To the dude in the orange...thank you.

It was a mere women's Cat 4 crit during the 2011 Cherry Roubaix bike fest. I had quite a learning curve last summer trying to figure out how to race a crit. FYI for my non-cycling friends: a crit is a closed course where racers do laps for a certain amount of time, a bell usually rings for the last lap, and the first across the line wins. I started out with the naive notion that if you are in the front of the race, you are the winner. My thoughts during a race- "I am out in front! I am winning! Look how long I can be in front!  Wait, now everyone is going really fast, aaaand I am last."

It really didn't take that long to learn that lesson, but it is still a trick to learn how to stay out of the wind but close enough to catch a wheel if an attack happens. The Cherry Roubaix was my last crit of the season, and I decided after learning from my initial mistakes and then subsequently usually playing it too safe, I would try some moves out and see how they fared.

The women's cycling community is small, so when a new rider races, it is noted. This poor rider played my out in front mistake right out, and I let her stay in front of me as long she could. After a few laps she got tired, and then I decided to go for it and attack. I was out in front and freaking out a bit for a few laps, hoping to get people tired. It was a short race, maybe only 20 or 25 minutes so I knew I would only have to suffer for a short period of time.  Ellie Burke bridged up to help me, and we tried to stay away together, but my legs were not there anymore, and we got caught by the group. There were a few primes (races within a race where you can win a prize), and I sprinted and won one. The final lap came down and it was an all out sprint, very close between all the women, but I got 2nd. Definitely my best crit of the season.

Jody Hofstra was there, unbeknownst to me, taking some great pictures. I have enjoyed looking at these pictures so much, because it shows an aspect to a race that I never get to see. Sometimes I will hear people cheering me on, and that is awesome, but often I am too focused to hear anything and am oblivious to anything going on other than the race. When I asked Jody if I could get copies of these pictures recently she asked if I knew the guy in the orange, but I didn't know what she was talking about. He was originally cropped out of the picture that I had seen on facebook. Opening up the picture on my computer I discovered my biggest fan of the race. I have no idea who he is, but thank you! Seeing everyone's expressions in the crowd is awesome. I can't believe how lucky I am to be able to race and ride bikes as much as I do.  I look at that picture and can hardly believe it is me. I appreciate everyone who came out that day to watch a women's bike race...or who happened to be in the neighborhood and stopped a minute to watch.