My first road cycling race!
Really, it was only a matter of time before I tried this out, so the Raccoon Mountain Road Race made perfect sense for me to jump in on, especially with so many of my teammates also riding. What wasn't so perfect that day was the weather: drizzly and temps in the mid 40s, with wind chills dropping things to around freezing with gusts up to 30mph. Ick!! But hey, I'm an adventure racer and have been through much worse... right?!
The women's Cat-4 race (basically that means beginner) was the last division to start, at 2:50pm. This was definitely weird, as I got to sleep in a bit, have a big breakfast (Lorraine's Oatmeal Bar - good fuel!), and get some cleaning done around the house. I headed over to Raccoon Mountain around 1 to get checked in and organized. Our coach John had reserved 2 campgrounds at the front for us, complete with an EZup tent filled with wonderful things from our sponsors (the new Tea Cakes & Elixir from LunaBar are amazing!), mobile bike shop for last minute tuneups, and 5 trainers set up for us to warm up on - which was definitely needed on a nasty day like this! I think we all changed at least 3 times, trying to figure out the best combination to keep warm, but not overheat in.
We rolled down to the start, circling to keep warm & calm the nerves until the juniors took off. A few minutes later, our motorcycle (guide? marshal? leader? I gotta get this road lingo down...) signalled it was our turn. The first 2 (or was it 4?) miles were neutral, meaning the race wasn't yet started. Finally, we were turned loose.... I expected to launch forward, but we didn't. In fact, we continued in a nice easy pace for awhile (thanks to the controlling games Cat & Dreama had going on - nice work!) Early on, the wind was horrible. I remember one gust of wind that pushed Star a good foot to the right... definitely a scary moment! It was on this stretch towards Nickajack that it started sleeting on us. *lovely*! There was a small decent at some point where the leaders picked up some speed. It took some effort, but I kept up with them, latching on wisely as I knew if I was dropped here, I likely wouldn't get back with them.
We hit Nickajack Lake (mile 15.2) seemingly quick, which meant the Stair Steps were right around the corner: a series of 6 hills where we would gain about 600' of elevation. Here I dropped off the back of this front group a bit and worked hard not to fall too far behind. I did pass Cat, telling her I'd see her soon (that woman can descend like nobody's business!) Upon reaching the top (and seeing fellow Vixens & company cheering us on), I kicked it into high gear, trying to gain every second I could. The break ahead didn't look that far away, but they benefited from having eachother, whereas I was fighting the wind all by my lonesome. About halfway through this last stretch, I hear a voice - the downhill diva herself has arrived! I jumped on Cat's wheel and we worked together for the next few miles until the final ascent. We had closed the gap significantly with 1 mile till the finish.
Soon, Jesus signalled 1km to go (seriously... there's a huge sign that reads Jesus is Coming). I pumped it up one final notch, trying to ignore the lactic acid tearing up my legs. In the end, I finished in 11th place (out of 23), with a time of 1:35:34.989 on the 27mile course. (yes, all the way down to the thousandth of a second!) Teammates Gina & Collette easily took 1st & 2nd, with a time of 1:32:25. Dreama & Star also rocked it with top 10 finishes. Lisa is who really amazed me though... she fell early on (just a few miles after the neutral zone ended) after catching someone's rear wheel. She was ok, but flatted in the process and found out the hard way we had no wheel truck following. Luckily the good graces of a support vehicle helped her out with a wheel and she hopped back in the race, finishing strongly.
Big thanks to everyone braving the elements and cheering us on, and to photographer friend Tim who came out and snapped a gazillion pictures, certainly catching every bit of emotion that ran across my face (and I'm sure a few nose-clearing shots that hopefully won't be publicized!)
I definitely walked away with a very positive feeling... I really don't think I knew what to expect, and what I did experience was much different than any other event I've raced in. Definitely looking forward to the next one!
The women's Cat-4 race (basically that means beginner) was the last division to start, at 2:50pm. This was definitely weird, as I got to sleep in a bit, have a big breakfast (Lorraine's Oatmeal Bar - good fuel!), and get some cleaning done around the house. I headed over to Raccoon Mountain around 1 to get checked in and organized. Our coach John had reserved 2 campgrounds at the front for us, complete with an EZup tent filled with wonderful things from our sponsors (the new Tea Cakes & Elixir from LunaBar are amazing!), mobile bike shop for last minute tuneups, and 5 trainers set up for us to warm up on - which was definitely needed on a nasty day like this! I think we all changed at least 3 times, trying to figure out the best combination to keep warm, but not overheat in.
We rolled down to the start, circling to keep warm & calm the nerves until the juniors took off. A few minutes later, our motorcycle (guide? marshal? leader? I gotta get this road lingo down...) signalled it was our turn. The first 2 (or was it 4?) miles were neutral, meaning the race wasn't yet started. Finally, we were turned loose.... I expected to launch forward, but we didn't. In fact, we continued in a nice easy pace for awhile (thanks to the controlling games Cat & Dreama had going on - nice work!) Early on, the wind was horrible. I remember one gust of wind that pushed Star a good foot to the right... definitely a scary moment! It was on this stretch towards Nickajack that it started sleeting on us. *lovely*! There was a small decent at some point where the leaders picked up some speed. It took some effort, but I kept up with them, latching on wisely as I knew if I was dropped here, I likely wouldn't get back with them.
We hit Nickajack Lake (mile 15.2) seemingly quick, which meant the Stair Steps were right around the corner: a series of 6 hills where we would gain about 600' of elevation. Here I dropped off the back of this front group a bit and worked hard not to fall too far behind. I did pass Cat, telling her I'd see her soon (that woman can descend like nobody's business!) Upon reaching the top (and seeing fellow Vixens & company cheering us on), I kicked it into high gear, trying to gain every second I could. The break ahead didn't look that far away, but they benefited from having eachother, whereas I was fighting the wind all by my lonesome. About halfway through this last stretch, I hear a voice - the downhill diva herself has arrived! I jumped on Cat's wheel and we worked together for the next few miles until the final ascent. We had closed the gap significantly with 1 mile till the finish.
Soon, Jesus signalled 1km to go (seriously... there's a huge sign that reads Jesus is Coming). I pumped it up one final notch, trying to ignore the lactic acid tearing up my legs. In the end, I finished in 11th place (out of 23), with a time of 1:35:34.989 on the 27mile course. (yes, all the way down to the thousandth of a second!) Teammates Gina & Collette easily took 1st & 2nd, with a time of 1:32:25. Dreama & Star also rocked it with top 10 finishes. Lisa is who really amazed me though... she fell early on (just a few miles after the neutral zone ended) after catching someone's rear wheel. She was ok, but flatted in the process and found out the hard way we had no wheel truck following. Luckily the good graces of a support vehicle helped her out with a wheel and she hopped back in the race, finishing strongly.
Big thanks to everyone braving the elements and cheering us on, and to photographer friend Tim who came out and snapped a gazillion pictures, certainly catching every bit of emotion that ran across my face (and I'm sure a few nose-clearing shots that hopefully won't be publicized!)
I definitely walked away with a very positive feeling... I really don't think I knew what to expect, and what I did experience was much different than any other event I've raced in. Definitely looking forward to the next one!
Labels: road biking, tn, velo vixens
posted by cathi at 8:46 PM
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