Ogden BDO Criterium

Today was the Ogden Criterium. Not a huge turnout for the Cat 4 Women. Also, completely different women from last weekend. Jamie, Kris and I were there representing Ski Utah. We raced against Diane (Mazda One), Jillian (PCD?), and Melanie (WWC). They put our field together with the Jr. Men and we were off for 30 minutes of fun.

We started off at a reasonable pace until the boys picked it up a bit and we gals followed along. The first Prime spread things out a bit but soon we were bunched back together. Then something happened. I was zoning out watching the wheel in front of me and when I looked up the rest of the pack was gone down the road. They were going hard so it must have been another Prime. I chased hard, mentally kicking myself for letting this happen. I soloed the next lap thinking I was pretty much out of the race at this point. Melanie had dropped off the back too so I focused on catching her. Soon I could see she was back in the pack and I dug deep and finally caught back on with 2 to go.

I spent the next lap and a half sitting on trying to recover for the finish. Melanie tried to attack halfway through the last lap but I easily pulled the rest of the pack up to her. I hung on her wheel as we headed into the last corner. As we rounded the last corner, still with 300M to go, Diane took off and Jamie jumped on her wheel. Melanie took off after them and I attempted to just catch Melanie. Once I reached her I realized I was going faster. I gave it all I had to the line and finished half a wheel length in front of Melanie to take 3rd.

Finish was as follows: Diane 1st, Jamie 2nd, Me 3rd, Melanie 4th, Jillian 5th, and Kris 6th. Once again I made mistakes, but I will learn! I am really happy with myself. Jillian and Melanie are both really strong racers so it was great to beat them and I certainly can't feel bad about coming in behind either Diane or Jamie, they are both awesome!

I'm looking forward to the next couple of races since we'll be staying out of the mountains! Next weekend is another crit and the following weekend is Bear Lake. Lots more fun pack racing! I love it!