Showing posts with label Road Race. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Road Race. Show all posts

Saturday, January 4, 2014

2013 Races

Here is a rundown of my 2013 races. A mileage update will come soon.

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Sunday, June 30, 2013

TN State Road Race: Hard and Hilly!

Cat 1/2 podium: Amanda 1st, Liz 2nd, Kat 3rd

Saturday was the annual TN State Road Race. The venue changes every year, but the gist is the same: The person who wins the race earns a jersey and the right to call herself the current road race champion. The 2012 state road race was in Oak Ridge (I was 3 of 6 Cat 3), and the 2011 state road race was in East Tennessee (I was 12 of 15 Cat 1/2/3). This year's race was the Cookeville/Avery Trace Road Race. I did not compete in this road race last year because I had been racing at the Tour of America's Dairyland the previous week and the next day was the 2012 State Crit. But that didn't mean I didn't remember it.

Cat 3 podium: Cali 1st, Stephanie 2nd, Martha 3rd

Remember it I did! In early June of 2012, we had previewed the course. In addition, I went along on race day to support the team, but I watched everything from Todd's car. This year was a different story because I was on my bike, on the road, not in a car. We got to the first of the 3 short climbs, and I remembered why, the previous year, it had been a quick decision of mine to not do the race. This year, however, I was already committed and just told myself, You have to do this. You can do this. You are already out here, and you are still with a group, so keep going. My goal going into this race was to make it through at least the first 17 miles with the group and then ride hard, hopefully with someone or some people, for the remaining ~40 miles.

Cookeville/Avery Trace RR

The first climb went well for me, and I descended (down the tricky, pot-holey, wet, shadowed, fast descent) with the group, which at the start was 14 Cat 1/2/3 women (9 Cat 1/2 and 5 Cat 3). On the second climb, I was leading (and thrilled about it!). I thought, This is GREAT! If they let me lead this whole time, I can go at my pace up a hill forever! Close to the top, Liz got a little anxious and came around me, but I think it was simply for the sake of not being behind someone, not for the sake of pushing the pace. I made it up most of the 3rd climb with the group but fell off slightly and found myself with Jes, Martha, and Stephanie. My first thought was that I would be stuck with them, but then I decided to attack and bridge up to the rest of the group. I did, but so did they (because the first group slowed up). We all rode together until that climb around mile 17. I began the climb with the group but was unable to stay.

Eventually, Missy and I ended up together (she waited for me to catch her) and rode really well together. I was happy to have someone to ride with, as was she, and we made a good team: she pulled up all the hills, and I descended first and pulled on a lot of flats. This entire time, from ~Mile 18 until ~Mile 41, we could see Parri, Stephanie, and Martha ahead of us; we also knew that Jess, Jes, and Leah were behind us. We would have loved to have caught the group ahead of us, and a few times it felt like we were gaining on them. Then the next time we looked, we were holding steady and not making up any ground. Parri is strong, so that was probably part of it :-)

Eventually, at the climb at Mi 41, it really looked like we could catch them, and Missy climbed at her pace and I at mine. I thought for sure she'd finish with those three, but we both ended up staying in no-man's land by ourselves. I could still see her (and Parri and them) the rest of the way in, but I never could get close enough to catch them. I never saw Jes and them behind me.

The finish of the lead group came to a sprint -- Kat did some hard work to lead Amanda out, and Amanda did her job winning that sprint and the race. Kat was 4th, Catherine was 5th, and Cali was 6th. Woot! I was 11th; as I was finishing the final 15 miles, I was counting riders wondering if there was any way I could make top 10. But seeing as how Missy and I couldn't catch Parri's group even though we were working together, I knew there wasn't any way I could catch them by myself. So I couldn't move up. Bummer!

My main goals for this race were to finish, stay with the group for at least the first 17 miles, and use the day as a good long training ride and a half-Ironman-distance-bike time gauge. My time goal was 2:50, which, if doubled, would mean a 5:20 Ironman-distance-bike time. Louisville is significantly flatter than this, and I finished in 2:47. Woot!

