Race Report: Apple Pie Criterium, Santa Rosa, CA

This was my first race after the big crash in Copperopolis. It had been two weeks since then. I was on edge, as the last crash left my body and my bike in expensive disrepair. All I wanted to do was not crash; unfortunately, I did.

I did two races today. The first was a Cat 2 only crit, the second was a Pro-1-2-3 crit. The course was an office park: dead flat, wide turns, and little opportunity for selection. The weather was cloudy and gray, about 12 C. Everyone says this is the worst winter the area has seen in many years, with cold rainy weather lasting through mid to late April. I guess we brought Boston's weather with us.

The Cat 2 crit felt like a Cat 4 crit: sketchy riding, no teamwork, and no organization whatsoever. I managed to stay in the pack, but skidded out on the last lap. It had just started raining, and I leaned a little too hard into a turn. I was on my Zipp wheels with Vittoria tubulars. I don't like to ride this setup in the rain. The forecast had no mention of wet weather, and the only rain of the day was during this one race. Great. The crash destroyed my Toupe saddle and yet another derailleur hanger.

The Pro-1-2-3 crit was another repeated experience: teamwork from the Yahoo guys caused a split to happen, and there was more sketchy riding with wet roads in the pack. I just wanted to finish - I almost didn't start. At the finish, Filip and I came into contact and Filip went down. Great. I should have guessed that the pro teams would be here - there are two races in Santa Rosa and race pairs tend to attract the teams.

This was a terrible race for me. It was beyond a waste of time - I would have been better off had I not come at all. Jane managed to do well in her races.