Athens Maddness
-by Kim Foland
If you live in America and like to race crits, there's no denying that Athens Twilight is the biggest and the baddest. Sure there are other crits with more prize money but nothing mimics the insanity, the crowds or the pressure of Athens. And since this race is in our backyard in Georgia, the entire cycling community in Atlanta talks about it, or at least thinks about for weeks leading up to the race.
I was thinking so much about it, I had a dream about not getting a warm up and going to the line cold. Luckily, that didn't happen. Kim S. and I warmed up with everyone else from Atlanta around turn 2 - it's just tradition. We met up with Ashley and Liz at staging and were ready to go.
Usually, I am so nervous at staging and the entire day leading up to the race. But this year, I let all of the pressure off. I told myself - I've never finished this race, and if I don't finish this year, it's just not my thing. And I'll go on to race well in other races. That did the trick. I had a great starting position, front row even after call ups. The gun went off and oh geez - I couldn't get in to my pedal. Fake it, fake it, there it goes, click and I'm off in to turn 1.
The incline on the backside is something I had always struggled with but with an entirely new coaching plan (thanks, Jen McRae!) I figured out how to get out of turn 2 and sail up the hill. The first 20 minutes were pure agony. I kept looking at the race clock, I couldn't believe how hard we were going and how much my legs and stomach hurt.
About 25 minutes in to the race, coming out of turn 4, some girl wrapped herself around the barriers causing a massive pileup. Kim S. went down first and since I was right behind her and on the same outside line, I went down too. We were both fine and I jumped up and rode to the pit. Kim S. wasn't so lucky, she was ok but her bike was trashed. The pit crew tried and they did get her back in but her wheels were damaged and her shifters were pushed against the inside of her handlebars.
The break at that point was fully formed and the pace slowed down a bit but with 15 laps to go, the field started chasing in earnest. with 12 laps to go I thought I was going to die. The field was strung out and we were suffering. The gap to the break went from over a minute to just at 6 seconds.
In to the final lap I thought if I had a couple of good moves through the turns, I could move myself up a few places. I came out of turn 2, up the hill and down through turns 3 and 4 to finish 22nd! I am not lying when I say I wanted to put my arms up in the air when I finished! I was so thrilled! I've never had the chance to do the cool down lap with the entire crowd screaming. It's damn cool.
* Photos by Jon Q