Gaslight Crits

I wrapped up my road cycling season last weekend at the Delta Subaru Gaslight Crit in Grand Rapids, MI. It is put on by one of my favorite teams, Real Women Tri, in one of my favorite cities. I knew I would get to see lots of familiar faces and meet up with some old friends. I had a lot going on in the previous week leading to this, so I did not have any big expectations, but still hoped that I might end it with a bang. After racing in Elk Grove, one of the women there recommended that I start racing with the men to get more experience riding harder than hell as well as riding in a big group. So, before I could put too much thought into it, I registered for the women's 1,2,3 race as well as the Master's Men 35 and up. Susan Donnelly also traveled from Traverse City with me and raced the women's cat 4 race.

We arrived early Saturday after staying with friends in GR and got Sue ready for her race. While she raced, I warmed up for mine. The field was decent, with 17 women, and at a time of year

And we are off!

where everyone is pretty much in shape and pretty fast. My first race started at 10:40, and as I learned, position is everything and lined up front and center and ready to race. We took off pretty fast and right off the bat there is a 90 degree left turn. This was my first race on my new 404 Zipp wheels, and wow, it felt much different cornering on them. It took me about half the race to acclimate to the new wheels. For some reason, this first corner was the hardest for me, mainly due to the higher speed that we went into it compared to the other corners. There was another 90 degree turn, a straight away that had a full head wind, then a very sharp left turn, up a hill, followed by one more left turn. It was a fun course.

I don't know why I am smiling, I hated that turn

I made sure to stay near the front of the pack, followed a few attacks, ignored a few attacks, and

I wish this was a picture of the finish. I am in a much
better position than where I actually finished.

even attacked myself twice. I felt that I stayed active in the race and felt great physically. On the last lap, I unfortunately got stuck behind a wheel on the straightaway and watched the race move around me like a river around a stone and after I broke free I desperately tried to make up my position. At this point the girls were moving pretty fast and I couldn't get back to the front. I caught a few girls and passed them, but ended up 11th out of 17. I was disappointed that I didn't race smarter on that last lap and felt I really could have done better this time.

I rested up in the afternoon and got ready for the Master's race, which was at 3:00 pm. It was a field of 45 men, and I lined up wondering just how this was going to go. I daydreamed about me hanging in there for the whole race, and just how awesome that would be. I lined up and got in position in the second row of guys, and worried a little about that first corner. At the start, the guys took off full throttle and I jumped as well. If I thought we were fast into that corner in the women's race, it was nothing compared to the guys. I could not help tapping my brakes, due to my nervousness, but didn't do too bad the first lap. I hung in the middle, and on the straightaway I focused on the wheel in front of me and told myself not to let it go. The guys were starting to crowd in on both sides and I kept telling myself to not give it up. The very sharp left turn up the hill came up, and I took that too slow, but still stood up and pedaled and kept my position in the middle. Coming into that first left turn again, even faster this time, I touched my brakes again and got another gap. I stood up and sprinted to close it. I was moving farther and farther back, and on the third lap around on the straightaway I lost contact with the last wheel and got dropped. It was insane how fast they were going. I knew I was just going to be motorpacing, but with the turns it made it so much more difficult.

One of these things is not like the other...

I had all kinds of people rooting for me and telling me not to give up, so kept riding hard and kept my heart rate up. After awhile, the main field lapped me and I jumped in to just race and see how long I could hold on again. On one lap I was pushed over into the curb on that first left turn and I touched my brakes again, harder this time, and a man in an orange jersey rode past me and muttered the word "bitch" as he went by. This really ticked me off and I wish I would have gotten his race number. This just really showed what a pig he is.  "Watch it, move it, watch your line." Any of those would have been appropriate comments, maybe. Anyway, I think I lasted another two to three laps. Exhausted, I fell off of the back again on the straightaway. On this lap I got pulled from the race.

Racing with the guys did feel a whole lot like Tour of Elk Grove, and although I may have not had the best wheel or lines in that race, I am sure that it wasn't the worst and the more I race, the better I will get. It may be awhile before I can finish with the guys, but I think it could be possible. I have come a long way this season, and I am really looking forward to racing next season with what I have learned. I am looking forward to doing some social riding in the next month and not having to follow a training schedule for the first time in 8 months. Vacation!

