Some good racing tips...

[Pink Kona]

Hey Bike Momma! Long time no chat!!! How'd the race go this weekend? I can't wait to hear!
Jen

[BikeMomma]

I was wondering where you'd disappeared to! How have you been?

The weekend was a blast. I played it by ear for the crit on Sunday, because I wasn't sure how I'd recover from Saturday's RR. But I ended up doing it, and boy, to see the look on my kids' faces was totally worth it!

I'm at work right now, so I'll have to post details later, but here's a somewhat abbreviated version, at least. For the RR, there were about 70-odd entries for Cat 4 (WHOA!! ), so they split us into a group of 50, and then grouped the rest into another heat that they started about 5 minutes later. I was in the first group, so we had about 5o gals start, and I ended up placing 22nd, with the peloton (the few breaks were brought back), but didn't have the legs, lungs, position, or gear (uphill finish - I sorta screwed it up!) to be competitive in the sprint. We dropped a whole bunch of ladies off the back as the race progressed, and it did get pretty intense there at the end. I was pretty proud of how I did, since I had no idea going in how I compared to other ladies in my Cat and considering how little time I really have to train.

In the crit, as with most womens' crits, they grouped us in with the 1/2/3's, and it was reeeally fast from the start. I suspect they were trying to get rid of us right away. Well, we lasted about 10 or so laps before they pulled us, as the "fast train" was approaching. They placed us together with the 3's for the official results in the position we were pulled, and I was sitting 10th (out of 12 whistled in) at the time. I'm pretty sure that at least a couple people pulled themselves, though, so had they stayed in, the "finishing" list would have been longer. We had started working together to try to stay out longer, but I knew it was inevitable we were going to get pulled. There was an awesome 1/2 field.

I think it's almost a good thing they pulled us when they did, though, because it had started to rain just as we started and the roads were VERY slick (first rain in several weeks). Several ladies went down during the course of the race, and there were even more crashes in the Mens 1/2's race that followed ours. I think their race started out with about 60-70 riders and maybe 30 finished. Crazy!

For the McLane races this weekend, more nasty weather is promising to come, so that combined with already full fields, have convinced me to stay on the sidelines and help with the race logistics/support and to be available to help out my club (McGuire Cycling). Are you going to make it down or do you think you'll have to pass? It is a long way to travel from Washington for bad weather.

So tell me how your winter has been! Have you raced yet this season....and are you still concentrating on the track or are you doing some road? Questions! Questions!

Take care...my short post turned into a long one....bad me!!
~BikeMomma

[Pink Kona]

Nice job on the race! I have a friend who is down in your area - she rides for VeloBella and from my understanding the majority of the Pro1/2 womens field uses those races to prep for the NRC calendar. Way to hang in there! I think it was called the snelling race or something like that. She said it started raining - for the first time in awhile and the roads were super slick - making it hard for most people to stay upright! Sounds like a good old Washington race. Except up here it rains all the time.

I wish I could make it down for some of the early races - but I may have to wait another year until I can get some financial support to make that feasible. This bike racing can get expensive really quickly!

The winter's been good - full of training. I managed to do 20 hours a week during January. I'm tired just thinking about it! The body responded well though and I avoided any injury. It's reassuring knowing my body can manage an increased load. This weekend I'll get to see where my fitness is stacked up next to some local riders at the ever notorious and always rainy/snowy Mason lake series. It's hard to believe its been one year since I started. There's so much to learn! And so much aerobic capacity to gain... slow and steady... these things take time, I know.

I'll definitely let you know how the first races go - and hopefully the weather will improve for your racing down there this weekend! Good to hear from you and keep up the good work - it is so awesome that you decided to get back into racing!