Tonight was the “A” crit at the NRC complex. Massive thanks to Ross for once again providing this awesome racing opportunity for us Ottawa riders. These local training crits are the best place to get comfortable racing in a pack and learning how to race.

For me perhaps one of the best aspects of these races are the other racers. It is a pretty familiar crowd that comes out to race and I find that the guys are super friendly and very supportive. Each race I pick up a new tip and learn from simply watching the other guys.

Tonight was a super fun race. I felt like I was totally in the zone and my bike was floating underneath me. Don’t get me wrong there were a few moments where my bike might have been floating but my legs were screaming! But a good kind of screaming. A little bit of a smaller pack tonight – suppose this was due to the overcast sky.

This year Marc and I are trying to ride to the crit. This way we can get in a better cool down afterwards. But tonight we elected to bring the car (fear of rain). In the end it drizzled a bit but nothing too major.

So back to the race. Well, I simply had a super fun time. I even tried to bridge up to a break today! First time I’ve ever tried this at the “A” crit. I didn’t make it – but at least I tried it. I’ll be trying again next race. I’m determined to make it across at least once this summer. The other thing I did tonight was ride in my drops. Typically, I ride crits on my tops. But I’ve learned from watching the experienced guys around me that the drops are where the action is at. So my second goal was to ride in the drops. Success – mission accomplished. I was so more comfortable in the race. I felt like I was more compact and could fit in the holes/gaps more easily. I also felt the bike was more snappy under me coming out of the corners.

I got some great tips from Hans before the race. These tips really made a big difference in my ride tonight. Thanks Hans! Much appreciated.

Definitely a fun time. It is strange I really like the warm-up before these races – chance to talk to people I don’t normally get to talk with and just get in the groove. I used to get super nervous before these races. Now I feel like I belong and my nerves have pretty much disappeared.

All right, it is almost 10:00. Time to hit the sack. Gym work-out tomorrow morning. I’ve got a big set to do tomorrow with many sets of split squats and one-legged deadlifts. Thank goodness I can sit at my desk and recover! Then in the afternoon I’m hitting up the Gatineau Park with Skip from Kingsbridge. This will be my first time riding in the Gats this summer… Looking forward to the ride and catching up with Skip. Skip was a big supporter of Ottawa Cross last year – so go check out his company.

Hope you had a solid ride today and had some fun on your bike. There is nothing quite like the high from an excellent ride.

Big shout out to Fearless Leader for his awesome racing this past weekend at Syracuse. Super happy for you.

Also big congrats to the Stevens Racing team and to super fast Sue for her impressive racing. Sounds like some decent teamwork.