Stats: 2:47:42, 55.18 miles, 19.7 mph (45.3 max), 167 bpm (192 max), 11/14 and 8/9 Cat 1/2

Preliminary results are here.

Here's what the course looked like last year:

2012 Cookeville Road Race route
Sunday I met Val at the MFY for a long run. She and I did 4.5 miles together (10 min/mile), and then I ran another 5.5 by myself (8:30 min/mile) for a total distance of 10 miles, time of 1:30, and pace of 9:09. Considering how tired my legs had been after Saturday's race, I was thrilled that I could hold 8:30s steady for that long (and I was actually really close to steady on the hilly MYF 6-mile loop I did clockwise: 8:26, 8:22, 8:27, 8:35, 8:37).

My normal Sunday bike-cleaning looked like this today:

Little Blue getting cleaned
Normally BB would have wheels and it would be much easier to clean. However, I was also working on changing wheels/brake pads and I wanted to clean it outside (it's amazing how dirty a bike can get on the top of a car!), so I had to improvise with a bike stand. This worked for today!
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Sunday, June 2, 2013

Rockabilly Gran Prix Race Report

RR start, team meeting, during the race, and podium

Friday night we headed to Jackson, TN, for the Rockabilly Gran Prix races. Our road race started at 8am, bright and early (and dry). It was a 3-lap circuit, with each flat-to-slightly-rolling loop at ~10.5mi each. After ~1mi of neutral, we started attacking. I went first, but I then got dropped pretty quickly after getting caught. That definitely was partly a result of my Friday birthday workout.

Somewhere around mile 7, I caught Karah and she and I rode the remaining 23 miles together, alternating pulls and hoping to catch anyone else. Around mile 27, we caught Megan, another Cat 4 rider, so I told Karah I'd lead her out for the sprint if she could pretend we were teammate and she'd stay in a good position. She did and stayed on my wheel for the sprint. Karah played it perfectly, but Megan made it too easy unfortunately.

Twice within those final 3mi, I had the girls pull through. Karah knew the plan but Megan didn't (obvsiously), so I just said, "Pull through and I'll come back to the front." She did, but then she kept wanting to lead or, worse, ride next to me. I didn't want to say too much, but I did say, "Use the girls you're with...don't do too much work!" She did too much work and wasn't able to stay with us for the final 200m. Karah did awesome and I'm proud of her effort even if she isn't my teammate.

Speaking of teammates, AJ, Parri, and Cali made it into a 6-woman break, from which they finished 1st, 3rd, and 4th. Kiki, Anna, and Shannon were in the next group and worked together to set Kiki up for the Cat 4 win/bonus. Score! I finished 14/22 overall and 4/4 Cat 1/2.

The TT was not great for me. I was on my road bike and had gotten in a decent warmup, but I just did not go super fast. Like almost 2min slower than AJ, who won. She was on a TT bike, but I still shouldn't be that far behind.

RR Stats: 1:31, 31.53 mi, 20.6mph
Lap 1: 30:50, 20.5mph. Lap 2: 30:17, 20.9mph. Lap 3: 30:33, 20.4mph.
TT Stats: 14:33, 5.00mi, 20.6mph
Crit Stats: 28.54, 10.59mi, 22.0mph

Our crit was, again, super early, and it had rained most of the night so we were really hoping for dry roads and no rain. We got it! 21 women lined up for this race, and we had 7: Amanda, Cali, Anna, Kiki, Shelly, Catherine, and me. We had the luxury of numbers, and we used it to our advantage.

Early in the crit

Cath and I weren't a threat to the overall (AJ, Cali, Pam, and Marda were all pretty close), so we were aggressive from the start. We got chased down by mainly Marda, Jess, Stephanie, and Shannon, but with 4 laps to go I attacked and no one came with me or chased.

I knew I'd have to work hard to stay away for the remaining laps, but I also knew that if I didn't, Catherine had my back and the other girls would help Amanda maintain her overall lead. Finally, with 1 to go, I knew I'd stay away. My effort those last 4 laps included attacking (standing up, even) the 2 hills on each lap to either maintain or increase my gap. It hurt.

