The Dirt Field

The Race: Speed Week NCC Sandy Springs Cycling Classic Criterium
The Course: 40 laps with a bunch of corners and an uphill finish
The Field: 1/2 women
The Finish: 2nd place team overall

Wow. I can’t believe my third Speed Week is already over. Four flights, seven races in seven cities, five hotels, five nights at my team director’s house, many hours in the team van, a lot more rain and cool weather than expected, gallons of coffee, and more laps than I would ever want to count.

No meals at Waffle House. SUCCESS!

That being said, I did have chicken & waffles, grits, collard greens, and beef jerky. I also ate more coconut peanut butter than any person ever should, discovered that Puffins are delicious, and solidly maintained my role as the person on the team who eats the most.

As for the final race, there were good parts and bad. I was tired going into it, which is to be expected after so many days of travel and racing, and I made some tactical mistakes in the way I covered moves and spent my limited energy. Although the field was active, the peloton was unwilling to let anything get up the road for any length of time. I didn’t have the legs for any strong attacks.  Jamie was able to get away for a few laps near the end in a move that looked promising, but it didn’t stick. A few others tried to break away in the final laps, but I worked with the riders at the front to keep the gaps closed. With one to go, Kelly Fisher-Goodwin had a small gap on the field, so I got on the front and cranked up the pace to keep her close and set up a lead-out for the end. I made it through the back of the course and was cooked. The field came around and blew through the final corners to the finish, while I made an effort to get across the line in a semi-decent place.

And that was it. Speed Week done. Team Colavita finished 2nd overall in the team competition, Jen was our highest-place overall finisher in 7th, and I wrapped up the week as 2nd in the lap leader competition. We would have liked to have seen more podiums, but we did get in a win and learned so much about how to work together as a team. From a personal standpoint, I figured out how to be a smarter and more patient racer, how to bury myself for my teammates, and how rewarding it can be to see collective hard work pay off. It was a great week of racing.

It feels like something is ending now as the whirlwind of the last eleven days comes to a close, but in reality this is nothing like an ending. I’m going to St. Louis this weekend to race Tour de Grove, then immediately on to Gatineau and Nationals. If it weren’t for a need to do laundry and swap out the half-empty jars of peanut butter for full ones, I’m not sure I’d even bother to unpack.