I've been receiving a bit of criticism regarding the frequency at which this blog is updated. Life is pretty boring when you're not winning bike races and spending a month and a half off the bike (because of injury and other excusable activities) doesn't prepare one well for such achievement. The time off did, however, give me some good time to think. The conclusion I came to was that my life was lacking the spice it used to have. The only logical solution was the make the changes/replacements required. So, please meet the new "love of my life" that moved in this weekend. I believe with a bit of grooming we're going to work out just fine.....

Consistency is key. That’s why my race recaps are consistently late.

Here are some important things I learned in my first races as a cat 3. mixed in with excerpts from the races this weekend.

#1 Riding smart is a must.
The cool thing about bike racing is that the strongest person doesn’t always win. If the strongest person always won, bike racing would be boring. I should point out, however, that with regards to this weekend, I think the strongest couple of riders did go 1-2-3. After that it was all about brains and skill, and not horsepower. It’s kind of like my father always preached as I was learning to drive, “Expect the unexpected, and drive as though the worst things possible are going to happen.” This weekend’s races boosted my confidence in my ability to hang with the ladies of the upper categories, but it proved that if you want to win races, you have to not only ride smart, but watch out for those not riding smart. The 7th place finish on Saturday in the Winfield Twilight Crit. Was simply because I didn’t ride smart. I crested the final climb with poor position and while I did take back places between the final corner and the line, if I had positioned myself better I might have been among the top few. Sunday’s 7th place finish was disappointing for me because for the most part I think I rode a smart and strong race, but I didn’t watch out for those not riding a smart race. I had good position going into the last corner, but I was getting overly excited about my first real group sprint finish. In doing so I took my mind off watching for other riders that might not be riding smart. Thus, I was riding stupidly. At that moment another rider literally almost brushed arm hair with me as she darted from the inside all the way across the corner to the outside curb! I grabbed my breaks and was lucky to just stay upright. I must have replayed the last 400 meters of that race in my head 100 times on the drive home while I watched the other six girls rev up and duke it out at the line. Needless to say that was an extremely disappointing end to an otherwise great race. I had to settle for another 7th place. If I had the opportunity to sprint, I don’t think I would have ended up 7th, but I wasn’t paying close enough attention and someone else’s carelessness and in this particular case it bought them a few places higher on the podium; however, I believe in general, smart racing is rewarded. Lessons noted.

#2 Don’t line up at any race you don’t think you can win.
A smart co-worker of mine said this to me. I think those are words to live by in bike racing and they come from a man with a pretty extensive background in racing. The same thing goes for attacking and trying to initiate a break. Don’t bother expending the energy unless you have the finish line in the back of your mind and think you can make it happen. I guess I got half way there on Sunday when I attacked over the top of the hill. With some smart work from my teammates (on the front, letting the gap open up), I was able to put a notable gap on the field and get things pretty strung out. I saw some big numbers on my PT and really felt like I was killing it. When I jumped I thought, “Go big or go home” and had intentions of trying to make something happen. I need to work on the mental toughness. When I looked back after drilling it for a little while, and people were closer than I had expected, that confidence I had initially was crushed. The pack preyed on that weakness and slight hesitation and soon I was being reeled back in. After the race several girls told me they were about to let me go….I didn’t think I could get away, and I didn’t.

And…..

#3 Get A Grip has some mad horsepower!
I think we’re lacking in the experience arena relative to some of the more mature women’s teams but this weekend proved we’ve got the horsepower to make something happen. 4 ladies in the top 8 on Saturday even after putting in some aggressive attacks and 3 ladies in the top 7 on Sunday. Not too bad given it is essentially my first real racing season, another teammate’s race total can be expressed on one hand and the third doesn’t even focus on road racing. We’ve got a great cat. 1 anchor/leader and I think with some experience racing and working together we’ll be a player in the Midwest….something exciting to look forward to.

One of my goals for this season was to win Snake Alley and get some other good results at the Memorial Day weekend races before making the jump to Cat 3. It was my second stab at all of the races after some disappointing results last year because I wasn’t logging the training time. I came back stronger to start the year off (probably as a result of all the training volume of last year in preparation for the ironman…..just proof triathlons are awesome). A few months of training with the powertap, a pretty decent coach ;) and some great prerace advice/strategy really paid off this year and I nabbed the first goal of the year. Here’s a little break down of the races….