Finishing off the front, Amanda sprinting, and Omni podium

Jess started chasing and my teammates picked up the pace to set up for the sprint, so my lead at the finish ended up being only a few seconds. But it was a lead nonetheless, and I came away with the win. Amanda won the field sprint for 2nd, Cali finished 5th, Kiki beat another 4 and won the Cat 4 omni bonus, and everyone else did her job and raced smart.

Any win for Team Belladium is a win in my book, but a 1st place for me is also a nice feeling.

(Pics from here and from Catherine.)
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Monday, May 27, 2013

US Pro National Championships Time Trial and Road Race

Catherine, Katherine, Katie, Jes, Amanda, and me before the RR

Market Street Bridge (source - Casey B. Gibson)

This Memorial Day weekend was absolutely amazing. Saturday was the US Pro National Time Trial, and Monday was the US Pro National Road Race. Both were in Chattanooga, TN, and so much fun. These were the US Pro National races, which means that the best of the best of the cyclists in the United States were out to race. And we were honored to be able to line up with and race against them.

Katie, Cath, T, me, and AJ after the TT

My teammates Catherine and Amanda, and guest rider Katie, all decided to race the time trial. The TT was 31 kilometers long, and 42 women raced. I went along for moral support (T was there for mechanical and strategical support, and I'm pretty sure my job was much easier) and got to cheer at a few places along the course. The Team Belladium women were amazing and so strong. We'd done this course at the beginning of the month for our state TT, and Amanda bettered her time by 2 minutes! Catherine and Katie were going at the course for the first time and were super strong. Katie was 30th (47:14), Amanda was 38th (49:05), and Catherine was 40th (49:57).

AJ, me, Cath, and Katie previewing the course

We had ridden one lap of the course on Friday, and on Saturday after cooling down, we headed to Lookout Mountain to ride down on Scenic Highway. This descent would be part of Monday's road race, and we wanted to be comfortable with it and to have done it before we actually had to do it in the race. We drove to the top, rode down, and then were shuttled back to the top by Todd. We repeated one more time and then headed home. The ride was about 8 miles total, and we got up to 42 mph on the descent (one time down, we had tons of traffic, and one time down we had much more open road).

Katie, Catherine, and AJ after the TT

We headed back to Chattanooga on Sunday and, after checking in and picking up our numbers, rode one lap of the circuit. The roads weren't closed and we weren't riding at speed, but the course was well-marked so we became familiar with the course. Dinner was at The Terminal, and dessert was at Clumpy's, and then we headed back to the house to rest up before Monday's race.

75 women all together!

Monday morning, we all signed in together and then warmed up as necessary. Finally, we lined up with 68 other women for the US Pro National Road Race: Catherine, Amanda, me, and Katherine, and guest riders Jes and Katie. We had 3 laps of a 5.3-mile circuit to complete first, and it was super fast. I think I got a new fastest 5-mile time on each of these circuits! After the circuits, we headed to Lookout Mountain for a climb and descent. Then it was to be one circuit, one climb/descent, three circuits, finish. I was unable to finish because I was outside the time restriction. Out of the ~75 starters, maybe 42 finished the entire course. Others were scored by position but weren't allowed to complete the entire course. I wasn't happy about having to be pulled, and I have a lot to work on for next year.

Katie and me at T's car

I was in a fairly good position for most of the first lap of the circuit. I was much too close to the back on the second lap, and I was almost off the back on the third lap. In preparing for this race, I spent a lot of mental and physical energy on the climb and forgot to focus enough on the circuit. Lesson learned! Next time I will prepare for all aspects of a race before I begin it.

Climbing Lookout (source)

This was a big-time race, and being able to stay with the pros for as long as I did was an encouragement. I have a lot of work to do to be able to remain with them for the rest of the race, but it is definitely a start.

