October 6 & 7 - back home race weekend

I had a few thoughts for this blog entry but not quite sure what I exactly want to say this week.   There was no major trip 450 miles northeast this weekend.  No epic races for me with 50+ crazy elite women racers from all over.  I was so "high" from my trip last week.  It took me a few days to come down and I could feel myself shift into a diff mental mood space.  (My body felt it immediately tho -- more deep tissue massage is def needed).

This week was a local weekend. In the end it made my life much easier --- managing my transition "back to work", getting my cross bike maintenance taken care of (thanks Twenty20), and spending time with my family T, Rascal, and Roxy Bear Bear.   But I def didn't have the same enthusiastic energy from last week.  My body didn't have that extra zip either....my 36 year old body was def wondering, do I get a  rest yet??  Pllllaaaeeeeze.  (No dammit, not until Cancun end of October.  :)

Anyway... without the excitement of a trip weekend, I shifted and became aware of other things.  I became very aware of why I love my local race scene and how lucky I am to have a community of friends, teammates and fellow racers to share it all with ...

So Saturday:   race was 12 miles away.  pretty RAD as some of my friends may say ;-).   Yeah 20 min and I was there.   Afforded me extra time to run errands in the AM and grab some BBQ supplies for the team.  Race was in Sykesville on the property of a closed down former mental institution.  They call it PsychoCX.  :) 

The cat 1/2 elite women field was small, 1 row of riders in the grid.  Yeah 1.  But the course was impressively challenging and included:  

• two run ups quite meanly close to one another.   
• Tons of off camber turns.  
• Short punchy rises.  
• A nice log obstacle.  
• And a set of barriers.   
• And teammates, friends, and T cheering us all on

 

So the course forced us off the bike 3x per lap and put some grimaces on many of our faces.   My Gloucester travel partner and friend, AT, took 1st Saturday.   And it didn't come easy.   She and LM were battling it out hard core.   They pretty much gapped me in lap 1 on the first run up.  Both were riding strong and so there they went, bbbbaaaabye.   But since the course was tight I could see that they continued to tit and tat one another in a cat and mouse game the whole time.  Nice racing ladies.

Meanwhile, Traci from WV was putting a hurting on me.   She raced into 3rd and was my carrot for the remainder of the race.  Thanks Traci, you were a good carrot.   Mentally, I was a bit fried from 5 weekends of racing.   Physically, I knew my bod was tired well before i started.  Regardless though, I raced well .  It was hard not to push myself especially since I could hear my Tracy roaring "GET ON HER WHEEL" from the sidelines.   Always feels like Tracy is EVERYWHERE on the course - finding me - and encouraging me with her authoritative, commanding, and scary-to-disappoint-her cheers.  Well Tracy gets in my head in a good way in the end.  Don't want to disappoint the Coach.  Naaaaaooooo.

The team atmosphere was great too.  Bruce had his pug and a big cooler of bevvy's.   Shea brought his friend and Allie.   Joe and Jay were in the mix.  Saw Shawn out there racing.  And there were a few others in black and blue.   Good stuff.

In addition, the temps were in the 70s and the rain held out.  Yeah, a dry course was a nice luxury on Saturday.

Oh and my friend Heather crushed the cat 3 field taking her first win of the weekend.  Well done Heather, very well done!

Sunday - Hyattsville Race northern DC:  so the weather forecast Saturday evening into Sunday was reminiscent of Gloucester.  Rain.  100% chances of rain.  Only difference was temps were projected to be high in the 40s.  Mentally, I prepared myself for mega mud.  Somehow in my mind, as of late, my mental image projection of the race course IS MUCH MUCH worse than reality.  For that, I thank-you weather for not matching my crazy imagination.

I carpooled down to DC with my travel bud again.   Ellie, my Element, was once again packed with tons of CX equipment.  Rack still on top.  3 bikes.  Tons of cr@p.  Yeah TONS.  Makes me laugh.  Ellie's a trooper.

