Dunnigan Hills 2008 race report

Dunnigan Hills
Originally uploaded by 38°

Vanessa and I were the only Velo Girls to do this race this year. It's a single-loop course of about 45 miles or so, starting and finishing in Yolo, California. We pre-rode the course a few weeks ago and it seemed pretty straightforward -- a few rolling hills but nothing overly steep or prolonged. During our pre-ride the worst part seemed to be the "homestretch," which was more than 10 miles of looong straight road without any particularly interesting scenery to speak of.

The race started late. The Cat 4 women field was probably 25 or so riders. It was a much better pack than at San Ardo -- people were better about holding their lines, looking before moving, etc. Part of it might have been that it seemed to be a more experienced group. But part of it also might have been the BRUTAL wind coming from north/northwest -- riders were trying so hard to move forward that there wasn't much jockeying for position within the group.

Not too far into the race*, Vanessa and I were both exposed to the wind at the back of the pack, causing us to fall off around mile 9 or 10. I was just settling into the mindset of "whatever" when, as we started across the 505 overpass, Vanessa said, "weren't we supposed to turn here?" Indeed, at that point, the pack (which had already crossed the overpass) started to look confused.** Vanessa and I quickly turned, and just like that, we were in the lead! It would have been cooler if we hadn't just turned straight into the wind. Even doing very short pulls (10 seconds or less), we couldn't get up past about 14 miles an hour. It was brutal. The pack overtook us again after not too long. We got back on and stayed with them for another 6 or 7 miles until we fell off again.

For the next 12-15 miles, Vanessa and I worked together, keeping a reasonable pace considering the wind but not killing ourselves either. Somewhere after mile 30, two women caught up to us and passed us, so we hopped on their draft. Soon we also caught up to Carla of Code 3, who had struggled mightily but ultimately in vain to catch up to the group after falling off around the same time that Vanessa and I had. She hopped on our paceline as well. After a couple of miles we finally turned onto the homestretch, where the wind was finally at our backs. The two women set a fast pace and took turns leading. Carla tried to rotate in at the lead and wanted us all to do the same, which I would have been happy to do except that I just didn't have enough energy left -- it was hard enough just to stay on.

By 3 km before the finish, I just didn't have anything left. Carla stayed back with me while Vanessa stuck to the other two women as they pulled ahead to the finish line. Carla ended up finishing a few seconds ahead of me. Annoyingly, the race officials listed her as finishing in 18th place but me as "DNP," or "did not place." I would have been last, I'm sure, but still! I finished.

I was exhausted by the time we got back to the cars. I need to figure out a better nutritional strategy. I think I may need to up my protein intake before/during the race and not just rely on fast-burning carbs like GU and shot blox. Maybe just eat some PB right before the next race....

* Interesting "scenery" around mile six or seven -- a truck passed us hauling an open trailer with a dead cow in the back -- in full rigor mortis, with legs (and udder!) pointing straight in the air.

** Our group was not the only group to miss the turn. It wasn't well marked at all, and no one was stationed there to point us in the right direction.