Too sick to race? Do it anyway!

Ok, so I missed my TGIF posting.  Mea culpa.  I woke up Friday morning with a scratchy throat and some minor symptoms of my body fighting something ... the day progressed and I started feeling worse so I pretty much crashed the minute I got home from work.  I slept fitfully and when the boy woke me up to tell me he was heading out for his ride Saturday morning, I barely opened my eyes.  Then the sun started shining in the window, which was open so I heard the birds singing.  Cassius the cat climbed on top of me - he has a talent for parking himself right on my bladder in the mornings.  The trash truck came and created quite a cacophony.  Finally, I just gave up and decided I wasn't sick.  Put on my super-girl suit and headed out to enjoy the sunshine on my bike.  Passed the boy and his crew- they all looked appropriately surprised to see me flying down MacArthur - the last they heard, I was on my deathbed. The operative phrase here is "flying down MacArthur".  When it came to uphill, there was no flying to be done.  I might have set a record with my 16miles in an hour and 45mins.  I was useless when I got home.

Sunday morning, the alarm went off at 5:30 am - the boy came in to get me (he slept on the couch for fear or contracting whatever it was I was suffering from) and we debated on whether I should go race.  Of course I should, I'm constantly prodding women to show up if they want promoters to hold a race for them.  No, I shouldn't, I've been sick for two days.  But it's a double-points race - a championship race!  No, I have a lot planned for Monday.  With no definite answer spoken, the boy started making breakfast (he's good to me) and I slowly got moving.  Breakfast was yummy and I was in a better mood as I hit the road. 

Bonus #1 for being the first race of the day:  excellent parking.   I was parked at the top of the hill, not too far from registration and with a clear view of the dog-leg at the top of the course.  Sweet.  Later in the day I heard people begging to get in - one (unnamed) racer tried to use his pregnant wife as an excuse for race parking! 

Bonus #2 for being the first race of the day: No trainer needed, warm-up is on the closed course. 

Before I knew it, we were lined up and getting our instructions.  The whistle blew and ... I missed my pedal.  Eff.  (sorry CK - new pedals!).  Son-of-a .... ok, thankfully the other girls were feeling their way around the first turns so I could latch on and work my way back up to a better position. The course does get sort of a rhythm to it IF THE RIDERS ARE SMOOTH.  That last part is key, in case the caps lock didn't point that out.  I have often declared that I'd never do BikeJam again - every year someone gets hurt really badly and, lets face it, I have enough trouble without putting myself in a known-to-be-dangerous situation.  But, when the promoters decided to hold a masters field, I knew I had to support the effort.  As expected, the competitors were still competitors but not to the point of taking unnecessary risks.  There were a few -interesting-moves but for the most part, I had fun.  The "hill" to the finish wasn't as hard as I remembered.  I was never in any trouble and I even got to play a little.

After a couple of back-to-back prime laps, the bell rang for the final go-round.  Things got faster and I found myself in a fairly decent position as we approached the finish.  One of the Deep Blue girls jumped up to sprint about halfway up the hill - I hesitated a half-second, thinking - not yet!  I'm not ready yet!  Finally I jumped on the pedals - dare I say, I actually attempted to sprint.  I gained one position so I guess it wasn't completely pathetic.   End result was PODIUM for 35+ and, I think, somewhere around 6th overall. 

Photo credit to Super Dave for this shot:

The boy was coming up later in the day for his afternoon race.  In the meantime, I hung out at the Evo tent (Christine gets major props for setting it up - alone - before the early race), heckling the races with CK, Sue, Gwenn, Phil and Tania, and encountering the likes of Jared and Dave.  I won't even try to explain what was happening here.

Lindsay Bayer, fresh off of her Wilmington Grand Prix win, rolled in and I found out her secret to winning.  If you don't drive like this, folks, you are missing the boat.  Of course it came too late for me to use it in my race but - if you see me pulling up to a race in full bike- gear, watch out.  I'm winning that sh*t.

Nice to run into tons of people I haven't seen in years - including a Kelly club member that I used to train with and Billy, my favorite Baltimore cycling enthusiast. Finally, while watching the boy race, I decided that a smoothie would was in order.  Ah.  Near perfect day, wouldn't you say?

Oh - and remember how I said I was sick going into this?  Yeah.  Despite the smoothie, I lost my voice on my way home.  As in, can't speak above a whisper.  They say this could last a couple of days. 

The things we do to race our bikes. 

TGIF - 5/11/2012 - First Time for Everything

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!  

