Playing with the Big Girls

So this weekend was my first NRC race of the year - Wilmington Grand Prix in DE. First, let me rant for a second over the fact that every freakin' year, a race in wilmington is held the day before a race in southern MD (previously Leonardtown, this year was Southern MD Crit) ... it hurts my heart to kill that many dead dinosaurs in one weekend. Anyhoo.

Since my NRC experiences last year were less than good (don't get me started on my training issues in 2007), this was a big deal to me. I'm starting to come on strong as my training is progressing, but this was the big test. Someone told me there were about 60 women lined up for the race, with teams like Advil, Cheerwine, TIBCO and Juice-Plus showing up in force. Michelle and I discussed whether it was just us or does Juice-Plus sound like something we shouldn't be doing per the rules in competitive cycling? I digress. I had a good spot on the start line but, alas, that wasn't the start line. That was the pre-start line where they call up riders for the start, then we all fight and finagle our way to a dreadful, back of the pack starting spot. Sweet. My girl Leslie Jennings, being the rockstar that she is, got a call up, which was super cool - she was stressing her starting position and wound up first on the line.

Michelle had a great spot, too, and when they blew the whistle I had enough time to look up and see her jumping into a top spot as I was fighting to find my pedal. Seriously, don't we do this enough that we shouldn't be missing pedals in the middle of the season ? So, as per usual, I got a crap start and had to chase back through the field to get in good position. The first two corners were fast, which was great for me. Line up on the outside so you can swing wide and pass all the girls who got pinched on the inside. Done. The backstretch was a long wind-tunnel. The trick was to quickly get from the outside of the turn to the inside of the straight to get wind-protection from the pack. Then get back on the outside for the turn into the uphill and hold it there through the slow 4th turn. If you were in the back for the 4th turn, you're screwed - everyone jumps on the long straight-away on the way to start/finish. I know this because it happened to me a couple of times and I silently cursed myself for being in bad position every time. At least I think it was silent cursing ...

By the 3rd or 4th lap, I was sitting pretty in top 10, which was my goal for this race - try to stay near the front instead of yo-yo-ing off the back only to get dropped. At one point I started following wheels and found myself in a 3-woman break with Susanna from LSV - who, incidentally, is riding like she means it this year. I was kind of giggling to myself -as much as you can giggle in zone 12 - thinking ... WTF ? I'm in a break in an NRC race ? Of course, it was short-lived and I wasn't about to do anything stupid like kill myself to try to stay away ... 'cause that would be .... stupid. I drifted back through the pack as the counter went and unfortunately found myself about 4 riders back as the field split. On the windy backstretch. I started to chase but realized that there were only about 15 riders up there, so there HAD to be more behind me.

As a few riders trickled by, we formed a group and got to moving again. HPC apparently got left out of the split - which was the chase group by this time as rock-star Laura Van Gilder went off with Advil and Juice-Plus - and started working to bring it back. I sat on. Despite being heckled to pull through. I will never be accused of not doing my work in a race (I'm not a sprinter so sitting in and sprinting isn't exactly a good thing for me), but in an NRC race, I've got no business trying to be a hero. Sonja from C3 came through pretty hard and would essentially drop us on the uphill between turns 3 & 4, but we'd catch back up to her on the long frontstretch. HPC and Sonja did a ton of work (yes, I pulled through a couple times, as did some other riders) to pull things back together and we were back in the mix with about 10 laps to go. By the way, at one point in the middle of the race I made the mistake of looking at the lap cards ... it said 21 laps to go. I believe I audibly whimpered when I realized I wasn't even halfway through the race.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch - I mean up in the front pack, Leslie had been quietly hanging out. By hanging out, I mean pedaling her arse off. I knew she was up there and when we made contact with them I made a point to let her know I was there. Not like I had a whole bunch left to help her in the finish. The lead-3 were away, never to be seen by the peloton again. But when we joined the chase group, I was disappointed to see that we were a huge group. I guess the race was easier than I thought and everyone else stayed in ? More on that in a second. I moved up through the pack and found myself once again in the top-15 or so, holding steady. I had found a groove where I could expend as little energy as possible on the back-stretch and through the corners and yo-yo through the field fairly easily. I was feeling pretty good and a little anxious about the finish. With 2 to go, a Hub rider (unbeknownst to me, she was lapped) decided to try the same tactics on the backside of the course and cut me off in the corner - then proceeded to fade and gap me off the field. EFF !!! I chased the whole last lap, finally making contact in turn 3, only to have to jump out of turn 4. I just didnt have it - the heart, the legs or the lungs. I sat up and smiled as I coasted in - still annoyed by aforementioned Hub rider but very happy in my first NRC performance of the year. No ill-will meant toward Hub rider - we've all made the over-ambitious mistake at some time or another.

Now, back to that huge field I observed when we rejoined the chase group. About half of those riders were lapped riders. Teammate Robin, cheering on the sidelines, told me afterward. It made me feel better that it was NOT an easy race. Anyway, I understand wanting to give us locals a fighting chance to play with the big-girls, but if the lapped riders don't have enough sense to stay out of the finishing melee, they should be pulled. My opinion - and believe me, I've been that lapped rider that was pulled (and was usually thankful to be put out of my misery).

The great news is that I finished in the $$ - 23rd in an NRC race ! I was super stoked with the finish and with the race overall. Tell that to my coach, who commented on my numbers for the day:"it looks like you cracked about an hour in". Damn this sport anyway - good is never quite good enough !!

Cheers to all the local girls who done good - our number 1 fan, Lance (ABRT), who had his own issues in the 3/4 race, said it was one of the best womens races he's seen. It was safe, it was fast and I was proud to be a part of it. Awesome.