My last race was August 16, the Winters Road Race. Nothing like riding on your own home turf! I know those roads like the back of my hand, I ride them so often. Every day there's something different about the scenery. That day it was all the bikes.
The Women's Category 4 went off last. First the promenade through Winters, and once we were on Old Winters Road, we opened up. Well, not really. The women were surprisingly slow -- much slower than I had anticipated. I sat close to the back of the pack, staying with them but not on their wheels -- some of them were sketchy and I didn't want to be taken out.
The first climb on Timm Rd. separated the pack. My teammate took off with the faster group, I couldn't get around the riders in front of me. I remember thinking that this was called "racing," not riding around waiting for sh*t to happen. They weren't ready for the false top and I picked up speed as they dropped off.
First time through the neutral feed zone and Chris handed me off a bottle. Mmmm, cold (for a minute) water. I can't tell you how much I appreciated hearing my friends' and husband's cheers of encouragement. I kicked it up a notch and climbe Cantelow like I've never climbed it before.
In fact, that entire race I rode out of my comfort zone. Of course a race isn't about being comfortable, but I went beyond the usual pain and took chances like I've never taken them. My adrenal glands were working overtime, that's for sure.
Screaming down Pleasant's Valley Road, passing people (yessss!), being passed by the Pro/1/2 men -- a large, fast-moving pack -- I came up on 5 women riding a paceline and they invited me to join in. What a blessing that was, let me tell you. We took turns pulling, using the rests to their full advantage, conserving our energy for the final lap. We worked all the way around to the feed zone again. It was hot, hard work, and I was determined to ride my best. Two bottles of Accelerade, nasty when warm, but that's what got me through.
I sprinted up the rest of Cantelow, having left half the girls of my small group behind. I ended up working alone all the way down Pleasant's Valley, and halfway along Putah Creek Rds. when I came upon Janice, the DBC woman from the small group. She and I worked together until we saw the finish line. We contested the sprint: She turned up some speed, I answered. She kicked it up again, I did likewise. She turned on the afterburners and pulled away. I was spent. She beat me by 1/2 bike length. No shame in being barely bested by a woman 20 years' my junior. Overall I finished 16th of 38 women. Yay, me!
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