Ken Woods...race #1 of MWCMR
Yesterday was the first race of the MWCMR race series (Ken Woods), and 35 women finished the race...truly amazing for a women's Cat 4 field in MN especially given that the weather was totally crappy...raining, cold, and windy!
Let me just reiterate that I couldn't believe how many women were there when we lined up for the race! For many of the women, this was their first road race ever, and for some, their first road race of the season. While I certainly don't consider myself a seasoned veteran (which is probably obvious since I am still a Cat 4), I wanted to make sure I didn't get caught behind all of the newbies right away...I've made that mistake many times before. So when the official said "go", and many women were having difficulties clipping into their pedals, I quickly went up to the front and tucked in behind about six others. There was a nasty headwind, and some GW's seemed happy to block the wind for us, so who I am to argue. As expected, the pace picked up a bit as we rounded the first corner. One of the GW's took a flyer off the front as the rest of us tried to find a good place to stay out of the crosswind...it was a bit sketchy, and the nasty wind wasn't helping matters. I think we had already dropped a group of people behind us and the race was starting to string out, and I was struggling to keep up with the lead group of about 8 women. Then all of the sudden I heard the most dreaded sound in bike racing...the sound of metal hitting asphalt...there was a crash behind me. I looked back long enough to see that it appeared to be only one person (and it wasn't my teammate), but I cringed a little and hoped she was okay (I later found out that she was okay, and she even got back on her bike and finished the race!). When that rider went down, it forced the people behind her to get gapped off, and by the time we rounded the second corner, the group of 8 had opened up a large gap and I found myself with two women from SPBRC chasing. The SPBRC women don't have any cute girly nicknames like Betty or Bella, so I've decided to refer to them as Paulettes. So Paulette H and M and I got organized, and started rotating - the lead group really wasn't that far ahead of us, so we were pretty motivated. And I noticed when Paulette M was pulling, we were hauling some serious ass...at one point, I looked down at my computer and we were going about 30 mph. The strong tailwind was obviously helping, but we were going slightly uphill at the time. Eventually, Paulette M dropped me and her teammate. By the 3rd corner, my teammate Paula had caught up with us, along with Betty Annie and Betty X (okay, I'm going with last letter of their first names now). The five of us started rotating, although we didn't seem to be going very fast, and we could no longer see the lead group up ahead of us. I was actually feeling pretty good at this point. The race was pretty uneventful until we hit the last huge-ass hill. The finish line was about 0.5 miles after the top of the hill, and there was once again a headwind, so I decided to just sit in back while climbing the hill and save my energy for the final sprint. About halfway up the hill, Paula and Annie started pulling ahead and Paulette H wasn't closing the gap, and Betty X wasn't going around her. I thought about attempting to go around them, but was debating if that would be dumb because I didn't want to tow two others back up to Paula for the sprint. So I just stayed at the back and watched Annie and Paula pull away. Paulette H was kind enough to pull me and Betty X all the way up the hill, then at the top, Betty X amped it a bit and went around Paulette H (and I followed), and we dropped her. So then we were down to the final stretch. Betty X slowed up and presumably tried to get me to come around her, but I just slowed down too. I looked back a few times to make sure Paulette H wasn't closing the gap too much...the last thing I wanted was to get beat by someone unexpectedly coming from behind! Given the strong headwind, I was just going to wait until Betty X started her sprint before I did anything...I didn't want to go too soon and blow up, and I didn't know if I had anything left in my legs anyway. Fortunately, Betty X waited until we were close to the finish line before she started sprinting, and I was able to come around her. Actually, it wasn't much of a sprint...I don't think either of us got out of our saddles (unless it was just for a second or two), and we were "sprinting" for 12th and 13th places...but I don't care, it still feels good to come around someone at the end. The funny thing is that I felt the need to apologize to Betty X because I felt bad for just sitting on her wheel and waiting. I know that's just bike racing, and I shouldn't feel bad, but I'd feel a lot less guilty if I really disliked the competition...but that's just not the case...there are a lot of really cool racer chicks this year. It doesn't make me any less competitive, but I really need to get over this feeling guilty shit. So anyway, I ended up 12th out of 35, which was okay, but not quite what I had hoped for. The best part was that my teammate Karla won the race!! And the icing on the cake was that the Cat 2/3 Bellas apparently raced a great tactical race, and Lieselot ended up winning too! There were a lot of Bellas racing in both the Cat 4 and Cat 2/3 races, and I want to give props to all of the Bellas who came out to race in the crappy weather. It turned out to be a great day for women's racing.
I spent the afternoon and evening at Mr. Monte Carlo's house helping celebrate his 30th birthday and stuffing my face with all of their great food while hanging out with the Neslers, NDC, and Greentea. Then I met up with some of my chamois-wearing friends and had drinks (except for Flood, who was presumably enjoying his own little narcotic buzz).
A rainy Sunday is the perfect time to watch NASCAR, so I was looking forward to spending the day hanging out with Karen and Chris and my nephews while watching Talladega.
But apparently it's raining throughout the entire country today, so the race was postponed until Monday. But check out the photo - those are the cars lined up in racing order on pit road and Elliot's on the pole and DJ's starting fourth...I'm bummed I won't be able to see the race!
That's all I got. Thanks for reading.
