Sunday was the crit championship. There were only five Women 1-3: Brooke Blackwelder and Mary Hall (Goldy’s), Laura Downey (Dasani), Sonya Crumb, and I. We raced 45 min plus 5 laps. The start/finish line was in the middle of the block, so we started out and made a quick right turn followed a block later by a right turn, then a long straight away, and then a left turn, right turn, and right turn all a block apart. Then we had a long straightaway followed by a right, right, and left turn all a block apart, which put you 100 m from the finish line. The roads were in fairly good shape, except the pavement before turn two had some deep wavy bumps in it. They would have been fun if you were water skiing, but on a bike, they weren’t fun. Luckily you could choose a line that avoided them.

With five people, a race is always hard, and I knew everyone would look to me to set the tempo. My biggest goal going into the race was the primes. The crit championships are known for the many primes that are given away in every category. I knew Laura and Brooke had sprints, and since I am still not over my sinus infection, I knew I couldn’t challenge them in the quick jump category. I just hoped my ability to hold the pace high for a long period of time would pay off. We all took turns at the front the first few laps. Laura commented that we should paceline until the last 5 laps. I wanted to race, so I was having no part of that.

The prime bell rang, and I tried to decide my best strategy. For the first prime, I attacked after the long straightaway, before the first right-hand turn to the finish. This worked well, as I was able to hold off the challengers and win the prime. The next prime I decided to see if I could wait a little longer and still hold them off. I went out of the second right turn, just 200 m or so from the line. Laura Downey easily beat me to the line. I then knew I had to start earlier. I would take turns alternating between attacking on the straightaway and just before the first right-hand turn after the straightaway. I managed to win the rest of the primes. I tried attacking on other laps, but I just didn’t have the juice to stay away. With five laps to go, we were all still together. They were making me stay on front, so I slowed down on a straightaway, so I could get off the front. I had to slow down quite a bit before they came around me. As they did, Brooke said, “Are you practicing your track stand, Heather?”

I tried a few attacks on the next few laps, but it all came back together. Sonya was amazing. Every acceleration she got dropped, but she never gave up. She time trialed back up to us, and coming into the last lap, we were all together. Sonya attacked before the last left-hand turn to the finish with just over one lap to go. I saw her go and thought, “GO!!!” I would have been happy to see her win. It takes guts to make a move like that, and I wasn’t going to bring her back. We all looked around at each other. Laura said, “We need to go if we want to catch her.” I just sat and waited. Brooke attacked just before the right hand turn onto the last straightaway. I went after her because I could see Sonya wasn’t going to stay away. Brooke caught Sonya at the end of the straightaway. I should have attacked there, but I wasn’t sure what lines Sonya and Brooke would take through that turn. I waited to attack until the next right turn, which was too late. Laura caught me before the left hand turn to the finish and easily sprinted to a win. I kept pushing it and just barely beat Mary Hall to the line for 2nd place.

Kristin Armstrong and Laura Downey rode with the Pro/1/2 men. The media was there to track Kristin’s progress in the race. She is a media phenomenon because of the Olympics. Hopefully, it will boost women’s cycling in Boise. They rode for an hour plus 5 laps.

Uhl attacked several times and got good gaps. One time he and another guy got up the road, but Laura Downey helped chase them down. After that move, Laura was off the back. Chris Abbruzzese dropped off the pace early on and was off by himself. He won a prime for the person off the back, and he was pulled a few laps later. After Laura dropped, she waited for Chris, who then dropped her. Soon Laura and Chris were both on the corner talking with me.

Chris asked Laura to taste his water bottle. She put it next to her mouth and asked if it was beer. Chris said that Justin handed him the bottle of beer when he was off the back. When Chris took his first drink, beef foam sprayed everywhere.

Bill Olsen ended up getting off solo with 20 min left in the race. It was amazing, but he stayed off and won. Uhl did a lot of work in the last few laps to bring Bill back, but it wasn’t enough. Bill beat a hard-charging Cody Hall by five feet. Cody finished second on both days.