Collins family

We had fun all weekend, and I am super proud of all of my teammates! Katie was the only Team Belladium lady to finish, and she was in 26th place of the 42 finishers. I was pulled first, then Katherine, Amanda, Catherine, and Jes. It is definitely frustrating to be pulled, but it is not quite as frustrating when you know you've done your best. Maybe some day my best will be as good as some of these other ladies' bests :-)

Stats from Monday's Road Race:
1:26:20, 26.68 miles, 18.5 mph (38.9 max), 162 bpm (192 max), 2998' ascent, 2940' descent
Circuit: 33:02, 13.13 miles, 23.8 mph (38.9 max), 155 bpm (190 max)
(I fell off about 2.5 miles before the end of the last lap.)
Solo: 14:26, 5.14 miles, 21.3 mph, 197 bpm
Climb: 23:09, 2.63 miles, 6.8 mph, 183 bpm
Descent: 8:10, 3.6 miles, 26.5 mph, 135 bpm
Finish: 7:32, 2.19 miles, 17.4 mph, 131 bpm
(I finished at the feed zone.)

My max speed is so low, and appears during the circuit rather than the descent, because I was in the little ring and behind multiple cars for the entire descent. I was really bummed I didn't have an open road, but that will be more motivation to get up there with the group (or at least closer to it) next year.

Blue gets a break after the long, hard weekend

Street art by the Collins family

Ashly has a good video here, from one of the first few laps of the circuit when we were all together.
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Saturday, May 11, 2013

Berry Peddler RR Recap

It's still a little wet here so not styled yet,
but it's definitely short!

Friday I got my hair cut and am donating the ponytail (13 inches!) to Locks of Love.

13" cut off!

My head feels so much lighter now! Then I went to Lauren's dance recital and enjoyed watching all the different-aged kids perform and worship. I thought I'd know a few from children's church, but I knew only Lauren. Still enjoyed it though.

Saturday we headed to Dayton, TN, for the Berry Peddler RR. The race is 32 miles long with a 4.5-mile climb beginning around mile 6.5. My goal was to start the climb before everyone else, so I attacked 0.1 miles in. Unfortunately for me, no one came with me and I was able to stay away for only about 4.5 miles before I got caught by the field, which meant that I started with everyone else. And it didn't take long before I was by myself, which is how I stayed for the rest of the race. Well, except for around 10K to go when I got caught by a group of Cat 5 men who didn't have a moto official with them. I slid into the back of their group for a 4-mile draft until the moto official came back and we got close to the finish line.

I could see one girl ahead of me nearly the entire time, and she knew I was behind her. But we were going at pretty close to the same pace, so I never caught her. It did help motivate me to keep racing my bike, though! I don't know how far behind the leaders I was time-wise, but I finished 16/24 overall and 8/8 P/1/2. It's about what I expected, though I always hope for better. Team Belladium didn't finish nearly as well as we'd hoped, either, so it was kind of a disappointing race for everyone.

It was pretty similar to last year's race for me, and I thought it had been faster, but I was by myself for more miles this year than last year, so I guess I'm OK with it. I wish I still had all the data so I could see whether the climb was different.

2013 RR Stats: 31.17 miles, 1:50:56, 17.0 mph (36.4 max), HR data is on my laptop
2012 RR Stats: 31.26 miles, 1:50:15, 17.1 mph (36.3 max), 169 bpm (192 max), 3643’ ascent, 2487’ descent

Sunday we got in a great ride. I was definitely tired from Saturday, but we rode pretty steady while still working hard. Plus we had some good chat time--always fun!


After our team ride, I headed to the family's house for some yard work and cooking. It ended up being a beautiful day, so we also set up the net and played some badminton. Lauren and I made supper (with a contribution from Bennett, supervision by ARenee, and grilling by UJohn), and it was good enough that we ate it all!

20 minutes of every day are spent here...
Proper care and feeding of the Leaf :-)
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Sunday, April 28, 2013

Joe Martin Stage Race Report

Me, Kiki, Kat, Catherine, and Ashley

Kat, Kiki, Catherine, and I were all in Fayetteville, AR, this weekend for the Joe Martin Stage Race. I'd done it last year as a 3, and this was to be my first experience as a 2. That means the races start 2 days earlier and include an additional road race. Kat and I arrived at Devil's Den State Park, checked in and warmed up. My warmup was good, and after the officials weighed and measured my bike, I was ready to roll. This TT is a 2.5-mile climb, and my goal was to be faster than last year (13:22); I was aiming for 12:xx. Although I was passed by 2 riders, I kept going as strong and hard as I could and finished in 12:53. Success!

