This past weekend I decided to skip Lost River and collect myself after Coppi. I haven't raced Coppi since ... maybe 2008? And I remembered why about halfway through the race. The course doesn't seem overly hard but it's a doozy.
I was there early to hang out in the feedzone with the likes of Katy and Kat - both of whom are formidable road racers so I knew it was going to be a long day. As I watched the guys finish up, I wasn't feeling any better about it; most of them looked like death. The clouds were parting and temps were rising - definitely a long day ahead.
As I'm pulling myself together I realize that I forgot my race wheels. The boy had laid the bag against my bike so I'd have to see them - and I did, as I moved them out of the way to carry my bike out to the car. Thankfully, he was finished with his race wheels so we quickly made the change and I was on my way. The 1-2-3s were racing with the 4s but scored separately, so it made for a decent size field, given the time of year and the difficulty of the race.
We got underway after a neutral-ish roll out and commenced with small accelerations but nothing super hard. ABRT had the most riders in the field, as usual, and we all knew it was a waiting game to see who went first (and who countered). The attacks started and the field shrank but Kelley and I both held on and made it through to the rather civilized climb to finish the first lap. As soon as we made the first right turn, it was on for reals. One after another, attack, counter attack. It's a simple and effective strategy if you've got the bullets to spend. I followed one, got brought back, recovered, followed another ...(repeat a couple times) until we hit the dreaded stair-stepper, where ABRT attacked again and I just couldn't follow. I was summarily dropped and considered soft pedaling in. But no, I could still see the pack ahead of me and Kelley was up there so I went into "rabbit/greyhound" mode - chase what's moving in front of me. I made it up to one group of riders and we slowly clawed our way up to what was left of the pack after it split. Kelley was in that pack and I was happy to see a friendly face. I had recovered a bit by then and I started pushing the pace. A cat4 kept jumping, trying to break free, and I kept jumping with her as the 2 ABRTs in the group would bring us back. I didn't understand - the main pack was in view, we could do this!
I proceeded to question WHY - why won't they let us go? It's a Cat4 and me. Let us dangle out there, let us drag you up. The 2 ABRTs with us had been given the direction that they were to ride slow and keep anyone from rejoining. Really? If I went, killed myself to get up to the pack and brought them up to their teammates, wouldn't that make more strategic sense for them (not necessarily for me!) I tried to explain this to them in vain. They did wind up letting a Cat 4 slip off the front but refused to let me race. By this time we had whittled down to 4 - two cat 1/2/3 and two cat 4s. One ABRT in each category. Why the Cat4 ABRT let another Cat 4 off, I'll never understand.
So, I sat on. I surfed wheels, let ABRT pull me around and refused to pull through. Coming through to the bell lap, it was something close to a cookie ride. I looked around and realized we had dropped one of the ABRT riders so we were down to 3- ABRT, NCVC and me. I still let the ABRT drag us around and we picked up a Kenda rider - she was obviously suffering but rallied to catch the train as we came through.
We kept a decent pace through the rest of the lap. I couldn't do anything but wait for the finish. Quote of the day was something to the effect of "Oh God, there it is" ... as the finishing hill came into view. We all giggled in commiseration. I practiced a sprint up the hill - I was actually trying but it had to have looked ridiculious. One of these days, I'll figure out how to be graceful on the bike. Maybe.
I need someone to explain to me why the strongest team in the race (and in the district right now) with the most riders in the peloton (most races) would need to instruct their racers to ride negatively. We could have made it a race and had some fun doing it. In my opinion, they would have done better to get back up to the pack to help their riders do something else. The apparent global thought is that if you have a teammate up the road, your race is over. That's nonsensical - the teammate up the road was alone with several other riders of different teams. Bringing 2 of their team and one of another team (lets face it, I'm not setting the roads on fire right now) would have helped the numbers, if anything.
Someone explain the logic because I'm clearly missing something here.
Friday, July 26, 2013
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Commentary, a couple of race reports and some pictures.
So, it's been a while. I have plenty of excuses but the bottom line is I wasn't inspired to write. I know, and I suspect my readers can tell, when I'm forcing it - the end result is informative but not especially interesting.
It is very frustrating when I actually open up and question my own preconceived notions out loud, as it were, only to hear gossip going around with whatever hurtful or downright bitchy comments that can be made. In the future, talk to me - shoot me a msg, post a comment - whatever. Have some pride and have an adult conversation.
