Tour de Millersburg

First, I'm going to post a quick race report. Well, y'all know me, it will hardly be quick. Then, I'll post about our stay with the Smucker family!!!

Tour de Millersburg Stage Race

Cat 1,2,3

9.5 mile TT

20 mile Crit

57 mile Road Race

# of racers: 25

# 0f Sturdies: 2 (me and Sands)...Rachel was there racing "with" us too...but she wore Salamander.

TT:

Great course. A tad bit rolling with a nice LOOOONG false flat section on both legs.

I brought out the Frankenbike for this race...hoping that it would be a good idea. It was not a good idea, it was a GREAT idea. I felt awesome on that bike this time around. Perhaps it was because I have been training on it on Saturday mornings. Perhaps it was because the course really suited a power rider like me (I could really grind up the false flats and keep up my speed). Perhaps it was because I was determined to do a great TT. It's too bad I didn't have an alien helmet or a disc wheel because I ended up 6th (the money went 5 deep) by 3 seconds. THREE SECONDS!!! UGH! I was really bummed. But, I rode an excellent TT. I was able to average about 24.3 mph (which is a personal best) and I finished the course in 23:21. The winning time was quite a bit faster than that, but I was REALLY happy with my result.

Crit:

Holy HARD. The crit was different than last year, apparently. Rather than going up on the long, false flat around the high school, we came up a BIG climb from Union road up to the right turn into the school. With a section that followed that included a technical set of turns - right, left, left, right, left, left - back up the hill.

We started the race at about 4:30 and it was HOT. REALLY, really hot and humid. I was pretty concerned about the heat (rightfully so!). A few laps in on the hill, the field started to break apart. Soon, there was a group of 9 off the front and everyone else splintering behind. I was fortunate enough to have gotten into the break of 9 with Rachel. The break was a choice group including, Lozza, Leslie Jennings, Ann Marie Miller, Amanda Watson, Rebecca Blatt, Patty Buerkle, and Grey Patton. It was pretty tough. I knew that my legs were such that when someone made the attack on the hill, I was going to have a tough time hanging on. Thankfully, they waited to do that until the last lap. Rachel made an attack and might have won, but was chased down by a few girls and brought back in. But, that attack spurred people on and they pounded it up the hill. I was totally spent and couldn't go with them, as were a few other girls. I ended up finishing the last half of a lap on my own to take 8th on the day. I was pretty happy that I was able to stay with them through the majority of the race, and felt pretty good with my performance. I nearly croaked afterwards, however. I was totally overheated and my asthma kicked in a bit. I ended up dumping about three bottles of water on my head and body, but still had the shakes and the chills for the rest of the evening. Not good.

Road Race:

Considering my body's reaction to the heat after the Crit, I was pretty concerned coming into the Road Race that my body might not hold up. I drank a LOT of water and ate a few gus before the start of the race and was actually feeling surprisingly good when we started. The race went out and made a right hand turn at our host house, so I was hoping to feel good enough to put on a bit of a show out there.

The race was rather unselective this time. A few people (me, Rachel, Peta, Grey, and Amanda) tried to attack a few times, but all attacks were countered REALLY quickly. By the end of the second lap, I knew that I just had to sit in and try to wait for the sprint (not my favorite thing!). I really wanted to hold my position in the GC and take home a check with some semblance of dollar signs for the donut fund!

The course was great...strong rollers throughout the 17.7 mile course. A few rollers were capable of putting the burn on your legs, particularly the section of road just past the turn at our house onto Kessler. There was one scary part during the second lap when I got gapped off the back. I was really afraid that that was the end of my race, but the leaders sat up and we all got back together. I have no idea what happened up there, but I was glad for it!!! :)

The race stayed together the entire time and came down to a sprint finish. I lost a decent position coming into the final turn and got pushed out on the corner by a few riders in front that made some wide turns. Still...I had a strong sprint and managed to catch a few folks and keep a few others at bay. I finished 10th overall on the day and 7th in the GC - just keeping myself in the MONEY!!!! :)

The other girls also raced fantastically this weekend. Sara took 9th in the Cat 4 road race in an awesome showing of monstrous POWER!!! Jody was 10th in the GC for the Cat 4s and Rachel was 5th in the GC. It was a great weekend of racing, topped only by our incredible stay with the Smucker family...which will be the topic of my next post!!