Deb and I travelled out to Greensboro, NC, for the Carolina Cup. It took place in this nice park with rolling hills and a lake. The criterium course was a mile long with some mild climbing on the back side followed by a flat to mild downhill finish. About 16 of us took the line again, almost half from our BMW-Bianchi team (Christy, Tonya, Deb, me, Janet, Melinda, Evie). We planned to be aggressive on the front. Of course, I was slow to start and ended on the back of the field on the first lap. I couldn't tell what my teammates were doing at the front, but I think Deb took the first turn off the front and then I saw Christy go off at one point and stay away for awhile before she sat up and absorbed back in the field. Tonya tried her turn off the front, too. A little less than halfway through the race, I took my turn spinning hard off the front on the downhill. I got a good gap and didn't look back. I went in my perceived Zone 4 and tried to stay there, leaving just enough gas in my tank in case the field swallowed me back up. After a lap, I heard Dan Edgerton yell, "They're not in sight, go go!" This fueled my tank some more. I still didn't look back and kept the pace turned on. I got at least 2 laps on my own before Laura Bowles pulled me in. It was the two of us briefly, before I heard the field pull up on us. I sat in the back to recover, and it took until 4 laps to go for me to feel recovered enough. Janet made a couple hard attacks at the end to shake things up. I didn't have a strategy set in my mind on the final laps and my placement in the final sprint left a lot to be desired. I got stuck behind some folks and indecisively tried going around from both sides of the road with little success. By the time I got around, we were crossing the line. I was 9th behind my teammates, Christy (5th), Tonya (6th), and Deb (8th). Janet (13th), Melinda (15th), Evie (16th).
The weather was perfect and sunny. The course was shady and cool. It was a fun race and course. I would definitely do it again.
http://www.carolinacup.com
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