Tour of Elk Grove, Day 2

After the time trial on Saturday, Sarah and I headed back to her friends home to stay the night. We unloaded our gear, and had some dinner, and got ready for sleep. I was going to race two races on Saturday, the amateur Women's Open race at 8:30 am and the Pro race at 1:00.  I was sitting at the

table in the kitchen when I noticed a pile of road racing magazines. I looked at the cover of one, and it had as a headline, "Alison Powers is Tulsa's Toughest." I looked inside and saw another article about Shelly Olds. Both of these women were racing this weekend. I started panicking a little, and wondered what the hell I was doing racing against these women. Sarah tried to help by telling me that it is just a race like any other race. I didn't believe her though. I laid in bed that night, completely wired. Eventually I fell asleep about 1 a.m. Got up bright and early at 5:00 a.m. to go race.

I headed out after getting some much needed coffee. It was very quiet in Elk Grove at 7:30. It

helped calm my nerves a little. I was looking forward to this race because I wanted more practice cornering before riding with the big girls. The plan was to try not to work and mainly use this race as a warm up. There were nine girls at the start line and I didn't know any of them. The race was 50 minutes long, and we went off at a conservative pace. The corners were fun, nothing too scary. There were a few $25 primes which I didn't go for, and then I heard one called out for $50. I decided to win this one, and did my best to be second in line around the final corner and then sprinted around and got the prime pretty easily. I was happy that I made a little money. The race kept moving along, and I only pulled for one or two laps and then it came down to a bunch sprint. I was right there, but still only came in 5th place. I think my sprint improved a little, but still didn't have enough punch to beat the other girls. I also didn't want to kill myself to win this one. I did get $40 for 5th place, so it made coming out worth it.

I went and had some lunch and then spread out a blanket to take a nap before the 1:00 race. I slept next to my van on a patch of grass in someone's front lawn. I think I can sleep just about anywhere. Sarah arrived and we got ready, warmed up a little, and headed over to sign in for the race. We lined up and the mass of women racing was huge. A field of 65 women. I had never raced with this big of a crowd before. I was very afraid of causing a crash and being that newbie that just took out the whole Tibco team. I also wondered how I might get home if I ended up in the hospital, since I drove myself there. What else do people think about while they are lined up at the start line?

Girls from Colavita waiting to pre-ride the course

Team Tibco is nicely lined up

They did call ups of the TT winners and for the NRC leaders.  I was honestly just so excited to be there. Finally they started the race and we were off. I was able to clip into my pedals quickly and grabbed a wheel. We had a 180 degree turn right away, and I was towards the back. The smell of burning carbon filled the air as everyone slammed on their brakes, then stood up and sprinted. Next was a right turn, not too bad. Then another 180, straight away into a head wind, then another 180, then a right turn back to the finish line. We had 14 laps for a total of 51 miles to race that day. It was fairly warm and sunny. As we kept going through the slow down, turn, stand up, sprint to 30 mph I was getting more and more at my limit. I was bouncing off
the back, wasting massive amounts of energy bridging the gap to the wheel in front of me. My lunch started coming up in my throat, and at about 40 minutes I sat up. There was no way I could keep doing that for 2 hours. I initially thought that they would pull me from the race, but they didn't. If I kept riding and finished within the time cut I could race the next day, so I kept plugging away.

Line of team cars following the race

I was getting lots of cheers from the crowd to hang in there as I rode alone. It was getting harder to ride, as I became aware of some pretty bad pain in my shoulders and in my feet. I then heard someone call out to go catch Sarah, she was just ahead. I did see another rider ahead, so I made my way up to her. It's much better to have someone to ride with! It ended up being Sarah, and we shared the work and helped each other out as we both had moments of intense struggle. I was near tears at times due to the pain I was feeling. I ran out of water and was getting more fatigued. I shut my brain off, and did not think other than to tell myself to just keep pedaling. I became unaware of time, and just focused on doing what I needed at that moment to finish this race. We had one lap to go and Sarah was also out of water and began cramping up. She was really hurting that last lap. We made it though, and crossed the finish line together. We made the time cut and "lived to die another day" as Sarah said.