We made it down to the cousre around 9A - enough time to get an early pre-ride lap before the rains made the course worse.  Hyattsville was much as I remembered from last year.  Same start.  Same turns around the courts.  Felt like they had super highway grassy straightaways for those crazy roadie power folks.  Bah!  A few off cambered switchy turns.   And a crazy woods section that would have been SO much easier on my 29" mountain bike wheels.   Yeah that section was a bit dicey.  The woods included:

• Loose loomy soil
• a nice fast descent into a rooty, tough right hander

My super sweet carbon zipp wheels, while super nice, had negligible braking.  Yeah, felt like no braking actually.  So I steamrolled right into the orange fence on my 2nd attempt during practice laps.  Yeah thank-you for working that out during the practice laps.  Niccccccccccccccccce.  Ha.  Decided that taking that last turn slow would be the key and then I could nail the finish single track back out in to the open grass.

By the way, I watched the Master 3/4 men go through that section twice during their 10A race.  Man, testosterone is a crazy chemical.  Men were flying -- some were yardsaling hard core and some were so freaking squirrelly yet remained up right.  Just made me think - a little dose of that crazy (?) manly hormone before a race might be the secret to pushing myself really far outside my risk comfort zone....anyway....

Shea rocked his first podium in the Killer B's today, that very same field.  Way to go Shea.  Really sweet seeing you out in 2nd most of the race and then knowing you were able to make a go at first in the woods and keep the lead.  You rocked today.  Yeah man.

So my race was okkkkkk.  Still tired.  Got  a decent start and held the lead pack into the woods.  The first three ladies just had more OOOOOoooomph than I did and bbbbaaaabye they went in front of me.   Today though I was Traci (from WV)'s carrot.  Yeah Traci sucked my wheel the entire race.  Just COULD NOT shed her dammit.  I tried.  My tracy was not there but I kept standing, sprinting up to high speed thinking, get this girl OFF my wheel.  WEll my Tracy would have been proud to see me standing and powering up but it wasn't quite enough gas to shed this WV gal.  Traci from WV made a move with a lap to go and needless to say that gap made it to the finish.  I KNOW she felt the pressure and we shook hands congratulating one another after the race.   She and I raced hard and we had each other in the race to keep one another very honest.  Traci - your welcome, I was your carrot today.

So there was another podium to be happy for after the race and I was kind of so-so about it.   Not disappointed but not enthusiastic.  Some of my punchy Jen chipper energy just wasn't there.

I was a bit in my head for the remainder of the day alhtough most would never know....at least from what I could tell.

I was thinking about other things - like:

• Heather winning another race (two wins in a weekend).  She rocked it.  God, her smile was so big.  She replayed her race report to me after my podium and her energy was awesome.   It was great to have that "share out" time with her.   It was even better to do all the LISTENING in that conversation.  Well done Heather.  Time to upgrade?????  tee hee.  Come join us - you are welcome here!
• Mel.   Mel, I am so effin proud of you.   4th place.   I still need a more formal 1x1 report out from you.  But looking you in the eye and really listening to you about how you beat out two opponents that ususally get you made me so proud.  So happy for you chica.  That feeling is awesome.  Makes you want to bottle it, doesn't it?   Makes you want to keep coming back right?   Anyway.  I was thinking about how far you've come in such a short amount of time.  You're going to school me soon.  Until then though, I'll keep reminding you how you have "kick ass" power in your genes.  Yeah, I'm a tad jealous of that.  Good jealous.
• Shea, you're the man.  That's all I have to say.  Way to bring major positive energy to the races both days.  Your win was sweet.    
• Emily, you rocked today.  Your plastic bag with your beer was very ghetto cool.  Ha.  You were an important part of my daily lesson today.  Your kind words about "us fast girls" really gave me perspective.  Part of me quickly dismissed your compliment and for that I apologize.  You reminded me to tell myself about my journey in this sport.   You also helped me see that I needed to let go of some of my perfectionism today.  so mega thanks for your kind words.  It was really cool seeing you both before and after race today.  Your smile lights up the race.  I love that.  Can't wait to see you at Seneca next week.  Yes, Seneca will be your DCCX warmup.  YES MAAM!  *WINK*
• C3 boys, you rock.  Thanks for all the cheers during race.  I needed 'em.
• And Hyattsville, thanks for hooking us with a great race today.  Very cool how we have so many races in our Midatlantic area.  Some small, all of them growing.  All within an hour, two or even 12 miles from my house door-to-door.

