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I am down here for fitness and I will get plenty of it. This is my 3rd week back on the back and I can feel a difference in my endurance already. There is something to be gained with lots of miles on the bike. I just can't wait to go REALLY FAST again on the track... you can't beat the feeling of flying off the banking of a velodrome.
Yesterday was a short time trial. The course was mainly rolling but had a big kicker of a hill at the end. I think I may have been one of three girls in the Pro1/2 field without a TT bike. (Yes, that counts as "Lame Act" number 1 on my part.) Whatever. I had some girl ask me if "those are the wheels you are going to race on?" Funny. I just laughed for a response. I happen to love my wheels, thanks. She rode off down the road only leaving the whooshing sound of her disc wheel. I ended middle of the pack and 40-some seconds from the leader.
Thinking there was a 10 second mid-race time bonus sprint today and another one tomorrow, I was thinking there was hope of me moving up in the overall General Classification (GC). When we got to the line this morning, we were informed of the new USAC rules that make mid-race sprints only worth 3 seconds. Hmmm, well, I thought I would still go for it. Why not? So, the race bible explained that the sprint was 5 miles into the first lap and 1.5 miles after our first right hand turn. I sat towards the front of the field for the first 15 miles looking for the "50 MPH" sign where the sprint was to happen. Saw the sign but no officials. Ok, then, no sprint I guess. As we role through the Start/Finish line finishing our 1st of 3 laps, I hear the official say some girls name who won the sprint. "Lame Act" number 2 on the race/official/whoever. Oh well, 3 seconds is only 3 seconds. I do realize that putting on a race is tough work and I appreciate what race promoters do BIG TIME.
There were big rollers on this course and my goal was to make it to the end with the lead group/pack. I thought there would be some serious attacks going on by the 3-4 teams that had big numbers because the girls in 1st and 2nd place after the TT had no or limited teammates. But, no major attack/counterattacks. There were jumps and some people tried getting away in the hills but the teams never seemed to work to counterattack and get their people off the front. I stayed active but didn't try and instigate anything.
"Lame Act" number 4 was the fault of the road or the girl in front of me who didn't point anything out as she swerved to miss the huge pothole as we were flying down a descent. The good news is that I didn't crash and as far as I know, nothing is broken. The bad news is that I nailed a hole in the street and my bars jammed down into the totally awkward position for the rest of the race. There was neutral support but they were busy with a flat so I decided on riding with them like that instead of getting the fix and chasing to get back in the pack by myself. So, it ended pretty lame with me not being able to reach my brakes or shift when my hands were on my hoods AND being in a strange position with my hands in the drops. Uncomfortable is lame and out of control is even lamer.
The finish was in the hills so I thought for sure the girls would blow the pack apart in the hills on the last lap. Not sure if we lost people or not because I did everything I could to stay near the front. With about 2k to go I found myself with 4 other girls with a small gap off the front. I don't know if people didn't realize we had a gap or the gap wasn't big enough but nobody wanted to work it so the pack was catching up. At the 1k sign the pack was just catching the back of us and I decided to try something way outside my comfort zone. I jumped. Now, for me, that is early. I did get a gap and thought for a second that the move could stick but I was caught with 200 meters to go and totally sat up for the finish. "Lame Act" number 5 was not sticking the move. Oh well on that one though. It isn't like me to try something new but I also know that to be a road sprinter, I need to learn to sprint longer. Not only did I think it was the instinctive move with the pack catching the back of our small group but I also didn't want to be in a pack sprint with my bars all messed up. It would have been really lame sprinting in an unsafe position. Now I know that maybe 1k to go is too long for me :)
Tomorrow won't be lame... promise!
I had some great downtime yesterday with my mom. We went and saw "It's Complicated" at this cheap theater. Only $3.25 for all current movies... $1 on Tuesdays. I'll go back there and catch up on the movie watching for sure!!!
Cari
