CM #2

August 5- Wakefield Park Annandale, VA

The second race in this series is a short track event, or incorrectly title a crit by the organizer. A crit is a road event, a short track is a cross country event. Basically the same thing, though. These events are cool for the spectators, since the course is typically very short with more laps. This course was about 1.5 miles long, and my class ran for 45 minutes plus a lap. I went out very hard on this one, since I knew the start would be a complete cluster of riders. After lap #1 I was in 16th. Like many other venues, riders excel at different aspects of riding. On laps 2 & 3, I was on he wheel of the rider in front of me through the rough, rooty sections that were a bit technical, but he would open a gap on the pure speed and climbing sections. I ended up fading during laps 3 & 4 and recovered a bit for the final laps. I ended up sliding so far of the back that I finished one lap off the leaders, in 21st place. The heat got to me a bit on this day.