In the end we race because we love the way we feel when we do.
Today, it was awesome feeling and taking in everyone's energy.   I love this sport and I love what it continues to teach me about others and more importantly, myself.

I also want to thank Loki and AT for the lively entertainment post race.  I dig you both.  And A, somehow I think we can remain friends for another 350 days.  2013 CX planning.  i love that we are all starting to plan next year right away.... sweet stuff.   Nice to know we made it through trip 1 as friends.  :) ha.

Gloucester Gran Prix Weekend 2012 - amazing trip!

So I feel like I have to take divide this awesome experience into three main categories:

1. Before Gloucester (BG)
2. During Gloucester (DG)
3. After Gloucester (AG)

Before Gloucester:  
I was in planning mode a few weeks before the big trip.   Allyson T. and I had agreed to make the pilgrimage to Gloucester together, sharing expenses along the way, and hopefully remaining friends throughout the trip (our joke was that we would try to focus on remaining friends throughout each major stage of our journey).  We each are accustomed to our individual independence at races so merging our ways was going to make it interesting or so we thought.  

Becky Frederick had hooked us up with an awesome host up near the Gloucester race.  Becky had made the journey the year before and told me how awesome the Cotting's were and that I should def reach out to the family and see if I could take advantage of their hospitality.

Sandy Cotting, his wife Jane, and his daughter Sarah Anne agreed to host us and it was one of the best decisions of the BG phase! :-)

Meanwhile, Allyson and I kept an eye on the weather as we approached our departure date.   Monday 9/24 it was all sunshine and roses.  Midweek, chance of rain.  Friday RAIN.  

And well, Rain was the theme.   The big green blob followed us wherever we roamed.  From CT onward, it was rain, rain and more rain with some mild gaps of fog and cloudiness to break up the rain.

Conditions would be epic.
 
 

Epic Rain forecast for New England

BG - Car Ride North:   AT and I split driving on the way up.  We pushed off around 11:00A and by late afternoon learned that Kris Auer was about 30 minutes or so behind us.   We decided to find a local restaurant near Worcester Massachusetts to stop and grab dinner.

• Remember the Vegetarian Delight restaurant with what looked like bullet-proof glass...yeah....
• We were all using our Smart phones to locate another possible restaurant...smart phones didn't feel all that smart...maybe it was us?
• We landed at the Dancing Rhino, what a name, and was able to pull off our varied food diets of:
• Meat-a-tarian, no wheat 
• Vegetarian, no dairy
• Vegetarian

Funny really.   
Anyway, 2 hours later or so and we arrived at the Cotting's.   We met Sandy and his dog, Abbey, and quickly settled in to our new room for the weekend.    

 During Gloucester (DG):   Race Day 1
We woke early and looked out the window.  Yes, rain.
I went on the search for java bean almost immediately.   I have two major addictions in my life:  cycling and coffee.   After foraging through every cabinet, I located the beans.  Life was good.  (Thank-you Jane for being a coffee junkee, seriously!)

Sandy was racing the Men4 race at 9:00A so he was gone before we woke.   Our race was at 2:30P but we wanted to try to get over to the race mid-morning to setup, ride the course, and get ready.

We quickly found the C3 gang - thanks Arley, your camper made it super easy to find the group.

Day 1 setup behind Arley's camper

We pulled up and unloaded our ton of supplies and got ready for the day ahead.   