Enough about the negative. A big, huge, I-couldn't possibly-explain-how-much-it-means-to-me thank you to those who have expressed concern and/or commiseration, offered an ear or shoulder, put up with me being debbie-downer, given advice or simply encouraged me to keep on keeping on.
In the infamous words of Forrest Gump "and that's all I have to say about that".
Onward. Reston was a rainout for us ladies - simply survival. Several girls (arguably smarter than the rest of us) either didn't start or exited early. The wrecks started on the second or third lap and even in the small, single file groups, people slid out on random corners. Even the steadiest wheels fell victim and, to be honest, I was happy just to stay upright. I believe I'm a contender in the "funniest face" contest with this shot from Dom Boonen.
Teammates Dana, Kelley, Christine and I all succeeded in staying upright and finishing the race no worse for the wear (except maybe emotional scars). Of course, the sun came out with about 5-to go and the rest of the fields had dry, sunny and, as the day wore on, hella hot conditions. I did get a rocking tan from marshaling - only on my back and shoulders. You know, to even out the awesome bike tan lines on my arms and legs. My masseur is going to crack up when I go in later this week.
Overall, I'm glad I did the race not just because I stayed upright, but because we just received word that Reston Town Center will not be hosting us in 2014. Very sad - it's a great race, in a masochistic way, and a classic in our district. We (Evolution Cycling Club) are looking for a new venue as I type, one of similar feel and status for the new and improved race in 2014. Ping me if you have ideas!
Next up: Adventures for the Cure Road Warrior race. This was a new event on fabulous roads in my old stomping grounds. I know these roads well, as I cut my racing/training teeth on them a long, long time ago. Hold your tongue, it wasn't that long ago. Anyway, given my mental and fitness issues, I didn't expect much and got less. Dana had a great day, finishing with the chasing group (chasing Katy - oh, what, you're not surprised?!). I held on well until I didn't and pulled myself with one lap to go in order to spare the moto's and officials from having to search for me when I keeled over in the woods. 'Nuff said. (I have to say, I'm rather pleased with how un-rambling this race report is).
This past weekend - Hagerstown Crit, the Sr. Championship race. Attendance was low, ostensibly due to the holiday weekend, but our field was strong. Evo strong - we had 6 in the race (to include the Cat 3s that were racing with the 1/2s but scored separately). I went into this with (finally) a different mindset - I wasn't going to just ride to survive. I was going to play, dammit. If I blow up, I blow up but if all worked out, my teammates could capitalize on the effort.
We went into the race with a plan and we executed. It was FUN. We played, we controlled the tone of the race and ... we were racing, not just rolling around, waiting for a sprint finish. There were some hard efforts as we tried to wear down the pack and get someone away. With about 10 to go, I was off the front and something happened in the pack - two girls went down really hard on the 120 turn and one of our Evo's took a softer dive to avoid the melee. I was caught and heard about the crash while recovering in the pack. We did a lap (slow around that turn as the EMTs cleared the riders off the road) and launched another Evo attack at the top of the hill. Despite a nice gap, they were just letting it dangle -the pack caught up and suddenly got the 2-to-go call. They shortened the race by 6 laps to get the ambulance on the course. Unfortunately, we were all caught out of position for the final hectic scramble. Kelley pulled out nice effort to make up ground for 4th, I finished 5th, Dana 6th and Christine 8th (all in the 1/2 field). Tania and Gwenn finished 3rd and 5th, respectively in the Cat 3 field. While we didn't get the top spot on the podium, I'm proud of the teamwork and good, solid racing by our squad.
Can't wait to do it again.
It is very frustrating when I actually open up and question my own preconceived notions out loud, as it were, only to hear gossip going around with whatever hurtful or downright bitchy comments that can be made. In the future, talk to me - shoot me a msg, post a comment - whatever. Have some pride and have an adult conversation.
Enough about the negative. A big, huge, I-couldn't possibly-explain-how-much-it-means-to-me thank you to those who have expressed concern and/or commiseration, offered an ear or shoulder, put up with me being debbie-downer, given advice or simply encouraged me to keep on keeping on.
In the infamous words of Forrest Gump "and that's all I have to say about that".
