 Mindy Caruso National Time Trial Champion | posted by Olev Rapido Admin on 02 Sep : 07:24 | | |
  
| | Place | Points | Name | License | Time | Bib | Team | | | USA Cycling 2011 Master Road Nationals | Individual Time Trial | | Master | 35-39 | | 1 | 200.00 | Mindy Caruso | 274426 | 39:34.320 | | Olev Rapido/Olev Rapido / The Kickstand | | USA Cycling 2011 Master Road Nationals | Road Race | | Master | 35-39 | | 3 | 216.67 | Mindy Caruso | 274426 | 00:00.0 | 133R | Olev Rapido/Olev Rapido / The Kickstand | | | USA Cycling 2011 Master Road Nationals | Criterium | | Master | 35-39 | | 7 | 240.91 | Mindy Caruso | 274426 | 0:00:00 | 133R | Olev Rapido/Olev Rapido / The Kickstand | |
First of all, I want to thank everyone for their continued encouragement and support this past week.
The crit race on Friday was held in downtown Bend with high energy all around. There were large screens with video coverage of the back side and a real-time placing due to chip technology.
It was a cool start but warmed up with the sound of the gun. The course was relatively flat with 4 corners. There was definitely more physical contact than I'm accustomed to, but always in control. I'm not sure how to express the grace that can be present with elbow to elbow contact. There were multiple attacks, but nothing ever stuck. I mostly positioned myself comfortable, but did a few hard efforts to check the legs and peloton. One thing was for sure, I did not want to be squeezed out the final two corners to the long finish. So I attacked hard on the last lap, got a good gap, went hard into the last two corners with still a gap, then was swarmed at the finish and placed 7th. I was just so happy that I survived.....and no doping control for the day.
Today, the final event at Nationals was an 84k road race in the spectacular hills surrounding Bend. The course was closed to traffic and we had the entire road. The roads were pristine clean and smooth. Awesome! It was a cool start at 42 degrees; sunny with light breezes (they call it "wind" out here). The course was a 3 lap circuit with more roundabouts and either up or down. It was fairly clear on the first lap who the strongest 7 riders were. By the second lap, the strongest 6 were defined. There were no successful breakaways. I tested the group on the 2nd lap, holding 300-350 watts for about 3 minutes and all 6 stayed with me on the climb. Plus, if one did get a break on the climb, the following headwind was too tough for the horsepower of the group. I ended up in front the last 5k of the course. Darn, how did this happen and I was stuck. So, I did my best aero and gutter position, while saving a little gas for the finish. Had the final roundabout with 1k to go, someone attempted an attack, obviously too soon and was swarmed into a 90degree corner with the remaining 200 meters to go. I was in last position and just ran out of run way, finishing 3rd with the hardest throw ever. Bronze metal was nice, but makes me really hungry to come back here for another chance.
I did make Best All Around Rider, scoring a mug and many cheers from the crowd and announcer expecting my presence next year.
Great experience! Highly recommended!!
Mindy
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