Winters road race report

My very first road bike race was this past Saturday, in Winters, California. I had spent the prior six weeks training for it through the Tri-Flow development program run by Lorri Lee Lown of VeloGirls. On race day I was there with fellow Tri-Flow program members Emily, Kat, and Vanessa, as well as Lorri and race team member Lala. Tri-Flow member Ann was out of town, but I'm sure she would rather have been at the race with us....

The course was a 24 mile loop, starting and finishing in Winters, that we rode two times (some of the higher categories rode the loop three or four times). It started out mostly flat, but at about mile 11 it started becoming hilly, with a steep grade at about mile 13 followed by a steep, narrow descent with a very tricky switchback. After that it was almost entirely flat again on the "backstretch" and leading up to the finish line.

The Cat 4 women started sometime after 9 a.m., by which time the weather was already quite warm. I know our start time was delayed but I wasn't wearing a watch so I don't know for how long. Lorri led us out and set the pace. At the start, the pack stayed together. It was very interesting to ride in a group with everyone so close together. I was amazed by the reorganizations that happened early on -- I would be in the front, and then all of a sudden I'd be in the back... and then just as quickly I'd be back in the front again.

At the hilly section, I started to fall back, and then just after the feed zone I dropped my chain, and wasn't very efficient about getting it back on. In retrospect it was a good thing, because then I knew I had no chance of staying with the leaders, so I didn't kill myself trying. I did push myself up the hill, passing a few women, and down the other side. But I wasn't feeling very strong at the back. Vanessa caught up with me there so we worked together around the backstretch and then the beginning of the second loop. She hadn't been feeling very good -- she said she was having chills -- and it seemed to be getting worse as we continued into the second loop. She apologized for slowing me down and said I should go on, but I didn't want to work by myself for the whole second loop, and it's not like I was in a big hurry since we had no chance of catching the lead group at that point anyway.

Near the start of the hilly section a woman came past us and invited us to "get on her wheel" -- she'd had to stop and change a flat and was racing faster to get back to the pack. We tried to stay with her but soon stopped. I knew there was no way I was going to be able to go another 20 miles at that pace! So I was by the side of the road, slowing down to wait for Vanessa to catch up to me again. I turned around to look for her, and that's when I veered off the road into a gravel ditch. Very stupid. Fortunately the only damage to my bike seems to be that the left brake lever is scraped up and looks ugly; maybe a new scratch or two on the fork but otherwise everything seems OK. Vanessa came up and helped me up, suggesting that we hurry because a peloton of men was coming! I brushed myself off quickly and got back on. I'm quite sure that none of the men even noticed us as they whizzed by. It was funny.

When we got to the hill section again, just before the feed zone Vanessa told me to go on and she'd catch me on the back side again. I didn't think I was going to make it up the steep grade the second time. I spent the whole time fantasizing about stopping to rest but I managed not to. I'm not sure I've ever breathed so hard in my life! Fortunately the steepest grade is nearly at the top, so even the remaining 30 seconds or so of incline afterward seems like a rest. Vanessa never did catch up to me, so I ended up riding the rest of the second loop by myself. On the backstretch the second time I felt much stronger and was able to keep my pace at 20 to 25 mph most of the time. I crossed the finish line feeling pretty good -- I was happy to stop, of course, but could probably have gone a bit further if I'd had to, and my pace was still up. Of course once I stopped riding, my road rash started to hurt -- I had been mostly able to ignore it up until then.

Overall I felt really good about it, despite getting left behind early as well as the stupid crash. This was not the farthest I've ever ridden in a day, but it was the longest I've ever ridden without intentionally stopping (if you don't count the dropped chain or the crash), and certainly overall I rode it faster than I normally would have. *And* it was hot out there.

I'm glad I did the race, and am particularly grateful that I did the Tri-Flow program. I can't even imagine how lost I would have been without all of the training, both learning about how races work as well as just the fitness aspects of it. I certainly have more work to do before I can stay with the pack, but it doesn't seem unachievable, provided that I keep working at it. It has been really fun working with Lorri and the other "girls" for the past six weeks. I'm going to miss it when it's over!