This weekend was the big Cherry Roubaix weekend here in Traverse City. It's nice to have a race so close to home, but in some ways I wasn't as prepared. Just like being late to an appointment that is a block away from your house, I was pushing the envelope time wise getting to the Time Trial on Friday night. Plus I was battling with myself over the thought of even doing the races this weekend. I came down with a cold and was feeling like crap. I hunkered down and went for it. I had a quick warm up, and a bit of panic as my saddle suddenly moved. I needed an allen wrench and I didn't have any tools with me. I found one, tightened it up, and was ready to roll. It was a 6 mile course over a lot of familiar terrain that we cover on Tuesday Night Rides. The wind so blowing so hard that I was thrown around a few times on my bike as I tried to pedal through it. Lady Hag teammates were ahead of me and behind me. Marci Bultemier was within sight, but I was not able to catch her. I ended up 4th. Bridget Widrig came in 2nd and Marci was in 3rd. Some other girl from some other team got 1st.
Saturday morning I woke up feeling worse. I headed to the doctor to get some antibiotics, and I rested most of the day. I had the crit at 5:15 and at 3:00 I still felt sluggish so Russ went on a mission to get me a 5 hour energy drink. I was really desperate at this point for something to kick start myself. About 4:00 I started warming up on my trainer at home, and again my seat slipped up. I tightened it again, so hard that I thought I can't go much more and I didn't want to break my seat post. I continued my warm up and the seat held fine. I headed out the door to the starting line. I was there early this time, and was able to ride a lot of laps of the course before the start of the race. This helped with the jitters a little, although I knew I was in for one of the hardest races I've ever done. I was right, but not for reasons that I thought.
While the announcer was chit chatting, the official blew the whistle and we kind of clumsily started the race. I was about in the last 1/3 of the pack for the first lap. Around the second lap a large gap formed which turned into a break, and the back 1/3 got left behind. As I came around a corner I was starting to think of what I could do to get up there and assessing who was left in my group when my seat slipped again. It went up at a 45 degree angle. "Are you f'ing kidding me?" I was screaming to myself. I tried to stand up and push it back down with my hand but it wouldn't budge. I was quickly at the back of the pack and had to just stand up and pedal to keep with them. I sat back down, holding on to the handle bars for dear life as my ass was sliding off the back of my bike. I wondered if I actually could continue racing like this. I certainly couldn't stop to fix it. So, I kept on going. I thought that if I could just hang on and not get dropped, this would be an accomplishment. I heard so many cheers from the crowd during the race, it really helped keep me going. There were a few moments I thought that I might just quit, but it seemed the girls would just slow down at that moment which was too close to my breaking point.
The main field overcame us on the final lap and we had a messy finish. But I finished! I was a bit delirious and definitely not looking very saavy (as seen below). At the end of the day I could at least say that I finished as I wobbled awkwardly back home. Got 8th place in the Cat 3 women and 30 bucks too. Here's to hoping the next race goes smoother! But yeah, shit happens. You can train all you want for a race, but sickness, crashes, mechanicals, anything can come along and mess up your plans for a good race. Nice thing is that there is always another race to go for.
Saturday morning I woke up feeling worse. I headed to the doctor to get some antibiotics, and I rested most of the day. I had the crit at 5:15 and at 3:00 I still felt sluggish so Russ went on a mission to get me a 5 hour energy drink. I was really desperate at this point for something to kick start myself. About 4:00 I started warming up on my trainer at home, and again my seat slipped up. I tightened it again, so hard that I thought I can't go much more and I didn't want to break my seat post. I continued my warm up and the seat held fine. I headed out the door to the starting line. I was there early this time, and was able to ride a lot of laps of the course before the start of the race. This helped with the jitters a little, although I knew I was in for one of the hardest races I've ever done. I was right, but not for reasons that I thought.
While the announcer was chit chatting, the official blew the whistle and we kind of clumsily started the race. I was about in the last 1/3 of the pack for the first lap. Around the second lap a large gap formed which turned into a break, and the back 1/3 got left behind. As I came around a corner I was starting to think of what I could do to get up there and assessing who was left in my group when my seat slipped again. It went up at a 45 degree angle. "Are you f'ing kidding me?" I was screaming to myself. I tried to stand up and push it back down with my hand but it wouldn't budge. I was quickly at the back of the pack and had to just stand up and pedal to keep with them. I sat back down, holding on to the handle bars for dear life as my ass was sliding off the back of my bike. I wondered if I actually could continue racing like this. I certainly couldn't stop to fix it. So, I kept on going. I thought that if I could just hang on and not get dropped, this would be an accomplishment. I heard so many cheers from the crowd during the race, it really helped keep me going. There were a few moments I thought that I might just quit, but it seemed the girls would just slow down at that moment which was too close to my breaking point. 
The main field overcame us on the final lap and we had a messy finish. But I finished! I was a bit delirious and definitely not looking very saavy (as seen below). At the end of the day I could at least say that I finished as I wobbled awkwardly back home. Got 8th place in the Cat 3 women and 30 bucks too. Here's to hoping the next race goes smoother! But yeah, shit happens. You can train all you want for a race, but sickness, crashes, mechanicals, anything can come along and mess up your plans for a good race. Nice thing is that there is always another race to go for. 
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