All the Tricks in the Bag - SCX#2 Arlington

Another flat non-technical course today. And although I'm not complaining about the glorious weather we've been having, ENOUGH already with the dry, fast courses!

I had to pull out all the tricks in my bag today - caffeinated energy gel pre-race, wet washcloth around my neck and carrying a water bottle. I also decided that the only way of surviving the straight-a-ways on the course was to make sure I was on someones wheel each time to pull me along. I succeeded in this, and felt like I was in a great position on the last lap to pull ahead and grab a 3rd spot. Unfortunately, the gals behind me had their own plans and one surged ahead in the middle of the lap on the final straight-a-way, the other passed just before the final stretch to the finish and got the sprint ahead of me and the gal I had been on the wheel of. I ended up an out-smarted and out-powered 6th place.

There's definitely a lot of young and upcoming talent in the field this year. It's great to see. The only negative side to this is that I'm seeing more and more 'sketchy' moves and unnecessarily aggressive moves to get ahead or maintain position. One of these moves took my team mate Kristy down early on in the race and I was almost taken out at the end of the race after the sprint finish by a gal who just swerved across my line and ended up taking herself out.

I think it's time we all did a little rain dance and started racing 'cross rather than crits!