Superweek Race #2: Kenosha

Due to a serious lack of sleep, I quickly got behind with my Superweek postings...my apologies. And due to the fact that I got home in the middle of the night last night and no amount of espresso is helping me function, my race reports may be sub-par, but deal with it.

Friday we headed to Kenosha for a 30-mile crit. I liked this course! The roads were good and fast, and there were a ton of spectators, mostly due to the little festival taking place in the park that was located in the middle of the course. The field was large and the race started out fast again. Every time I looked down at my computer, it said 26+ mph...even while we were cornering. If it isn't obvious, that is FAST for a women's Cat 3/4 race! And for comparison, the average speed at our local Northfield crit (which does have a hill) was 19 mph. Anyway, it was fast. And once again, I was able to hang on just fine for about 25 minutes before I suddenly hit the wall (just like the day before). I guess it's probably no coincidence that our local crits are not usually more than 25-30 minutes long. Needless to say, I was not prepared/trained for the sustained high speeds coupled with the length of these Superweek Crits. However, I had no intention of quitting this time, so I sat up, was joined by GW-NoH for a lap, and jumped back into the field as they came by. And much to my surprise, I had no problem hanging with them for *almost* the rest of the race. With about 12 laps to go, I rode up to Pdiddily and asked her how she felt...she replied "I don't know". To which I responded, "well then, I think you feel good". We rounded the corner and Pdiddily started moving up the left side of the field with me on her wheel and the next thing I see is bikes and racers airborne ahead of me and to my right. The carnage is quickly sprawling left-ward, and Pdiddily squeaks through while I hit my breaks, veer left, and gun it again. When I look back, I notice that I am the last person who has made it through. Everyone else was either in the crash, or caught up behind it. It was super freaky. Then on the back side of the course, we are told to stop. I quickly scanned the survivors and was relieved to see all three of my teammates and GW-NoH, but no GW-Muhsr. We were finally allowed to roll back up to the front stretch where we saw the emergency vehicles parked on the course and attending to a few riders. The rumor was that there was a least a broken nose and broken collarbone, along with a lot of other minor injuries. I was relieved to see GW-Muhsr in the wheelpit getting some mechanical help. The scariest part for me was that a few of the women involved in the crash were women I had been riding behind for most of the race. And I had generally been trying to stick to the right side of the course. Freaky.

When the race course was finally clear, the officials informed us that lapped riders would not be allowed to finish just so that it would be less confusing to figure out results. I was kind of bummed, only because I was finally riding well, but I totally understood. Plus, it started to sprinkle...and taking those corners at 26 mph in the rain didn't seem like something I was comfortable with, so it was probably for the best. And I wasn't alone - I was surprised to see how many others had been lapped...I'm guessing it was almost half of the field.

So I watched the end of the race from the sidelines (which was also kind of fun), and going into the last lap, SpecialK was in a great position, but got out-sprinted in the end. She still placed 6th, so that was awesome. BHar and Pdiddily also finished with the main field, plus, Pdiddily even threw in a few attacks for the day. So another good day for the Bellas.

Bellas and bikes intact, we headed back to our swanky host-housing to recover. I was exhausted and couldn't wait to go to bed.

Oh, and there was one other highlight of our day...a SuperRookie spotting! Neither SpecialK, Pdiddily, nor myself has ever personally met the infamous SuperRookie...but he was driving away before we figured out that it was him, mostly because I believe he was yelling "WWW DOT SUPER ROOKIE DOT COM" or something of the sort. Rumor has it SpecialK and I will soon get our chance to meet him at the track. Right on.

Next up...the Cudahy Crit on no sleep...my back still hurts.

SS