Racing in the sun, finally!!
Des Moines is a 4 corner crit on a small hill. Overall clean lines and smart riding made for a fun race without any crashes. Dan and I drove down (me eating a whole wheat English muffin with peanut butter-- Dan eating a glazed old fashion from Top Pot) and spun on the trainers to get "warmed up" in the 85 degree sun. My biggest foul was fighting to get into my pedal at the start making me work hard the first lap or two to move up in the peloton. Meantime Dan had everyone strung out from the front, actually convincing a few dudes that he was going to lead a break group. Dan settled back in and recovered most of the rest of the race. I played as lazy as I could riding wheels and staying out of the wind. I managed to get and stay top 10-12 through the last 15-20 minutes of the race and finished with what felt like a 400 meter sprint to finish 11th.
This race was a personal challenge for me because I finished LAST 2 years ago in my first cat 4 race (my first race after getting a cast off my arm) and then managed 4th last year, winning enough points to upgrade to cat 3. So thankfully I'm not going to cycle through a last place / top 5 routine every year.
And I wish I took a picture of Dan looking shredded in his pink velvet hat, red shorts, fishnet shirt, and sympathy knee bandage. (He's got the back hair of a gorilla)
ride safe.
A.
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