It wouldn't be a Team Bd trip without Starbucks

Swag that I'm giving to my nephews

Caves at Devil's Den

Chillin' after our TT

Beautiful waterfall

Not fast by most of the rest of the field's standards, but a HUGE improvement for me. I had my timer set for 1min, and if I felt myself letting up for any reason, I'd start the timer and push for at least 60sec. I figured I can do anything for 60sec, maybe even 180. I started the timer at the 1K sign simply because I knew that would likely be less than 3min and I needed to push hard. I sprinted (as much as possible when climbing hard) to avoid being caught by another rider. This left me in 50th place of 52 riders and ~3min down on the leader.

Happy day!

Pretty day!

After we finished, we took a little hike on a trail near where we'd parked. It was about 1.5miles long, and we took our sweet time (40min or so), admiring the waterfalls, exploring some cave entrances, and enjoying the view. Then it was off to Ashley's house to rest for Friday's road race. Kiki's friend graciously opened her house to us and agreed to host us, and we loved being in a house instead of a hotel. Plus we made a new friend...even better!

Kat TT; source

The leadup to Friday's road race was crazy. It rained, hailed, thundered, and lightninged. I had some car stuff to deal with. Kat wasn't feeling well. We were hoping they'd decide to not run today's race. But we didn't get any emails, so we headed to Walmart to meet Dori, Jess, and Joy, our ride to our race start.

The race was a 60mi point-to-point hard course. Around mile 20 was a sprint, and around mile 23 was the start of a ~9mi climb. I was with the field through the first 24mi, and I felt like I was actually racing my bike. I wasn't attacking or chasing, but I was staying in a good position and moving with the field. I could see everything, and I was with the group at the sprint.

Shortly after the climb started, I fell off the group and climbed a few miles by myself. Then I got caught by 2 ladies, with whom I stayed the rest of the day. We summitted together, each took a bottle and gel in the feedzone, and then got to work. All of us were good descenders, so we flew down the descent and quickly caught another. The 4 of us worked togther really well for at least 20mi, rotating our pace line like clockwork.

Kailin TT; source

This part of the race was fun and hard. There was no chatter, only focus. There was no easing up, only driving the pace to ensure that we all finished within the time cut. We caught 2 more within 10K to go, and we all finished together. Well, mostly together.

It was drizzling when we started, but the skies quieted and it was simply cold. Prior to the race I had called Will to ask him to pray with me. I was super nervous and wanted to race, but I also did not want to be stupid and race in hazardous conditions. He prayed, and I immediately felt at peace and was not bothered the rest of the day. I never did warm up, though, and within the final miles I couldn't shift. Which meant that it was nearly impossible for me to hold on to my group. I finished within the time cut, 50th of 53 finishers and ~12min behind the winners.

Saturday's road race start was just as miserable as Friday's. It wasn't as cold, but it was raining and had been all morning. But these ladies are professionals, and we all road hard but safely from the start. There were some attacks, but the field was keeping enough space between wheels to make me comfortable.

Sadly, though, I flatted coming up a hill 10min into the race. The Shimano guys quickly changed out my rear wheel and pushed me back toward the pack, but I couldn't see them at all. I knew that if I didn't catch them by the turn at mile 11.5, it would be a very.long.day.

After about 2min (it felt like an eternity!), the moto official rode up next to me and said to draft off of him back to the pack. For those 5min I averaged 28mph! Because it had taken a couple minutes for him to come back, I thought he'd wanted to see that I was making an effort to chase. I talked to the Shimano guys when I picked up my wheel, though, and they said they'd radioed the officials, saying I was back by myself with no police or anyone and could someone please come back for me. I thanked him profusely :-)

This is legal in these types of races, and had Todd been there, I'd have been able to use him in his car for up to 20min. Anything over 20min could result in a fine for "prolonged drafing off a team car," which happened to a few pro men and women.

