I got back from Chicago a couple days ago. Drove all day on Monday and then ran around and rode hard on Tuesday. It was a good weekend, filled with many highs and a couple lows. Sorry to be away from my blog for so long. I was not online out there.
One of the highs of my trip was that I was staying with a host family- the family of a women who I had met via email when I was living out there. I had never met Jess in person, but had corresponded with her in the past. She was new to racing and was an avid cyclist. She does a lot of work with Team in Training, an organization that I really respect and think is fantastic. It is also close to heart since I got my start with the AIDS ride- a similar type of thing.
Anyway, Saturday morning, Jess invited me to go for a ride with TNT before I raced that night. I eagerly agreed to- I was going to ride anyway and I thought that it would be a lot of fun. Well, Jess had emailed them and said that I was coming and I have to say- I have never had such rock-star treatment before! It was so flattering to have them introduce me and have me talk about racing, present me with a jersey and really make me feel special. Later that night- they came to the race and cheered me on! Things have happened so fast for me that I still think of myself as a newbie cyclist complete with black shorts, a yellow windbreaker and a rear view mirror (yes- that was me). Of course I have come a long way since the days of my lace-up bike messenger shoes with SPD cleats, but still. I am hardly use to feeling like a bigfish. They made me feel so special and it was a heck of a lot of fun. Well worth the early morning. I do want to give a plug for Team in Training- I can think of few better ways for new riders to get into our sport. It is such a positive and encouraging group and they really have a great mission... the best of both worlds: making people’s lives better from helping and being helped. I really enjoyed being with them and wish them all good luck! And it was GREAT to have them cheering at the race!
After my ride in the morning, it was back home for a nap and then the first race that night: the prelude to the national championships. It is the same course and, for the most part, the same field- so it is a great chance to size people up and get familiar with the great Downers Grove course! We lucked out (for me) with torrential rain... of course no one wants to race in the rain, but I really do find that I like it. Once I am wet- provided I don’t get too cold- I want the rain to come down hard and make life miserable for my competitors! The kid in me still comes out and gets giddy with a good storm. Mind you- I have had my share of misery in the rain too, but still. Since I don’t mind the rain, it is a big advantage for me: the hard, miserable races are often the best for me.
So, we got lucky with rain and a lot of it! I really wanted a win. I had been really disappointed with my finish at Elk Grove and I had not gotten a win in a while. I had been training hard and my legs were loaded badly the week before. This weekend, Linda had backed me off after my hard day on Tuesday and I was feeling itchy to race and to race hard. I knew that on that technical course (hill and corners- LOTS of them), the rain brought in perfect conditions for a break-away. Although I never shy away from a bunch sprint, it is a heck of a lot more fun to win by riding off the front than by sitting in and waiting for some big sprint. I wanted to race my bike! So, on lap 2 or 3, when I saw Kristin Sanders from Aarons launch a small attack, I bridged up to her fast and used her draft to slingshot around her with a hard attack and proceeded to ride hard solo until I was delighted to see Alison Powers bridge right up to me. The perfect break-mate! At this point, the rain was coming down pretty good and Alison is not one to shy away from bad weather either. The two of us started working hard right away and I was fairly certain that we would make the winning break. Shortly thereafter, better news- Kat Carroll from Aarons and Laura Bowls from Chapstick came to join. Kat, Ali and I worked the hardest, letting Laura sit in and get a free ride for most of the race. The rain started to come down harder and we were all working very hard and I, for one, was loving it. Kurt Jambretz (one of the best photographers in the peloton) took SUCH a great shot of Ali and me.... really says it all! (Check out below and click on it for a link to his website. This one was from CyclingNews).
The crowd was great too: I kept hearing my name. Turns out that not only were the Team in Training people there, in the rain, cheering me on... but I had talked to a number of people after the race last weekend and told them to check out Downers. They came to cheer me on!!!! It was just great! I had people cheering me the whole race and I love to hear my name when I am on a bike! I revel in it!