Snake Alley
I think about 20 women lined up for the race. Since I hadn’t preregistered I started near the back and when the lead women took off like bats out of hell from the gun I found myself in pretty poor position approaching “The Snake” for the first lap. A few girls went down right next to me in the first switchback, probably as a result of misjudging what gearing they’d need. I can’t blame them as I almost found myself in the same position last year, but just managed to keep it upright. After some serious wheel rubbing with one other woman throughout the first time up the shoot, I managed to get clear of the biggest groups. There were still a handful of women quite a bit up the road but my legs felt surprisingly good. Rumor has it brakes aren’t needed on the descent. I did my best but still needed to use them a little as I was still sharing the road with a few other women. At the bottom I could see the leaders still up the road and I grabbed the wheel of another woman still in front of me. We gained some ground on Kelli Mente (Punk Rock Cycling) and Sarah Huang, who were leading at that point. I don’t remember exactly, but I think going into the shoot for the 3rd lap I was able to barely pass the two leaders up and put in a bit of a gap by the top. The rest of the race was basically a time trial to the line of my second victory ever! I apologize to those who have expressed concern with my finish style but a victory is better celebrated upright and not on the ground.

Melon City
This race was more representative of what real racing should be like. I have to give mad props to the women from Punk Rock Cycling. They’re strong and they were throwing attacks like mad…great strategy since they had several women hanging in the top 10. Without any teammates in the field I really had to gamble and cover everything with hopes I could still pull off a sprint if that’s what it came to. I think the repeated attacks and subsequent efforts required in the field started to slowly shed people and string the field out. I was certainly starting to question whether I’d have it in me either for the end or to finally get an attack to stick. Finally, one of the Punk Rock girls threw a really hard attack from a ways back in the field and it was Kelli Mente, Sarah Huang and, her and myself up the road a bit. The attack must have cooked her but she got her teammate up the road and Kelli and I worked together to keep the pace up and the gap stable. Coming up the hill on the final lap I found myself in front and knew I needed to be the first wheel into the hairpin corner so I gave it one more effort. Surprisingly my legs hadn’t quit on me and I put a big enough gap between myself and the girls and took it to the line. Again, a two-hands-on-the-bars finish, but nonetheless a victory.

Quad Cities
This was another fun race and I really like this course. This time I started in the third row and spent the first lap pretty boxed in near the back. Luckily the girls at the front were pushing the pace enough that little gaps would open up near each corner and I quickly moved up to about 5th wheel by the second lap. My plan for the race was to ride in the top 6 or so, try and get on board if any breaks went otherwise throw an attack on or during the last lap and try and take it home. There were a few small attack efforts but the field quickly pulled things back and the extra effort ended up being a waste. Kelli Mente road really strong again pushing the pace and pulling the field for most of the race. At one point I was off the front with her and Sarah again. Sarah must have been feeling good because she took some great pulls (unfortunately when you’re twice her size the draft isn’t that great). It came down to the last lap with Kelli, Sarah and myself near the front again and since I didn’t know what caliber sprinters either of them were I decided to gamble and go since my legs were feeling strong. I told myself to just kill it and it’d be less than two minutes to the line. Initially I don’t think there was much of a gap but I kept hammering and checking behind me. Going into the last corner I had enough of a gap to breathe and take in what will probably be the last victory I’m going to get for a while. My 3 upgrade came in last night so now I’m ready to rock and roll with the big girls. The only major goal I’ve got is to not get dropped. Now I have teammates and next up are the Winfield races this weekend. Gotta bring my “A” game.

All in all it was a great race weekend. The races were hard, but I still got some good results. All I have to say is the women’s bike racing scene better watch out….little Sarah Huang is going to be kicking ass and taking names before she even has a drivers license.

Well here’s another late race recap….