I arrived back at the pack, happy to be along for the ride. There were a few more attacks before we made that first turn. I didn't do anything about them (that is, I didn't have to) except stay with the pack. Again, I felt like I was really racing my bike, which was a nice change from last weekend.

When we made that left turn at mi 11.5, I hit a wall. I thought. All of a sudden, I decided that I could not finish the race. I stopped, let everyone and the caravan pass, and turned around. I had 11.5mi to ride home solo, and 11.5mi to think.

All I could come up with for the sudden change and decision was that I had hit mental (and probably emotional) exhaustion. I knew that decision to turn around meant that I could not race the crit on Sunday, and crits are my favorite races. But it was a decision I was ok with.

I gave everything I had for as long as I could, it just wasn't long enough to last the entire weekend. I also came into this weekend knowing that Thursday and Friday were the two most important races for me: I had to improve my time, and I had to make it through the RR to have any hope of continuing the race. But I can work with 100% effort--it just means that I have to add to my endurance and mental capacity (the big fields and unfamiliar wheels are more taxing than I remembered!).

Catherine and Kiki at their crit start

But there's more to the story. I missed the women's finish while tending to Catherine, and Emma drove up to where Kiki, Ashley, Cath and I were loading the car. She had Kat in the car with her, which surprised all of us because it meant she hadn't finished. She said that around mile 15, a crash in the field pushed her into a ditch and caused half of the 45 women to go down. I am convinced that the Lord was protecting me, and He knew what I'd need to turn around. I am thankful for His continued protection! Kat was ok, but she also was not able to race Sunday's crit. This freed us up to focus on Kiki and Catherine, though, so all was not lost!

Cat 3/4 GC podium - Allison (2nd), Catherine (1st), Jess (3rd)

Kiki and Catherine had a 25-minute (8-lap) crit on Sunday morning, and they went out hard. Within 1 lap, they were down to ~12 women, and both Belladium ladies were riding smart. They dropped a few along the way and finished with 9. Catherine attacked 1 corner from the finish and climbed the hill to the finish line with a 4-second lead on the 2nd place girl and a WIN! Kiki finished with that field in 5th place, and both girls were much happier with today than yesterday. Kat and I were super proud :-)

Happy after the finish!



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Sunday, April 21, 2013

Sunny King Crit and Foothills RR Recaps

Anna, Cali, and Shelly warming up

Catherine warming up

Friday, Cali, Anna and I got in a short but needed and good ride through Maryland Farms at lunch. Then it was time to get everything done that I needed to before we left for Anniston, AL, on Saturday morning. I have done these races before (Sunny King Crit 2012 [2nd of 16 Cat 3/4], 2011 [6th of 36 Cat 3/4]; Foothills RR 2012 [DNF], 2011 [23rd of 23 Cat 1/2/3]).

Women 3/4 at the start line

Saturday late morning, Anna, Catherine, Cali, and Shelly were racing in the Sunny King Criterium in Anniston, and I wanted to be there to watch them and cheer for them. They all did awesome, with a leadout from Anna and Cali that put Catherine in 3rd overall in their Cat 3/4 field. After lunch, we went to the hotel for a nap. Lovely.


Women 3/4 crit results

AJ and I began our P/1/2 race at 6:20. My main goal was to stay with the field for at least 5 laps. I really had no idea what to expect; I’d watched this race last year and it looked crazy hard, and the last time I did a P/1/2 crit (Fond du Lac, 2011), I got lapped 3 times and was finally pulled. So I thought that goal was a good one. But I didn’t stop there. Goal #2 was to stay with the field the entire race, and Goal #3 was to finish in the top 10 if I was feeling good and in a good position. Besides that there was a crash right next to me on the 3rd corner of the first 4-corner lap, all went as expected for me and I was able to stay with the field for all but the final two laps.

I wasn’t in the best position for much of the race, and that was completely my fault. I should have moved up (and stayed up) every time Todd told me to, and often I did. However, some times I wasn’t able to stay up there simply due to inability and inexperience. I wasn’t willing to fight certain people for position and I wasn’t able to get far enough ahead of them that they weren’t an issue, so too frequently I found myself at the back. I could see AJ the entire time, though, and I knew she’d finish great.