As soon as I finished I got off the course and looked for water. I almost pushed people down to make my way to a water cooler, and as I came back to reality my body was pretty mad at me. I started shaking and was overcome with emotion. I couldn't believe that I finished that race. I could barely move my left arm as my shoulder hurt so badly. I made my way to the first aid tent to get some ice on it. Riding alone is way harder than being with the group, and I may have tried to stay on longer if I realized I would be riding for another 1.5 hours by myself basically. I was proud that I finished, it was a huge accomplishment, although a humbling one.

While I was in the pack, it was one of the most fun and exciting experiences I have ever had racing. It made my determination to get faster and learn how to race in a big group like that even stronger. In the meantime, I headed back to rest some more and gear up to race on Sunday.

Tour of Elk Grove, Prologue TT

I have had a great summer of racing. So much racing that I have let the yard go, the dog has been ignored, and I am losing my gourmet cooking skills. But it's only summer for about two weeks in Michigan so I need to race and ride while I can! I recently made the plunge and requested an upgrade so I am now a Category 2 racer. This enabled me to race Tour of Elk Grove, which my friend Sarah encouraged me to try as well as my coach Chris Fisher. Nothing like just jumping right in! It is a very prestigious race where the top women's teams and pro's come to duke it out and it has a huge payout for the winners. I was just hoping at best to hang with a very large group of the best girls in the country that are racing now.

I was terrified as well as completely excited to go and try this out. A new, huge challenge. There are three races in this stage race, the Prologue TT, and two circuit races, one on Saturday and one on Sunday. I also signed up for the women's amateur open crit on Saturday morning. Why the heck not, right? Get as many races in a weekend that I can.

I left in the early hours and headed down for the TT at 4:30 Chicago time. Which I forgot is 5:30 our time. I got there pretty early, somehow missed that this being a big deal and a big race that there is a meeting that everyone is supposed to attend and pick up their numbers. I panicked as I was not on the start list, but was able to get it worked out in time, and started at 4:29. I would be the first to go off. I realized I have a lot to learn but Sarah was there to help.

The time trial is only 4.5 miles, since it is a prologue, which is about 10 minutes of riding as hard as you are physically able. I brought my bike in to check it in and make sure it met USA cycling rules, and the seat was too far forward and tilted up too high. Made some adjustments and I was good to go. I sat in the staging area, hoping my legs would feel ok. I had been battling a nasty cold that still was lingering and I had not been on my bike as much as I would have liked going into this. I was the most hopeful about this race of any though, as I have been doing well this year at time trials.

It was something to see the women from Pro-Optum and Tibco walking around, with their team cars and support team. Must be awesome to have that support! Myself, I parked on a side street, got dressed in my van, and warmed up with Sarah by my side on our trainers. It was nice to have company at least!

Anyway, I got on the ramp, they counted down and I was off. It was a nice, flat course and I just gave it all I had. Maybe a little too much at the beginning, because my legs were screaming when I was about 3 minutes in and when I could have been going over 30 mph on a slight downhill with a tailwind I could barely muster high 20s. I took a right turn, and my legs were adapting and I was able to tell myself to push my legs harder and they responded. 180 degree turn, into a headwind, and I buckled down and started feeling better. I had two more turns, and came into the finish, mouth completely dried out, swung off the course, and lost my lunch. A father and son walked by and looked a little disturbed, but hey, these things are normal if you are racing. It ain't always pretty.

Sarah finished up, and we headed off to get some rest. Later I saw the results and I was 50th out of 64 women, with a time of 10:50, 1:31 behind Alison Powers who won, average speed 24.5 mph. I was pleased with that, but as always....thinking I could have done just a bit better. Here are the results. And here is my Strava of the ride.

I don't have many pictures as I was here with Sarah, who was also racing and my phone battery died on Friday. But here is a great picture of me with Meredith Miller, who was racing her retirement race, it was a great honor to be with her this weekend! I will have more posts about the later, more exciting races that happened this weekend. It was an awesome experience that I will remember forever.

Chi-town Here I Come!

After a great season of racing, it's not over yet as I got my cat 2 upgrade and am heading to race Tour of Elk Grove this weekend. Soooo excited!