Om-ni-ummmm? What?

So the Perry Roubaix Omnium was this past weekend. It was my first race of the season, an event I did not train specifically for, and probably one of the hardest weekends of racing I've had in a long, long time.

For any noobs to the sport, an omnium consists of three events, a time trial (TT) and criterium or circuit (crit) race on one day, and a road race (RR) the next day. The distance depends on your racing category (Cat). I am a Cat 4, which is the entry-level road cat for women. You have to earn points (in a singular 12-month span) to get moved up. You cannot move up by choice. You can race an entire season, and if you don't earn enough points -- the point system is waaay too complicated to explain here -- you stay at cat 4. (this point comes in to play later).

So my omnium started with a 9.5 mile TT Saturday morning. It was WINDY AS HELL. Steady breeze of about 15 mph, with 20 mph gusts. Sounds real good when the wind is at your back, but when it's a headwind, it's like you're standing still. Let me illustrate this point. The TT course was an out-and-back. Tailwind out. I kept an eye on my average speed: 26-30 mph out. About face. Headwind back. Average speed: 9-15 mph. No, I'm not kidding. I took 9 of 11 in the TT. I didn't go as hard as I could because I wanted to conserve energy for the crit race taking place 1.5 hours later. So, I'm not disappointed in the finish, because I wasn't giving it my all.

Crit: Our crit was actually a circuit race. A circuit race differs from a crit in that the loop is longer. So we did 5 laps on a 2.5 mile course. Tailwind for the first 1/2, headwind for the second 1/2. I started on the line with 9 ladies. A few of whom didn't race the TT that morning, and were riding on fresh legs. A few of the others earned just shy of their points last year to cat up, so had a vast difference in experience and skill than me. A few of them were former Ironman triathletes. Jesus! I think I was doomed from the start. I sat on the line. The official asked how many of us had never done a circuit race before. Only one other lady raised her hand. Great. Did I mention the start of our crit was only an hour and a half after the TT? not a lot of recovery.

So we get going and the first lap is fun, but not hard. The second lap was brutal, and I was dropped on the last turn into the headwind. The strategy of crits to to hammer out of the corners and drop folks who can't hang. I COULDN'T HANG. So I rode the last 3 laps alone, in the wind, with only my bruised ego to accompany me. I finished 8 of 9.

Sunday afternoon brought the RR. 12 ladies on the line. Twice around a 12.5 mile loop. I thought I would be dropped on the second hill (which was sooooo hard) but I wasn't. I got dropped of my own doing. Seriously. There was this "pave" part, aka "dirt road" we had to ride. The official was all "be careful, enter at a 90 degree turn, take it slow." Being the MTBer that I am, and having ridden that course before, I took a different tactic. We got up to it and the group slowed, the ladies got all twitchy and went wide for the turn, I cut up the inside at a 45 degree angle to avoid the slow line, and was followed by ... no one. I was now up ahead of the group. I kept pedaling. I loved the dirt! The group took my lunge as an attack and unleashed the hell and furry that happened Saturday at the crit. They toasted me before we got to mile 10. I was left trying to hang on the back thinking, "wait, i was just kidding, i wasn't attacking!! wait for meeeeeeeee...." One other lady got dropped at that point too. We rode together the rest of the time. I pulled her 80% of the way. Our "equal" turns at pulling were more like me for 5 minutes, her for one. This was fine by me ... until our mutual agreement that we'd sprint out the end. So we sprinted out the last 100 meters, and she beat me by half a front wheel length. Bummer. Guess I should have forced her to pull more. So I finished up that one 10 of 12, I think.

Jake and I didn't hang around to see how we played out in the overall omnium standings. I wasn't last, and I wasn't in the top 3, so it didn't really matter. I guess when they post the results online I can see how I did. The one thing I did take from the event is that I have to work harder if I want to do one of these again. Just like any other specific event (12 hour race, tri, etc) training for a TT, crit and RR takes specific training and planning. I was hoping I could do it on sheer will and bike riding. A mountain biker does not a road biker make.

If you need me, I'll be in a random parking lot ... riding in boring circles ... trying not to lose my mind as I train for the next crit I plan to do. As for other road racing on my calendar, yeah, those may be replaced with something a little more fun, and something a little less grueling. God knows I have my fair share of trials on this year's race calendar as it is!

And just in case you were wondering how hard I worked this weekend, let me just say, I earned my bratwurst, pizza and mexican food with aplomb.