AuntieK
07-15-2006, 02:57 PM
So today's race was a suffering 8.9 mile hill climb with between 6-8 percent grades the WHOLE climb. This climb is actually one of the climbs the pros will use when they come for the Tour of Utah next month.
Anyway, I came in third! I made the climb in an hour and 13 min. with an average speed of 7.2 mph. The girl who came in first is a PRO mtn bike racer. Apparently when you switch over to road racing, they make you start at the bottom, thus she was racing Cat 4.
It was a mass start race, so we had to start at the back of the pack behind the Cat 1-5 men, masters men, Pro-Cat 3 women. So basically, we watched the faster pack leave us in the dust. Or should I say tar and gravel--they had re-chipped and sealed the road in the last couple of days, so if you weren't sticking to the tar, you were throwing gravel all over your legs.
Since it was a hill climb, no tactics were needed, except fight like crazy not to get dropped (or passed by too many of the citizen men :o )!
The scenery was beautiful and really kept me going when the pain set in (lower back was not happy).
Anyway, I came in third! I made the climb in an hour and 13 min. with an average speed of 7.2 mph. The girl who came in first is a PRO mtn bike racer. Apparently when you switch over to road racing, they make you start at the bottom, thus she was racing Cat 4.
It was a mass start race, so we had to start at the back of the pack behind the Cat 1-5 men, masters men, Pro-Cat 3 women. So basically, we watched the faster pack leave us in the dust. Or should I say tar and gravel--they had re-chipped and sealed the road in the last couple of days, so if you weren't sticking to the tar, you were throwing gravel all over your legs.
Since it was a hill climb, no tactics were needed, except fight like crazy not to get dropped (or passed by too many of the citizen men :o )!
The scenery was beautiful and really kept me going when the pain set in (lower back was not happy).