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Copperopolis Road Race
4/7/07
Place: 1st
Junior 15-18 girls
Field: Well... 2... Which was a little better than the expected 1....
But still LAME!
Teammates: Chris, Alex, Peter, Trevor, Miguel, Nick A.
This race started out a little different from my other races, the 15-18 junior girls category had its own start time. We started 5 minutes before the junior 15-16 boys. This seemed kinda random but it meant I would get a little head start on the guys. I expected to have to start this race all alone so it was a bit of a shock to get to the start line and see another girl. We chatted a little bit as we waited to be sent off. I learned that she was 17. We agreed that we should try and stay away from the boys for as long as we could. Before we started the lady who was sending off the groups told us that we were allowed to work with the 15-16 boys when they caught us. That was cool for me.
At 8:45 me and Jasmine (I think that was her name) headed out. Once we got going we talked for a second and decided to take turns pulling and just work together as much as possible. So this was fine, we switched every couple of minutes or so. I was on about my third pull and I think we were going up the feed zone hill when I looked back and she was about 100 feet back. "What the?" I didn't want to drop her yet! So I backed off a bit and let her catch me. She caught back up. I kind of apologized and she said her chain came off or something. I was like "Okay, maybe that was it..." So I start pulling again and the next thing I know I look back again and she's once again 100 feet back or so. I backed off a tiny bit once again to see if she would catch me. By this time we were on the uphill section. I kept looking back and seeing if she was gaining (she wasn't) I think I was actually gaining ground on her even though I wasn't pushing hard at all. Then about a third of the way up the hill I look back to see if I can see her and out of nowhere is the leading pack of boys. As soon as I saw them I picked up the pace as much as I could. The lead group (at this point including Peter and Miguel I think) was flying and passed me by rather quickly.
The guys were pretty strung out on the hill, so some passed me, then I jumped on a guy's wheel, then he dropped me, a few more passed me including Nick. Then some big guy started to pass me and I got next to him and he was like "Let's catch them". This is when I worked my hardest and I stuck on the guy's wheel almost up the rest of the climb.
Then he dropped me. At this point I knew I still had three teammates behind me. Oh, and by the way, that girl was NOWHERE in sight by this time. So much for working with her...
I was by myself until it flattened out, this is when Chris, Alex and some (was it Davis?) guy caught me. I jumped on their little paceline and stuck there. At one point Alex and I had dropped off (he was behind me). It was kind of my fault for letting a gap open up so I pulled Alex back up to Chris and the other guy. By this time I was getting kind of tired from all this trying to stick to guys wheels. Somehow Alex and the Davis guy got away from Chris and I. So we just rode together.
Nothing exciting happened. It was just nice to not be all alone and to have a teammate to ride with. It makes the miles go by a lot quicker.
Chris was nice enough not to drop me on the insanely badly paved descent (where I lost a water bottle). Somewhere on the second lap we caught up with Alex. The three of us pretty much stuck together and finished together.
I never saw that girl again. I came in 1st, got a random Velo Promo T-shirt (who the heck designs those things??) and won a whole of $10.
Snelling Road Race
2/24/07
Category: Junior 15-16 girls? But I was with the Cat 4 women.
Field: ?
Finish: Somewhere behind the field
Teammates: None in my field
This was my first road race and I didn't quite know what to expect. But I guess it went ok...
Before the race was a little hectic. Aside from the fact that I almost forgot to do the rollout, my mom pinned my number on upside down, I didn't really warm up, and the officials were all confused about where I was supposed to race! Some thought I was supposed to go with the junior guys, some thought I was to go with the women. Well they finally figured out I was to go with the women Cat 4's. In a way I was kinda glad about this because the pace was slower.
The Race... It started ok, the neutral part helped me warm up a bit.
This is kinda lame but I actually didn't quite realize where the neutral part ended and the race began. Though at some point the pace picked up and we got moving. At first I was just trying to stay somewhat near the front and drafting. At times it almost seemed too low key. The first lap was really pretty uneventful... Just stayed in the pack and got a feel for the course. I found that it was best to start the hills near the front because even if I dropped back a little I was right in the pack.
The Second lap... I was feeling pretty good on the second lap. I also noticed something strange about my field during the second lap. Most of them would kinda sit up on the more downhill parts. I noticed that if I just got in the drops and tried to get all aero and stuff I would pass people without even working. It was weird! Also I don't think anyone really attacked. Seriously, unless there was some stuff going on that I totally missed there weren't any real attacks. At one point I was right near the front and the pace was sorta slowing so I just maintained my pace and started pulling. But that didn't last too long.
Third Lap... My calves started cramping a little at the beginning of this lap. That wasn't good. I'd never had that happen. But then it subsided. I was hanging with the pack and still feeling alright. But then about half way through the last lap I guess I was towards the back of the pack and I think it was around one of the turns when I kinda fell off the back. It all happened so quickly I hardly remember. All I remember is suddenly being off the back and trying to catch back on but just not quite having enough in me. Also at this time Chris was near me and he saw I was getting dropped and he gave me a push to help me out and when that wasn't enough he tried to pull me back to my field but by then my legs were feeling pretty shot. Looking back on it I guess that was illegal since he wasn't in my field and stuff. But oh well, I still appreciated it a bunch. After my field had pretty much disappeared from view Chris and I just rode the rest of the race (about half a lap, though it felt like half a LONG lap) and finished together. So at least it wasn't a lonely finish...
All in all I really wished I had finished with the Women's field. I think if I were to race that race again I would try and start the turns near the FRONT of the pack so that there would be people behind me and I couldn't get dropped off the back so easily. And if I were to get in the same situation of getting dropped off the back I would work a little bit harder to catch back on to the field. Of course that's easy for me to say now...
So it went OK. I finished, I got a t-shirt (for finishing "1st" place in my oh-so-lonely category of junior 15-16 girls) and I gained some experience. What more can I say...
Early Bird Crit
1/14/07
Teammates: None
Field: About 30
Place: 7th
So I had a pretty good race overall... I got there about 90 minutes
early, I got my yearly license, and I was all ready in plenty of time
for my mentoring. Everything started good. The mentoring went pretty
well. I think there were about 6 junior girls including myself. Not
exactly a huge turnout but hey... I got more comfortable with cornering
so that was good. Then there was the race...
I started near the front. At first the pace was kinda fast and it hurt
a little. But then I started to get warmed up and it felt ok. I tried
to stay safe and not get too far back. Then about half way through I
started to get tired. And I actually was gonna just stop. I got out of
the pack/paceline and started to drift back I was near the back where
all the mentors were and they saw me slowing down and a bunch of them
encouraged me to keep going and to stick with it. So I did. Somehow I
found more energy and got back towards the front of the pack. Now I was
determined to stick it out so I tried not to get to far back but not
use up to much energy. I guess I managed. Because on the last lap
coming out of turn three I got right up with the front pack. And I
stayed there until the end. So I finished in the top ten.
I didn't sprint like crazy at the end or anything. But I came in
seventh!! (That's what Will said because he watched the finish) So
seventh out of 30 of more women riders!!! Yeah! And I was the first
junior girl!
So I would say it ended pretty well for my first race.
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