Wilmington and Kelly Bike Jam

This weekend was, as expected, a little rough. Wilmington was pretty much what I had expected and feared - an absolute suffer-fest. Colavita was there with their crit team, along with Laura Van Gilder, some of the Vanderkittens, the national Collegiate champion, and a few other ringers. It was destined to look a lot like the 2009 race.

It started FAST. I really loved the course this year, a few extra turns here and there made it much more interesting and challenging, but far more fun than getting dizzy on a 4-corner crit! :)

Thanks to Bob Wellmon for a few nice shots of me in the race - here I am coming through the 2nd corner.
As feared, I was popped out pretty quickly. Wilmington is a bit frustrating because some riders realize that they are getting shot out the back, so they sit up and quit. I don't sit up and quit. I don't care how bad the race is, I don't care how far I am off the back, I am going to RACE until someone tells me to stop. So, on the 3rd lap or so, I was coming through the start finish stretch, and the rider in front of me simply sits up and lets a gap form. I still had legs then, so I jumped around it, only to have the EXACT same thing happen a lap or two later. That time, I just didn't have the jump to get around and ended up in limbo-land. I knew then that it was only a matter of time. I got in with a few riders and we worked together for a few laps before getting pulled. I finished two laps more than last year. At this rate, in another 15 or 20 years, I'll be winning this one! ;) Sonja managed to stay in for about 15 laps - she was the best of us for the day, and it was great to watch her race from the sidelines. She really is inspirational to me...she is mad-strong and REFUSES to quit - which I obviously admire.

On to Kelly Cup/Bike Jam. This race, though many folks hate it, is a good one for me. I got a much better start - at the front of the line. I kept myself up in the front half for the first half of the race, and tried to just sit comfortably and not drop out. My confidence was definitely a bit shot from Saturday, so I didn't really try anything or try to get to the front at all, although I should have. Mainly, I just sat in and made sure that I was safe and sound in the field. I had a good position going into the last lap, but lost a bit of it with some sketchiness on the back side. I ended up finishing 29th out of the ~50 starters, which I am happy with. Like Sonja on Saturday, I was the top finisher for the team at Kelly Cup - the rest of the girls had a rough day, Mitch got caught out by one of the two crashes and Alaina and Sonja got stuck behind some riders who sat up.

Here's an iMovie from Kelly Cup made from footage taken by the very talented Sara Brams-Miller (commentary included)! Thanks, Sara!!!