Onward. Reston was a rainout for us ladies - simply survival. Several girls (arguably smarter than the rest of us) either didn't start or exited early. The wrecks started on the second or third lap and even in the small, single file groups, people slid out on random corners. Even the steadiest wheels fell victim and, to be honest, I was happy just to stay upright. I believe I'm a contender in the "funniest face" contest with this shot from Dom Boonen.
 | |
| Not my best side - Photo Credit: Dom Boonen |
Overall, I'm glad I did the race not just because I stayed upright, but because we just received word that Reston Town Center will not be hosting us in 2014. Very sad - it's a great race, in a masochistic way, and a classic in our district. We (Evolution Cycling Club) are looking for a new venue as I type, one of similar feel and status for the new and improved race in 2014. Ping me if you have ideas!
Next up: Adventures for the Cure Road Warrior race. This was a new event on fabulous roads in my old stomping grounds. I know these roads well, as I cut my racing/training teeth on them a long, long time ago. Hold your tongue, it wasn't that long ago. Anyway, given my mental and fitness issues, I didn't expect much and got less. Dana had a great day, finishing with the chasing group (chasing Katy - oh, what, you're not surprised?!). I held on well until I didn't and pulled myself with one lap to go in order to spare the moto's and officials from having to search for me when I keeled over in the woods. 'Nuff said. (I have to say, I'm rather pleased with how un-rambling this race report is).
This past weekend - Hagerstown Crit, the Sr. Championship race. Attendance was low, ostensibly due to the holiday weekend, but our field was strong. Evo strong - we had 6 in the race (to include the Cat 3s that were racing with the 1/2s but scored separately). I went into this with (finally) a different mindset - I wasn't going to just ride to survive. I was going to play, dammit. If I blow up, I blow up but if all worked out, my teammates could capitalize on the effort.
 |
| this side is a bit better |
Can't wait to do it again.
 | |
| Tania, Dana, Gwenn, Kelley and me - missing from photo: Christine- I think we did capture her car (on the left side) Photo Credit: Claudia |
Thursday, June 6, 2013
The Big Show
Philly. Otherwise known as (depending on your generation) CoreStates USPRO Cycling Championships, First Union USPRO Cycling Championships, Wachovia USPRO Cycling Championships, Philadelphia International Championship, Liberty Classic and, this year, the Parx Casino Philly Cycling Classic.
The race dates back to 1985 - when I was sporting my sister's yellow banana-seat huffy on the neighborhood streets. My history with the race started in 2009, when my former team was accepted into the race. Unfortunately, a mishap at Tour of Somerville relegated me to the caravan in the team car for the big event. While it looked super hard and super hot and the girls were killing themselves out there - I still wanted to post up in the big show. Yeah, we're masochistic like that.
Fast forward a few years - an ugly crash, a couple years out of racing and a "comeback" season in masters racing. Out of the blue, Kelley and I were asked to guest-ride with Riptide Cyclng/Team EPS p/b Shebell & Shebell. This was an amazing and unexpected surprise. I guess surprises are usually unexpected but you get my point.
I drove up to Kelley's place early on Saturday. Traffic at that time in the morning was a breeze, mostly because the people smarter than me are still asleep. As soon as I pulled into her neighborhood, my "service engine soon" light came on. Sigh. Then I get out of the car to realize that my remote key lock doesn't work. Double sigh. I hate when things don't work.
Some of the other girls arrived -introductions were made and immediate logistics were discussed as we pulled ourselves together to check out the course and open up the legs after the drive. We were 20mins out when Kelley's phone started ringing off the hook with registration issues. We turned around to high-tail it back to get to race HQ. Just as we were getting to the house, we got a call saying we didn't need to go to HQ. We turned around again to head to Lemon Hill. We got up the hill and ... one of the girls had a flat. She was riding deep dish rims and we didn't have a tube with a long valve - not for lack of effort, though - two tubes and 3 CO2's later Kelley and I did a TT back to her house to pick up a car to grab the girls we left on Lemon Hill.Then we had to get my car to the BMW dealer to find out what was wrong and whether I could go home.
I'm exhausted just writing about it.
Speaking of valves, the BMW dealer said I had a faulty hooter valve. I interrupted to say "ok, now you're just making stuff up". He appreciated my sense of humor but proceeded to tell me why it's called a hooter valve. Apparently it "hoots" during a diagnostics test when it goes bad. I digress. FINALLY, we got back to Kelley's where another guest rider (Stephanie) arrived with her husband (Jon) after a marathon drive down to Philly. They returned after a quick ride to de-stress and Ken, another of the Riptide Cycling crew, arrived to affix transponders and frame numbers on bikes. Jon, a bike mechanic by trade, was awesome and helped all of us with various bike adjustments.
