2009-02-21 Snelling RR report

Snelling Road Race 2009
Originally uploaded by Arley L.

This was the first Velo Girls team race of the season. The entire road race team came out for it, with all of us riding except for Tina who was there to support us as well as her husband Arley. Snelling is evidently always a popular race -- so popular that they run not one, but two W4 fields -- both of which sold out this year. Amazing! All of the Velo Girls had signed up to be in the W4A field but due to a clerical error, Kat ended up having to ride with the B field. At least we had representation in both fields....

The course is an approximately 12 mile loop, which W4 women ride three times. It's not exactly hilly, but not exactly flat -- there are some rolling hills that aren't very long or steep, but definitely reveal a lot about individual riders and their comfort with climbing. If you're at the back on the hills, you have to scramble a bit to stay with the group. Most of the roads are in OK condition, except for one stretch near the end of the lap that is bumpy enough to vibrate the fillings right out of your teeth.

The W4A field was dominated by several teams -- Velo Girls, Roaring Mouse, and Davis Bike Club being the largest. This was definitely the first race for a significant number of the entrants.

Velo Girls were at the front of the pack as we rolled out of town and along a 2-3 mile promenade. When the motorcycle pulled off, the pace instantly picked up. Probably 10 to 15 riders were dropped within the first half of the first lap. Near the end of the first lap, Vanessa was involved in a crash that caused another 8 riders or so to drop off. It happened in front of me and I'm still not sure how I avoided going down in the crash, but somehow I managed to get around it. The lead pack was sobered for a bit after that; lateral movement within the group calmed down noticeably, although it's possible that it was because the worst offenders had dropped off.

At the beginning of lap two, I still felt pretty good; however, by the end of lap two, I wasn't feeling like I was strong enough to stay in the game. Ann told me that she and Emily and a couple of others were planning a breakaway, and asked if I could help "block" -- but at that point I was barely hanging on to the back of the group, and didn't see how I could even get up to the front at all. After the hills at the beginning of lap three, the pace picked up even more, and about five of us were dropped.

A Golden Chain cyclist encouraged us all to work together, which was a great idea except it was unclear that everyone knew what that meant. No one seemed to have an idea of paceline rotation, so it was kind of a free-for-all. Someone behind me yelled at me for not pulling, which I said I was happy to do if someone would give me access to the front of the line! So the first two women fell back, and I actually felt really strong and pulled for awhile, noticeably closing the gap between us and the main pack. However, I couldn't sustain it long enough to get us all the way up. We did an odd rotation through most of the third lap. I was tired and fell off our little pack right at the end, finishing by myself.

A big part of my problem during the race was undoubtedly my inability to eat much. I had bought myself a flask for my GU but hadn't ever practiced using it; so between the fast pace/bumpy roads and my inexperience, I was unable to get more than a few small mouthfuls. Also, my achilles tendons were starting to hurt again -- during the race I think the adrenalin was masking the pain, but after I finished and turned in my timing chip, they started screaming at me. I rode back to town very slowly and in my smallest gear.

Generally speaking, though, it was a good race. Definitely suited to my strengths overall, I think. Assuming that 1) I'm in decent condition; 2) I can figure out how to improve my nutritional intake during the race; and 3) I can get this achilles thing under control, I should be able to do well. Note: it is EXTREMELY important to be up front during the promenade in order to get a good position once the race starts.

Emily took third in a sprint finish. I'm not sure how the rest of us did....