Garden Creek Gap - Pain, Lessons Learned and Cows!!
I'm a very shy person. So trying new things and jumping into unknown situations is not something I actively do. But this year my new years resolution was to force myself out of my comfort zones in different aspects of my life. After much panic, pondering, fear and deliberation I got brave and signed up for my first road race, Garden Creek Gap. The race was this past Saturday.
I must give a special shout out and huge thanks to AuntieK and another local racer (not on TE) for their words of encouragement and support. Thank you for answering all my questions and helping to ease me into this crazy world of bike racing. I probably would never have gotten the nerve to even try if it were not for you! :D
Saturday morning I woke up early and drove to Arimo Idaho. I was there early enough to check in, get dressed and ride around a bit. This helped calm my nerves. I was ok until it was time to line up and then the panic set in. Then I saw AuntieK come into the group and calmed down again. The rules were given and we were off. I know I am not the fastest rider so my goal was just to finish the race and have fun. I was feeling good and was riding well on the back of the group when we approached the first climb. Then it happened, the dreaded flat clanking sound. In mid shift - my chain fell off and would not bump back onto the gear. I had to stop and put the chain back on. It didn't take long to fix but as those of you who race know, it doesn't take long to get dropped. I shrugged it off, got back on the bike and raced on. I would not see the group again.
I made it up the climb the first time and felt pretty good. And the rewards after a difficult climb was a fabulous descent. I learned on this race how much I love to go down hill. I geared up and pedaled down. At one point, for a few hundred meters I was going 40 MPH. I had never gone that fast before. I had a blast and was pedaling strong. Even on the flats I was going faster than I had ever personally gone before. Of course, these speeds would come back to haunt me. I hit a bump on one descent and heard the unmistakeable sound of a water bottle bouncing on the road behind me. Obviously I had not fully returned it to the cage after my last drink. I had to stop, get the bottle and start again. Anyhow, I was feeling good and realized I was catching up to a few of the ladies who had been dropped. But my progress came to an abrupt hault as an entire heard of cows had parked themselves across the road. Three of us stood in the road for about 5 minutes while the cowboys (with hats, lassos and "hiyaaas") tried to herd them off the road. Just as a small pathway opened up for us to proceed, a breakaway from the Cat 1/2 mens group was coming up behind us. We did not want to impeed their progress and decided to hold off going down the cow lined path until they passed. As soon as the men passed us, the cows surrounded them. Needless to say the men were not happy. The cowboys opened up a little room for them and we went through as well. I was pleased that it didn't take me too long to get back up to speed. I was laughing because my bike, which I had just cleaned two nights earlier, was now freshly covered in cow scat. Nice!
The last ten miles was really tough. Obviously the fun I had racing at speeds I don't normally ride was coming back to hurt me. My legs felt like cement and my speed dramatically dropped. On the ascent before the climb I thought about quitting. I actually started a pro/con list naming reasons why it was and was not ok to quit. Thankfully I kept pedaling during this process. Once I approached the base of the climb I had decided that not finishing was not an option. My legs felt like dead weight and my cadence was low but I plugged on. At the steepest part of the climb, my legs completely seized up. I was forced to stop again. I shook out my legs and grabbed a quick drink and pedaled on. That stop was exactly what I needed. My cadence was back where it should be and I was able to get over the steepest part of the climb. I was grateful to see the markers for the 1k and 200 meters to go. Just as I rounded the corner to the mountain top finish I heard Auntie K cheering me on from the side of the road. That was just what I needed to finish it out.
So how did I do? Well the sign can officially say "She Finished!" Yeah, I was dead last...but I finished. And I am happy about my last place finish. I had a great time during the race and look forward to racing it again next year - hopefully with some marked improvement.
Lessons I learned -
1. I need to ride more hills. I need to learn to be more aggressive on the hills without re-injuring my knees.
2. I can ride faster than I knew I could. However, with that I need to learn how to pace myself so I don't use all my energy up too soon in the race.
3. I can keep up with a group. But I need to ride with groups more (I usually ride by myself) so I can learn how to stay with a group longer.
4. Yes AuntieK, I do need to race again. It was fun!
