I wish I could pinpoint what happened to make the race fall apart for me. In reality, I think it was a combination of issues. We got there in plenty of time and headed out for a warm up. My rear derailleur was out of whack and I was having trouble getting into my mid gears. I found Klucker (he was officiating) and he gave me a quick adjustment. That helped out there but what I couldn't tell from the warm up was that I it was still out at the top of the rear cog--that comes later. (And let me get this rant out here--Klucker switched out my wheels and cog on me last night. I didn't know he was doing it until it was done and I got the "I checked it on the stand and it's fine" response when I asked if it was shifting right).
Sunday was the first HOT day we've had this spring. It was 90 degrees when we pulled to the line with high humidity and a strong breeze. I had hydrated well Friday and Saturday and was conscious of my nutrition. There were 16 women who went to the line in Women's 4 and we were combined with the 3 Women's Masters 40+ and told we could work together. The whistle went off and we rolled out for our neutral start. About half way to the start Madeline started taking off. Allison and Amy called her back and we regrouped. We hit the start line and started racing. The first climb was a big ring climb about five miles into the race. I was watching my field position and made it up with no problem. I kept reminding myself to drink as we went through. Leaders changed throughout the next several miles. I tried to avoid some of the woman as much as possible because they were all over the place. We got to the climb at mile 10. I had looked at the course profile but I guess I misjudged this one. I thought we were done and the group was sitting up so I looked at Amy, Master's teammate, and said hold 'em back. Off I went. I got up near our pace truck and looked back and had gone alone. Ok can I make this stick? My heartrate was at 193 and I was in the wind alone. That's when I realized this climb was still going. Oye! I got in the small ring, then started working my way up on the rear. One from the top, I started slipping. It would stay in gear. I was really starting to fatigue but didn't want to sit up just yet. I shifted down and kept climbing. I was out about 7 minutes when I saw the green of the Hub girls at my side. I let up and got in and rested.
The next seven miles or so were hot and calm. There were some rollers, but no killers. I Gu'd at mile 17 and tossed my empty bottle. We then got to the climb at mile 21. I knew this one would be tough. It was long with a steep pitch at the end. I tried one more time to get in those top gears but it wouldn't lock in. I got out of the saddle and started to climb. I stayed up and we fractured the group. Our lead group had two Master's women--Amy and Alison and four Cat4 women--Britta, Laura, Ashley and me. Amy looked back and yelled that we had a gap and to haul. The girls at the front ramped up the pace. Amy kept trying to get a pace line organized but it was struggling. It was about then that I realized that I was done. I had stopped sweating and didn't have enough saliva in my mouth to spit. At mile 23, we turned onto the frontage road along the highway and I fell off. Ashley was on my wheel and offered to pull me up, but I didn't have it to go with her. I rode by myself, head down and exhausted. DNFing was sounding pretty good about then. I kept trying to talk myself through. I looked up and saw that the group had caught the Womens 1/2/3 and there was some confusion with the our lead vehicle and their wheel truck. It slowed them up. I tried to go harder to catch them but couldn't.
Mile 27 hit and I knew KOM was looming. When I studied the course map, the only thing I wrote about this climb was UGLY! and it was. I saw the 1K to KOM sign and reminded myself that it was only .6 miles. I dropped into my small ring and worked on spinning. I was slow but steady at the point. I hit the 500M mark and my body stopped. I honestly thought I may fall trying to get out of my pedals. I got off my bike. To quit or not to quit...I started telling myself your first DNF makes it an option for every race here on out. One foot in front of the other. Keep walking. Stand up straight to get oxygen. Don't cry. This is demoralizing. Cat passed me about that time and asked what happen. Dehydration, heat stroke, I don't know. I kept walking 100M to go and Tricia passed me. I saw the line and was almost there when Bethany passed me. I hopped on the bike at that point and made a half-hearted attempt to catch them but they had started working together and there was another little rise. I got back in my small ring and started counting down miles and doing crazy mental math problems to distract myself. (Being an English major, math really makes me concentrate. It's a trick I've used for a while to get through it when it hurts.)
I made it to mile 30 when I heard a voice behind me, "Suzanne, what happened?" It was Alice, our other Master's racer. I told her I bonked and she offered her wheel. I graciously accepted but was secretly worried for the first 3-5 minutes that I couldn't hold on. My salvation was the Ste. Genevieve sign. We made it to the city limits, I can make it to the line. I pulled alongside Alice and we chatted and we rolled through. I saw our turn to finish straightaway and was relieved. I would finish this race.
I ended up in 8th, not quite the race I had envisioned. I learned a few things (attacking early in a RR is not smart, probably should have had three bottles with me on the bike) and I'm a stronger racer for having done it.
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