Roanoke ID3, IB2

Three days of racing for an overall points omnium... starting with a monster hill climb and throw state crit championship into the mix and you have one interesting race weekend. I know it takes a lot of work to put on this kind of all weekend event, so thanks to the promoters and officials for a job well done!

The Mill Mountain Hill climb is short but steep with 1.87 miles of road and almost 900 feet of climbing. I was able to get a personal PR on the hill climb by about one minute, but even this effort put me in 5th overall for the start of the omnium. The queen of the mountain was Kenda rider Amity E., followed by team CARD rider Cora O., then Fat Frogs Brittany M. and Jen P.

The first criterium of the weekend was a flat, down-town course with some awkward corners after the line, and some really fast corners right before the finishing straight away. The group stayed pretty much together in this race even though there were numerous attacks from many riders throughout the peleton. At the end, Cora (CARD) went hard with one lap to go and continued to stretch out the field for the entire lap. I sat 3rd wheel behind Amity (Kenda) and we rounded the last corner taking a wide line and starting the sprint immediately out of the corner. I passed Amity just before the line for the win, Amity took second, and FF Brittany took 3rd place.

Photo from the Roanoke Times

The final race of the omnium was only four blocks away, but totally different. An L shape with six corners and and two up hill sections, one was gradual and one was shorter and steeper. This race also happened to be the state crit championship for Virginia, so the field included riders aiming for the title and others who were focused on the omnium. There was some GC strategies and tactics that came into play and proved to benefit a Syn Fit rider who took advantage and broke away with a strong attack and solo win. Going into the last lap the front group (vying for 2nd) included Cora (CARD) who pushed the pace up the gradual hill, then taking the front was Syn Fit rider (who had just lapped the field). I rode 2nd wheel behind the Syn Fit rider through the last corner, then jumped immediately for the sprint. I was able to stay in front through the line and got 2nd overall, 1st for the category 1,2 state criterium (because the Syn Fit rider was a cat 3).

Overall, I ended up with 2nd for the points Omnium, behind (omnium winner) Amity E. and taking 3rd place in the omnium was Brittany M. The points omnium and the state crit definitely added some drama and excitement to the weekend racing.