Surprisingly, Gloucester was fairly dry considering the large volume of rain they had received late in the week and into the day.   It rained throughout the morning but spared us in the afternoon.   We actually had the sun poke out for a short time before it ducked back in.   

View from our Setup Location

Call up time  - the raffle system.   If you don't have UCI points, you have to "try your luck" in the raffle system.   Allyson pulled #47 and wasn't too happy.....until she saw my number, #102.  Yeah baby.   call me freaking lucky, not!


I started 2nd from last and had approximately 50 fast and crazy Elite women riders ahead of me in the starting grid.  Yeah, this would be awesome practice and training.

The whistle blew and we were off.  Right up a hilly road into a nice roundabout right hand turn, still on pavement, and then quickly onto the grass with a hard left hander.

I don't know how I did it but I got a few inside breaks early in the start and was able to cut into traffic and gain position into both turns on the road.   I had AT behind me, doesn't happen often, felt good having "friendly company" somewhere near me at least  for a moment.   She was moving up quickly and held me for a quick second before yelling something like "let's go Jen" and made her pass.  I held her wheel until I bobbled in a set of S-turns, fell, and lost my chain.  After remounting she was gone on her attack and I chased.  That felt normal.  :)  Except me chasing included chasing 90% of the field.  Yeah elite in New England is an entirely different league of freaking fast.   Uber fast.  :-)

View from "the Rock" - one half of the course

The course was def faster on Saturday compared to Sunday.   Average HR was the usual Heart Attack zone 177-180 bpm.  My first lap was def pretty awesome, at least in my mind, but it def felt like I lost some go-go juice as the race progressed.  The course demanded attention.   Fast turns.  Ruts.  Run-ups. Twists.  Fast flats.  Fast road sections.  And lots of pressure to hold speed or the New England ladies behind would chew you up and spit you out.   

The C3 gang which included Mark and Diane and Auer screaming "go Tillman" from the pit every lap was awesome.  Matt Means had made the trip and I think I heard him throughout the race as well.  Thanks Matt!   The racing was awesome.  I closed the day in 37th out of 50+.  

Day 1 and Day 2 run up.   this picture doesn't do it justice!

Considering my starting grid 2nd to last position, considering the course and considering the field -- I was happy but it take me a quick second to find that ZenJen happy.   5 minutes after the race, I did my sulking.  Sulking about being/feeling slow.   But it didn't take long to switch that sulk to a positive mood.   After all,  I had my team C3 and all their support during the race. I had the experience of Gloucester with its crazy spectators.   I experienced a truly stacked field of uber Elite women racers.  I learned a lot.  I didn't get lapped.   I had a great travel friend.   We had a good race setup/tent.  Yeah eff-that bad attitude.  :)   Def turned rest of day into ALL smiles (and soreness and bruising).

We ended up back at the Cottings around 7p.   We all decided to grab dinner in Salem.   Again, we had to balance the Meat-a-tarian No Wheat with Vegetarian No Dairy with those (ha, the Cottings) who had no food rules.

We ended up having Indian at a cool little place in Salem.    It was a nice way to decompress and chat about our lives intermixed with a lot of cycling and post-race recap chit chat.  

Sarah Anne:  is that a challenge?  That quote became a theme for AT and me.   It was also immediately clear that Allyson and I related VERY well to a 10-year old maybe better in fact than the surrounding company of adults.  Ha. 


Day 1 to Day 2 Transition - Saturday PM into Sunday AM

• When you're wicked tired, you reach Stupid Hour or Silly Hour.   Why the heck were we screaming "Timmy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"  to each other as we were falling asleep???  Who the hell knows.   All I remember is laughing so effin hard my abs hurt.  Good stuff.  eventually we got quiet, took a second.  :)
  
• And Note to self - Allyson crashes in her sleep.  I'll never forget the high speed crash into the side of my twin bed at O-dark-thirty.  Ha.   I don't even think AT said anything --- perhaps she thought it didn't really happen or was confused or something.    But yeah, this girl crashes in her sleep.   Or maybe she was practicing putting those New England girls into the tape.!

