Five of this year's Aaron's team met up in Merced, CA to kick off the 2007 NRC season with two races: a fast, technical crit and a rolling, potentially windy road race. With such a strong squad (Powers, Caravella, Sanders, Gomez and Carroll) we were definitely looking to start the season off with some momentum-building results. Almost 100 riders anxiously began the fight for position before the gun went off. The only entrances to the course were two adjacent 4-ft wide gaps in the fence and everyone stood huddled together waiting for the 35+ men to finish crashing through the course, before we could pour through those two small gaps and take our place on (or WAY behind) the line.
The race started and things were strung out from the get-go. As per Carmen's instructions, we "sat tight" for the first 10 laps of the race to get a feel for how things would go down. We stayed towards the front and eventually tried our hands at getting something off the front. Several moves got small gaps, but the charging field brought most everything back in under half a lap. Coming into 10, then 8 and 5 laps to go it was very obvious that this race was going to end in a field sprint and we all needed to be in the front to do our parts in the leadout. This crit course has a notorious chicane that has caused trouble in years past. While it is not that technically difficult, it seems to cause some sort of weird mind trick on riders, leading them to do stupid things. But this year, it was not to blame for any crashes...Going through with two laps to go with all of our riders in the top 20ish, I thought we were going to finish crash free...until the second to last turn of that lap. Someone in the front lost it and took out a big chunk of the field. Coming through the start/finish on the bell lap, I heard "Caravella's out, kat you're our sprinter." Unfortunately that was the second time we heard that in as many crits as Sarah's 2007 bunch sprint debut was postponed by another crash/mechanical. After sitting on the front for the past several laps to help keep the pace high, I was a little fried. I managed to miss the crash on the final lap that took Felicia out, but couldn't get around the 18 people in front of me. Kristin was the only other Aaron's to cross the line unscathed, and while no one was too badly scraped up, we were anxious to get a better result. Thank goodness for the road race...
After a 6 AM departure in search of eggs, we dined at Paul's Place, a cozy local "Dennys"-like restaurant since IHOP didn't believe anyone needed breakfast before 7 AM. After having some butter with a side of eggs and toast, we headed out of town towards the road course. We had the luxury of driving in through the finish, which was a great way to recon the last 4k of the circuit (as if passing through two times prior to the finish wasn't enough). The tight turns and several rollers were probably the most interesting section of the entire 24-mile loop. We suited up and took to the start line in short sleeves and shorts alone, which was a vast improvement from last year's temperatures in the 40's. Again, the first third of the race would be a chance for us to sit in until it was time to try and create a move. Some people tried to animate the race towards the end of lap one, but most efforts were short lived and the group stayed together.
Another stupid crash in an unlikely place happened just past the feed zone, but luckily all Aaron's riders dodged the carnage without any problems. Felicia had a faux-flat on the bumpy roads and gave us the opportunity to practice getting an important rider back on. She did a great effort to quickly make her way up through the caravan where I was waiting to pull her back up the front. As we came through the rollers at the end of lap 2, Kristin timed a counter attack perfectly and quickly established a 25 second gap. The field was content to let one person go, but once others tried to chase/bridge, the gap came down. Just like in the crit, no one was super motivated to have a break stick, and it was obvious the whole field would be together coming into the last 4k.
Carmen encouraged us to be near the front as we made the final turn going into the last 4k. The pace was high, and with about 2k to go I jumped and got a small gap. It was too small and at the 1k mark the field came charging by and I saw Sarah C. sitting in great position on a Webcor rider's wheel. She was steadily moving up without much effort of her own, and besides dodging a rider or two to avoid being boxed in, found herself in a great spot with 500m to go. She jumped from behind this group at around 300m with a super kick and barely missed out on our first victory for the year. After mechanicals or crashes had stopped her from showing her sprint the last two races, it was nice to see her blow past the strong field for a solid 2nd place podium spot.
Highlights of the weekend:
- Felicia being ferocious on the front during the ENTIRE crit and even winning a prime. The tenaciousness carried over into the road race and she was quick to cover any dangerous move in the road race.
- Kristin establishing a 25-second gap almost IMMEDIATELY after a well-timed counter attack in the road race.
- Powers constantly sacrificing herself to cover moves and helping her teammates into better position in both the road race and the crit.
- After a disappointing crash-out of the crit, Sarah came back and raced a smart road race that put her into position for the win. For her first bunch sprint of the year, not bad.
- And for me, I managed to get a pretty good start to my cycling tan.
Carmen and John provided great direction and support. It's nice to get the "A-team" moving smoothly. Overall, it was a great momentum building weekend for the team. I am looking forward to adding Rebecca to our line-up for CVC next weekend and hope that we'll keep this whole podium thing going.
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