From Ruth...

Land Park Criterium and Bariani Road Race Highlights: - First top-10 finishes in mass-start races (6th Land Park, 10th Bariani) - Compliment in the final laps of the crit: "Davis, I like your style!" - DBC got 3 in the top 10 at Bariani - Hail during the road race I tried to be in a break for both races, and it didn't work out, but I stillhad a good race and a top-10 finish each time, my first in mass-start bikeraces. I also got 4th on the weekend competition combining both races. Land Park Crit I'd done the Cal Aggie Criterium on the same course several weeks before,and felt much more comfortable on the course this time. I made sure to be in the front through the 'chicane' (sharp S-curve), which was great; I gotto choose my own line, and didn't get slowed by the accordion effect. I actually cornered better than the majority of the field, and gapped them abit without even trying. One of those times I ended up breaking with someone - I can't remember who started it. I was with her for something like two glorious and painful laps. She was much stronger than I was, and when she came around after my one comparatively pitiful pull, she dropped me. It turned out from talking to her after the race that she wanted to work with me, but thought maybe I wanted to work with the woman behind us trying to bridge, and didn't realize that she'd actually dropped me. Well, live and learn. The one trying to bridge and I ended up back in the pack,and the one in the break soloed for a win. Back in the pack, I tried to stay in other people's slip-streams. At one point a woman named Carla in ablue Honda team skinsuit said to me, "Davis, I like your style! You're agood rider!" That was definitely nice to hear. Navigating a pack sprint isstill kind of a mystery to me, but this time not quite so many peoples warmed by me and I got 6th in the field, 7th behind the solo winner. I'm happy to realize in retrospect that the feeling of terror that I used to feel before crits has largely subsided. Leslie, Marianne, and Michele all stayed upright and finished 1st or 2nd 'real' crits. The fact that there were 27 people in Land Park and 50 in Bariani shows that a lot of women aregun-shy about crits, so great job getting out there and getting through it! Bariani Road Race When I arrived at the race, I saw Heather, a triathlete I know who went to Kona this fall (which means she's *really* good). She and I have tried tobreak together in the past, and made an ambitious plan to attack at the beginning and try to hold it all day. I'm confident in my time-trialingability and know she's even stronger, and we race for different teams, whichis a strategic advantage. Oh yeah, and I saw Anna getting bandaged up from a crash in the 1-2-3 racecaused by a random mechanical...she'd told me that she won Orosi, her firstrace after her 3 upgrade, but it wasn't until someone else told me that I found out that she SOLOED FOR 50 MILES for the win. !?!?! She told me she wasn't attacking, just trying to climb hard, and realized she'd dropped everyone but a couple of 2s, and then they were gone too. (IronwomanHeather said she was cursing Anna at Orosi). And she was in a break at Bariani with Kelly McDonald and Trudy B, among others, before crashing out.Watch out for this one, she is destined for greatness. It felt warm before the race, and I gave my warmers to Anna...then I saw what looked like rain falling on another part of the loop, and on second thought asked for them back. When it starting hailing later, I was glad to have them. During the race, Heather and I had trouble coordinating. It turns out that she can't match my explosive power, and by the time she bridged after I wentfor a break, she'd brought some people with her, and they ended up slowingus down (don't know if it as on purpose of if they just didn't have it) andthe pack caught us. I thought of counter-attacking the break...might be a good idea next time if I'm with Heather or a team mate and a bunch of others who aren't helping much. At the KOM, Heather went to get the points,realized she'd left everyone behind, and kept going. I tried to bridge, butshe looked back and saw the pack close behind me and didn't want to risk losing her gap by waiting for me. And she ended up holding the gap the whole entire race. I wasn't sure whether to try to rally the pack to reelher in, or rest up and try to bridge later. It seemed like no one wanted towork - I later commented that she had 50 Cat 4 Women blocking for her. Iguess they didn't think she'd hold it the whole way. I rested as much as I could, and watched the gap grow, thanks to the updates from the motos. Oh yeah, and then it started hailing. People were whining and complaining as they often do on rough roads and head winds and such, but I figure, why complain, it doesn't make it any better. I always try to be upbeat. I commented, "it's a one-day classic, except 1/3 the distance!" After seeingsome of the pro suffer-fests, it made me feel like a real cyclist and Iactually kind of enjoyed it. I pulled up my arm warmers, very happy to have them. I think my little cap might have kept the hail off my face. (Giventhat some people had welts through their armwarmers, I think we didn't get it as bad as others). Going into the last hill, I realized that the front selection had become arelatively small group, and there were four DBC women in it (Niki, Carol,Marianne, and I). The break was narrowing, but I didn't think I had it inme to bridge during and after that last hill - have to improve on my climbing and ability to suffer, and confidence in my climbing. So I decidedto try to get the team together and get our sprinter Carol to the line. I rallied the troops and tried to keep everyone together. I'm not an experton race strategy, but in the absence of others taking the lead, I start barking out orders on the fly, and it seems to work. We stayed in formation through most of the short climb. Niki got boxed in somewhere, but Marianne,Carol and I grouped up on the last flat, with Marianne leading the train, hammering so hard she even dropped Carol a bit. It turned out she didn'thear me saying that Carol was back, just heard me talking and figured wewere together. Luckily the gap was small and I just eased up a tiny bit,got Carol with me and got back on Marianne's wheel. In the very end we got split up in all of the jockeying for position, but it worked well enough. The finish was like what you see in so many pro races, the pack chasing behind, wondering if the break is going to get swallowed up in the final meters of the race. And she held by about 10 seconds! It would have made an exciting movie. It was amazing. I was again sorry I couldn't be in the break, but happy for Heather for her amazing race. Carol narrowly got the sprint to get second behind Heather's break. Marianne and I both eeked out top 10s. I was really happy to successfully work together with team mates I've scarcely ridden with, and that we got 3in the top 10. Go DBC women!