I hadn’t done this crit in about four years, but I remember it being fairly technical… a very bots-dotty course with lots of turns, plus a chicane.  And I remember the crashes, not in my race specifically four years ago, but just in general.  It’s a race that seemed to have quite a few mishaps, particularly coming out of that chicane where the road is slightly narrower and the pavement is broken.  So I was a little apprehensive about driving all the way out there to race, but at the same time also hopeful for a good day.  Hit the road at 4:30 Saturday morning (yikes!) and made my way to lovely Merced.

There was a chill in the air, and windy.  The first part of the race was very manageable — a couple primes, perhaps the girls wanted to get familiar with the course?  Then as we passed the start/finish line, they announced a $50 prime.  I made a decision to go for that prime, and at the far end of the course with about two turns to go, a few of us went for it.  Approaching the line, it was between Kristy from Third Pillar and me, and she took the prime.  (Kristy went on to win this the race, and she also won the cat 3/4 RR the next day.  In fact, Kristy has won every race she’s done this year.)

After that prime, the pace did indeed pick up noticeably.  So I guess I was partially responsible for the increased speed… hmmm, is that good or bad?  The three of us who were at the front after that prime, we had a bit of a gap and made small effort to try and stay away.  Maybe it was the wind that deterred our efforts — the wind was especially tough after the last turn into the longish finishing straight — but several girls eventually joined us and we were about a dozen or so.  By this time the race was somewhat fractured; I think there were two distinct groups with some additional stragglers who were lapped.

In the end, I pushed my non-sprinting body across the line, and surprisingly found myself with a 6^th place finish.  I am pretty happy with that.

-rita