Spring Classics: The Highly Anticipated Report From The Cat. 4 Women's Field...
Now that my tan lines are deeply formed I guess it is time for a look back at the spring racing season. But first, some background filler. I just moved up to Maine from the awesomeness of the 603. I was sad to leave a great bunch of cycling friends I had made in Portsmouth area and unsure of what to expect up in Portland. Too be honest, words can't say enough about the great cycling community up here! I quickly found great group rides, learned some local hills to hammer on and above all found the Base36 cycling club! I even scored a sweet deal on last years kit which was "on sale".
I had done a few races last summer after some encouragement from a group I was riding with but came into it late, so this year's Spring was entirely new to me. First up, Turtle Pond. There certainly weren't any of these at the race, but there were a few familiar faces. We had three laps to complete, it was hot, and my teammate who was looking super strong got taken out by someone in the pack who swerved reaching for a Tri Berry Gu, or maybe it was a Chocolate Outrage I can't remember. It was dumb luck that I didn't go down with them and managed to come in 6th overall.
On to Sterling. This race was all about the weather. I was so cold from warming up in it that by the time the neutral vehicle pulled away and let the race start I started peddling so that the race would end. After the first of three laps, I decided to mellow out as the field had been reduced on some of hills and it was down to six of us. That soon turned to 5 as one girl stood up to peddle just as she was crossing the slick white line and she went down. Down to five. I hesitated a little on the final up hill sprint but got 3rd.
The Sunapee Road Race consisted of starting only about a minute behind the juniors. The officials neutralized the juniors about five miles into the race when we caught up to them. We passed the field and continued on our way, only to be neutralized at mile ten for the junior field that this time passed us. For the rest of the race we basically rode behind the junior race and were neutralized several more times on hills which kept our field together. The finish turned into a bunch sprint and there was some confusion about the finish. There was a lot of shouting in the final 200m and I threw on my brakes as I realized we were finishing on the wrong side of the split road but it was too late. I got 11th with about ten other women because there was no way to tell who came in where. I learned my lesson about getting into better positioning going into the final sprint.
Next up was the Killington Stage Race...back from a ten year hiatus. Great three days of racing. First up was a circuit race. I went for the first KOM at the 500m mark and promptly blew up at the 100m mark as virtually the entire field passed me. Got a good position on the bunch sprint finish and came in fourth. The TT the next day was rolling with an awesome headwind. Good thing I didn't have a TT bike and aero helmet! Just kiddin. It would have been very helpful but I rode as hard as I could hunched over and got 10th. Last day had some tough hills, two in particular. One came at about mile 30 and enabled six of us to get off the front. Moto Liz, the awesome motorcycle official, kept us informed of our gap which at the greatest was 2 minutes. We were four miles out from the final climb when Moto Liz abruptly stopped us and said the road ahead was closed due to an accident. Turned out to be a really bad Cat. 4 men crash. Makes you remember that this is all just for fun and not to take risks that are too crazy. We ended up standing on the side of the road for at least 30 minutes while they airlifted the injured rider. I ran out of water but another woman in the break was super kind and gave me about half a bottle of HEED (I hope they pay me for that link if I get enough "hits"). Anyways, Moto Liz allowed us to keep our break which was down to 75 seconds and off we went. We had four miles to go before the 5k mark and the last deal breaker of a climb. My legs have never felt so sludgy before and pulling through our paceline was not as fun as it had been earlier. Our group of six splintered on the last hill. I finished 5th and got enough time on the field to move from 10th to 5th GC...in the sweet sweet money! (Almost paid for half the entry fee:-)
Last race was Lake Auburn Road Race. Another rainy day. After about ten frantic calls in the morning, and a lot of hemming and hawing, my teammate and I decided to drive up and then just go out for breakfast if it was still raining. I was debating between eggs sunnyside up or blueberry pancakes. Settled for a banana. It stopped raining and I had already paid my $25 race fee so off we went with a mixed field of Cat 4 racing with Cat 1, 2,3. It worked out well for me as I was able to grab a wheel on one of the hills in the first lap and hang on. The three of us worked together awesomely for the next two laps and while I died on the last hill, I got 3rd place and 1st overall for the Cat. 4.
I had a lot of fun racing this spring and learned a lot in the process. My legs have gotten a bit stronger, though thankfully they don't look like this. I'm hoping to learn a LOT more about crit racing this summer, most importantly cornering. Looking forward to seeing you all on the Tuesday night rides!
