COUGAR MOUNTAIN CRITERIUM - NRC - PODIUM

Cougar Mountain Classic - Criterium

Teammates: Niki, Kristina, Helene, Rachel, Kristin

This year the turn out for the race was much better than last year. We actually raced with the men last year because there were so few women. The course was a little different this year, but very similar. Not much to it. It was just a long oval-shaped course on the race track that finished after a sharp left-hand turn and a sweeping right into a very short straightaway. As a team, the PROMAN ladies looked at the course, checked out the competition, and decided we should try and keep it together for a field sprint. The race started pretty slow and in the first 3 laps I don't even think my heart rate went above zone 1. But, some of the big teams were there and the attacks began with Webcor launching the first attack and getting a pretty good gap that would stick for about a lap. As each move came back, another one was instigated and PROMAN was constantly patrolling the front to keep it together and bring those moves back. At one point, a break of about 10 girls went up the road that had all the big teams represented. Webcor, Cheerwine, JazzApple, Tibco, ValueAct, and PROMAN too. Because the move was so big and we had decided we would race for a field sprint today, we decided to bring it back. But not until we got a little work out of some of the big contenders that had missed the move themselves. Niki was instrumental in bringing the move back. As soon as she made her way to the front, she started driving the pack back to the break and within seconds, the field was back together. Now there's about 35 girls all together and about 5 laps to go. Kristina, as always, makes her way to my front wheel and takes me to the front to begin positioning me for the sprint. It's like clockwork with her to find me and make sure I'm doing my job right. It's a beautiful thing. So, we move up to about 5th wheel and there's about 2 laps to go now. A Webcor move goes off the front and Rachel is there to cover it, with me bridging across as well 2 wheels back. Now the field is strung out going into the last lap and I am sitting 4th wheel behind Anna Lang. We knew the race would be won by the rider that hit the corner best and hardest in the last lap. Well, today that wasn't me. I hesitated for one moment in the final lap and as I did, Anna jumped. I was stuck on her wheel until the final left turn, but I took it way too hot and had to break coming out of it to avoid the haystacks. Anna was gone. She is an amazing sprinter and today I learned that she is a great bike-handler too. I held off the field for second, but was disappointed in myself for a couple of reasons. First, I should never hesitate when my instinct tells me to go. This is something I am becoming more and more aware of with every 2nd or 3rd place result, because it is clearly the moment that I let the win slip away. Trust your instincts. If you think you should go, go!! You'll never regret trying, but you'll always regret not giving it a shot. At least that's how I feel. Second, I should have rode that corner from the front a couple of times throughout the race to get a feel for what line I should have taken. Knowing a course is critical, especially when there's tricky corners and this one was tricky. I definitely should not have been breaking in it on the final lap though. Finally, I was disappointed that I let my team down. They worked the race perfectly today, in an effort to give me the chance to win the field sprint. I am honored that they had faith in me and rode as hard as they did today. It was a really fun race and the team is getting stronger and more cohesive every day. Sometimes bike racing is just a gamble that's worth taking. -Shelley