Catherine took some pictures while she was out there cheering us on, so hopefully she’ll share them so we can see my teammates’ setups, too! This was 40K of “you’re on your own!” trying to catch the women in front of you and trying to keep the women behind you from catching you. I loved it. We’d ridden the course twice before and I was very familiar with it, so all I had to think about was catching or not being caught. Both happened: I was caught and passed, but I caught and passed a few people, too. I rode my best, with no time expectation nor any other goal except to do my best.
This race was a success. My overall time was 1:11:03, which was good enough for 20th out of 27. Stats: 1:11:03, 24.82 mi, 21 mph (35.2 max), 179 HR (189 max). I am so impressed with my teammates: Parri was 2nd, Kat was 6th, Anna was the 3rd Cat 4, and the rest of us finished in the following order: Lisa S, Lisa C, Cali, me, Valerie, Shelly, and Jonell. I am so amazed by everyone’s races!
Today was a crit over in Murfreesboro. It was another beautiful day, another great venue, another chance for Team Belladium to shine, and another day of action. The 4s raced first, and I watched their race and cheered.
Cat 3/4s lined up
This also gave me a chance to check out the course and get prepared for what I had anticipated would be a hard race. Surprisingly, only 9 women showed up, and 5 of us were Belladium girls.
Lisa, Cali, me, Kat, and Parri ready to go!
We knew we had the numbers, and we had a plan, so I was ready to, again, do my best. Kat played a card early and was off the front for most of the race; Cali and Parri played a few cards later and were together for about half of the race; I had no cards to play and just raced as smart as I could. I stuck with Sandra, an SVMIC lady who I know is strong, and determined to make her do any required work while I sat on her wheel and did absolutely nothing. It worked out perfectly. Kat caught up to us and Sandra got on her wheel; I stayed on Sandra’s wheel again and still did nothing.
Mid-race: Olga, Lisa, Jess, Cali, Parri, Stephanie, me
On the last lap, I played the one card I had: a sprint. Sandra tried to attack up the last hill to catch Parri and Cali, but I knew she was going and was ready to go with her and do everything I could to out-sprint her. I succeeded, and because we’d gotten lapped we finished at the same time as Kat. But this left me in 4th, Cali in 3rd, Parri in 2nd, and Kat in 1st. Lisa S was able to finish with me, so she took 7th. Overall, we pretty much dominated this race. It was so much fun, and it was relieving to not have to do too much work. Again, a super-impressive showing by my super-strong teammates!
Stats: 49:43, 17.62 mi, 21.3 avg (29.5 max), 178 HR (203 max)
Overall, the weekend has been amazing so far. Friday included a short ride to get a feel for the wheels and then an afternoon filled with helping Josh and Anna S move. And a little chat with my sister—I can’t wait to see my family in a couple weeks!
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