Josh and I left pretty early, which was a good thing because the directions provided were wrong and we had to backtrack through suburbia to find the race. Luckily we had left early enough that I didn't get too stressed out about all of that. I usually can be quite a basket case when lost before a race.
We pulled into the Vernon Hills HS parking lot, wondering if we would see anyone we knew and just as I was parking I spotted our wonderful teammates Jon and Emily. Excellent. I went and registered. I offered Emily one of my UofC jerseys (our team kits are still MIA), she declined in favor of racing incognito in a stealthy black T-shirt. Emily is one of the strongest women I know and I figured if no one knows we're on the same team, perhaps we have a chance for some big things. I mean, who expects a woman wearing a T-shirt to win? If any one could do it, it would be Emily. She would probably lap us in the process too, she's that strong.
The next 30-45 minutes in a nutshell - Emily and I started warming up next to our cars, across from each other, not really saying much lest the other 3 women take note. Josh went off to cheer on Jon in the 3s. A few HS kids were leaving the parking lot, I got some "looks" from a car of pre-pubescent boys which I chuckled about.
(Man, I'm running out of steam with the race report and I have yet to get to the race!)
We come to the line. There are 8 or 9 of us racing, better than the 5 I had expected. Jessi Prinner was there, along with Francine Haas and a new lady from Team MS racing who I had result stalked the night before (she was the only one pre-registered), Jessica Hill. I figured the 3 of them along with Emily could make for an interesting race. The usual pre-race formalities ensued and then we were off for a windy 40 minutes around an O'hare air traffic control structure that looks like a flattened mushroom. We had about 15 minutes of extremely boring, slow and negative racing. Yawn. Jessica and Jessi both laid down some strong attacks but they didn't last. Then coming around the final straight, Emily looked back at me, smiled and just laid it down. We got a decent gap but were caught going into the first turn. Then Jessi and Jessica jumped with Francine in pursuit and I knew that was it and I needed to be on that break. I caught on and we proceeded to hammer it, each taking short pulls. We worked wonderfully well for the next 25 minutes together (after I remembered to pull through with a little goading from Jessica -- I admit I was a bit rusty from the off-season).
With 2 to go I knew the cat and mouse games would start soon and I knew I didn't want to be the one dangling out in front. When we came out of the final turn with one to go, I let Francine take her pull and then I settled in behind Jessica. Francine was sensing the game had started and managed to get off the front leaving Jessica there to pull us all through the final lap. She tried her hardest to give up that front spot, but none of us budged -- not wanting to needlessly tire ourselves out in the headwind. With 2 turns to go, I looked back and saw a rider approaching, knowing that someone had been gaining ground on us for the past 10 minutes -- turns out that was Emily time-trialling up to us, told you she was strong! It turns out the person I saw was a lapped rider catching up to us. I admit it was kind of nuts how slow we were going ... 8-10 mph. Haha, it would have been funny had Emily caught us and then won while we dicked around.
We came out of the final turn, all itchy to get the sprint started. I looked up and thought we were approximately 150-200m out, so threw down a hard acceleration. It felt really good and I think I had a decent gap ... BUT ... I had jumped way too soon and got passed by Jessi and Francine. It's so much easier to tell distances on a track! Jessica was coming up as well but I was able to throw the bike and finished in 3rd. Emily finished amazingly close to us, given her time trial effort, in 5th place. Go Bouledogues!
Overall it was a great early season race. I had a lot of fun, I love racing with Francine and Jessi (my break partner from the Nekritz race last season at the track). Jessi is going to bring on the hurt for us this year, she is developing into a strong rider who I'm sure we'll see in the Pro ranks in a few years. And Jessica, newly transplanted from out East, will definitely spice it up this year as well.
My coach (Colby Pearce) wants me doing more road races and crits, so I'll be trading in my track bike for my road bike in the months to come. Exciting!
But next up: Dick Lane Velodrome for some weekend racing. Josh "Mad Cow" Ryan will be racing The Keirin and is officially slated as the "dark horse". He's #10 and will be wearing brown. Go Mad Cow! We'd also like to thank Team Pegasus for lending us both a skinsuit for the weekend. While racing in The Keirin, Josh will be wearing pink, like a real man. :)
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