What a difference a year makes. I remember pulling up at this race last year, clueless, aerobars still attached to my bike. I had no real clue what to expect and was terrified when we took off because I’d never ridden in a pack. Sunday, I had fun!
The weather was pretty incredible for a February race—it was actually sunny and in the 40s. Of course, that mid-Missouri wind was out in force (although it may have actually only be 12 mph give or take). I registered and got “kitted up” in my borrowed Team Rev gear. I am still adjusting to my team switch and didn’t have a Big Shark kit so Carrie hooked me up with some neutral apparel. Walking through the school and parking lot it felt awesome to recognize and know people. Last year the only person I recognized was Teresa and I had only met her once. This year I had friends with whom to warm up and was excited to race with, and against, them.
I decided to race Cat 4 instead of open and I’m still not sure that was the right decision. We 20 in our field. A lot of the women were unknown to me but that’s not unusual for a road race. We lined up and got stern yellow line warnings from Aero. (Those were hard to take serious because I kept picturing him in his fur coat from last year).
The race began. There was the normal “Cat 4” havoc of trying to figure out what we were exactly out there for. I tried to stay to the front of the group, but avoid pulling because it was windy. The pack stayed together for the first 9 miles or so. A few times some girls would try to slowly pull off the front and I found myself going after them because it didn’t seem like anyone else noticed/cared. Ashley was doing awesome in her first race, she stayed at the front and rode smart. I tried to talk her through what I was seeing because last year I remember not having a clue and missing surges and the break.
Two girls came up in front of Ashley and me and started pulling away. I told Ashley to go after them and I jumped on her wheel. One of them was a bit squirrely so I was trying to stay back from her without letting them get away. We took the second corner and finally had a tail wind. Two more girls jumped up front and the four of them surged. I went after them, dropping Ashley and we were away. Two more girls joined us. I wasn’t sure where the rest of the field was. I held on for a few minutes but they were pulling away. I kept thinking to myself “there is no way they can maintain this pace.” I looked around to see if I had anyone with whom to work and everyone else was gone. I kept trying to pull back up but wasn’t gaining any ground.
I was solo for about four or five minutes when I heard Kate, “Hop on the pain train” and that’s what I did. She had pulled Ashley, Alane and Sandy up with me…all women I know well and train with. Alane organized us into an efficient line and we were set. Every I would go to pull though, Alane would reel me in and tell me to slow down. I wanted to go all out and catch the lead group, but I also knew that I couldn’t bridge to them alone. The five of us ended up working together for the next seven miles or so. Compared to my race last year where I ended up going it alone, this was a cake walk.
With about six miles to go, we hit some small hills. Nothing epic, but in the wind they caused some lactic build up. Somewhere along there we dropped Alane and Sandy and our pace line went to hell. Ashley, Kate and I rounded the last corner back into the head wind. Kate would go up to take her pull and start to ride away. She is known for attacking off the front, so I found myself playing defense a lot and trying to bring her back. As a result, I think I did a lot more work than I really needed to do. I saw the 1K sign and popped it back into my big ring and started revving up my cadence and the tempo. I could tell by the shadow I was pulling away from Ashley. About 50 feet from the 200M sign, Kate pulled around me out of the saddle and was off. I stood up and added gear but my legs put up a fight. I took off the gear and sat down and just spun as quickly as possible hoping I had enough to hold off Ashley. I did. 8th place finish…up six places from last year. More than that, confidence, self awareness, and friendship!
The weather was pretty incredible for a February race—it was actually sunny and in the 40s. Of course, that mid-Missouri wind was out in force (although it may have actually only be 12 mph give or take). I registered and got “kitted up” in my borrowed Team Rev gear. I am still adjusting to my team switch and didn’t have a Big Shark kit so Carrie hooked me up with some neutral apparel. Walking through the school and parking lot it felt awesome to recognize and know people. Last year the only person I recognized was Teresa and I had only met her once. This year I had friends with whom to warm up and was excited to race with, and against, them.
I decided to race Cat 4 instead of open and I’m still not sure that was the right decision. We 20 in our field. A lot of the women were unknown to me but that’s not unusual for a road race. We lined up and got stern yellow line warnings from Aero. (Those were hard to take serious because I kept picturing him in his fur coat from last year).
The race began. There was the normal “Cat 4” havoc of trying to figure out what we were exactly out there for. I tried to stay to the front of the group, but avoid pulling because it was windy. The pack stayed together for the first 9 miles or so. A few times some girls would try to slowly pull off the front and I found myself going after them because it didn’t seem like anyone else noticed/cared. Ashley was doing awesome in her first race, she stayed at the front and rode smart. I tried to talk her through what I was seeing because last year I remember not having a clue and missing surges and the break.
Two girls came up in front of Ashley and me and started pulling away. I told Ashley to go after them and I jumped on her wheel. One of them was a bit squirrely so I was trying to stay back from her without letting them get away. We took the second corner and finally had a tail wind. Two more girls jumped up front and the four of them surged. I went after them, dropping Ashley and we were away. Two more girls joined us. I wasn’t sure where the rest of the field was. I held on for a few minutes but they were pulling away. I kept thinking to myself “there is no way they can maintain this pace.” I looked around to see if I had anyone with whom to work and everyone else was gone. I kept trying to pull back up but wasn’t gaining any ground.
I was solo for about four or five minutes when I heard Kate, “Hop on the pain train” and that’s what I did. She had pulled Ashley, Alane and Sandy up with me…all women I know well and train with. Alane organized us into an efficient line and we were set. Every I would go to pull though, Alane would reel me in and tell me to slow down. I wanted to go all out and catch the lead group, but I also knew that I couldn’t bridge to them alone. The five of us ended up working together for the next seven miles or so. Compared to my race last year where I ended up going it alone, this was a cake walk.
With about six miles to go, we hit some small hills. Nothing epic, but in the wind they caused some lactic build up. Somewhere along there we dropped Alane and Sandy and our pace line went to hell. Ashley, Kate and I rounded the last corner back into the head wind. Kate would go up to take her pull and start to ride away. She is known for attacking off the front, so I found myself playing defense a lot and trying to bring her back. As a result, I think I did a lot more work than I really needed to do. I saw the 1K sign and popped it back into my big ring and started revving up my cadence and the tempo. I could tell by the shadow I was pulling away from Ashley. About 50 feet from the 200M sign, Kate pulled around me out of the saddle and was off. I stood up and added gear but my legs put up a fight. I took off the gear and sat down and just spun as quickly as possible hoping I had enough to hold off Ashley. I did. 8th place finish…up six places from last year. More than that, confidence, self awareness, and friendship!
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