Epic Weekend of Racing

Iowa State Road Race Championships:
This past Saturday, I did the Women's 1/2/3 81-mile road race. As many of you know, I don't care much for racing road bikes. Mostly I think they are for suckers, but I am sponsored rider and my team organized this race, so there you go. It was a measly turnout of just 6 racers. We had to do 3 laps, each 27 miles long. Things started off slow. I didn't even warm up, knowing that we would likely be piddling around the first lap. Just shy of the end of the first lap, our group agreed to a mutual nature break. We all stopped and those that had to relieve themselves did, including short Brian who was driving our wheel truck. Then, it was back on the bikes for another 15-20 miles of little to nothing happening.

It was Kim that really started to speed things up. She threw a couple of attacks to which I made the PRC ladies chase down. Then it was my turn. As soon as they had pulled me back up to her, I threw the hammer down and just flew up this hill. Well, half way up it, until I realized it was a much longer hill than I remembered. I made it to the top right as the group was catching back to me. Kim again pushed the pace at this point...and then there were 5.

After much discussion about whether or not we should stopped to pee again (which we thankfully did not), we rolled through town to start our final lap. At this point, all of us agreed to a rotation. Now, let me preface this by saying of the 5 of us, there were 2 women from Mercy, 2 women from PRC, and 1 woman from DICE. Therefore, I can entertain the idea of it being unfair for said single rider to do equal work. That being said...this is Iowa, there were only 6 of us to begin with, and you will never get stronger if you don't push yourself to the limit. How many times did I end up riding alone in races this year because I participated in a group rotation that eventually rode away from me? (Hillsboro - 22 miles alone, Altoona - 41 miles alone, Big Creek - pulled another rider around 24 miles, the list goes on and on). So do I think that everyone should have pulled through since everyone agreed to the rotation?...YES! I have much more respect and would do more to help someone that is giving their all, than to someone full of excuses that just sits on my wheel. If said person had made it to the finish line and had been able to out sprint me, there would have been words, but thanks to Kim and my aggressive riding...that did not come to be...and Miss "I'm not going to do any work" fell off the back.

Sorry, off my soapbox and back to the race...as we come up on the second crossing of the Cedar River, there was this fairly steep, decently long climb. At first, I just sat up and started pedaling, then I decided to start spinning faster. I didn't stand up and really mash on the pedals right at first, I was just pushing the pace. With this, I was pulling away from the group. Once I realized what was happening, I grabbed another gear and really threw the hammer down. Two hills later, I get caught by Kim who had J.R. plastered to her wheel. She is seriously trucking along, so I hang on to the back for dear life. I felt like death...snot running out of my nose, saliva pouring from my mouth, and it took every ounce of effort I had to get air in my lungs and keep my legs turning the pedals over. Finally, after a couple of fast downhills, I composed myself. I honestly didn't know what to do at this point. Do I sit back here and let Kim do all the work? Do I attack again? What now? As we turned the corner with 5 miles to go, I decide to attack again. Hoping that Kim will make J.R. chase me down to wear her out a bit. J.R. does chase me down, but now I am spent again, and with 1km to go, Kim and J.R. come around me and that was all she wrote. I got 3rd, but I also felt I had worked my ass off and that was good enough for me.

Seven Oaks Mountain Bike Race:
On Sunday, we headed up to Boone for a mountain bike race. The Prizm left Iowa City loaded with 4 mountain bikes and 5 people (Kyle and I, the McConvicts, and Mr. Blake). Two and a
half hours later we arrived at the race. Sedore and his cronies did a great job making the trail ridable after all the damage it sustained this year. That being said, it was the hardest course I have ever ridden. There were no less than 10 bridges covering the washed out areas. Some so narrow, they left no room for error. Not sure how I will manage them in the dark at the 24 hour race, but I still have a couple of weeks to figure that out.

As far as racing went, not a single other female showed up for the sport and expert races, so I just rode as hard and at times as easy as I wanted to. The heat index that day was something outrageous like 112, so everyone was suffering. K.M. did really well and finished 3rd overall in the expert men's race. A.L. (that transient) DNFed as did Kyle due to flat tires. Blake finished 3rd overall I believe in the sport race. To top it all off, sandy Austin stopped by Seven Oaks to cheer us on and stayed to have lunch with us in Ames at Hickory Park.