After the time trial we were able to return to the hotel and relax a bit before we had to race again this afternoon in the crit. Heather raced before I did plus there was another category between our races so that meant I was able to take lots of pictures of her race. She rode mostly in the pack but did go for a prime or two and contested the final sprint where she got second.
I wanted to conserve as much energy as I could today since I knew tomorrow’s stage would be brutal. So after a brief warm-up, I took a few laps of the course then lined up at the line. With the wide and flat course, it was pretty certain that the pack would stay together. So after we got rolling I stayed at the back of the pack using my patented technique of letting the gaps open before the corners, then not braking allowing me to catch right back up to the pack. This worked perfectly as I was able to hang at the back with my heart rate at probably no more than 150bpm. I did have to tweak this technique for the last corner, as it turned into the long start/finish stretch. Depending on whether it was a prime lap or not, the pack would sometimes fly down this stretch. So before the last corner, I would make sure I had a clear line before the corner. Then, since I had a clear line, I pedaled hard and accelerated through the corner so that by the time I came out of it, I was going faster than most of the riders around me. As they would stand up and sprint to stay on, I would just drift over to one of them and ease into their draft, not having to stand up once!
About 40 minutes into it I figured I might as well make my showing at the front so the next time there was a lull, I went to the front of the pack. As I did they announced a prime and I could see another Boise rider getting ready to go for it. I just got on his wheel and waited to see if he’d try and drop me before the last corner. But he never attacked he just motored at the front all the way to the last corner. He stood up and started his sprint and I waited a few seconds before I tried to come around him. I shifted down…twice, which was a mistake. As I came around him I felt I was over-geared and it felt like we were drag racing in slow motion. This time I didn’t give up during the sprint and kept pushing it as hard as I could to the line. I managed to edge him out by only a half a wheel by the line, winning the $50 prime!
Then I immediately went to the back of the pack to rest some more. With five laps to go, I did move up a bit just to be a little safer and if the opportunity presented itself, go for a top 10 finish. Well, the latter didn’t happen but being up in the top 40 riders did help me avoid a crash that occurred towards the back of the field with one lap to go. From the final corner, I sprinted to the line to make sure there were no time gaps and ended up a respectable 31st. In addition to the $50 prime, I thought that was pretty good for a “recovery” race if there is such a thing!