Can I do a Belated TGIF? 4/28/2012

This weekend's "chase the race" routine finds me in Pittsburgh, where a small-ish crit on Saturday prepped us for the big show - the Steel City Showdown.  The big weekend of travel came as a bit of a surprise even to me, as only a few days ago I commented that I had no desire to drive to Pittsburgh, I was staying local (relatively speaking) to race the Rock Lititz stage race.  Unfortunately, that plan fell apart when the promoter removed the women's category from bikereg.  No announcement, no "last call" ... 4 days before race day and a very unceremonious withdrawal of the women's category.  We can get into the whole "womens racing" debate at a later date - suffice it to say that I'm seeing some new faces and new places and that's good enough for me.

Back up to last week - the All American Road Race.  Decent open women's field with quite a few Category 4 and Junior Racers.  Again, the trouble was partly that the newbies were strong enough to stay in the field but didn't really have the experience or finesse to understand racing in a pack - much less with a yellow-line rule.  I appreciate that they're out there and, hey, we've all been there as beginners with more hubris than common sense.  Once 2 girls got off the front, no one cared to organize for a chase.  With the firepower we had in the field, we could have run them down but everyone thinks they're going to be a sprinter so, we rolled around more or less as a parade, with accelerations here and there along with calls to "organize" and "paceline" from the back.

Favorite moment in the race was when I decided to pull my weight and hopped into a short-lived paceline.  This whole "racing for myself" thing is very odd for me and I'm not sure yet when to use a match and when I should conserve - I'm erring more on conservation until I can figure out the tone of the races and my own limitations.  Anyway, I'm in a very innocuous jersey and a lot of girls don't know that it's me.  So, I pull through, put in a decent dig and proceed to pull off in due time.  The girl coming up next to me kindly coached me through the proper technique (ok, now slow down a little so I can pass you.  good job).  I just smiled and drifted back.  Most of you know that I've been well indoctrinated in pacelines for many years.  I still appreciated that the girl was at least kind and nice about it.

Speaking of which, I'm noticing in no uncertain terms that the tone of womens racing has changed since I last raced (more or less in 2009).  I'm not sure if everyone is just angry when they get to the races or if people think they're going to go pro by bombing the turn at Dolan.  There's definitely an element of middle-school lunch table politics - if you're not in our color than you are the ENEMY, perhaps even the spawn of satan.  I'm all good with healthy competition and, coming to the line, there's only one goal - to WIN.  What I'm seeing, though, is a complete lack of respect and common civility in races.  To the point of taking the safety of the pack for granted - eg. I'm NOT going to let so-and-so get this wheel or make a jump and if I take her out (along with everyone behind her), sobeit.

When someone speaks in the pack, people automatically take offense and mark that person.  I tend to let people know when, coming into a turn, I'm on their inside - you're looking ahead, not to the side, so it's a courtesy and a safety precaution.  If you don't like the heads up - ignore it.  No need for snarky comments or threats.

Ok, I'll climb off my soapbox.  Today started with hail on the drive into Pittsburgh.  Chilly, but not cold - we've been spoiled by the fabulous weather we've enjoyed the past couple months so I keep reminding myself that IT'S NOT THAT BAD.  Time for a quick warmup and off we went with a pack of maybe 15 or 20 girls.  Only a couple were active and after a few nice digs, the eventual winner took off, never to be seen again.  Ok, we could see her, we just weren't going to chase her.  For reasons unknown.  A couple girls tried to activate the field but, again, no one wanted to burn a match to make it happen so we all became sprinters.  I'm not a sprinter but - as mentioned above - I'm just not sure of my limitations yet so aside from a verbal tiff with one of the younger girls (again, note the commentary above), I stayed relatively calm and waited for the finish.

As expected, an attack came on the 2nd to last turn of the oval - unfortunately, it came from the inside, pushing a few of us off our line and I scrubbed off some speed.  Played catch up and made a good run of it to the finish, coming up 8th.  So I'm coming to the line and the girl I had the tiff with saw me coming and kicked it up.  We both threw our bikes and she came up a quarter wheel ahead of me.  I looked over and - graciously said - NICE!  "You didn't get it" she retorted. As I rode away, I told her "I was saying nice job, (insert expletive here)".  See what I mean about lack of respect?  Here I was being gracious to someone who gave me a run for my money and I catch sh!t about it.  Back in my day, women's racing was a lot more fun.  I'm hopeful that we can get back to that but I'm not sure how.