The start to the season was not in the actual race, it was pre-race. Right before I rolled out to stage, I got to witness some poor guy heaving up his breakfast, last night's dinner and maybe yesterday's lunch. I didn't see it at first, I HEARD it ... which is worse in my book. Anyhoo, that didn't give me any warm and fuzzies for the break-in race.
While the Bikereg field was only 5 deep, that didn’t
account for about 15 Collegiate “A” ladies that would be racing with us. Those
ladies are already in their race season so I knew they’d be a little further
along in fitness than I was. Our fields were scored separately so while the collegiates
would influence the race, they were not our competition for the win.The other 1-2-3 women included 2 BikeBeat (VA Beach)
riders and one NCVC rider. As a side note, NCVC has been racing for the past
month all over the country culminating in a stage win in the Valley of Sun race
(AZ). NCVC was definitely the one to beat.
Anyhoo, the schedule called for 5 laps totaling 50 miles
but the race was cut by 1 lap before we started for reasons unknown to me.
We rolled out all neutral-like, happy to get moving if
only to warm up from standing in the cold. After a hard left on to the course,
the race was on. The pace picked up, driven mostly by the collegiate racers. I
expected a surge on the first hill but that didn’t come until after we crested
what looked like the top but actually continued at a more gradual grade upward.
The acceleration fizzled and while we shed a few racers, we were mostly
together. That was a fine hello, how-do-ya-do for my legs.
I spent the next two laps tail-gunning, covering moves if they looked dangerous and keeping an eye on the two BikeBeat girls. I couldn’t really gauge them. They were both kind of stocky and showed they had power (especially on the flats). Then I noticed that they both charged the front as we approached the climbs and drifted back as we went vertical. As long as they didn’t get a huge lead on me for the finishing climb, I’d be ok.
After many fits and starts, commentary about cold hands,
cold feet and fish stories about prior races complemented by some bickering
amongst the younger riders, we FINALLY made the turn off the course for the
final 1k run into the finish, which consisted of a short, flat section into a
bugger of a hill. The collegiates in contention animated and I saw NCVC
making the move to follow. I jumped a half second later and saw a clean line on
the right. I had a good run going until it was shut down by another rider
pulling right. I had to hold a pedal stroke, wait for someone to pass, move to
the left and re-start the effort. I managed to pick off riders after that
debacle but lost a few overall spots in the process.The good news is that I managed to pick off the right girls to wind up 2nd in the 1-2-3 race. Not a bad way to get back in the groove.
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