Tales from the Saddle

Friday, April 14, 2006

No One Puts Baby in a Corner

After a relaxing night spent watching Dirty Dancing and eating pizza inside our spacious Econo Lodge motel room outside Hampton Roads, VA, Nate and I piled into the truck at 6am and headed to Norfolk for Conte’s Cycling Classic.

Rainy and 50 degrees, I set out in hopes of another exciting race. With some early morning drama about parking and towing and the realization that our least favorite race announcer was on the scene, the day promised some excitement.

While Nate’s 30+ race was in progress, I warmed up and tried to keep warm from the winds and spray of the Elizabeth River. Superstitiously, 45 minutes before my race, I treated myself to a race brownie (see previous post, I want a New Drug).

My race was at 930a and it was a combined Womens 1/2/3/4 race, though they were scoring separately. As I warmed up on the course, I tried to figure out the best lines to manage the strong head winds, strategically placed at the start/finish and the cobbled S-turn. At the start, I lined up on the front, not realizing that the Lipton Tea gals (read: pros) were wedged in behind me. I figured it would be the only time I’d be in front of them, so I didn’t feel guilty.

Off the line, I held onto the pack decently as it wound around into the head wind and into a straight away. Again, my legs felt strong. The USCF officials announced at the start of the race that no one would be pulled, no matter how many times we were lapped. Everyone was in it for the total 60 minutes and we were able to work together, regardless of what lap we were on. This made for some interesting tatics and some confusion. I felt like Forrest Gump at times, finding myself in very amicable, but bizarre situations. All of a sudden, I'm pulling for the Cat 3 women or sucking the wheel of a pro. Everyone was so spread out that there was no way of telling if I was leading or behind (though I did know...it was fun to pretend like I wasn't behind). I think the lead group of Lipton gals lapped me 3 times, while the rest of the field and I just played along.

Though I finished 20 of 21 riders, I was very pleased with my power. I averaged 19 mph in a head wind, the day after a TT.

No body puts baby in a corner.

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