Pedal, Pedal, Pedal!

It was a weekend of racing for me! This was actually the first weekend in which I got in two full races (I don't think I can count the debacle of Wilmington as a race!). I did the Bethlehem Crit on Saturday and the New Jersey Time Trial Championships on Sunday. I thought (as did George) that I need to work on my TT before the Giro and Fitchburg. Plus, it can't hurt in getting ready for Philly this weekend (HOLY CRAP, PHILLY IS THIS WEEKEND!!!!!!!!).

Anywho...here's how things went.

Saturday, May 30th
What: The New Bethlehem Crit
Where: Bethlehem, PA
18 laps of a .89 mile course to complete "15 miles" - it actually ends up being quite a bit less than that, but whatever!
Category: Age groups! 30+ and 45+ with a separate Cat 4.
# of Starters: 24 on the line (not including Cat 4s who started 30 seconds behind us)
# of Sturdies: 6, including Sara B in the Cat 4 race - Jody, Sands, Jen Rhodes, Judi and Me

Course: Really fun course with 4 corners and one small rise. Turn 2 is always a bit dangerous due to rough road surface and off-camber downhill leading into it.

Race: Having held on for dear life in the NRC races, I was excited to have the chance to work on some tactics! I had a goal of finishing well and trying to put some damage on the field in the process. The second part worked - first part, not so much! ;)

I spent a lot of time working in this race. I attacked, I chased like a bandit, I pushed the pace at the front, and I generally just worked to make the race as interesting as possible. At one point, I got away with Nonnie with about 5 seconds over the field - but they simply would NOT let me go. Should I take that as a compliment??

At one point, Diane Grim took off. Unlike the determination to keep my butt planted in the field, she was let go. I knew that was a big mistake as Diane is a STRONG rider and completely capable of TT-ing her way to the finish. I went to the front and pulled her back to within an arm's reach before my legs began to putter out. When I pulled off to let the next person chase, she didn't. Boom - Diane pulled away again. Man, that sucked. A few laps later, Nonnie jumped and bridged up to Diane. I was in a bad position at that time, trying to conserve and couldn't get up to go along.

I continued to try to save up for the finish, but a sketchy corner by someone in front of me on the 3rd turn of the last lap forced me to hit the brakes, slip back from the front, and lose my legs. I finished in 8th - not too bad, but not where I wanted to be at the line. Still, I worked my BUTT off, practiced my jump, and felt like I raced really well even if I didn't finish exactly where I had hoped!

My teammates, on the other hand, ROCKED it OUT! Jody pulled in a strong 7th place finish, with Sands just behind. Jen Rhodes did some good work at the front and she finished 10th behind me with Judi finishing 12th.

Sunday was another big race day for me, as I went out to the Pineys for my first 40K Time Trial! Nothing like jumping into your first 25 mile Time trial at the State Championships! :)

What: NJ State Time Trial Championships
Where: Chatsworth, NJ (Pine Barren Country)
What: 40 K on a beautiful stretch of 563. Rolling terrain.
Category: multiple categories, I did the 30+
# of starters: In total, there were 32 in state riders, and 10 women competeing from out of state. (2 people in my age group category - me and Teresa DiSessa from Riptide)

Race: In typical fashion, as we got ready on the line, it began to drizzle. The drizzle turned into a veritable downpour on the road. It was CRAZY! Fortunately, the rain was NOT accompanied by wind, so it was wet and chilly but not windy.

I had a bunch of problems to start with, but all of them were part of my learning curve on this race. Everyone kept warning me not to blow up, not to go out too hard, etc. I took that advice a bit too literally and ended up doing the whole race too conservatively. On top of that, my new computer was NOT working, apparently. When I hit the turn around, it said that I had gone 14 miles. So, I was cautious - I thought the race was only 25, looks like it's going to be 28. On the way back in, I kept an eye on the odometer, thinking that with 2 miles to go, I would start ramping it up. Then I saw the 1K to go sign. WTF??????? Stupid computer! :(

Still - considering the rain and everything else, I really enjoyed my first "real" TT. I really liked the meditative aspect of it. Just me, the road, my legs, cadence, etc.

Anyway...in the end, I was pretty excited to find that I had won my category - but not by much! Teresa is a fantastic TT-ist and I only got her by about 15 seconds! Overall in the state, I was 3rd behind Betty and Beth Bonilla. Those out of state girls were amazing, and on the day, I was 8th overall. With a time of 1:02:50 and an average speed of 23.87 mph in my first race, I know what I have to do to go a lot faster next time. Maybe (just maybe), I'll catch the woman who finished first overall - I mean, she only did it in 58:21!!! HOLY poop! That's Olympic. Literally.

Still, I was pretty happy with my gold medal and 6-pack of beer! :) Can't wait to try another one. Honey, can I look into buying a TT bike now? :)