Dinner was at a phenomenal place named Winnie's, right down the hill from home-base. A fabulous Salmon Nicoise dinner later, I was about done for the day. We shared rooms at race HQ (Thank you, Riptide Cycling/Team EPS!) so we retired there for a good night's sleep. Of course, not many of us really slept and the alarm went off early for the 830 start time.
Race day. A quick warm up in Kelley's parking lot after a quick breakfast and we were off. Luckily, registration was only a block or two away. We arrived when it opened to register the team. Then, we wait. I loved seeing some friendly faces in the crowd - clearly surprised to see me there as I hadn't really made it public that it might even be a possibility. See my prior post about not claiming goals out-loud. Lineup was supposed to be at 815 but teams were already at the line at 805 - I learned *some* lessons from Speed Week and knew I didn't want to start at the back. I inched up every chance I had and wound up in a decent position. Then, we wait again. The start line was at the top of the "Wall" so we couldn't even relax on the bike - we would have rolled backward. FINALLY, call ups came along and girls shuffled through the pack to get the front line. Then, music got louder and whistles blew and before I knew it, we were descending off the wall into the first right turn. I distinctly remember thinking to myself - holy crap .... this is really happening!!
The pace was hard but steady and I was working on moving my way around in the pack. Pick up a spot or two, find an opening and stick myself in it, stay away from squirrely wheels ... I have to admit I was fairly happy with myself. After the descent, we had a few ups and downs until we got on the flat of Kelly drive. The race promoters had cones on the center line (the course went both ways on that road) which caused some near misses as you couldn't see the cones unelss you were in the front. There was some melee behind me but I don't know if it was an actual incident - I never looked back.
We made our way up Lemon Hill and I played the rope-game - start near the front and try to grab onto wheels if (when) I drift back. I'm happy to say that I survived the climb and was rewarded with a fun downhill into a semi-tight right turn back onto Kelly drive.The pace slowed a tick and, with the cones removed (thank you, race promoter), we essentially had 4 lanes to maneuver. I was getting squeezed in the middle so I drifted back to run up the right side. Then - it happened. Again, I don't know WHAT, but I heard bikes and bodies colliding diagonal and on the left ahead of me. This happened in the top 20ish riders. I was near the front but off to the right so as bikes slid right, I was just ahead of the melee. For once in my racing career, I managed to be in the RIGHT place at the RIGHT time.
The wreck was like an explosion in the pack. I stood up to catch on to those that were ahead of the crash and saw Stephanie ahead making a huge effort to get on as well. I finally made contact after chasing what was left and tried to catch my breath - timing was impeccable (note: heavy sarcasm) as we made the right turn into the cobbles and the quick left to start the legendary climb up "The Wall". I was ok at my pace but these girls had no interest in slowing down for me. I became unhinged right before the top and chased down hill. Another group came by me and some friendlies encouraged me to latch on. I just couldn't hold a wheel (sound familiar to my speed week report?). I lost them and continued to chase - the wind was ... wow. Good time trial practice, I suppose. Some more riders came up - clearly having been in the crash. The entire Fearless Femme (FF) squad was caught up in the wreck and those able to ride were killing it to catch up. I sat on another friendly (Thanks Erin!) for a half minute before being dropped. Up Lemon Hill and back down Kelly Drive and another FF motioned for me to get off the right side of the road - I was clearly in deficit as I didn't realize I was on the wrong side of the road. I saw Kelley going by the other direction and was relieved that she was not part of the carnage.
I held on to the FF and gave her everything I had - short pulls to give her a second of rest. When I told her I couldn't do more, she said anything was good and thanked me for the short respite. I think she was just being nice because I can't believe I did anything but slow her down.
Finally went through the cobbles again and started the climb up the wall. I hoped they wouldn't pull me yet, another lap wouldn't have killed me. Going up the wall is painful and amazing at the same time. Cowbells are ringing, people are shouting encouragement and yelling your name. The sheer volume is worth a few more watts, another pedal turn. Billy, SuperDave, Stokely, Ted, Greg, the awesome volunteers out in the middle of the road shouting at you to go- you've got it- go get it. Other girls coming up with me telling me to keep going. It was like everything going too fast but in slow motion. I know that makes no sense but words can't describe the scene.