When the main teams started organizing for leadouts with two laps to go, I was unable to keep up the pace and dropped off the back of the field, finishing by myself as #32 in the 40-woman field. AJ finished 13th, and I was so proud of her!

This race wasn’t the hardest crit I’ve done simply because there was not a lot of action. The women who had multiple teammates didn’t attack, and the field stayed together the entire time. It was very hard, though, and I’m glad I did it. I have a lot to learn and definitely have room for improvement.

Crit Stats: 22.35 miles, 57:33, 23.3 mph (29.5 max), 180 bpm (193 max), 32/40 Cat P/1/2
RR Stats: 47.59 miles, 2:24, 19.9 mph (44.4 max), no HR, 31/50 Cat P/1/2/3/4

Saturday morning, Cali, Anna, AJ, Catherine, Parri, and I lined up for the Foothills Road Race. In 2012 when I did this race, I did not finish, calling it a day around mile 9. In 2011 when I did this race, it was from what I remember one of the hardest simply due to the mostly uphill first half. This year, they changed the course significantly, and we didn’t really climb until mile 41. We started with the…longest…ever…10-mile neutral rollout, and we were neutralized again around mile 22. Other than that, there were few attacks, none of which stuck, and tons of sketchy riding (two crashes in one RR is two too many).

I attacked twice, and the second time two girls came with me. I thought we’d at least be able to make something happen then, but neither of them was willing to pull through to help us create and sustain the break, so we quickly got caught. That was frustrating, and T said later that I should have just asked them what they were thinking. If they were willing to chase but weren’t willing to work to create a break, what were they wanting to do? I may never know! Cali and Anna attacked too, but the field wasn’t willing to let anyone get away. This meant that we started the climb with almost 40 people (50 starters in the P/1/2/3/4 field). I got dropped on that 1.3-mile climb, and on the descent caught two women who finished with me. I beat them both to finish #31 of 50. AJ and Cath climbed great and finished 8th and 11th, respectively. Parri was 24th, Anna was 29th, and Cali was 30th.

Considering that I DNF last year, simply finishing was my primary goal for this race, and my secondary goal was to finish with a group. I hit both goals, which I called success and Will called progress. Again, I learned a lot during this race, especially that it’s OK to be aggressive when the race is as boring as it was today. Even if nothing happens, you could be tiring the others out, and if something happens you’d be golden. In this race also, position was key, and I was sometimes in the right one and sometimes in the wrong one. Closer to the front means easier to react if someone attacks, closer to the middle means that you aren’t working as hard but don’t have as easy an out, and closer to or at the back means you really shouldn’t have to work but you can’t ever get out and it takes tons of energy to move up at all.

Because of the lack of a break in the field, we were often slow and more often surge-y. This made the race more mentally taxing than anything—I felt like I needed a post-it to stick to my back that said “SLOWING” so that I wouldn’t have to say it every 3 minutes. Next year I’ll be more aggressive in this race!

Quite possibly the first time I've seen a car
plugged in to one of these (at the Franklin Kohl's)

It rained this week...a lot! My poor tomatoes.
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Saturday, March 23, 2013

Hell of the South Race Report

I'm growing strawberries and tomatoes on my piano

The first outdoor TBRA race of the season was today, and it was a cold one! It never reached 50*, but we tried to turn up the heat with our racing :-)

The women were the first group to start, at 7:30 am. It was dry, and we had the roads to ourselves, so that part was nice. There were 25 of us, which is a fair number for this race (2012 we had 26; 2011 we had 17). There are more female riders in TN now, but if anyone would skip one race, this would be the one to skip.

Catherine, Amanda, Anna, Shelly, Kiki, Shannon, and I started together, and we were happy with the numbers we had in the group. The first 9 miles were fairly uneventful after a mistake by our lead car caused us to half make a wrong turn...we knew he was turning wrong, but we followed him anyway. Although we quickly turned around, those of us at the front were shuffled around and we had to do a little more work to get a good position again. Plus it caused Shelly to crash, and that was no good. Thankfully she immediately got back up and on the bike, and she finished with only a few scrapes, so it wasn't terrible.