On the last lap, Ali attacked on the back stretch and I was fourth wheel behind her, getting gapped since Kat was a bit slow to respond. I came around Kate and Laura, but Ali lead the final corner (150m to the line). She had about a bike length on me since I had not been able to close all the way yet- I was not worried and knew that I should be able to out-sprint Ali, as that is what I am supposed to do, but then my wheel slipped as I rounded the corner. I missed hitting the deck, but had to delay my sprint as I steadied my bike. Ali at this point had opened up a huge gap on me- several bike lengths, now with less than 150m to go! Fortunately, my meal ticket is in my fast twitch muscle fiber, so thankfully, I was able to open up the gas and take her on the line. It was a fun race for all of us- we had a good time in that break and it turns out (from what I hear) that we had not only put 1’15” on the field, but that we were a scant 13” from lapping them! I had no idea. I was just racing my bike.
The next day was the race to win though- with a National Championship, there is only one spot on that podium that matters: the top step. I was really looking forward to that race and Stacy and Linda had flow in the night before so I had one teammate and a fabulous director. Long story short: it was a disappointing race. We got rain and it was slick and Stacy got caught up in two crashes. That happens in the rain. The last crash for her was with 2 laps to go, ending her race. For me, I had been sitting in all race and was very focused. I had been thinking of where I wanted to be and how I was going to get there the whole race. I was feeling great: with all my hard training, racing hard the night before did not take anything out of my legs. I was hungry, very hungry to win that race. It would be a very hard race to win: a real test. I was ready for that test. Teresa Cliff-Ryan, Laura Van Guilder, Tina Pic... I don’t get to race against all three very often. And of course, there was a host of other top sprinters there too. I wanted to prove that I was someone to win a national title and I was ready.
As expected, the race was not as hard as I would like. The teams to control the race, Colavita, Verducci, Cheerwine- all wanted it to come down to a bunch finish, so they were not attacking the field. I only had one teammate, so we were limited in what we could do about making the race hard. So, it was mostly an easy race and not many riders were dropped. Bummer for me, since as I mentioned before, I thrive on hard races! But that was fine. I was still staying in good position and just keeping my focus. I had stayed rubber-side down and mentally preparing for the finish as we entered the two laps to go point. Stacy had just crashed behind me. I was on my own and knew it. As we headed up the hill, I was on the left side, holding my position and waiting to advance on the descent when two riders in front of me got pinched against the barricade at slow speed (we were going up the hill) and just crashed right in front of me. There was no where that I could go and, although I did not crash myself, I rode over one rider and had gotten completely off my bike and was struggling to clip back in as the pack raced away. Filled with furry and frustration, I chased and I chased hard. They were only 200m or so up the road from me and I was actually convincing myself that I would pull a Robbie McEwen... I was going to catch them and THEN win the sprint! That though kept me racing hard, but it is not a surprise that I could not catch on in time. I caught onto the back fragments of the pack as they were strung out for the finish. Argh. I was frustrated, but that is bike racing. It is what it is.
I am so glad that I was able to pick up a win on Sat though. That really meant a lot to me and it felt good. It had been a while since I had stood atop the golden step. It is at least some consolation for not getting a chance for the finish in the race that really mattered.
Now, I am back in Cleveland and had a great workout yesterday. I had another one of my trainer-hellsprint workouts... the kind where I can barely finish and am dripping with sweat the whole time. I play some interesting mental games to keep myself going and as I write this- I am still not sure how I managed to finish. But I did. I had a great workout and I know that it is going to make me stronger. It already has. But I DO get pretty worked in it... here is a pic of me right after I got off my bike from the warm-up! I still had an hour of hell left. I would have taken a post-hell pic, but I collapsed on the ground and did not want to move for a while. Then I sat in a tub of ice and ate dinner. So, no pics showing the dead to the world rider that I was when I was done yesterday. I like to push myself. So, for some reason... I like this kind of thing.
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