Tomato Head Omnium

The last week has been hectic. I thought when I finished school last Monday, I would have a break for a while. Turns out that break may not happen until July. More on that later.

I spent the weekend back in the old 'hood, Oak Ridge and Knoxville, Tennessee, for Mom's day and a crit omnium. I had planned for the trip to be a surprise for my mom because that's how we get down in my family. She was suspicious when I told her I came home to surprise her for Mother's Day, and she gave me an “I knew it” when I told her I'd also be doing three races over the weekend. Whatever. She still got to spend Mother's Day with her baby. In any case...

I did a three-race crit omnium in Knoxville over the weekend, the Tomato Head Omnium. I was expecting to a difference in field sizes between MABRA and TBRA and maybe a difference between the quality of the racers, but I wasn't expecting to see a criterium course that looked fundamentally different from any I'd seen up here. Of the three courses in the omnium, I raced on two with six corners and one with eight corners. The first race—the eight corner T—was on a .5 mile loop. Crazy. I don't know if I was still tight from the 9 hour drive a couple of days before, or if I just made a huge rookie mistake and didn't eat enough in the morning, but I started to bonk about 15 minutes into the race. Totally unacceptable. I got dropped and finished somewhere in the back half of the field of 17.

After about three bowls of cereal, an avocado, a can of Pepsi, and a nap, I was ready for the Saturday afternoon race. This one was cool because it was three blocks away from my old apartment in Old City Knoxville. The course had six turns spread out over about .7 miles and a 300m 4-5% grade climb to the finish. Aside from all the turns, racing in a small field also completely changes the dynamic of the race. We almost immediately lined up instead of riding in a bunch. I was able to take advantage of the downhill on the backside of the course to move up in the paceline when riders started to get dropped, and stayed with the lead group for the duration of the race. I finished 7th in a SUPER close finish. Don't believe me? Check out the picture. The two black lines at our front tires represent the gap by which the guy in bib 502 beat me, bib 500. Boils down to about .04 seconds. It's a cool picture, just kinda sucks that my wheel isn't the one in the front. See how my bike is more condensed than 502's? That's because I was going faster across the line. Dammit.

Sunday morning's course was another six-turner through downtown Maryville, Tn. “Downtown” is a funny word to use for a courthouse, two churches, a gas station, and a neighborhood. This was another course with a sustained uphill portion. I was determined this time to take advantage of the hill, and I gained about two positions each lap for the first two-thirds of the race. With about 10 minutes to go, I got stuck in 7th wheel behind a guy who got dropped, and I just didn't react quickly enough to catch the lead group. I soloed the last 10 minutes to coast into an easy 6th. My sister brought her two little ones to the race, and lemme tell ya, nothing makes you want to kick it into an extra gear like hearing "go uncle Dickie!"

I still don't know my overall results from the weekend, but I imagine I finished 8th or 9th of 17. I can't say I'm upset with my results, and I definitely learned a little bit more about how to race all kinds of crits. Also, big up to the Bike Zoo guys, racing for a shop on Kingston Pike (or Copperhead Road, for you Steve Earle fans). They could definitely hold their own racing on the MABRA circuit.

A couple more pictures from the weekend taken by Bart Nave, TBRA photog. Fair warning--the website plays music, so mind your speaker volume.

So school's out for now, getting my legs ready for BikeJam this weekend, and my mind ready to be on vacation. I'm thinking about registering for a summer class that starts Monday (ick). I just can't say no to a class called War & Conflict in Africa. Could you? Didn't think so.

Listening to Daylight by Matt & Kim, because I can finally bask in it.

What's a blog? and Tyson's

It has become quite evident in recent weeks that if I want to be a serious MABRA racer, I need a blog. That is not to say that blogging will make my legs stronger, my bike lighter, or my face more generally aerodynamic. What it will do, though, is relieve me of the deadweight incurred by all these damn bicycle stories I lug around with me that are totally lost on my coworkers, roommate, and small hipster friend. So there it is. Welcome.

I started riding a bike in April of last year after an Ayn Rand-inspired epiphany. Instead of becoming more capitalist, I turned into a bike-riding vegetarian. In any case, I rode with a group of Potomac Pedaler guys all last summer, and was convinced to try a 'cross clinic in the end of the summer by one of the DCMTB guys. I raced 'cross through the winter and loved it. Only from racing cross did I realize that I truly love (love) mud. I love mud. So I got bit by the racing bug, and all the sudden, cross season ends. What is a cyclocross racer to do come springtime? Well if Tim Johnson can race on the road, by golly, so can I. So I bought a new whip (Jamis Ventura Race), threw some buttery-fast wheels on it (Neuvation M28 Aero4s), and entered a race.

Holy shit road racing is fun.

My first real road race was at Tyson's a few weeks ago--the Cat 5 of course, and it felt great. I like to set goals for myself that are just a bit out of reach, like being the first African American female democratically-elected shah of Cuba, and the Tyson's race was no exception. In a field of 50, I wanted to place in the top 10. Now, in a previous life, I was used to placing top 3 in 5k running races. The best I did over cross season was 15th at Kelley Acres, a non MABRA series event.

So I saw some video on the you-tubes about how to compete in a crit, and the nice man in the tv screen told me to stay in the front third and go with all the breaks. Staying in the front third I was ok with, but going with all the breaks, not so much.

The Tyson's race was something like 11 laps, and I stayed with the front third for about the first 8. I tried to bridge up to a two rider break right around then, but that damn hill in the final stretch convinced me to sit up and fall back into the pack for the rest of the race. I fell back to the back third of the main group in the next two or so laps, and started to work my way up in the group at the beginning of the last lap. Just after the "large, sweeping downhill" on the back side of the course, I got passed on the inside by an NCVC guy who had a look on his face that said "I'm going to win this fucker," so I jumped on his wheel and followed him up to about 4th place. I hit the gas a little too early on the last hill--round 250m from the line. So I got jumped by a couple of guys and finished 9th. Like whoa, I finished 9th in my first real road race.

So now I'm hooked, and I want to spend next summer living in a van driving to races every weekend all spring and summer. Any takers?

In any case, check out some pictures from Tyson's taken by my brother.

Pre-race breakfast on the trainer

Descente needs to sponsor me immediately.

Coming up the hill on an early lap

There were so many effing NCVC guys (at their own race)

The sprint for 5th-9th

Listening to Gronlandic Edit by Of Montreal. Thanks to my small hipster friend for that one.