Wrentham - MRC

[SheFly]

Sunday morning was not windy, but it was still COLD. And gray. A great day for a 'cross race - all we needed was some of the snow that was forecast for later in the day . It was really tough getting warmed up for the race. I donned my now familiar warmup gear of down jacket and blue jeans to take a lap of the [frozen] course. Great course despite the absence of "the rock" from last year - lots of tight turns, and some really fast sections. Woohoo!

Only 4 women had pre-reg'd for the Elite race, so the promoters ran us with the Juniors and B Women. Of course, day of saw some of the big guns coming out making 9 all together.

Since there were ONLY 9 of us, we all lined up beside each other. This caused me some panic as I wasn't sure how I was going to avoid catching bars with the riders on either side of me when the whistle blew. This lack of confidence cost me on the start, as I was the LAST person onto the field. Yup - DFL AGAIN. Will I ever learn????

I decided, since I was behind Karen (whom I've never been able to beat in a race), that I would hang onto her wheel. She starts slow, but will put in big efforts to catch the group in front. When she went around my teammate, I went with her. I stuck to her wheel like glue for the first lap and a half. Then, in the woods, she slowed and I went around. That was the end of her race - she dropped out saying she couldn't feel her fingers (did I mention it was cold?). I could see the group ahead of me, and DH said it was 30 seconds. Sounds reasonable, but it was insurrmountable, and their lead grew as we continued on.

As the race progressed, I could see the leaders of the 3/4 race making time on me, and I worked really hard to hold them off for as long as possible. I managed to hold the eventual 3/4 winner off until the barriers on the 5th lap, where she finally passed me. But, I passed her back as she slowed in the woods. She eventually caught me, and then the 2nd place woman passed me as well. I hung with both of them in the final lap until they got a gap, and were gone.

I have to say, it was deflating to be passed by the 3/4 leaders as I was racing in the ELITE race. Really made me question what the heck I was doing... The rest of the 3/4 women also did well, and looked like they were having a fun (but cold) time. Congrats to both Wavedancer and Voodoo Sally (who missed the start of her race and still finished 10th!).

In the end, I finished 7th (of 9). Not too bad. Not last, and not lapped. This was the last race for me until Nationals though, and I am VERY excited about that!

Kudos to the good folks at MRC for putting on a fine race! I am finally warmed back up. And we did get some snow overnight - about 4 inches. Supposed to mostly rain today though with snow showers through the week. I guess winter is finally arriving!

SheFly

[Voodoo Sally]

Nice race report, SheFly. 7th out of 9 in Elite is a good result, and you belong in that class. Trigirlpink had a great finish, looking stronger than ever. And Wavedancer came up & braved the cold, too.

Yup, I MISSED my start. (How long have I been doing this? )When it's so cold, I like to warm up right until minutes before the start. But there I was, 'caught out there across the field, hearing the whistle for the start in the distance, and I knew I was missing my start. I finished my warm up lap (was the quickest way to the start line by then) and jumped on the back of the race (the pack was still close). [As I approached the back of the pack near the start line, a bystander thought I was still warming up and said, "There's a race going on." I said as I rode by, "I know , I'm supposed to be in it."] But I had no time to doff my warm-up clothes, and those extra layers bogged me down. (Fortunately, my number was visible - my jacket was not one of the items I planned on taking off). I got hot, and felt restricted. Ugh. I considered quitting briefly, but I thought no, just do it. I used up a ton of energy, and was not happy with my result, but that's what I get for being dumb enough to miss my start.

We decided we're doing the RI races next week after all, so, better luck then!

Good luck at Nationals, SheFly!!

[TriMom217]

oh man, it was cold out there yesterday. I was there with the beautiful Australian Shepherd, just in case you happened to see her

Congrats to both of you for yesterday's races. It really looks like a lot of fun.

Where in RI is the race next week?

[SheFly]

Nice race report, SheFly. 7th out of 9 in Elite is a good result, and you belong in that class. Trigirlpink had a great finish, looking stronger than ever. And Wavedancer came up & braved the cold, too.

...

Good luck at Nationals, SheFly!!

Well, sometimes it doesn't FEEL like I belong in that class, but thanks.

And Trigirlpink - I didn't mean to leave you out! Those socks were rockin', BTW. I hope they were warm.

Thanks for the luck, Sally, I'll take all the help I can get .

Trimom27 - I didn't see you . I was the sad looking Elite racer with the big apple on my back . Amazed that you braved the cold to come out and spectate!

SheFly

[trigirlpink]

I had a great race and I owe it all to Sally. She had me runnin' or rather pedalin' scared. I knew you missed the start Sally. Brian and I were like.. "where the heck is she?" But when I saw you behind me, I pushed as hard as I could knowing what a good rider you are and I just wanted to try and hold you off as long as I could. Kudos to you and Shefly for getting out on Saturday to race and mountain bike ride. It was brutal on Saturday and I would not have attempted to do 2 days in a row of riding outside in that weather. It takes alot out of you. You girls are tough! At least the wind wasn't whipping on Sunday. Sally, I tried to make Brian laugh everytime he came by me as I was sitting on my trainer warming up. I think it was a success!

Here I am at "The Log" thinkin' where are my feet? I can't feel them! I spy Mr. Shefly!

[IMG][/IMG]

[trigirlpink]

Shoot.. and I really wanted to try and get a pic of us and Wavedancer too while we were all standing there after the race. I should have just grabbed you Shefly before you went down to give something to Mike. Oh well...

[wavedancer]

It was fun to see you all again on Sunday.This was probably the last one for me this season, and I never thought I would end up doing seven races! I should have bought an annual license. Who knew?

I held my DFL position as I have done for the last four races, but actually raced against a couple of people off the back on some of the laps. No crashes, a little smoother on the mounts and remounts, just need to get faster!

And yes, it was COLD! I couldn't feel my hands for the first two laps and had an omigod moment after the run-up barriers when I got back onto the bike for the downhill and I couldn't get my feet clipped in and my fingers wouldn't move to use the brakes and I thought for sure I was going to wipe out. I didn't, and it showed me that I could be a little less timid on the downhill turns and just lean the bike and let it roll.

Good luck to anyone going to RI next weekend. And SheFly: Brian and I'll be rootin' for you from afar at nationals. And don't forget, "less talking, more riding!"

[SheFly]

I spy Mr. Shefly!

HAHAHAHAHAHA! Mr. Shefly...HAHAHAHAHA!

Yup - that is Mr - in his down jacket and helmet . I'm telling you all - new warmup gear.

So fun to see you all again this weekend, and kudos for coming out on such a COLD, COLD, COLD (did I mention COLD?) day. And Wavedancer - for someone who witnessed her FIRST race a year ago to completing SEVEN and building Frankenbike this year - nice job!

Good luck, Sally, in RI. I'll anxiously await the race report .

I'll post from Kansas! Keep your thoughts on good driving weather...

SheFly

[Sheesh]

That log looks crazy huge! Congrats to you all for a great race!