HEY.....The First Cross race! wow The GUYS of Verdigris did so well.
First race and we got some podiums and a couple wins. (me!too!!!)
YAY!
AND I gots me a team mate that folks are already buzzing about and I can't wait to race with her.
I am afraid my blog reports are going to not be so plentiful . Work has new rules about computer use and I have so little time as it is. I am off today so I am compiling my thoughts I gathered after the race. JACKSON PARK was a GREAT venue!
KUDO's to the course makers. WOW the course on this race was A+++ totally well thought out. Great barricades and lots of room to remount. Very well done! I 'loved' the hill run up,. But that was my worst obstacle. Its just that I am a slower runner than nearly everyone on the planet. Who ever 'trains their weakness'. ? what fun is that. :)
The run up was the hardest one for me as it came after a tight right turn. I could never time it right. Hank said that dismounting early is better than late so I'd take my foot out way early but the navigation of the corner was tricky hanging off a bike. I missed grabbing my bike frame once towards the end of the race and it was pretty funny. Instead of picking up my frame I just hefted the handle bars high and Gallumped over the barricade banging my back wheel on the boards. OUCH my tires! I just wanted to move forward.
My favorite hero, Alyson Dunlap, she once said long long long ago back in the day: 'AS LONG AS YOU KEEP MOVING FORWARD, it doesn't matter how you get there'. :)
.... ok not an exact quote and I think she meant that if you want to win don't worry about proper technique. Just get there as fast as you can.
The ground was a bit spongy but my tubeless Czchechie Tufo tires were perfect for that. I thought for sure I"d roll those babies but they stuck so nice for me. :) Tires are rather personal and these are MY babies that work for me. Hank got my pressure right for me and I was flying. The weather was great. I wasn''t sick!!!!!!! ha!
There were a LOT of faces at the line up. It was a good sized field of women. The last time I saw Holly she was wearing heavy clothes and snow covers. She looked so tiny now in her summer shorts. Tiny and mean. A good mean. If anyone can look Mean in pink.~ She can!
I came with a plan. Just race my own race. My own pace.
HA!
Hahahahaaaa.
You can never go to a
Cross race with a
plan. WHY is that?? Only God makes plans. Everyone else looks up at the sky and goes WHY ME? why!?????
SO many things can happen. Cross is like doing a crit that is inverted. Instead of getting pushed in a curb by someone, or out-smarted by someone, you just fall over all by yourself. Sometimes For no reason.
The field was pretty tough. I started to feel like I was trying to keep up with the Guys. I was on the front by the first hill and settled myself to tempo strong. Then Rebecca racing for XXX came barrelling around me. See? Can't plan. Soon we were off the front playing cat and mouse with each other. I figured out pretty early that her scamper was going to kill me fast. She was getting out of her saddle all the time and just pumping the pedals. I had to control my pace a bit. Use the course and try to be perfect. I could tempo my pace more evenly. Dang.... I felt like I was racing with one of the guys.
It was so hot out. I had water. I ignore that tradition of no water on the bike. Not when its 80 out and humid. Give me my cage!!!
These cross traditions. :) They leave little room for common sense ........do you know why? BECAUSE BELGIUMS INVENTED THE RULES AND BELGIUMS ARE A SILLY FOLK.
I had so much DESIRE . I think the break from racing really
did help my mind and all that. I wanted to do the best I could 100percent today. No holding back and no fears. This summer, my training was about NO holding back. Well. Lets see how it holds up to the long season ahead. Right? And anyway, at this point I was cool with second place. I just wanted to push myself as far as I could go today. These moments come ONCE in a lifetime.
I came to the running barricade.....foot thru....coast....jump...remount...clip. I was lucky to do my fastest barricade at a critical point in the race . It helped me a LOT. I still tapped my brakes a bit but I am hoping by the end of the season I am not hitting my brakes anymore and can take the jumps at full speed. It was all I could muster and I was seeing cross eye'd.
I almost lost her wheel with about 3 to go. I caught back on by a miracle and then rested. I saw the 2 to go and tried to get away but I slid out in a corner and she passed me. Now I caught her again. We were in the last lap. It was now or never. ALL the other times she was right there and ready to re-charge me and leave me for dead. I was so hesitant. Finally I just said what the heck and I went around her as hard as I could. It wasn't an attack, just a strong pedalling. I was expecting that my move would simply lead her to the finish line and her deadly sprint would finish me off.
But she never did.
I had a gap. !
It was such a game of cat and mouse and over the edge exhaustion that it is all a blur now. It was like we were in THE CAGE and throwing punches at each other. Heck. Somehow I got in front of her one more time. I took the final corners as aggressively as I could and just dug so deep my heart was screaming. I came across the line and nearly fell off my bike.
I won!
Hank told me to pedal around but I had nothing left to even pedal.
so there you go. wow. I won my first race and it was hard won at that.
I hope I don't get sick this season!!!!!!