Around mile 9 is a 1-mile gravel section that caused at least 3 flats and forced Shannon and Kiki out of the race. Although they didn't get to finish, they got to watch most of the rest of it from Todd's sag vehicle. Anna, Cath, AJ, and I made it into the lead group that also contained Emma and Jess (I AM Racing), Jes (SVMIC), Shannon and Catherine (HUB), Martha (not sure of her team). We tried to organize a few times (not too successfully) and attacked more (these never caused a break, but they did wear out the other teams), but we all came to the finish line together. Plus one, Katie, who'd caught on to our group after time-trialing back to us after her flat on the gravel section. I really wanted her to not be able to catch us, but we just couldn't keep the pace fast enough and organize.

We weren't exactly organized, either, and I was not in the best position coming into the finish. Basically I let myself get moved to the back and on the inside. As I saw it at that point, my only option was to get out to the front and hopefully take Catherine or AJ with me. Cath came along, and then she and AJ both were able to get free and sprint for the line.

Finishing sprint...go Team Belladium!

In hindsight, I should have 1) been in a better position earlier; 2) been behind Amanda. We have a little to work on with our finish-line communication (my fault today!), but it was so great to have a 1-2 finish with Catherine-Amanda!

Katie, Catherine, and Amanda

Katie made a valiant effort the whole day and finished 3rd. She's strong! I finished at the back of my group and loved watching my girls sprint it out for the win.

HoS Results

2013 race: 1:19:46, 26.57 miles, 20.0 mph (35.0 max), 162 bpm (192 max), 10/25 overall, 5/5 Cat 1/2
2012 race: 2:28:06, 48.78 miles, 19.8 mph (36.3 max), 138 bpm (189 max); 7/26 overall, 4/10 Cat 3
2011 race: 2:45:15, 50.03 miles, 18.2 mph (34.8 max), 173 bpm (196 max); 9/17 overall, 5/9 Cat 1/2/3

Post-race treats

I am super happy with how the race went for me. I would have liked to have finished better, but I worked hard and watched my teammates tear of the finishing sprint.

Quick Publix Run--paid for the paper towels,
got the Luna bars, chocolates, and wipes for free!

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Tuesday, January 1, 2013

2012's Races Aggregated

These are all the races I did in 2012, including links, results, recaps, etc.

Crits: 38
TTs: 7
RRs: 12
Circuits: 2
CX: 1
(Total bike races: 50)
Triathlons: 1 as relay (bike-run)
Mile: 1
5Ks: 4
5mi: 1
10Ks: 0
Half marathons: 0
Marathons: 1 as relay
(Total running races: 7)
Relay races: 3

  • 2012's races below
    • Total races: 58
      • Bike races: 50
      • Running races: 7
      • Tris: 1
      • Relays: 3
    • Noteworthy: 
      • TBRA/TBAR Cat 3 champion
      • TN Cat 3 State Crit champion
      • TN Cat 3 State RR 3rd place
      • Mile PR: 6:27
      • Half marathon PR: 1:47:xx
      • winner of Sheboygan stage at ToAD
      • 3rd and 6th in stages at Joe Martin
  • 2011's races here 
    • Total races: 48
      • Bike races: 43
      • Running races: 3
      • Tris: 1
      • Relays: 1
    • Noteworthy: 
      • TBRA 10/28 Cat 3
  • 2010's races here
    • Total races: 24
      • Bike races: 1
        • Running races: 14
        • Tris: 8
        • Relays: 1
      • Noteworthy: 
        • Mile PR: 6:30
        • Half marathon PR: 1:48:30
  • 2009's races here
    • Total races: 26
      • Bike races: 10
      • Running races: 11
      • Tris: 5
      • Relays: 0. 
    • Noteworthy:
      • Ironman PR: 12:21:22
      • NC.com series champ
Here are all the race results; recaps are linked, as are official results.
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