I'm still stunned, even now 3 hours after the finish ... because I came in fifth!!!:cool:
The course was a, just above, 5km loop (about 3.3 miles) which we had to do 13 times. There were about 65 starters with lots of cat 1&2 riders and maybe 15 cat 3 riders. In the beginning I managed to stay in front but somehow I slowly fell back in the pack. So I kept pushing to go back to the front. Then with about 5 laps to go I made my way back to the front (again). Just as I reach the front rows there is a break away and I see one rider go who is like in the top 5 of best dutch pro riders. So I think 'Oke, I am already on speed passing the pack maybe I can jump towards her wheel'. And somehow I reach her wheel, she picks up some riders who were still in front of us. And the 4 of us try to pull through, 2 riders then made the jump from the pack to us. One of them is also a high ranking pro rider and the other is good at tt's. Those three really managed to lead the break. The plus side was that all major teams were represented in our group so their teammates pulled the brakes on the pack. I was getting funny looks from the pro girls like 'Who the hell is she? And what is she doing here?'
So here I am the only cat 3 rider in a group of 6 with cat 1 and 2 riders. With 5 laps to go ... and I think 'oh man, this is gonna hurt'. We step on the gas for 3 laps, at least I try to help as much but I was already at my limit. I hadn't ridden a race longer then 40km and now I am over that point and I still need to go some more.:eek:
In the end the group stayed together but I didn't have the power anymore for the sprint. I did manage to get one girl so I came in fifth ... totally broken. My legs still hurt.
I have to look up the rules but I think I managed to qualify myself for the national championships for cat 1 & 2 riders with this result. Only I am a cat 3 rider so I would have to upgrade my license to cat 2 ... and I just did that from 4 to 3. So maybe next year and the course of the nationals is hilly and I have never ridden such a race before.
A picture will follow since the were loads of photografers at the scene which allways publish their pixies later in the evening.
Below is the promised pixie (met second with the white helmet en whilte/blue shirt) ... for the whole race coverage in pictures see here
