Just For You, Josh!!!

This post is dedicated to Josh - who said to me after my race and before his today, "I should be home around 5. I expect to see a race report on your blog." Well, Josh - it's 2:25 and I have begun to type! DAMN, I'm good!!!

Race: 1st Annual Cheyney Road Race
Where: Cheyney (duh!), PA
Distance: 60K (for those of you unfamiliar with the metric system - that's about 38 miles) - 6 times around a 10 K loop.
Women's Open Race: 13 starters, 1 Sturdy (that would be me!)

Course:
This was one tough course when it came down to doing it 6 times! Mainly tough because there were two rather large back to back climbs. The first half of the course was a beautiful lightly rolling stretch through the woods. Coming out of that section led you to the 1st large climb (and the Queen Of the Mountain competition). It was not particularly steep, but it was lengthy and you couldn't see the top during the climb because it bent to the right and continued up to the QOM line. It was DEFINITELY a small ring climb. After you reached the top, there was a descent followed by ANOTHER small ring climb! Again, this one was long and even, with no seriously steep sections. Then, you make your way down a long winding descent to the finish line.

Race:
The first lap was pretty uneventful. I spent a lot of time at the front because I wanted to make sure to push the pace and shed people if possible. The first lap up the two hills was also relatively uneventful, with most folks sitting in and checking out everyone's legs. Of course, the Queen of the Mountains competition was destined to mix things up a bit on lap 2! It did. It wasn't that the two who took off made a huge attack, it was just that most of us could not really respond. Amity (from JuicePlus) and Betty were 1 and 2 over the line with a slight gap. I was 3rd with Jill Wagget on my wheel. It turns out that the 4 of us had shed the field on that climb. Amity and Betty were within reach, but with the second climb just beyond the first, I lost contact. It ended up with Amity and Betty racing for 1-2 and Jill and I chasing for 3rd. I was DETERMINED to get 3rd and realized pretty quickly what I had to do.

Jill and I made our way through the next couple of laps without incident. We really weren't concerned about the pack. We were WAY out of sight, and that was probably enough to keep us safe. Nonetheless, I pushed the pace when I could, keeping my pulls up around 23 or 24 mph. I continued to crest the first hill before Jill on each lap and ended up with 3rd in the QOM competition! As soon as we had made a clean break from the field, I began planning for my attack. I admit to being particularly inspired by Lucas Euser's performance in the Univest race yesterday, when he simply rode away from his companion on the 2nd to last lap, winning the race. So, I started to channel Lucas!

My plan was...on the 5th lap, on the 2nd hill, when it starts to level out, gear down and ATTACK! And I did. And it WORKED! I pulled away from Jill and set my sights on time trialing to the finish line. The last time up the hills was pure power - I kept telling myself that it was just like the 5 hills ride..just one more to go! I crossed the finish line in 3rd, a few minutes behind Amity and Betty, and a few in front of Jill. I'm really happy with my race today. It puts me a few points closer to my upgrade, and garnered another podium finish for the Sturdies.

Life is good.