I rounded the turn to the top where the Start/Finish line was and saw the official in the middle of the road. I nodded my understanding and pulled off at the corner. Team director Teresa was there and gave me the lowdown on the damage- the 3 team riders on EPS had been caught up in the crash. Two were out of the race and another was still in, just making time. Stephanie was in the 2nd group on the road, Kelley was coming up behind me. Then I heard that Alexis, she of NCVC, she who has really become a rockstar this year, broke her collarbone pretty badly. I was very sad for her. I saw ABRT in one of the chase groups the next go round and another ABRT a little ways off in a smaller group. Very proud of our local contingent. Remember, these are the PRO'S - national champions, USACRITS leaders, Fearless Femme, Colavita - the superstars of women's racing. And I got to play for a lap or two with them while some other locals were able to stay in longer and really represent themselves, their teams and the district.
I can now say I raced Philly. Given my difficulties this season, I'm ok with the result. I want to go back and I want to do better - hopefully that opportunity will present itself next year.
The race dates back to 1985 - when I was sporting my sister's yellow banana-seat huffy on the neighborhood streets. My history with the race started in 2009, when my former team was accepted into the race. Unfortunately, a mishap at Tour of Somerville relegated me to the caravan in the team car for the big event. While it looked super hard and super hot and the girls were killing themselves out there - I still wanted to post up in the big show. Yeah, we're masochistic like that.
Fast forward a few years - an ugly crash, a couple years out of racing and a "comeback" season in masters racing. Out of the blue, Kelley and I were asked to guest-ride with Riptide Cyclng/Team EPS p/b Shebell & Shebell. This was an amazing and unexpected surprise. I guess surprises are usually unexpected but you get my point.
I drove up to Kelley's place early on Saturday. Traffic at that time in the morning was a breeze, mostly because the people smarter than me are still asleep. As soon as I pulled into her neighborhood, my "service engine soon" light came on. Sigh. Then I get out of the car to realize that my remote key lock doesn't work. Double sigh. I hate when things don't work.
Some of the other girls arrived -introductions were made and immediate logistics were discussed as we pulled ourselves together to check out the course and open up the legs after the drive. We were 20mins out when Kelley's phone started ringing off the hook with registration issues. We turned around to high-tail it back to get to race HQ. Just as we were getting to the house, we got a call saying we didn't need to go to HQ. We turned around again to head to Lemon Hill. We got up the hill and ... one of the girls had a flat. She was riding deep dish rims and we didn't have a tube with a long valve - not for lack of effort, though - two tubes and 3 CO2's later Kelley and I did a TT back to her house to pick up a car to grab the girls we left on Lemon Hill.Then we had to get my car to the BMW dealer to find out what was wrong and whether I could go home.
I'm exhausted just writing about it.
Speaking of valves, the BMW dealer said I had a faulty hooter valve. I interrupted to say "ok, now you're just making stuff up". He appreciated my sense of humor but proceeded to tell me why it's called a hooter valve. Apparently it "hoots" during a diagnostics test when it goes bad. I digress. FINALLY, we got back to Kelley's where another guest rider (Stephanie) arrived with her husband (Jon) after a marathon drive down to Philly. They returned after a quick ride to de-stress and Ken, another of the Riptide Cycling crew, arrived to affix transponders and frame numbers on bikes. Jon, a bike mechanic by trade, was awesome and helped all of us with various bike adjustments.
Dinner was at a phenomenal place named Winnie's, right down the hill from home-base. A fabulous Salmon Nicoise dinner later, I was about done for the day. We shared rooms at race HQ (Thank you, Riptide Cycling/Team EPS!) so we retired there for a good night's sleep. Of course, not many of us really slept and the alarm went off early for the 830 start time.