 During Gloucester (DG):   Race Day 2

50 yard  (or so) beach run then this on Day 2.

 Day 2 represented the day of process improvement.   We experienced the process on Saturday and refined the process on Sunday.

• Setup system was in place, check!
• Course inspection, via foot though, check!
• Registration and crappy raffle pick numbers, check!

 We had a ton of rain overnight and steady rain all morning into our 2:30P race.   Yes, today was muddier.   We both decided to forgo any pre-riding and save our bikes some.   

We walked the course during the 11 and 12p races and noticed the new challenges.   

• the beach run into the stairs 
• the s-turns on the front side of the course, from yesterday, were now mud slicks.  Yes, we knew that would be a run section.  And def smarter to run as we compared guys riding vs. running.
• The run-up on the backside of the course was still in.  And yes it hurt.
• The small set of stairs near the spectators
• The barriers were still in the same spot but the exit from them now put us right out on the finish area, the road.

so yes, at minimum, 4 dismounts per lap and REAL RUNNING (not this three steps and you're done crap.  No this was freaking running)  Lap times were dramatically increased too from Saturday.   I averaged 15 min or so I think.  Nothing impressive compared to the Brits and US elites.   But all I can say is:  Imagine yourself running for 1/3 of that, well it felt like a third.   Yeah, that hurt. 

Remember my start from yesterday?, I moved up just a few places. Ha.   Same start.  but much harder to find gaps and get ahead today.

The start too had changed.  After racing up the hill we all poured into the backside of the course.  Lots of turns.  Deep ruts.  Sloppy mud.   Yard sales everywhere.   It was difficult to move up positions while in those sections, at least for me.   I focused on staying loose and letting the bike do what it wanted to do.

Me, Allyson, Sandy and wicked smart Sarah Anne

Needless to say, Sunday was the hardest race of my CX career.  But it was also some of the most fun.   The mud was so crazy.  

 We ended up finding Sandy and Sarah Anne after the race.   They stayed to watch us and tried to pick us out of the 50 riders.   once they did, they were cheering for us like crazy.  thanks guys!

we all climbed up to the Big Rock and hung out while the last of the Elite men finished their final lap.  I really dig this picture.   Love the shoes Sandy!

And Sarah Anne, you're a bad-arse 10 year old.  Remember how you ran all the s-turns in your rain boots after the Elite men cleared?  I thought you were crazy and tough.  Awesome combo in my mind girly. :)  Tough little chick, yeah, watch out New England!

 
Other highlights:

• Post-race Kris Auer interview @ Alchemy.  I learned a few things but don't think my interview was all that good.  :)
• Lots of veg dish shared plates, pure awesomeness.
• Gin N Tonic direct to brain.  Only one.  One was enough!
• Italian bakery for Cotting dessert delivery
• Washing our kits 2x because 1x just wasn't enough!!!!!!!!!!

  After Gloucester (AG):   Day after Races, Monday

We rode out to the Beach with Sandy on one of his 1 hour routes Monday morning.  Super beautiful.  No rain, only clouds.   God it was nice just to spin, ride and take in the sites.

Allyson:   Sandy and I loved your run into the bay/ocean.   You had us for just a second...had us thinking you were going to strip and dive in that is.  Funny.  Yeah it was the day after an epic weekend and the three of us were feeling happy just to be riding in a relaxed way.  Everyone was light.

Awesome Monday road ride out to the Beach with Sandy.   Most relaxing part of the trip!

