Kelly Gits on it in Nashville
Allanti Cycling Classic – Nashville, TN, August 5&6
A heat wave worthy of CNN coverage hit the Southeast about the time I landed in Nashville to race in the Allanti Cycling Classic. While local news stations warned people to seek cover and limit exposure to the outdoors, I embarked on a 2-day, 3-race omnium series with a few others that either don’t have TVs or lack common sense.
My first race started at 9am on Sat. morning and was approximately 40 miles, with intermittent steep rollers typical of the horse farm country. About 20 women lined up with about 30 50+/60+ men. That’s right, someone thought this would be a brilliant pairing and would save 5 min, 1 lead vehicle and one wheel follow car. What a debacle! Although many of these men looked quite fit and years younger than their race ages, they were either lazy or just liked looking at a bunch of women’s butts! I would attack on the hills and make it over the top first, along with a couple of other women, then the men would slowly pull the rest of the field back to us. This happened over and over. Half-way through the race, there were 5 women circling at the front with about 20 men sucking our wheels. We would attack them and get a small break, but they would pull us back on the flats and downhills. It was so frustrating and with 7 miles to go, the 5 of us neutralized ourselves and let the men ride off. With no one to pull them, it took awhile for them to get out of our sight, but it was worth the wait, as we could now have a nice, clean finish. Unfortunately for me, the finish was on a flat after a downhill. I geared up for the sprint, but ended up with poor positioning. Not knowing the other girls, I got on the wrong wheel and ended up 5th.
The time trial was at 3pm on the same day and despite the suffocating heat and humidity, I was happy to learn that it was mostly uphill – and only 5 miles. Because of the short distance, I didn’t bring a TT bike and had no real aero-equipment, except some really short clip-on bars. Although I had a good race, I was beat out by a really strong local triathlete named Kirsten, but ended up in 2nd, which improved my position in the omnium placing.
Day 2 was the criterium. We were to race for ~45 min on a newly paved blacktop in the parking lot of the Titans Stadium. The course was nice, and on a cooler day the surface would have been welcome, but I’m pretty sure I have black lung after inhaling the toxic fumes. The woman that won the road race, an elite mountain biker named Kim, showed up with one teammate, Gina, 2 race radios and a coach on the sidelines (I couldn’t believe it). I knew they would be the ones to watch, but when Kim went off the front on lap 2, I was not prepared. In retrospect, I should have done everything possible to go with her. Gotta love retrospect! A few girls tried to help me pull her in but she got quite a lead with the lack of early cooperation. Finally, I was warmed up and desensitized to the fumes, so I decided to try to bridge to her. I got away, but her teammate was able to go with me. So for the remainder of the race (about 35 min), I pulled Gina around the L-shaped course. Much wiser as to the ways of the wicked after last weekend, I tried to attack her, I sat up and tried to force her to pass me (but then the group was pulling us in), I tried to prevent her from getting a draft by hugging the sidelines, I even tried to run her over a big hole in the pavement a few times (boy, I’m getting mean), but she was too strong and well rested on my wheel. So, I tried to pull Kim in very slowly, conserving my effort so that I could attack both of them when I caught up (to avoid the inevitable attack Gina would wage). Unfortunately, the heat and wind were gradually wearing me out. Although I was only 5 sec behind Kim on the last lap, I couldn't close in on her soon enough so I tried to save a little for the sprint. I jumped really early and almost made it, but got barely beat out at the line by Gina, taking 3rd in the crit. Despite the disappointing result, I was actually glad to have the great competition and the team tactics (although unfortunately from another team) – it made the race interesting. However, repeatedly getting out-sprinted at the line is starting to “get my goat” (I had to throw in one token Southernism). Do not be surprised if I show up next season with gigantic thighs and bulging veins (maybe not bulging veins – that’s not attractive).
A heat wave worthy of CNN coverage hit the Southeast about the time I landed in Nashville to race in the Allanti Cycling Classic. While local news stations warned people to seek cover and limit exposure to the outdoors, I embarked on a 2-day, 3-race omnium series with a few others that either don’t have TVs or lack common sense.
My first race started at 9am on Sat. morning and was approximately 40 miles, with intermittent steep rollers typical of the horse farm country. About 20 women lined up with about 30 50+/60+ men. That’s right, someone thought this would be a brilliant pairing and would save 5 min, 1 lead vehicle and one wheel follow car. What a debacle! Although many of these men looked quite fit and years younger than their race ages, they were either lazy or just liked looking at a bunch of women’s butts! I would attack on the hills and make it over the top first, along with a couple of other women, then the men would slowly pull the rest of the field back to us. This happened over and over. Half-way through the race, there were 5 women circling at the front with about 20 men sucking our wheels. We would attack them and get a small break, but they would pull us back on the flats and downhills. It was so frustrating and with 7 miles to go, the 5 of us neutralized ourselves and let the men ride off. With no one to pull them, it took awhile for them to get out of our sight, but it was worth the wait, as we could now have a nice, clean finish. Unfortunately for me, the finish was on a flat after a downhill. I geared up for the sprint, but ended up with poor positioning. Not knowing the other girls, I got on the wrong wheel and ended up 5th.
The time trial was at 3pm on the same day and despite the suffocating heat and humidity, I was happy to learn that it was mostly uphill – and only 5 miles. Because of the short distance, I didn’t bring a TT bike and had no real aero-equipment, except some really short clip-on bars. Although I had a good race, I was beat out by a really strong local triathlete named Kirsten, but ended up in 2nd, which improved my position in the omnium placing.
Day 2 was the criterium. We were to race for ~45 min on a newly paved blacktop in the parking lot of the Titans Stadium. The course was nice, and on a cooler day the surface would have been welcome, but I’m pretty sure I have black lung after inhaling the toxic fumes. The woman that won the road race, an elite mountain biker named Kim, showed up with one teammate, Gina, 2 race radios and a coach on the sidelines (I couldn’t believe it). I knew they would be the ones to watch, but when Kim went off the front on lap 2, I was not prepared. In retrospect, I should have done everything possible to go with her. Gotta love retrospect! A few girls tried to help me pull her in but she got quite a lead with the lack of early cooperation. Finally, I was warmed up and desensitized to the fumes, so I decided to try to bridge to her. I got away, but her teammate was able to go with me. So for the remainder of the race (about 35 min), I pulled Gina around the L-shaped course. Much wiser as to the ways of the wicked after last weekend, I tried to attack her, I sat up and tried to force her to pass me (but then the group was pulling us in), I tried to prevent her from getting a draft by hugging the sidelines, I even tried to run her over a big hole in the pavement a few times (boy, I’m getting mean), but she was too strong and well rested on my wheel. So, I tried to pull Kim in very slowly, conserving my effort so that I could attack both of them when I caught up (to avoid the inevitable attack Gina would wage). Unfortunately, the heat and wind were gradually wearing me out. Although I was only 5 sec behind Kim on the last lap, I couldn't close in on her soon enough so I tried to save a little for the sprint. I jumped really early and almost made it, but got barely beat out at the line by Gina, taking 3rd in the crit. Despite the disappointing result, I was actually glad to have the great competition and the team tactics (although unfortunately from another team) – it made the race interesting. However, repeatedly getting out-sprinted at the line is starting to “get my goat” (I had to throw in one token Southernism). Do not be surprised if I show up next season with gigantic thighs and bulging veins (maybe not bulging veins – that’s not attractive).
posted by Touchstone Climbing/ AB Cycling at 9:04 PM
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