Wente Crit 09 from Michele

Wente Crit- Women's 4 I had fun with this Crit. There were about 30 ladies in the race, thecourse wasn't too technical, and it was flat! My new favorite word...FLAT! Except for when it comes to tires... Doh! I flatted on the 2ndwarm up lap just before the race started. Ah, the Williams Wheels tentwith neutral wheel support to the rescue!! I tried shifting and itsounded like a wood chipper in slow motion... the dude (not Keith) puton a campy wheel by mistake (I did make sure to tell him I neededShimano 10 speed). But he realized what he had done, asked Janice (theofficial) to hold off the start for a minute, and he changed the rearwheel again- ah much better. And it was a nice tight cluster, I likedhave all the gears right on top of each other.Forty minutes goes by much faster when you're in the race, compared towatching it. There were 4 or 5 prime laps that kept things interesting.The first was early in the race and it was for a pizza at a localrestaurant. I was up near the front but didn't want a pizza. Then nextprime was a massage, and I thought I could give it to Mom, but I didn'tget that one. The next prime was for Athletic camps threshold testing.I felt like really going for that one. I was up there but didn't getit. And then they did back to back primes and said the next prime was acase of Metromint water. I was still going hard at the front with therest of the ladies through the first turn and then I said, "Wait aminute. Metromint water, I hate that $hit!" The other ladies smiledand let out a laugh and we sat up. For most of the race I stayed protected. I spent 1/2 lap out at thefront. The only one in front of me was the moto dude, who was tauntingme every time he glanced back to make sure he was staying a distanceahead of the pack. On another lap I thought I was at the front again,but then saw a Metromint rider up the road a bit. Get her! Then thepack came around us and I sat in the back a bit to recover.When I heard the announcer yelling two laps to go, I was once againsurprised to hear that the race was almost over. I need to look for lapcards when I go by the S/F line. But with our small fields, it isn'ttoo difficult to move up on one lap... except for when it is the lastlap and everyone is constantly trying to move up! When we came throughthe final turn, everyone jumped and started hammering. I was thinking,"Oh no, it is way too early to start your sprint now. It is a long wayto the S/F line from this last turn." But then I realized that itdidn't matter what I thought because everyone else was taking off! Sothen it was a game of catch up and then I thought, "Don't do anythingstupid sprinting for 20th place." So I stayed in the saddle and wascontent with a pack finish. Thanks for all the cheering from the sideline! I could hear teammatesbut not my parents. Mom and Dad need to yell louder! Lessons learned:1- Be ready to react and stick to a wheel in the final lap.2- If you're going for a prime, don't just increase your cadence...shift, get out of the saddle and really sprint.3- Look for lap cards.4- Rest and tapering before a race doesn't hurt you!!5- I really like crits! They're far more fun than RRs : )

Thanks... Michele