brickhouseracing

This race was very important- not only for omnium points, but also for TBRA and Sew Series points.

The rain had been on & off all morning. The last turn on course was made of some weird faux brick material that was literally like ice once it got wet. There had already been multiple wrecks on it earlier in the day. It looked like it would be dry for our race until we lined up for the start, at which time a light rain settled in. Luckily, I avoided the first wreck of the day (in the 4th corner, of course), which allowed me to implement my strategy of counter-attacking the first prime sprint.

OK, I have to brag a little- it was textbook. Kym (from Vantaggio), and a couple of others sprinted. I stuck myself on a wheel… they sat up, I launched, and the rest was history. With the help of teammates Molly and Lee back in the pack, no one but Kym was wanting to work to catch me. I did my best 18 minute time trial, and ended up lapping the group with 3 laps to go. It was freakin’ awesome (and a lot of fun to watch the pack sprint play out from the back, knowing that they were sprinting for 2nd place )

The win moved me up to 2nd place for the Omnium (Flavia managed to hold on to her 1st place spot from the Saturday RR). Also, with Mary Mayhew not showing for the crit, my win put me ahead of her in the TBRA standings. It also prettymuch clinched my victory for the 1st annual SEW Series. Not a bad weekend!

Here are a few photos. As usual, Ryan will publish some more on his blog from the W1/2/3 race as well as a couple of the men’s races as well.

Start Line:

Early Laps:

A couple of solo shots:

Chasers:

Catch:

Pack Sprint (best view I’ve ever had):

Cheese:

Podium for the Omnium:

After a 40k, a 10 miler, and a 14 miler (in recent races), it was a relief to finally have a short time trial. The course was just under 4 miles and made a loop around the reservoir on top of Raccoon Mountain. There was one pretty good sized hill on course (near the start), but otherwise, it was flat/downhill.

I felt good from the start. Once I hit the hill, I decided I’d shift into my small front chainring. It helped me get up to the top without blowing my legs up, but, unfortunately, at the top, I had trouble getting it to shift back into the large ring (my fault- time to make some adjustments to the high limit screw). I quickly got it sorted out and went bombing down the other side of the hill. I was tempted to touch the brakes, but instead, forced myself to get back into the aero bars and slam the right shifter down as far as it would go (this resulted in speed in excess of 46mph- somewhere between scary and really fun). I got into a good rhythm along the next section of flat road, then made the final right turn for the mile-long stretch into Laurel Point park. It began with a short, steep downhill, which I ripped through as fast as my nerves would allow. The remainder of the course was a blur. I have to say, this course marks some of the highest speed turns I’ve ever made while remaining in my aero position. The results were great- I broke 9 minutes (8:57), and I won the TT by a little more than 15 seconds.

This moved me up from 6th in the Omnium standings to 3rd. Time for some criterium racing…