Friday was my first race as a Cat 3. I raced in the Cat 1-3 field before but did officially have my upgrade yet. On Monday I got word that I wasn't going to be upgraded. Then, on Tuesday the decision was reversed and I got the upgrade after all! Hooray! This means I get to race every Friday with the Women but if I want to race on Wednesday it has to be with one of the Men's fields.
This is the view from the bridge as we drove out.
I was not recovered from Wednesday's sprints so last night I felt like I was slogging through the races. They were still fun though. On the first race, the Tempo race, I went to make a move early on and felt my leg start to cramp. I had taken electrolytes and drank water but I think I was still dehydrated. I took it easy for 5 laps or so and then took a sprint, edging out a tired Amara. When I swung uptrack to get back in the field on the back side I saw I still had a gap. I should have gone for at least another lap. I got 5th in that race.
Next was the miss and out. I rode on the outside in the wind and that worked great at the beginning but as riders disappeared I should have started being more aggressive about moving up. I "missed" with 6 riders left so I got 6th.
The last race was the points race. I was so tired. I sat through the first sprint and then pulled Karen into position for the second which she won. Then I attacked but it wasn't a very explosive attack. I had several people tell me afterwards that I need to come down the banking and go right for the sprinter's lane. I am paranoid about cutting people off so I've been being way too conservative with my line of attack. I got caught by the group and my teammate, Karen went for the counter attack. We were both pretty tired from Wednesday so the group was able to catch us but it was fun to be trying out team tactics.
After the race we reviewed everything with out teammate Annette who raced in the men's cat 3 race. She gave us some good feedback and ideas to try for next time.
Here is a link to one of Amara's photos of the race. I love seeing the grimaces of the riders behind me!
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