Usually my best races are when I feel the worst, I have no idea why that’s how it works. However, strangely the second crit of BC Superweek didn’t work that way, right from the gun I felt great and it was weird. The Lander circuit has changed from years past; they have shortened the route to about 750m. Personally I loved the new course, it was very fast with lots of flowy corners. As with the crit the night before, we knew that the first racer into the final corner would probably win since the line was so close to that corner.
In crits it’s nice to test your legs on the sprint a couple of times to test other riders and experiment with when to launch your attack. I was feeling strongly good so I took an early jump to test my legs and I ended up in a solo break off the front. This was quite the fortuitous break as I was able to scoop up prime after prime. I wasn’t originally intending for a break, but once I had a gap the announcer kept saying another prime for the next lap so I just put my head down and went for it. I learned after the race that I had just won some $250 of White Spot gift certificates. Once I was reintegrated into the group my teammates kept the pressure up launching spicy counter attacks.
On the final lap a Team Canada rider attacked early and got a gap with 750m to go. Joelle jumped as well and was on her wheel in an instant. I jumped also and chased on the whole final lap until I was able to catch Joelle and the Team Canada rider at the final corner. Luckily enough, I was carrying enough speed to come around the Team Canada rider, but I didn’t have enough to overtake Joelle in the final sprint.
I was proud I could take home second for the team. As a rider, when you have a team of six working to line you up for the sprint, the victory is a team victory. I was grateful that I could reward everyone’s efforts with a plethora of White Spot gift certificates and a second place finish. Despite the White Spot gift certificates, I was hungrier then ever for a win. If the team is going to put their trust in me, I truly wanted to deliver for them. Since it was only the second race at Superweek we would have many more opportunities to put the red jersey on that top step.