It was difficult to force myself to bed at 9:30 on New Year's Eve, but I figured I could party after the race. I did a pre-ride on Thursday using some race notes from last year that Evan sent out. Thanks again, Evan! They were so helpful!
I did a pre-ride of the 3.5 mile course 4 days before the race on my own. Since I was alone and the had 3 days to recover, I decided to go as hard as I could on the pre-ride so I'd be prepared for the pain on race day. I also have a new bike with less gearing options, so "spinning" up the hill was not really possible. My heart rate reached zone 5b, and I had creepy blood-like taste in the back of my throat when I made it to the top. My watch said 19:57 when I got to what I thought might be the finishing area. I set a goal for myself to come in under 20 minutes on race day.
On Monday (race day) Jeanine, Sarah and I met at 8:00, registered, and warmed up together. Sarah was the drill sergeant and made sure we did our hard efforts on the trainer. I was confused for a while there when I discovered that my heart rate monitor was picking up Sarah's heart rate, not mine. I took it off for a while thinking I wouldn't use it during the race, but then decided to use it because I wanted to know if I reached "zone 6" as Evan said I might. I also wanted to know how my effort compared to my pre-ride. We also went up the first half mile of the climb a few times before the start, just to know what it would feel like.
When lining up for the race, we were happy to see Jenny Feix! I was not happy to see the 200+ people lined up in front of me. Each category had a specified place to start, yet only one start time/whistle. I understand that this is done for safety, convenience, and respect to faster or more experienced riders. Maybe this is the best way, but I wanted to be able to see and chase the cat1/2/3 women.
When we heard the whistle it was slow rolling at first. I spotted a cat 4 woman take off like gangbusters, sprinting like she could already see the finish line, so I took off after her. I wasn't on her wheel, but I never let her out of sight. This was hard, because we were weaving around a bunch of masters men, and I couldn't see over them very well.
About a mile and a half into it I caught and passed the woman I was chasing. I figured I only had 12 or so more minutes to race, so why hold back? I pushed as hard as I could. I never looked backed, only ahead for people to catch and pass. I got some encouragement from a Velo Bella who yelled out "great job" to me as I passed her. I tried to say thank you, but only a strange squeaking sound came out of my mouth (not enough air in my lungs for speech I guess).
I was so happy to see the finish line and all my teammates crossing it with smiles on their faces. Of course, they all beat me on the descent back to our cars.
I waited around to see the results posted. I didn't come in under my 20-minute goal, but I learned a lot about how critical the start is. I won an interesting trophy with a multi-tool sticking out of it, a Pen Velo water bottle, a few different lip balms/sunscreen, $9 bucks cash, and a bottle of champagne. I can't wait to split up the loot with my teammates! HAPPY NEW YEAR!
