Every time I would fall off a horse, my Mom would always make me ride it again. Every time I fell, I would get back in the saddle. So when I crashed at the Davis 4th of July crit, the first thing I thought about doing (after I got over the shock of crashing) was to hop on my bike and proceed to race. After realizing that I could NOT get back in my saddle again, because it was totally bent, I felt like I was going to explode and burst into millions of pieces. I was mad. And frustrated. I cried. One of my objectives, after nationals, was to become more aware of my positioning when I race. I came to the Davis crit, yearning to begin to master my new goal, and I couldn't. This is what most upset me, when I crashed out.
I was eager for my next race, the Lodi Crit. Most people would think that I would feel a little intimidated, in fear that I might crash again, I didn't. I wanted to race and I wanted to start achieving my goal. I wasn't going to let the fear of crashing get in my way. Crashing is part of this sport, you either deal with it and know its going to happen, or you run home with your tail in-between your legs!!!
The Lodi course was fun to race, it had 8 corners and looked like a figure-eight! The night before the race, Mark and I went out to practice cornering skills, that are very essential to know, especially with this type of course. Learning thoughs skills definitely helped me the next day. I was close to the front the whole race, and ended up getting 10th place (I also won 7 bucks)!
The thing is, when I race, and do well in the race... I WANT TO RACE MORE!!! I was supposed to take last weekend off from racing, that didn't happen! I ended up down in Berkeley, last Sunday, racing the Berkeley crit. Now this course is also fun! It is simply 4 corners, but within the 4 corners is a false flat, a smallish climb and a downhill section. The start/finish line is on the down hill section, after the first turn you run into the false flat. If you do not pedal through the second corner, and get up out of the saddle, that little hill on the back side of the course, is going to feel a lot harder then it looks! After you go around the 3rd turn you begin to slightly go downhill, then the 4th corner brings you to the start/finish line.
I am proud to say that in most races I am in the first 5 people, working the race, but I am prouder to say that I REALLY worked my BUTT off in this race! As usual, I was in the top 5 people most of the time. The rest of the time I was either, pulling the group, attacking, counter attacking, or covering attacks! Until the last two laps, I was working. The last two laps were fast! I lost the positioning I wanted to have, but still came in 7th place!
I learned a lot from those races, and after the Berkeley crit, I am even more on fire to race again, soon. Even though I was not physically back in the saddle, after I crashed at Davis, I already mentally was; and it paid off in my last two races.
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