Maria at Masters Crit Nationals

Our field of 15 lined up at 8:45am yesterday for 21 laps of a 1.61KM course (35k total), which included 2 left hand turns, one sweeping curve to the left, then a final left hand turn onto the short finishing straight. The first lap was slow, so I attacked the final corner of the 2nd lap. The field chased back on easily, as there was a slight head wind into turn two. Unfortunately the field did not counter attack to keep the pace high. In general the activity level of the race was low, and I tried attacking in various spots along the course. If I was the most active on a totally flat course, you know the field must have been less than inspired. There was, however, some activity from 4 other women, including a rider from Delaware, with whom I worked later in the race.
After much attacking, counter attacking and attack covering (hey - where's my Claudio Ciapucci award????), all with some limited success, I find our race with just 4 laps to go. With just over one lap to go, the Delaware rider attacked into the final corner. I countered, and called her to my wheel. We had a small gap going into the first turn. Mara Miller, Advil-Chapstick, countered as the field closeded our gap. Mara held her lead going into turn two (Delaware and myself were in the back of the field at this turn). I maneuvered around some of the riders out of turn two, but found my speed insufficient to reach the chasers at the left handed sweeper. Mara's gap stuck into the final turn, which was easily held to the line. I found myself crossing the line in a dissappointing 9th. However, the high point was that my parents had a wonderful time as the announcer cued in on me with my impatience at the undermotivated field. I also got quite a bit of sprinting practice.

Maria