This morning I did the criterium at Tech Park in Bentley.
I chose to race in C Grade. Many people said I should do B Grade, but as my first race back after TOMR and only my 3rd crit, I was comfortable doing C Grade. I knew I would be one of the stronger riders, and I approached the race with the intention of getting first place.
I was very pleased to see that my cornering practice is paying off. Last time I did this course (a year ago) I was getting dropped on the corners. This time, I was dropping everyone else. After a few laps of having to slow down behind other riders in the corners, I made sure I was on the front for the corners, which meant that I was on the front for about 80% of the race. But I was setting the tempo, cornering well then easing off a little. Hopefully the rest of the field was having to work hard to catch up after the corners!
After 25min we got the signal that there were two laps to go, and one of the SPR girls took off fast. The pack followed. She got a gap of about 30m, but I wasn't too concerned as she was not strong at cornering. After the fast downhill corner, I sprinted up and caught her on the back straight. She looked back and saw me sitting on her wheel. I passed her going through the next corner, and I knew she was tired after her break so I just sprinted from there. Put the power down, got a big gap, gathered my breath, then up a few gears and out of the saddle for the last 200m to the finish line. After a couple of recent sprints where I have been pipped on the line, I wanted to make sure I had this one in the bag.
A new highest max HR as I crossed the finish line and normalised power for the race just below my threshold. It may have looked like I was taking it easy from the sidelines but I was working!
B Grade next time......
Thanks to Brad Hall, who sponsored the prizes for the women's categories. Also thanks to SPR and RCCC for organising at great event.
