119, 120, 122,.... 129. As the race official gave us the "two-minute warning, ladies", my downward gaze caught the heart rate read-out on my computer. Standing perfectly still, seconds away from my first elite women's start of the 2014 season, my body new what was up.
I was seated in the tenth position, not quite the first row, but likely my highest call-up in a Category 1 race. I didn't want to waste the opportunity, but my body and my pedals had a different plan. As the gun went off, I was slightly slow on the jump, and I struggled to clip-in to my left pedal for the entire straight-away, finally finding it just before the grass line demarking the start of the real fun. At which point I was almost dead last.
Within seconds I was able to power through the middle of a clump of ladies, speed past others in the next straightaway, and make it into the first couple of turns mid-pack. I came in hot to the next technical turn, and a traffic jam caused by the upcoming series of off-cambor switch-backs. The tread on my front tire bit into the dry, clumping grass, and I somersaulted over the handle-bars, jamming up those behind. I scrambled back to my bike, once again nearly off the back of the pack. Not the dream start I had been hoping for.
Immediately after this section, there was a particularly gnarly off-cambor, downhill, S-curve on the side of a steep incline followed almost immediately by a "run-up" back up the same hill. Several attempts at riding the downhill in practice left me in the dirt, and so I had resolved to use those running legs of mine to sprint through this entire section. That strategy played to my favor on this lap, as I was able to pass on the inside of riders slowly maneuvering there way down. Then just before the run-up, a woman in front of me went sprawling, taking out the riders in front and beside her and blocking on-coming traffic. In the words of my friend Heidi spectating from the side-lines, I was able to leap "gazelle-like over the crash" and spring up the run-up. Later in the race, I would be heckled fro this strategy, "it's faster if you pedal." To which I called out, "I'll race you!" That got a few hoots and hollers form the sidelines.
The rest of that next lap was a blur, my blood-pumping hard in my eyeballs, as I powered through every straightaway, seeing the front of the race already gapped way ahead. By the time I came around the pits, I was back into 16th, but with a lot of work to do.
The race was so strung out at this point. For the next three laps, I caught and passed one-rider at a time. But I also was struggling with the hot, dry, bumpy conditions. My lips were stuck to my gums, and sweat poured down my back. And I couldn't seem to to keep my bike upright in the turns. Three more times I would go down. Including one that sealed my position in the race.
With two laps, to go, I could see a pack of three women ahead of me. I thought with enough effort I could bridge to them in time for the last lap. The series of off-cambor switchbacks that had been my favorite part of the course in practice, but trouble in the opening lap, proved again to be my nemesis. I took a corner just a tad too tight, too aggressive. Not being able to throw the back wheel around the corner to carry my high-center of gravity momentum in a whip like I'm used to, the wheels cut and slid, and I went down hard. I bounced back up, but I had bent the derailleur on the part of the course farthest from the pit, and shifting became a bit of a problem. Besides that, ten seconds had gone by, and now the pack of three was out of reach.
I used the final lap and a half to smoothly transition around corners, over barriers, and keep myself well ahead of the next woman to finally finish in 11th. I maybe could have done better, but I bet if I check my results from last year, that finish might be one of my highest placings in a Category 1 race. I'll take it.
For an account of the race from the front of the pack (someday.....) Check out CXmagazine, and of course race pics and pictures will be posted soon at the race site.
I was seated in the tenth position, not quite the first row, but likely my highest call-up in a Category 1 race. I didn't want to waste the opportunity, but my body and my pedals had a different plan. As the gun went off, I was slightly slow on the jump, and I struggled to clip-in to my left pedal for the entire straight-away, finally finding it just before the grass line demarking the start of the real fun. At which point I was almost dead last.
Within seconds I was able to power through the middle of a clump of ladies, speed past others in the next straightaway, and make it into the first couple of turns mid-pack. I came in hot to the next technical turn, and a traffic jam caused by the upcoming series of off-cambor switch-backs. The tread on my front tire bit into the dry, clumping grass, and I somersaulted over the handle-bars, jamming up those behind. I scrambled back to my bike, once again nearly off the back of the pack. Not the dream start I had been hoping for.
Immediately after this section, there was a particularly gnarly off-cambor, downhill, S-curve on the side of a steep incline followed almost immediately by a "run-up" back up the same hill. Several attempts at riding the downhill in practice left me in the dirt, and so I had resolved to use those running legs of mine to sprint through this entire section. That strategy played to my favor on this lap, as I was able to pass on the inside of riders slowly maneuvering there way down. Then just before the run-up, a woman in front of me went sprawling, taking out the riders in front and beside her and blocking on-coming traffic. In the words of my friend Heidi spectating from the side-lines, I was able to leap "gazelle-like over the crash" and spring up the run-up. Later in the race, I would be heckled fro this strategy, "it's faster if you pedal." To which I called out, "I'll race you!" That got a few hoots and hollers form the sidelines.
The rest of that next lap was a blur, my blood-pumping hard in my eyeballs, as I powered through every straightaway, seeing the front of the race already gapped way ahead. By the time I came around the pits, I was back into 16th, but with a lot of work to do.
The race was so strung out at this point. For the next three laps, I caught and passed one-rider at a time. But I also was struggling with the hot, dry, bumpy conditions. My lips were stuck to my gums, and sweat poured down my back. And I couldn't seem to to keep my bike upright in the turns. Three more times I would go down. Including one that sealed my position in the race.
With two laps, to go, I could see a pack of three women ahead of me. I thought with enough effort I could bridge to them in time for the last lap. The series of off-cambor switchbacks that had been my favorite part of the course in practice, but trouble in the opening lap, proved again to be my nemesis. I took a corner just a tad too tight, too aggressive. Not being able to throw the back wheel around the corner to carry my high-center of gravity momentum in a whip like I'm used to, the wheels cut and slid, and I went down hard. I bounced back up, but I had bent the derailleur on the part of the course farthest from the pit, and shifting became a bit of a problem. Besides that, ten seconds had gone by, and now the pack of three was out of reach.
I used the final lap and a half to smoothly transition around corners, over barriers, and keep myself well ahead of the next woman to finally finish in 11th. I maybe could have done better, but I bet if I check my results from last year, that finish might be one of my highest placings in a Category 1 race. I'll take it.
For an account of the race from the front of the pack (someday.....) Check out CXmagazine, and of course race pics and pictures will be posted soon at the race site.
