Progression
Last night at the Driveway I could tell my legs were tired. The previous two days of workouts were still there in my legs. I warmed up and things felt loose, but I could still feel some tiredness.
The race started and I was in great position. The first time around the top corners (both > 90 degrees) I slipped back some (because I was being a scaredy cat), but was still okay. Then I got trapped in the middle down on the bottom of the course and slipped back a lot. I had a bad feeling.
I spent the rest of the race gaining ground on the bottom part of the course, and then slipping back around the top turns and down the corkscrew. Then moving back up again… repeat repeat. I could feel my legs were a little shaky going around some of the turns, but I kept asking them to push me forward, catch me back up, and they kept delivering.
The lap cards came out and I knew that I was going to be finishing this race no problem. Now I actually started to think how can I crack the top 20. (Cracking the top 20 has been my goal at the Driveway since before my little heart-induced “vacation.”) I knew that moving up a ton on the last lap would probably be tricky, so I should try to move up after I see 2 to go and try to hold more position going around the top turns on the last lap.
Well, I did do the first part, but I slipped back again. However, it being a 4/5 race, there is a lot of looking around going on. So when we came down the hill on the last lap the people in front literally sat up. And of course, this meant they slowed down. Excellent. I moved up front-middle, and waited for the inevitable acceleration. There was a little move going around the big sweeper at the bottom, but no biggy.
We get to the final straight, and some people go on the left, then on the right. Unfortunately, I look up to see that I’m behind 4 people in the middle of the road who have decided their night is done. Argh!
I see enough space, get around the roadblock and start trying to jump from wheel to wheel moving up. There aren’t that many people in front of me, so I figure top 20 may be possible. So I give it everything I have, passing people who are sitting up, and even a few who aren’t. I even get out of the saddle for the uphill finish… hehe, it always looks silly to see somebody sprinting for, you know, 20th.
The race was over, I stayed upright, and I had the best finish of the year (and of my bike racing life). When the results were posted this morning, I discovered that I was 19th! Woohoo! While 19th in a cat 4/5 race may seem completely insignificant to a lot of people, this is a big deal to me. It’s the first time my name has been on a results sheet for any race that I have done. I know I am not a super star, but I have gotten consistently better, and it gives me faith that if I keep training maybe I will be able to upgrade to a 3. Maybe I will be able to actually win a race at some point. I don’t mind slow improvement as long as it’s improvement.
Now, of course, I have to end this by saying, regardless of the race results, doing all the bike training has made me feel so much better about myself. I’ve lost weight, I feel good, I’m more relaxed… these are all good things. But stuff like this is just icing on the cake!
Happy Friday!
