A brutal race. If it wasn't for all the people cheering me on after laps 1 and 2 I would have found a cool spot in the shade and quietly died peacefully. I did, however, manage to finish the race some 41 minutes behind Brendan Moore who had a very strong race. In general the field was much more spread out primarily due to the conditions (hot) and the course. For some reason I like the race course at Afton despite the fact that I have yet to race well on it. I think the course is the perfect race course because it demands the racer be very well rounded; if you have any weeknesses this course will definitly bring them out.
On to the race. I had a little better start this time, cresting the little climb at the start with a fair number of people behind me. As I started to go down the hill a few riders started to pass me as I tried to recover slightly. On the flats leading toward the meadows chalet I got passed by a couple more, but made a push to regain my position down the hill leading into the single track. Entering the bridge loop I kept a good pace up the climbs, staying in my middle chainring, but my HR was much higher than past races (i'm sure the heat had something to do with it). I could tell that I was starting to fade, so I backed it down a little bit because it was going to be a very long race. As I headed through the switchbacks leading toward shady lane each and every steep climb was painful and I wasn't recovering well. The first time up Shady I stayed in the middle ring, but by the time I reached the top I was toast and had a hard time maintaining speed on the technical descents.
The remainder of the race I was in damage control most of the time. The limited time training in the heat took its tool both mentally and physically. Although I typically climb fairly well, I haven't had a chance to do much climbing outside of the races. You know you are in trouble when you pull over on the side of manhandler to chat for a few minutes during the race. I guess I should not be to hard on myself noteing that at least 15 comp riders DNF'ed. To put things into perspective, last year I finished 69th out of 118 in Sport.
In the end, I finished 27th out of 32 41:57 behind the leader. I was glad to be done and happy to finish.
Whatever doesn't kill you will make you stonger!!
I look forward to the next race @ Mt. Du Lac
Andrea's Race
This was the first race I ever had where I truely thought I was going to get sick!
I started with a 20 minute warm-up which included a little of everything; some double track a couple good hill climbs, and some great singletrack to get my legs ready to roll.
All us ladies lined up on the start finish line and I felt ready to go. We were off and before I knew it I was at the back of the pack (man I need to work on my starts). Then we headed up the hill and I passed a few people and through some short singletrack and then a few more down and around some double track, I had agreat position with only 3 people in front of me. Then my chain jammed and try as I might to be gentle and get it unjammed without stopping I couldn't, so less than 5 minutes into the race I was stopped and trying to unjam my chain. Meanwhile everyone else was gone. It didn't take too long and I was off, I worked extremely hard and my heart rate was up in the low 170s for quite awhile until I finally regained my position. This is when I realized I felt sick. It was incredibly hot out and all the fluids I had were warm. I litterally was making plans on what I would do if I needed to throw-up, I would stop throw-up and get back on the bike as soon as possible. Well I backed it down just a little but I had one lady close behind me so I knew I didn't want to slow down too much. I started to feel a little better, and I continued to push it hard. When I had open spaces ahead of me I could see no ladies, that was disheartening, but I still raced hard.
During my second lap I rode with few mistakes although the heat was taking its toll. The back of my leg was cramping up and I was dreaming for cold fluid. I continued to ride, I told myself to keep going and I was not going to die on the bike. I finished strong and quickly felt better after a cool down ride and some cold water.
I finished 4th out of 6 in my age bracket and 4th out of 9 overall for this race. My series standing is 1st as of right now, but I have 1 more race than a lot of the ladies.
Call me crazy but I think Afton is one of the funnest courses to ride and I can't wait for the 24 Hours of Afton. I've never ridden it but I've supported Matt for 4 years, now I'm ready to race. I'm not sure in what capasity I will race it in(solo or on a team), but I will be there.
Kid's Race
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