Monsters of Midway was this past weekend. First I raced the 4’s and managed the win despite some stomach problems and possibly mild food poisoning from lunch or dinner the day before. I barely scraped by and took the first prime after which I found a big gap had opened upbehind myself and another racer. We started to work together but the headwind must have been too much for her and she dropped off within 2 rotations, at which point I was joined by a third racer. She and I worked together off the front for a few laps, but weren’t able to put any additional space into the field so I decided to sit up and conserve energy for the final sprint which sure ended up being a smart decision. There were a few other girls in the field I knew could sprint pretty well, so I was pretty anxious going into the last turn. When someone made a move to take the inside position that I wanted (to gutter things out in last stretch), I jumped a little bit to regain my position. I guess the rest of the field thought I was making my move because before I knew it I was maxed out and no where near the line. The last stretch turned into a bit of a drag race which was probably in my favor because I didn’t have to beat anyone at the line, rather just outlast them up to it. One by one people fell off the top speed a bit and I got a little space before the line. My first “V”!

Next, I raced the 3’s. I was really hoping for another win, but walked away with a close second. The race was pretty uneventful. I contested the first prime but just didn’t quite have the legs to get around the other girl contesting it. We opened up another big gap but there didn’t appear to be any interest in going for a break and it was only about 2 laps into the race. The second and third prime I just made sure to keep myself near the girls contesting it so nothing could open up, but didn’t expend the juice to go for it. The entire field stayed together so it came down to a group sprint finish. I went for the inside line again and grabbed the wheel of the only other girl who seemed to understand how to work the wind. We flew up the inside of the road with the rest of the group to the far right. I’m not sure they even knew we were over there but the girl I was following had some legs and we quickly passed the main pack. I probably needed about 5 more yards to finish getting around her but was still gaining at the line. Oh well, next time.

Props to everyone involved with running the Monster’s races. The separate 3’s category was a really nice addition. The race was run beautifully….but next time can you dial down the head wind?

Up next….Snake Alley, Melon City and Quad Cities! Hopefully at least 1 more win….then it’s time to put on the big girl pants and cat up!

The weather cooperated for one out of the two race days this weekend. Saturday was miserable, though I felt like I was right back at home in Champaign. I don’t actually know what the winds were gusting to, but I am going to venture to say it was close to or above 40 mph. Either way, it sucked.
After hardly moving for the first part of the first lap that we road behind the juniors race my teammate (Devon) and I decided to attack. One other really strong rider came with us from Texas Roadhouse. After the initial attack and continued fast pace I started to wear out after about half a lap (4 miles). Devon took one for the team and gave me a chance to get my HR back down a bit and thereafter I felt great (Thanks!). The three of us got a pretty good rotation going. Just before the start/finish line with two laps to go Devon flatted. The TR woman and I kept rolling and Devon managed to get a wheel, get it pumped up and then work her way back through the field and joined us with about a quarter lap to go. As we had agreed earlier, I attacked and the TR woman worked to pull me back and kept working hard to try and spit me out the back. I hung for a short bit but I didn’t eat and was starting to really feel the repercussions. I fell off just before the line came into sight. Devon played the end great, road the TR wheel up to the line and came around her for the win! Get A Grip got 1st and 3rd!
Sunday yielded some more results! Unfortunately I was representing Get A Grip solo on Sunday, but the weather was beautiful and I was surprisingly feeling pretty good. A couple attempts were made by various teams to get off the front of the flat, fast course early on, but it was just too easy to pull things back. Finally, Texas Roadhouse went and it started to stick. I was poorly positioned to go with her and no one made a jump for her wheel (or couldn’t get it?) It was early so I figured I might end up better off just leaving her hang for a while since it seemed there was enough horsepower in the pack to pull her back if we got organized. After a little bit, the chaos and lack of cooperation in the field got irritating so when the bell rang for a prime I decided I was going for that and then just gonna keep running down the TR woman. I took the prime with some help from another pseudo teammate and road trip partner (Team Tortuga) and kept gunning. I caught the TR woman fairly quickly and in another lap or two we were joined by a third strong rider (fellow traithlete) and got a great rotation going. The last lap we came around and lapped the field! Unfortuantely, I misshifted and missed the TR woman’s wheel into the sprint and came up a bit short at the line. All in all, a great weekend with a 2nd and 3rd place finish against some tough gals. I’ll take it!
Up next….probably a weekend off, then Monsters!