The past couple weeks have been busy, tiring, exhilarating, frustrating and rewarding. If I were less prone to rambling, I might have just tweeted that and called it good. Instead, you get this:
A decent but not great finish at the Steel City Crit a couple weeks ago was part of the frustrating bit. I floated through the pack during the race with no real issues, admittedly suffering a little toward the end. Despite myself, I had a bit left in the tank for the downhill finish. Until I got stuck behind slower rider going into the final turn and had to sprint out of the corner and tried, in vain, to pull out a result. I really have to work on getting in better position for the last corner.
Fast forward to the Tuesday Night Ride from Conte's/Freshbikes. Put this part under frustrating but rewarding. I still haven't figured out the flow of the ride. I find myself in the wrong places when we turn and splits happen where I can see them but can't get out of traffic to get to them. Then I find myself chasing on the wrong parts so when I hit the real hills, I'm already feeling toasty. I'm never happy with my ride there - I just feel like I should be going faster, sticking with the fast guys. As previously mentioned on this blog (ad nauseum) patience is not a virtue of mine.
Next we go to Greenbelt. Where I lasted exactly 2 laps with the B group. WTH?!?!? I can't remember the last time I was dropped from the B group. I rolled the car, changed and left to sulk and wonder what's going on. I've been saying it for weeks but I have to actually admit it now ... I think I have allergies for the first time in my life. Tired, congested, itchy eyes, runny nose (yeah, it's a pretty sight). Most importantly - I can't breathe. I feel like I'm dropping a lung every time I get halfway up a hill. Then I spend 15mins trying to figure out where I left the aforementioned lung because, well, I'm gonna need it for the next climb. After talking with a few other allergy-sufferers, I picked up some Zyrtec and, against my will, started taking it daily.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the boy spent most of his free time last week putting together my new time trial bike. Yes, I bought a new bike. It's a sickness, really. Anyway, it's a pretty sweet ride and completely assembled by the boy. Unfortunately, it wasn't really ride-ready until Friday. The day before the Deep Blue TT. We took it to Hains (doing the anti-rain dance - it worked!!) and I put in about 3 laps there with minor stops to adjust the bars/saddle height. We packed it up that night and headed to DE for the race early on Saturday.
This was going to be either really good or ... really bad. The course was sight unseen. I did ride up to scope out the start - coming out of a cargo plane - and thought to myself "If I make it down that ramp without dumping it, we'll call the day a success". As you can tell, I like to set my standards pretty high.
I was registered -for the first time! - in the masters race. I hadn't done a time trial since 2008. Yeah. This was going to be interesting. If you've never done Deep Blue, it's held at the Air Mobility Command Museum. You warm up on tarmac littered with HUGE out of service military planes. If you're not mindful, you might hit your head on a propeller. The actual start is out the back of a C-130. I watched quite a few riders bobble down the ramp so I was naturally terrified that I would wipe out there. It wasn't pretty, but I did make it down the ramp. I was so concerned about getting down the ramp that I forgot to turn on my new computer. Lost a bit of time sitting up and waiting, waiting, waiting for it to find satellites and finally setting the timer. After that, I settled in pretty quickly and just pedaled. Early on, I looked down and was a little disappointed with the power I was holding. Then I realized I forgot to "calibrate" the computer. Power was useless so I switched back to heart rate. Blasphemy!!
And so I pedaled. Saw a couple girls ahead, made them the focus of my attention (cue the greyhound/rabbit routine). Passed them but they weren't in my field. Drat. Was very, very surprised when I saw the 200m sign. I must've missed the 1k sign. I passed a line on the road and kept going, looking around to ask someone - Was that really the finish? It was just a line on the road with a suspicious-looking van on the side of the road. That was the finish!?! Very unceremonious. Drifted in, did a recovery spin and waited for results. The boy saw them before I did and was ecstatic - I think he felt as much pressure for the bike to perform as I felt to perform. So .... even though it was a time trial ... I got my first gold medal since 2008!!
Much of the credit goes to the boy, who desperately wanted me to do this race and worked tirelessly to finish setting up my bike - it was near perfect and, most importantly, I could walk after the race. It's the little things, ya know?
Next up, the Bunny Hop. Ah, the site of the disaster that nearly ended my race career. It was very important for me to have a decent day there- mentally, spiritually and emotionally. The 35+/45+ race was fast and smooth. It was actually FUN! As we're coming into the last corner, I'm on a good wheel moving forward on the inside. (unnamed rider) decides that she wants that wheel and inserts herself between me and another girl on my right, physically bobbling back and forth between us. I yelled at her that there was no room and she answered with some primal "AYYYYAYYAYYA". It was either hit the brakes or hit the curb (thereby taking everyone behind me down as well). I opted to spare myself (and others) the fun of road rash and/or broken bones. Yeah, I wussed out but I'm not going to go for that bullsh*t going forward. That happened once and I assure you, next time I'm throwing elbows. I would have doubted myself (maybe I'm too timid) but many others saw it happen - everyone said that "someone" should say something. Yeah, they should.
We had one race between the masters and the open race. A quick recovery and we were back at it. I did think ahead to bring another kit - this made me very, very happy. The race was little less fluid in the open but only a couple of issues with safety. It was an active race, but when rockstar Katy Giles went, she went and no one wanted to answer. A few accelerations and, on the 2nd to last lap, a wreck happened right behind me. All accounts said everyone was ok but, given my history at the Hop, I was done. I finished with the field, making a half-assed effort at sprinting for, probably, 20th or so. I wasn't overly thrilled but quickly got some perspective: goal #1 still stands - UPRIGHT.
Lessons learned: position, position, position. Allergies suck, zyrtec helps. People still take stupid risks with everyone else's safety, even in "masters" level racing. Respect and civility between riders is so valuable and absolutely appreciated. Sometimes things don't work out the way you want them to, no matter how hard you try or how bad you want it.
So - first time trial, first win, first masters race, first season of allergies, first time in many years that I've been able to double up. Yeah, there's a first time for everything - sometimes a "second" first that actually means a little bit more than the first one!
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