Manhattan Beach, CA — For some crazy reason, I thought it would be fun to try a big national criterium again. Heather’s teammate Nicole had asked Heather to race it and help her out. I decided to go along and try racing the Pro/1/2 field. Well, to make a long story short, it made the Boise Twilight feel like a walk in the park!

First of all was the field. The field limit was 175 riders…and it was full! Then there’s the course, a dog-leg with a hill and pretty tight turns on either end, making the back of the pack slow down to 8 MPH twice per lap! So we, those of us at the back, had to accelerate from 8 to 34 MPH, twice per lap! The speed was just incredible. So you’re wondering why I was at the back…I can give you tons of reasons: my legs were feeling flat, I didn’t line up early enough, I was caught behind a couple crashes, or I was testing my “hang at the back” technique just to find out it doesn’t work in a crit like this! But I won’t bore you with more excuses…I just wasn’t fast enough! With 5 laps to go, I made a concerted effort and gave it all I got and started to move up. I think I did a pretty good job, thinking that I may have finished in the top half. But published results only went 70-deep and has some missing numbers. Oh well.

Heather, on the other hand, made the trip worthwhile. She covered every significant attack to keep Nicole fresh for the pack sprint. It worked and Nicole ended up getting 2nd, right behind Ina Teutenberg, who probably has the best women’s sprint in the world. So not bad, Nicole and Heather were happy with that result. Heather actually flatted with two laps to go, but at that point her work was done. This is a picture of Heather and Nicole with Rick, who works at Five Ten, one of Team Basis’ sponsors. Rick is a really nice guy and puts in a lot of work supporting the team.