Just some word regurgitation below --
First Criterium Race: Giro di SF
I decided to sign up for this thing on impulse, less than a week before the event. I was feeling confident in my fitness and happy with my bike handling and cornering skills despite the fact I hadn't ridden in a peloton since Lodoga RR. My mental preparation, therefore, for the race was sorely lacking - perhaps for the better.My training is a different story. Because I'm not a "serious" racer trying to win anything, I take a lot of liberties with training. But I still have goals. I just can't allow myself to take them too seriously. My goal the past two years has always been to become stronger and injury-resistant. In the last two months, I've taken to training with a power meter and approached it in a more structured fashion. VO2 max and threshold intervals have not been a part of my vocabulary since college intramural track - but I threw them in and saw rapid improvements in my bike fitness (in some ways, I also feel my run fitness has benefited but that theory needs to be tested). After just one serious training block, training and riding with a lot of fast men, and some successful PR snagging, and marked improvements in bike handling, I wanted to see where I stacked in the women's fields.
And that's basically what got me to sign up for my first crit. Racing was always something that intrigued me and based on my progress as a cyclist, it was a natural thing for me to feel. I've skirted around bike obsession for two years now. Being on two wheels is fun and training hard and going on recreational rides all increase my fitness and strength as the sole engine of my machines.
Then when I consider racing.... it's basically a chance to demonstrate all of your hard work and passion.
Anyway.... the women's 4/5 field was pretty small with only 12 registered before the race and 16 total on race day, which also gave me a bit of confidence signing up. A smaller field means we're not as packed together in the peloton. The course was notorious for involving train tracks (seen in pics below), a small hill (but hills are nothing to me these days!), and asphalt that needs some serious repavement. But it's my first one and the only one I'd ever witnessed in person last year so I had no frame of reference for what makes a course easy or hard.
The day before the race probably did not go as it should have. No openers were involved hah:
- I went on my first motorcyle ride (pillion), which was incredibly fun but the sport geometry had me a bit sore and I didn't get home until 10PM-ish. Motorcycle rides are deserving of a whole 'nuther blog post, by the way.
- My knee had been bothering me (this is a normal occurrence as I sometimes have inflammation flare-ups when I don't ice or stretch consistently *guilty look*) so I taped her up.
- After getting home, I FINALLY cleaned my drivetrain after 4 weeks of UTTER NEGLECT.... but I derped and I got my finicky SRAM Red rear brake out of alignment and spent an hour trying to get it back to perfect. Total mechanic time was maybe 2.5 hours.
- I went to bed at 1am but couldn't sleep because the adrenaline and nervousness were getting to me! Like "why the heck did I sign up for this, I wish I could back out but I told all my friends about it already...."
RACE DAY:
I got to the venue at 7am to give myself adequate time to register and warm-up and all was going well. Except one series of unfortunate events ensued.
5 minutes before 8AM race start, I felt the call of nature for a number 1, so I quickly went to the restroom and came back rolling with 2 minutes before 8AM. For some damn reason, as I was tossing my arm warmers to my friends so I could roll up to race start ASAP, my bike and I decide to do a front flip. James said I must've feathered my brakes and lost control. So my bike flipped on top of me while I did a ninja roll and said my greetings to a new spot of road rash on my shoulder. Apparently, I popped up right away after my fall and said "I'M OKAY!" It's something my friends back during my Track/XC and Basketball would say was in true Andrea Villaroman fashion so I found it both stupid and hilarious. But I was kind of mad that I undid the 3 hours I spent working on my bike the night before... James and Yao rushed to help me loosen my from brakes after the front wheel went out of true (thankfully, I spent time fixing the rear brake last night and didn't just go for a quick fix so the rear brake was reliable *pats self on back*). We also had to straighten out my stem alignment with a torx screwdriver (thank goodness for Yao's multitool) and throw my chain back on.
The adrenaline was pumping at this point but I was lucky enough that the race started late at 8:15.