I won't write much more about the details other than to summarize via a few bullets:

• The Cottings rock, all of 'em.  Cats, dog and peeps
• The trip was freaking amazing.    Would I do it again?  Absol-freaking-lutely!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• My travel partner rocked.   Our friendship survived and strengthened this weekend.  I've never seen AT smile so much.  Yeah.  
• Kris and the C3 gang are awesome.  Thanks dude.  
• Gloucester is epic.  You love cross?  Go.  That is it.  You got to try it.
• Massachusetts, New England.  Yeah, I love it.   Love the New Englanders.
• And well be careful on your return drive south.  Bronx parkway was not in the plan or so I thought! ;-D

 And there'll always be:
More to practice, more to learn.  More fun to be had.  More mud to experience. 
Next year repeat? 
Magic 8-ball says:  very likely

Peace.

Charm City Cyclocross Weekend

Saturday and Sunday, Baltimore City (Druid Hill Park) hosted the largest Cyclocross race weekend in our Mid-Atlantic region.   The C3/Twenty20 team puts this race on every year and it attracts many from the Midatlantic area, New England, and even a dozen or so pro races from across the pond.   This was my first weekend racing with my new team colors as I decided to join C3 after about a year long “courting” period.

This weekend I’d be racing about 35 women, including the UK cyclocross Champion Helen W and a Belgian pro Joyce V.   Throw in the mix some wicked fast, aggressive tough ladies from up and down the East Coast --- and well as we say it:  the field was “stacked.”   No racing with the boys this weekend, I was saving all my energy for my Elite race at 2:30P each day.

I was early to the event both days to help volunteer as well as “study” the course.   2 sets of barriers, a crazy U-turn downhill “chute” into a stairs section,  sand pits, and tons of turns as well as punchy climbs were some highlights of the course terrain.  It was fast.  It was super hard.  There was no place to really rest.  No rest.   

 I had butterflies all morning Saturday – a welcome sign.  Kind of like preparing for a date.   You are so excited yet your nerves are a tad shot and eager.  Yeah, I heart you Cyclocross!   I rolled to the starting grid about 15 minutes and lined up.   I was in the 3^rd row and thinking “start” smooth Jen, start fast.

Before I knew it the whistle was blowing and I was off.  Needless to say, my start pretty much s*cked but that is OK.   I raced from 32^nd position (or so) up to 11^th by the end of the race.   There were 34 elite women in the field.   They don’t give up.  They don’t rest.  They know how to suffer.  They are like “me” but at various skill and fitness levels.     I was riding clean and smooth and making serious gaps up working from the back up to 11^th position.   That is where I found my teammate, “Bad Kat”.   She was riding solid and I held her wheel for awhile.  She put the hammer down in the field up a false flat hill lap before last and I was thinking, man, she has some gas left in her tank.   I held.    Last lap, I was still holding and she made that very same move.  Unfortunately,  my gas wasn’t quite the same octane and she gapped me.   Great racing out there Kat, you rocked it.  

I also have to say kudos to my cheering section fan club:   Tracy, Dad, Vickie, Allyson, Mark, Bev and hubby, Ian, and many others.  You made the pain seem less painful or something like that.  

Oh and the support i received from C3 was amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!   Tillman-ator!!!!!!!!!!  (Thanks Shawn Downey, you freaking rock with the Mic)

 

Day 2 was more/less the same.  This time 36 women, faster women.  Seemed Sunday drew more of the fast ladies out.   Better start.   Freaking harder.  Much faster.   Serious pain.   But 10 degrees cooler.   There were a few “races within the race” and I had a pack of ladies that I was chasing down and many behind me “ready to take me down.”   It was tit for tat and a lot of back N forths.  

 

Man, these women are tough.

And then I think,  I am freaking tough too.

11^th day 1

15^th day 2

This is Elite UCI racing Jen,  you are out there.  These are the best riders.  You’re giving it everything.  You’re fighting.   And you’re progressing.

I freaking love this sport, did I mention that?

 

And thanks Tracy – for letting me have this “love affair” with CX.  

