Sunday was the least nervous I have been yet (this year)! A lot of pressure I was feeling before was GONE! The first race I was nervous because I didn't know where I would match up with the rest of the women in my field, then the 2nd race I was nervous because I wanted to win again so I could upgrade. Well, I was granted my upgrade and ready to race in the 1/2's.
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| More sand |
The setting of this course was at Silverlake in Everett. What a great park, lots of sand..too much sand, lots of hills, and lots of off camber. I was having so much fun watching everyones race, the day was beautful, the absolute opposite of last weekend. Around 11:30 I decided I should probably get dressed and ride a lap or two of the course. The best(worst) part of the course was the sand pit(trap), or beach, and when you start the race you just go head first into the sand. No preparation what so ever. After the sand pit you go into the woods and encounter your first barrier. I really enjoyed this section a lot...kind of reminded me of mountain biking, roots, dirt, corners, fast downhill. Lots of fun! Then it's back into the sand pit and up into the hills for some brutal leg and lung burning, down some fun turns, and back to the sand. After pre-riding 2 laps of this I decided that was enough, and it was time for the 1/2 men to race. Half way through their race I started my warm up, and about 20 minutes into my warm up I was bored and I had enough, so I went back to the tent and watched the rest of the race with teammates Nikole and Whitney, and Chris too!
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| dismount at the top of a hill I couldn't ride |
The men finish up their race and the next group of riders start lining up. I get to the start line and I look around me to see how freakin' STACAKED the field is! There were some super fast ladies there, it's a goal for me...one day be one of those "super fast ladies", then people at the start line will fear me too! I also realized I have to be the youngest women in the field by at least 5 years. The man says the word and we are off!! What a cluster, to get started right away in the sand with all those people around you. For all fields we did a half lap for the first time through, so instead of getting a break after the first sand section, you did a U-turn and continued onto some more sand. So when I get to the first sand section I ride a little bit, dismount, shoulder my bike and start running. I ran to the inside, took the corner to the inside, and then WHACK. I hit a tree. OUCH it was soo startling!!! I should clarify...my rear wheel hit the tree, spun around me and knocked me in all directions (how embaressing). After being a little startled and watching every single women in my field go past me, I regain my self and keep going...the chasing begins!! So I immediatly go into chase mode to get the group of ladies in front of me. Well I ended up catching quite a few of those ladies, then some more. Then I just sat in one spot for the entire race. At one point I passed another women, but she passed me back a few minutes later (by the finish I was only 6 seconds behind her). I was feeling pretty good through out the race, I had raced in Ryan Rickerts race on Saturday, so my legs weren't 100%, even though I only raced his race at about 80%. The best part of this race was in every single section I had a cheering crew! It was amazing! Chris's family came out and watched (Mom, Dad, Sister, Aunt, and Grandpa), so they were all dispersed throughout the course cheering for me, then the random people who see at every race, and THEN my fellow teammate Whitney, our friend Tim, and Jiri (Logan's friend...he likes to heckle me to add more gears).
My chain dropped 4x throughout the entire race....and it wasn't when I was riding the bike! It fell off after the barriers 2x (two separate sets of barriers), and after the beach sections 2x. By the last time I just got very frustrated. So I know I could have done a little bit better had my chain not fallen off 4x. After talking to other ladies about their race, they said their chain fell off a few times (at least 1x) throughout the race as well, so I didn't feel tooo bad. It's frustrating because that has never happened to me (except at Evergreen twice!) Maybe I need a new chain? WHERE DID I PLACE?!? I ended up 6th in my race (of 12!) Right in the middle of the pack, just as I expected to finish. I will not complain about my chain, because 6th isn't too shabby for my first race in the 1/2's.
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| sand pit |
At the end of my race I was really upset about the sand. It was so hard, and we had to go through it at two different sections of the course. I hated it, at the end of each sand section we had to go straight up hill. It was mean, just purely MEAN. When I got home on Sunday I looked at Russel Stevenson's (Cycling Northwest) facebook and he posted pictures of the Cyclocross World Cup (first race), they had a sand section in their race too. Now I wish I would have worked harder through it, Katie Compton (USA National Champion) charged through that sand like a pro (wait...she is a pro).
Go here to check out the womens pictures:
Women's World Cup
Pictures on this page are courtesy of Wheels in focus (Amara Boursaw), and next week I will really try to remember my camera to take some photos of the course and my team!!!
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