Oops, forget to mention I moved & am no longer in Nor-Cal. So yeah, far less options here in the way of teams, etc. None for example have any clinics at all which is a darn shame because a bunch of the Nor-Cal teams have them regularly.

SheFly - yes ma'am :-) I promise to be close to, but not at the front. I've learned that the amount of energy you waste/spend being in the wind is astonishing! I'll post my results and it won't be too long since race day is < 30 days now.

Eden - all great points & from what I've read of some of your posts on this subject, you have been (or are still that is...) involved in organizing events so I know you speak from plenty of experience :-)

Aicabsolut - field sizes here are very small, at least compared to big metro areas & cycling hotspots. Here, there will be a distinct cat IV with their own placings, but they aren't picked separately. So everyone, IV's & P-1-2-3 & masters all get sent out together - and even then you might only have 20 total on the better days. My guess here is that it magnifies the fitness/skill variations when you have such small fields.

Thanks for all the information here. It is very exciting to finally get involved in races and compete with a great group of women.