Until next weekend it's time to rest.   Next weekend is another epic race, Gloucester Massachusetts.   I'm leaving Friday, 10 hour drive.  2 more UCI races, racing both Sat and Sun.   More pros.   More Stacked fields.  Insane community.    More cyclocross, yes please!

 

BCA Cyclocross - what a day

Sunday 9/16 - I decided to stay local this weekend in lieu of making a big trip north to race the Nittany/Trexlertown races.   Staying local meant I could focus on continuing to increase my training load over the past week, pushing myself a bit into the Red Zone, and ultimately saving myself about 5 hours of drive time.

In addition, I have two really big weekend races coming up soon:

1)  Charm City (Druid Hill, Baltimore) races Sat and Sun 9/22 and 9/23 and then I'm heading

2)  North to the biggest race in the NE, Gloucester Mass. 

Both of these races are two day races.   Both of these races will have stacked women's fields attracting professionals from Europe as well as best stateside.   Both of these races will DEMAND my all.

So I stayed local...

Well, I decided to make a large fitness deposit yesterday.   My decision:

1)  race the Men's "B" race (35/45+ age group 3/4 category) at 10:45A

2)  then wait three hours and race my race (the Women Elite 1/2) at 1:45P.

Lining up with the men is quite an adventure.  There are many rows of racers at the starting grip.  8 men (and um woman!) per row.   About 6-7 rows deep at this race, about 50 riders.   Large starting group for me compared to the woman's races...

Anyway, I was in the 4th grid.   Whistle blew and you have 50 men charging ahead on the road none of whom will give an inch of space.   This is a men's race - full testosterone "battling" for their position on to the grass.   I held my position more/less and didn't hit the deck.  Goal 1, success.  I'm upright.

Heading into the first corners it bunched up quickly but I held my ground.   1/4 the way in over the first barriers, men were down "yard sale" style in front of the barriers.  I learned A LOT about quick, smart maneuvering and navigated around the cluster.    Another 400m or so and there was 2nd yard sale....and then a 3rd.....and then a few made some really "dumb passes" cutting me off and 2 guys wreck baddddddddd in front of me down a wicked fast downhill chute, 1 on left, 1 on right --- which left me the middle clear and passable, fortunately.

Needless to say I learned a lot and my “inner Sailor” had a few words with the boys during the race…

1)  Men are animals, ha, I already knew that

2)  They are wicked tough on the course and they do not go easy on women in the race

3)  They get really P!ssed when they get chick'd by a small woman like me....and they will fight hard core, Including a bit of elbows and pushing you into the tape, to reclaim their positions...

4)  I can hold my own with 'em!

I finished 29th in the men field outsprinting a chick'd boy who was desperately trying to get me on the line.   Thank-you Mr. Man, you helped me Sprint like a maniac to the line, getting 29th (over your 30th) by out 12".

 

Anyway,  I rested and attempted recovery in prep for my race at 1:45P.

Best part of that race, I got the hole shot off the line.  Meaning, I led.   Made me a bit nervous honestly as my legs were whimpering from the men's race and the pace, my pace, out of the gate was hard.    Needless to say I had a decision to make about 1/3 of the way in:

1) Burn all my matches (empty my tank) to  attempt to hold the race leader pack or

2) HOLD and ride clean ensuring I finish the race and not completely fall off.

I chose 2 and apparently decision 2 was a good one, I held and achieved 5th place, good enough for a podium.

 

Yeah, I love this sport.  I love the pain and what you can overcome.

I love what I learn about myself when I think I have nothing left.

But I think the best part was the support I felt off the race course in between races.   There is something magical about the cyclocross community.   And I'm always feeling grateful I have both my health and the means to continue to race and play in the dirt and grass.  


And I had my Mom there cheering.  She seemed to know most everyone by the end of the race day.  Seemed she recruited more "cheer support" for me as the day went on.   Loved having here there.   Loved how she also coordinated her "pink" for the day.  it was the breast cancer awareness ride after all.  Thanks Mom.

Thanks for the support everyone.