NJBikeGrrrrl ---- Altoonah

[NJBikeGal]

Well...my first points race is over and it was a doozy! We got out to Altoona on Wednesday night after a pretty fun 4 hour drive! On Thursday, we previewed the two road race courses, one by bike, one by car. One has a 6 mile climb and a 6 mile descent on it (we did that one by bike!)...the other is a rolling terrain, with one larger climb at the 10 mile point. Both looked like they were going to be rough, but doable. The final race is a crit, held in downtown Altoona - fun course, two chicanes and two minor uphill sections.

Friday, Day 1 - Martinsburg Road Race
This course looked terrifying by profile. It didn't look much better when we previewed it by car, but it was easy and fast when we rode it! Every uphill had a descent leading to it, so you were pulled through by momentum nearly every time. Unfortunately, it was a strange race. Everyone stayed together, no one made any moves, and this kept the pack tight and very antsy throughout the race. I got stuck at the back with Naomi and with 55 riders stretched out along the road, there was very little chance to move up. When the chance did arrive toward the finish, which weaved through the town in a crit style finish, girls got a bit squirrely, a few went down, and I mentally checked out and just tried to hold my own without wiping out! I ended up 10th on the day. Not my best performance, but I knew that the big challenge for me was the race on Saturday! Average speed for the race was around 22mph.

Satruday, Day 2 - Altoona Road Race
With a 6 mile climb starting at the 3 mile mark, I knew that this race did not play to my strengths, as I am not a big climber, but I figured I was going to be working to try to get Naomi some Queen of the Mountains points so the pressure was lessened. Right at the start, the pace was high. As we neared the 3 mile mark, I thought that I might be in trouble, but I just relaxed and tried to think about what I knew about the road ahead. The pack stayed together until the 3 mile point on the climb, this was where the grade increased a bit for a nice long section. I was actually feeling good...settled in and started passing people. The worst part of the climb was the last 1K where the grade pops up to 15% up to the QOM line. WOW...that hurt! Anyway, I crested the hill and caught a pack of girls in front of me for the AWESOME descent! We managed to hit nearly 50 mph on the back side of the hill. I managed to stay with a group of 6 to the finish (we were about 1:20 back from the leaders at one point) and ended up 7th on the day. I was very happy with this, because it was a really tough race for me! I knew that if I could hold my own on the crit, I could finish in the top 10 in the GC! Again, even with the climb, average mph was 22.

Sunday, Day 3 - Crit in downtown Altoona!
Beautiful morning...great race weather, although it was a bit warm! The race started fast and stayed fast! It was surprisingly safe, considering how iffy some of the riders had looked earlier in the race! There was one crash on the final lap that took out a rider from Artemis. It was right behind me, but I don't know what happened. I was too pre-occupied with getting cut-off from the front and not going down myself! Unfortunately, this was enough to make me lose contact with the main field (on the last lap!). But, I did stay with a few other riders and come to the line strong and ahead of the Cat 4s around me. I finished 8th on the day and ended up 8th in the GC. Avg speed: 23.5 mph!!!

All in all, it was a great experience for me. I was racing against the National Time Trial Champion (who ended the weekend as she started it...in yellow) and a lot of really talented riders from all over the place. It was a tough weekend, but I feel like I did pretty well! The best part was being called Gert Steegmans by Christina from Capitol Hill who tried to ride my wheel into the finish of the crit and sprint by me. She couldn't do it and said she felt like Tom Boonen who couldn't get around his leadout man! That was pretty funny!

Today, I get to go for my massage...so I am really excited about that...and I'll be back out on the bike tomorrow! That's all she wrote!