SS
Let me just reiterate that I couldn't believe how many women were there when we lined up for the race! For many of the women, this was their first road race ever, and for some, their first road race of the season. While I certainly don't consider myself a seasoned veteran (which is probably obvious since I am still a Cat 4), I wanted to make sure I didn't get caught behind all of the newbies right away...I've made that mistake many times before. So when the official said "go", and many women were having difficulties clipping into their pedals, I quickly went up to the front and tucked in behind about six others. There was a nasty headwind, and some GW's seemed happy to block the wind for us, so who I am to argue. As expected, the pace picked up a bit as we rounded the first corner. One of the GW's took a flyer off the front as the rest of us tried to find a good place to stay out of the crosswind...it was a bit sketchy, and the nasty wind wasn't helping matters. I think we had already dropped a group of people behind us and the race was starting to string out, and I was struggling to keep up with the lead group of about 8 women. Then all of the sudden I heard the most dreaded sound in bike racing...the sound of metal hitting asphalt...there was a crash behind me. I looked back long enough to see that it appeared to be only one person (and it wasn't my teammate), but I cringed a little and hoped she was okay (I later found out that she was okay, and she even got back on her bike and finished the race!). When that rider went down, it forced the people behind her to get gapped off, and by the time we rounded the second corner, the group of 8 had opened up a large gap and I found myself with two women from SPBRC chasing. The SPBRC women don't have any cute girly nicknames like Betty or Bella, so I've decided to refer to them as Paulettes. So Paulette H and M and I got organized, and started rotating - the lead group really wasn't that far ahead of us, so we were pretty motivated. And I noticed when Paulette M was pulling, we were hauling some serious ass...at one point, I looked down at my computer and we were going about 30 mph. The strong tailwind was obviously helping, but we were going slightly uphill at the time. Eventually, Paulette M dropped me and her teammate. By the 3rd corner, my teammate Paula had caught up with us, along with Betty Annie and Betty X (okay, I'm going with last letter of their first names now). The five of us started rotating, although we didn't seem to be going very fast, and we could no longer see the lead group up ahead of us. I was actually feeling pretty good at this point. The race was pretty uneventful until we hit the last huge-ass hill. The finish line was about 0.5 miles after the top of the hill, and there was once again a headwind, so I decided to just sit in back while climbing the hill and save my energy for the final sprint. About halfway up the hill, Paula and Annie started pulling ahead and Paulette H wasn't closing the gap, and Betty X wasn't going around her. I thought about attempting to go around them, but was debating if that would be dumb because I didn't want to tow two others back up to Paula for the sprint. So I just stayed at the back and watched Annie and Paula pull away. Paulette H was kind enough to pull me and Betty X all the way up the hill, then at the top, Betty X amped it a bit and went around Paulette H (and I followed), and we dropped her. So then we were down to the final stretch. Betty X slowed up and presumably tried to get me to come around her, but I just slowed down too. I looked back a few times to make sure Paulette H wasn't closing the gap too much...the last thing I wanted was to get beat by someone unexpectedly coming from behind! Given the strong headwind, I was just going to wait until Betty X started her sprint before I did anything...I didn't want to go too soon and blow up, and I didn't know if I had anything left in my legs anyway. Fortunately, Betty X waited until we were close to the finish line before she started sprinting, and I was able to come around her. Actually, it wasn't much of a sprint...I don't think either of us got out of our saddles (unless it was just for a second or two), and we were "sprinting" for 12th and 13th places...but I don't care, it still feels good to come around someone at the end. The funny thing is that I felt the need to apologize to Betty X because I felt bad for just sitting on her wheel and waiting. I know that's just bike racing, and I shouldn't feel bad, but I'd feel a lot less guilty if I really disliked the competition...but that's just not the case...there are a lot of really cool racer chicks this year. It doesn't make me any less competitive, but I really need to get over this feeling guilty shit. So anyway, I ended up 12th out of 35, which was okay, but not quite what I had hoped for. The best part was that my teammate Karla won the race!! And the icing on the cake was that the Cat 2/3 Bellas apparently raced a great tactical race, and Lieselot ended up winning too! There were a lot of Bellas racing in both the Cat 4 and Cat 2/3 races, and I want to give props to all of the Bellas who came out to race in the crappy weather. It turned out to be a great day for women's racing.
I spent the afternoon and evening at Mr. Monte Carlo's house helping celebrate his 30th birthday and stuffing my face with all of their great food while hanging out with the Neslers, NDC, and Greentea. Then I met up with some of my chamois-wearing friends and had drinks (except for Flood, who was presumably enjoying his own little narcotic buzz).
A rainy Sunday is the perfect time to watch NASCAR, so I was looking forward to spending the day hanging out with Karen and Chris and my nephews while watching Talladega.
But apparently it's raining throughout the entire country today, so the race was postponed until Monday. But check out the photo - those are the cars lined up in racing order on pit road and Elliot's on the pole and DJ's starting fourth...I'm bummed I won't be able to see the race!That's all I got. Thanks for reading.
SS
posted by Strats at 8:20 PM
3 Comments:
"The funny thing is that I felt the need to apologize to Betty X because I felt bad for just sitting on her wheel and waiting."
I found myself in a similar situation yesterday, but you're right: it's just bike racing, and we shouldn't have to be so apologetic. Can you imagine the guys apologizing for taking advantage of tactical errrors?! It's a very "girl" thing to do :c)
I wanted to make sure I didn't get caught behind all of the newbies right away...I've made that mistake many times before.
Yeah, tell me about it! I guess I underestimated the newbieness of them all, cuz that wasn't a string, there were 50 foot gaps everywhere. Ugh. Are you doing Avon? It's not even supposed to rain or anything....
Way to go, Bella!!!! Loved reading the report.
And BTW, I have a hunk of foam roller I would be very happy to donate to your cause. I'm officiating BDTT this week. So, if you're planning to be there, I can bring it along.
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