Barry Roubaix Killer Gravel Road Race 2013

I signed up for Barry back when winter was still fresh, and seemed like a season that may be over before we know it. Feeling strong and ready for a big challenge I signed up for the 62 mile race. We were pretty spoiled last year with the abnormal warm up, and had lots of riding in before March was over. Not so this year as everyone knows. I did get one long ride in a few weeks ago, about 50 miles. My shoulder and back were killing me by 40 miles and I decided I would back it down to the 36 mile race. I am back in physical therapy for my shoulder so hopefully I will get this thing kicked for good.

3000 racers line up

The conditions for the race were predicted to be very sloppy, so I opted to take my mountain bike for the race. This set up is also easier on my shoulder so I was happy with this option. Friday night I got packed up to go, and Rich from the City Bike Team and I left in the wee morning hours on Saturday. We made good time and had lots of time to get ready for the race. Stepping out of the car the cold bit pretty hard, and I wondered at the sanity of racing in 29 degree weather. Despite the cold, I was still looking forward to doing a new race and testing out the legs early on in the season.

Once we headed down to the start line, I was amazed at the amount of people that were lined up. It was impressive. I heard the announcer say that this race is just a few years old and started with just a few hundred people. Today there were about 3000 people racing. I really wonder at what makes certain events like this just take off. There are lots of great bike races, in much warmer weather, that don't have nearly as many people racing.

Photo by Rudy Malmquist

Our wave lined up, and we were off. I was in the second row, and a gap started to open up and I was quick to make sure to jump on the wheel of the leaders. We rode neutrally out for awhile, no one wanting to pull too hard off of the front. There were a few women leaping ahead and some squawking from others as they had crossed the yellow line in the road to do so. No one really took these ladies seriously until Marie Dersham went in front. I heard the murmurs throughout the pack..."there goes Marie..." It made me smile, since that is an awesome reputation to have.  I know Marie is a very strong racer so I jumped on her wheel, and a group of about 6 of us were off the front and rode together for about 30 minutes or so. The dirt roads got icier, and it was getting harder to navigate them and stick together as we were coming up on earlier waves.  Picking a good line was critical, and at one point I went to the left to pass and almost got swept off the road when I hit a rut and a good patch of ice. I eased out of it and regained control, but was off the back. I
could still see Marie and the group ahead though, so thought I could still catch back on. Then there was a rider down in the middle of the road and we all had to slow down. I hit the same icy rut the downed rider did and almost went down, but was able to recover. I think all those slippery fat bike races helped me a lot with some icy bike handling skills.

Now I couldn't see Marie's group at all, but there was one woman riding on a cross bike near me and we rode together for awhile. Then we hit pavement and she just took off on those skinny tires and I didn't see her again. I was a lone woman riding among lots of guys for quite awhile, when I heard another woman coming up behind me. She was on a mission and was riding hard and motivated me to kick it back up again. I didn't know what to make of her as she was climbing hills and using her whole body to rock back and forth, had a bright pink shirt on, and didn't fit into any category in my mind. Later I learned that she was riding a single speed, which I didn't even consider at the time because why would anyone do such a silly thing? Now I am in awe, as she beat me up some of those hills, and beat me to the finish line. That is kick ass.

photo by www.juliemcgrawphotography.com
Coming across the finish line.

At about mile 29 single speed girl (Rebecca) asked me where we were at, I told her, and she hung back for a moment. I knew she was probably fueling up for the last stretch and about a mile later she took off like a rocket. I stayed with her, determined not to get dropped. It was a great challenge. My heart rate was gearing up to 180 and I kept telling myself to not quit and to hang in there since we were close to being done. I wasn't able to catch her and she beat me to the finish line by about 20 to 30 seconds. She did a great job, and I was happy with myself for not giving up.

My legs felt decent throughout the race. Hills are usually my nemesis, and I felt that even if I may have been slower than others on the climbs I wasn't burning out and dying on them. I am happy that it was icy versus muddy-that would have been a much tougher race. It was pretty cold, and my feet were pretty frozen. I was grateful during the race that I didn't do the 62.

When I came in to check my results it said I was 11th in my division. I was a little bummed, and confused as I didn't think that many women were ahead of me. I didn't stick around for podiums, and later I saw Kati Krikke who told me I got 4th. That made me feel better! Podium went to 5th place so I got a medal and won some shoe inserts. Rich had a good race himself and was happy (except for the fact that I beat his time once again, ha!).  We drove the long ride back home, glad that it was over. I went to bed at 8:00 and slept solidly until 6, I was pretty exhausted!

Barry Roubaix was a great, well run race. Kudos to everyone who volunteered and helped run such an awesome race! Now, on to Fisk Knob TT, just 3 weeks away!