Race day. A quick warm up in Kelley's parking lot after a quick breakfast and we were off. Luckily, registration was only a block or two away. We arrived when it opened to register the team. Then, we wait. I loved seeing some friendly faces in the crowd - clearly surprised to see me there as I hadn't really made it public that it might even be a possibility. See my prior post about not claiming goals out-loud. Lineup was supposed to be at 815 but teams were already at the line at 805 - I learned *some* lessons from Speed Week and knew I didn't want to start at the back. I inched up every chance I had and wound up in a decent position. Then, we wait again. The start line was at the top of the "Wall" so we couldn't even relax on the bike - we would have rolled backward. FINALLY, call ups came along and girls shuffled through the pack to get the front line. Then, music got louder and whistles blew and before I knew it, we were descending off the wall into the first right turn. I distinctly remember thinking to myself - holy crap .... this is really happening!!
The pace was hard but steady and I was working on moving my way around in the pack. Pick up a spot or two, find an opening and stick myself in it, stay away from squirrely wheels ... I have to admit I was fairly happy with myself. After the descent, we had a few ups and downs until we got on the flat of Kelly drive. The race promoters had cones on the center line (the course went both ways on that road) which caused some near misses as you couldn't see the cones unelss you were in the front. There was some melee behind me but I don't know if it was an actual incident - I never looked back.
We made our way up Lemon Hill and I played the rope-game - start near the front and try to grab onto wheels if (when) I drift back. I'm happy to say that I survived the climb and was rewarded with a fun downhill into a semi-tight right turn back onto Kelly drive.The pace slowed a tick and, with the cones removed (thank you, race promoter), we essentially had 4 lanes to maneuver. I was getting squeezed in the middle so I drifted back to run up the right side. Then - it happened. Again, I don't know WHAT, but I heard bikes and bodies colliding diagonal and on the left ahead of me. This happened in the top 20ish riders. I was near the front but off to the right so as bikes slid right, I was just ahead of the melee. For once in my racing career, I managed to be in the RIGHT place at the RIGHT time.
The wreck was like an explosion in the pack. I stood up to catch on to those that were ahead of the crash and saw Stephanie ahead making a huge effort to get on as well. I finally made contact after chasing what was left and tried to catch my breath - timing was impeccable (note: heavy sarcasm) as we made the right turn into the cobbles and the quick left to start the legendary climb up "The Wall". I was ok at my pace but these girls had no interest in slowing down for me. I became unhinged right before the top and chased down hill. Another group came by me and some friendlies encouraged me to latch on. I just couldn't hold a wheel (sound familiar to my speed week report?). I lost them and continued to chase - the wind was ... wow. Good time trial practice, I suppose. Some more riders came up - clearly having been in the crash. The entire Fearless Femme (FF) squad was caught up in the wreck and those able to ride were killing it to catch up. I sat on another friendly (Thanks Erin!) for a half minute before being dropped. Up Lemon Hill and back down Kelly Drive and another FF motioned for me to get off the right side of the road - I was clearly in deficit as I didn't realize I was on the wrong side of the road. I saw Kelley going by the other direction and was relieved that she was not part of the carnage.
 |
| Philly 2013 Post-race |
Finally went through the cobbles again and started the climb up the wall. I hoped they wouldn't pull me yet, another lap wouldn't have killed me. Going up the wall is painful and amazing at the same time. Cowbells are ringing, people are shouting encouragement and yelling your name. The sheer volume is worth a few more watts, another pedal turn. Billy, SuperDave, Stokely, Ted, Greg, the awesome volunteers out in the middle of the road shouting at you to go- you've got it- go get it. Other girls coming up with me telling me to keep going. It was like everything going too fast but in slow motion. I know that makes no sense but words can't describe the scene.
I rounded the turn to the top where the Start/Finish line was and saw the official in the middle of the road. I nodded my understanding and pulled off at the corner. Team director Teresa was there and gave me the lowdown on the damage- the 3 team riders on EPS had been caught up in the crash. Two were out of the race and another was still in, just making time. Stephanie was in the 2nd group on the road, Kelley was coming up behind me. Then I heard that Alexis, she of NCVC, she who has really become a rockstar this year, broke her collarbone pretty badly. I was very sad for her. I saw ABRT in one of the chase groups the next go round and another ABRT a little ways off in a smaller group. Very proud of our local contingent. Remember, these are the PRO'S - national champions, USACRITS leaders, Fearless Femme, Colavita - the superstars of women's racing. And I got to play for a lap or two with them while some other locals were able to stay in longer and really represent themselves, their teams and the district.
I can now say I raced Philly. Given my difficulties this season, I'm ok with the result. I want to go back and I want to do better - hopefully that opportunity will present itself next year.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)