few more people for my race. Better temp, cooler. There was a pro rider there this time, a Cat 2 dude from Billings with a serious aero Cervelo bike. Regulars were saying the pace would be a lap or two quicker, and getting lapped was a concern.
Right away, after turn 2 of lap 1, the pro and the young kid from Wyoming who won my first race took off together. It turned out he would match the pro for the whole race. Good on him. Hell of a racer. I never saw either of them again.
We settled into a group of five or six for a few laps. Then a few got a way, leaving me with a few guys trailing me.
At about lap 4, I noticed nobody was going as strong as me on the uphill section, between turns 3 and 4, so I jumped there and in by lap 6 or so I'd bridged the gap up to a Cat 4 dude from Bozeman. Tough rider. I didn't want to do a free ride, so I took my turns. I don't know why, but he was uncooperative. He sped up and ditched me. I let him go. It was a good call. We reeled him back in as a group later.
For most of the rest of the race, I settled into a group of three mostly. We reeled back in everybody in front, except the kid and the pro. I tried to not lead too much, like my first race. When the group slowed down, I'd pull, and I often pulled on that uphill stretch too.
When we got into the last lap, I faked an early sprint, right away again, before turn 1. Everybody followed me. I slowed way down, and settled onto the back of a pack of five. Two went early on the far stretch, the Bozeman guy and the Wyoming dad. We couldn't match, so now it was three again. I went into the home stretch in last place, and was patient with my sprint. I went last, and just pipped a nice sprint at the line. It was super fun.
