Albany Omnium 2012

1/2/3/4 TT: 4th

1/2/3/4 RR: 7th

Albany once again brought rainy weather.  The twisty TT was actually pretty fun.  I opted out of the Crit, although the course looked fun & fast, since I wrecked when it was wet in Albany last year.  In the Road Race on Sunday we had about 12 women, 5 or 6 of whom were all on the same team, LG Elite.  They raced smart and got a really strong lady up the road.  A girl from FSU & I worked hard for a while to try to catch her but didn't make much headway...turns out the girl up the road was a triathlete, that's what I'm talking about! : )  I ended up getting spit out of the peloton in the 50 mph winds and finished the race solo.  Just kidding about 50 mph winds...it sure felt like it at the time though!  Looking forward to the time change and getting some more ride time.  I have some catching up to do but am not going to let a couple of less than stellar results keep me from trying to catch it up.  There were a lot of racers from GA Neurosurgical p/b Riverside Ford and another local team, Big Ring Racing, down in Albany which made it a fun event to spectate.  Lots of friends also competed in the Albany half and full marathon...including one of my BFFs Kristy Andrews (wife of Jake Andrews), who got FIFTH OVERALL in the half!  Killin it Kristy!!

Perry Circuit Race 2012

Perry Circuit Race, Feb 25- 1st place (3/4), 2nd (1/2/3/4)

Michelle Moulton from LG Elite put the hurt on the 4 ladies in this circuit race and helped me realize it is time to get on the bike and ride....HARD!!!  Interval training it is.

Union City Omnium

Well, a lot of the time I think I have a little good luck angel by my side.  I think she was on vacation this weekend but that's okay because she does a pretty good job most of the time..

Time Trial -   If you've spent much time with me you've witnessed 2 things:  I am REALLY awful with directions & I can get really intense about a few certain things (racing being one).  I felt pretty good going into the weekend, still haven't put many miles on my TT bike yet, but there'll be plenty of time for that when I start Ironman training (May).  I pre-rode the 3 mile TT course twice. Got really focused as the clocked beeped down the seconds to my start time, took off....and turned right into some yellow "police do not cross this line" tape (I know...after riding the course twice...who does that??).  Whoops.  I had about 25 more yards to go until my real turn.  Slowed down my time trial quite a bit as it was only 3 miles..but I rode those 3 miles hard and got in a good little interval training.   I'll pay more attention to where I'm going and not just how hard next time. 

It was good to see Robert back racing after a tough month being sick & Chad did his usual rockin TT ride.  Drew really impressed me with a 26+ mph average for the TT too!!

Crit - this race had at least 15 women & was fast & fun.  Lots of attacks.  Most of the time I just sat in & let the bigger teams work.  I covered one break that had one girl from each of 2 well represented teams in it that I thought would be strong.  Attacked next to last lap but got caught pretty quickly & then was counter-attacked (I think that's the right terminology...).  Didn't make it happen in the end, but Robert's wife, Betty Jean pounded it out for a strong 3rd in the 3/4 category in her first criterium race of the year...hats off to her, she's a natural! 

Road Race - wellllll....good luck angel I'm ready for you to come back!  The women (of which there were at least 12-15 again - enough for our own race) started with the 40 or so cat 5 men.  Big group, me in the back....  You can figure out how it ended up.  I chased with the peloton in sight hard for over an hour with several other women and a couple of men.  Couldn't ever quite bridge the gap...it was very frustrating, but I got some good work in my legs.  The Union City course was fun however & our guys all did really well. Trey finished high in the top 10, but I thought he was going to win it for a second there.  Ron finished strong in his RR.  Drew, Jake & John all looked fresh rolling in with the peloton from their 75 mile Pro 1/2 ride.  Good job Team Neuro!

Albany Crit & RR

Crit - OUCH!  Well, I learned from last weekends' racing and was more aggressive.  Maybe a little too aggressive considering the rain.  6 women for the 1/2/3 race start.  2 team-mates from the LG Elite team counter attacked until 2 riders got dropped and we went pretty steady for the 40 minute race.  I attacked the next to the last lap just to give it a go since I felt good, but the group caught me after a short bit.  I settled back in to recover and gunned it around 2 of the girls going into the next to the last turn.  Kept my speed up into the last corner and SCHWAM! my wheels went out from under me.  Maybe the wet road had something to do with it, I'll never really know, but it wasn't an awful crash, although apparently I knocked down a barrier.  Got up & finished 4th so the 2 riders we dropped didn't have time to catch up.  Got doctored up...won $55, spent $33 on first aid supplies at Walgreen's, just enough left over for dinner!  I've had worse and I was mad about missing out on my sprint finish, so I was ready for the RR!

Road Race - Had about 20 or so girls at the start, with the 3/4 race & the 1/2/3 race combined.  We had to wait close to an hour in the cold wind for the pro 1/2s to come in (go jake & john!!) before we could go, but finally got rolling and got warm fast!!  The same 2 team mates from the crit kept attacking, I & some other women bridged several times & nothing stuck, partly because of the weird wind.  I focused on keeping a quick cadence when I thought someone was going to attack so that I could go with them & it worked much better than when I was bogged down in Greenville.  Also worked on staying more towards the front of the pack.  Group mainly stayed together & with 1K to go it got hot.  I marked a girl's wheel who I know is strong and moved up to the front with her.  When she went just out from 200m I went.  Slight uphill finish and I held on for 3rd (2nd 1/2/3, 3rd overall).  Legs felt good & ready to race some more!!  Perry TT then Union City up next!

LC

Greenville Spring Training Races

Last weekend - Tundra TT was a good motivator for me to get to pedaling on my TT bike.  So many types of races to train for!  This is a really fun time trial for anyone who wants an early season fitness gauge next year.

This weekend, Drew, Jeff & myself raced in Greenville, SC.  I was super proud of Drew finishing strong with the pack in his first p1/2 race on Saturday & Jeff winning the masters 45+ Race on Sunday!

I was happy with how I felt on the bike in Greenville.  Felt strong both races (45 miles of rollers Sat & 35 Sun), but I know I have a lot to work on strategy wise.  Saturday stayed with the group, no breaks that stuck, but was about girl #30 in line to start the uphill sprint to finish.  Finished 10th, need to work on being aggressive and working my way up in the pack.  Also still learning about how to work in a group with several strong teams.  (and learning rookie things like to make sure the saddle is tightened all the way before a race...I'm climbing at about mile 20 of 45 wondering why I feel like I'm sliding off the back of my bike, "oh great, the saddle nose is pointed towards my nose"...).

Sunday 3 riders, 2 from team headstrong & 1 from United Healthcare, got away and held it even through our organized paceline efforts.  Strong women, made for a fun race.  For the peloton finish I learned from Saturday and had good position & had a lot left in the tank..  300 meters to go & I know I need to sprint soon, then all of a sudden, WHOOSH, everyone flies around me!  I tried to jump but was too slow....need to work on having a quicker cadence, jumping fast & knowing how to strategize my finish!  Got 10th again, but felt good all weekend so I'll take it, ready to race some more! 

Team training anyone??  You can practice your team attack tactics & beat up on me until I learn how to jump and catch on when a sprint or attack happens?!  Sounds fun...

Lauren Clayton Race Reports

Check here to see 2011 race reports by Lauren Clayton.