I felt really strong and focused the entire race. The weighted average power was 203 for the duration of the race but it was unsurprising that I felt strong since I tested my FTP at 210 two days before. I felt very comfortable being surrounded by bikes and riders and my cornering was on point that day and I had tons of confidence in my tire grip and centripetal motion. Unfortunately, the whole tumble and dry changed my bike's handling in terms of braking and I could no longer have 100% trust in my ability to control speeds in the peloton. So I opted to stay near the front of the pack instead of "conserving" energy. As a result, I found myself the recipient of a $5 preme lap prize (I had no idea what preme laps were before the start of this race... hah..) but I also didn't "conserve" energy for the final lap...
The 30 minutes went by in a flash and when the last lap was called, I really had no idea how to approach it. Again, I was stuck in the front and took the last corner before the straightaway in the front. With no prior experience or dedicated training in sprinting, I think I was too "reactive" in the final bunch sprint. I waited till I saw other people sprinting and by that time it was too late -- 5 other ladies got past me. I missed the podium and finished in 6th place and had SO MUCH still left in the tank. The lack of experience was huge and so was not being familiar with the course or my sprinting abilities. When I looked back at the data, I saw that the last sprint was less than 25 seconds and I could have sprinted out of the corner and showed off my prowess because I know how much I can dish out in that short amount of time. I should not have waited to react. That's NOT WHAT PEOPLE DO. UGH. Oh well... overall, I'm pretty happy because I learned a lot and got the crit nerves out of my system and I'll definitely have a better sense of how to approach these kinds of races in the future.
It was also awesome to have some of my favorite friends there to support me at my first crit. It really took the nervousness away and gave me some peace of mind. Anthony, James, and Kyle all showed up for an 8AM W4/5 race! And Viv was racing the same race (with Yao there as well) so that inspired me to keep a "survival" mindset. Survive I did. And I demonstrated my potential. It's only a matter of time before the Velo Promo Early Bird series. SEE YA THERE.
Takeaways:
The adrenaline was pumping at this point but I was lucky enough that the race started late at 8:15.
I felt really strong and focused the entire race. The weighted average power was 203 for the duration of the race but it was unsurprising that I felt strong since I tested my FTP at 210 two days before. I felt very comfortable being surrounded by bikes and riders and my cornering was on point that day and I had tons of confidence in my tire grip and centripetal motion. Unfortunately, the whole tumble and dry changed my bike's handling in terms of braking and I could no longer have 100% trust in my ability to control speeds in the peloton. So I opted to stay near the front of the pack instead of "conserving" energy. As a result, I found myself the recipient of a $5 preme lap prize (I had no idea what preme laps were before the start of this race... hah..) but I also didn't "conserve" energy for the final lap...
The 30 minutes went by in a flash and when the last lap was called, I really had no idea how to approach it. Again, I was stuck in the front and took the last corner before the straightaway in the front. With no prior experience or dedicated training in sprinting, I think I was too "reactive" in the final bunch sprint. I waited till I saw other people sprinting and by that time it was too late -- 5 other ladies got past me. I missed the podium and finished in 6th place and had SO MUCH still left in the tank. The lack of experience was huge and so was not being familiar with the course or my sprinting abilities. When I looked back at the data, I saw that the last sprint was less than 25 seconds and I could have sprinted out of the corner and showed off my prowess because I know how much I can dish out in that short amount of time. I should not have waited to react. That's NOT WHAT PEOPLE DO. UGH. Oh well... overall, I'm pretty happy because I learned a lot and got the crit nerves out of my system and I'll definitely have a better sense of how to approach these kinds of races in the future.
It was also awesome to have some of my favorite friends there to support me at my first crit. It really took the nervousness away and gave me some peace of mind. Anthony, James, and Kyle all showed up for an 8AM W4/5 race! And Viv was racing the same race (with Yao there as well) so that inspired me to keep a "survival" mindset. Survive I did. And I demonstrated my potential. It's only a matter of time before the Velo Promo Early Bird series. SEE YA THERE.
Takeaways:
- I need to adjust my drops (angle them more downward) so reaching into the drops is more comfortable.
- Arrive 1.5-2 hrs before race start to give ample time to prepare.
- Study the course and know where the potential attacks will be. Know where the sprints will be. Know what your positioning should be if you wanna win.
- You should always want to win. ;) That's the point of racing.
- I love my friends so much <3.
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