Summer Solstice - Caesars Creek

This is the race I was looking forward to all weekend, until it started raining AGAIN before we even started. Then the official decided to split the women's fields at the start. The last 2 days the Cat 4's had started with the Cat 1-2-3's, but had been scored separately. I was a bit disappointed, only because I wanted to see how I would have finished among the whole group. But it ended up being a good thing because the field was much smaller, therefore safer, in the reoccurring downpours.

There was one girl that was in contention for the GC with me, so I planned to keep my eye on her. Once it started raining, I slipped to the back though, falling off at corners and just praying the rain would let up, so I could SEE. I tried remedy my sunglass problem by borrowing Craig's extra pair for this race, but he so happened to decide to wear "that pair" on this particular day. His other pair would've consumed my entire face. That's OK though, because the Rudy Project bag that is coming in the mail for me, that I was going to give to him, is now forever mine.

So the rain finally did let up and we went up the climb for the first time. I managed to grab the KOM and then 3 of us realized at the top that we had a good gap. It was Samantha from Stark Velo, Pascale from Breakaway and myself. None of us had teammates back, so after a quick discussion, we came up with a plan to work together to try to widen the gap. We stayed away the entire lap, but as we approached the slippery descents, we slowed a bit to be cautious. As we approached the climb, we looked back and saw a woman gaining on us. We took the climb hard, staying pretty close together and then increased the pace for the final lap. At one point, a Cat 3 OSU women dropped back to join us. Pascale was the one to realize that OSU was slowing us down because she had a teammate behind us. She soon dropped. The increased pace was really starting to get to my legs and I was nervous I wouldn't have much for the final climb. I gave it my best and was able to get the last KOM and the win! Samantha and Pascale were really great women to work with, thanks ladies - this was most fun I've had racing yet, even with the rain! And thanks to Mark for his encouragement on the climb - that always helps!

This was the race I wasn't going to do. It took me the entire time of the Gurneysville men's race after ours to decide I'd do it. With my training, the longest ride I had done this YEAR was 38.6 miles in an easy 60% of LT mode; and the longest hard ride I had done was one of the recent Tuesday rides where I did 37 miles. Well, today's outing was going to be 4 laps, 64 miles, on a course I barely survived the hill 3 times last year when this was the state road race, when I was in better shape. I pulled out the 27 tooth cassette I got a while back, slapped it on a wheelset I bought recently, tuned the gears, and told myself that when I got popped, I got popped, and it would become a training ride. Being in the race gave me a chance to try to salvage some GC ranking. Oh, yes, this is also the first time in my racing career I've raced 3 days in a row.

De jas vous, the rain began just as we women rolled out. This time, I was in my full shades, and as Kelly had mentioned, visibility did become an issue. I had to keep them on, though, so I didn't get blinded by all the water the wheels were kicking up.

The first lap was uneventful until the descent--then I got popped just because I descended so cautiously. I worked with three other riders, and finished the bridge. For the climb, I knew the pace would go up with the KOM points, and riders in the GC hunt wanting those points. I got popped off not even halfway up the climb, and the sassen-frassen-frissen asthma attack started. I knew not to push harder, just keep climbing. One other woman got popped off. I caught her, and we began working together to catch the field. One road after the start/finish, we were back on. Second lap, I tried for those sprint points, but Anne had more legs than I did and took the last point available. Drat! Second time up the hill hurt; I got popped again, but not as badly, and again worked to get back on.

Third lap was the scary one. Three women, all taking the same line through that tight left-hand turn after the sweeping right, hit the slick part of the pavement and went down hard. Krystal and the Kenda woman eventually got back on their bikes, and finished the race--wow, that was impressive. Anne was not so lucky. I'm not sure if she ended up in an ambulance or not. We were all pretty somber as we approached the hill, but I knew racing would being again at that point, with more KOM on the line.

I got popped, and that asthma was again kicking up. I really needed that encouragement Mark Bell gave me. I kept trying, and by the time I got up the hill, the field was too far away. I went into time-trial mode for the next 17 miles, but began bonking about 10 miles from the finish. I downed another powergel, told myself to give myself a couple minutes to recover, and reminded myself I'd be out of the headwind soon. The last time up the hill wasn't pretty, and I needed that 27 all right. But I got up, and got across the line. All in all, I have to be happy with it as a ride. Now, here's hoping that low back pain that began on lap 4 goes away quickly. Looks like I ended up 9th in the GC; not great for the size of our field, but not bad considering where I am in my training.

Gotta say, the OVR folks put on a great event, with tons of marshals and neutral support for the feed zone.

Don't know the official results for sure, so if they ever post the result I will change it. The rain was intense for at least an hour, so I was pretty miserable. The course had one climb and I thought the field would shatter but it stayed together pretty well until the last time up. I was with the lead group up the final climb and heading for the finish. Didn't have the legs left for the sprint due to three days of racing. Out of the group most were guys that only raced this race and not GC guys.

Well the interesting part of this race is that Terry Griffith, me and another guy actually got away for a few miles on the second lap (what a novelty for a 4's race, too smart to fight each other touth and claw like a 5 race but too dumb/cautious to cooperate to make breaks). Not having learned from the day before, I ran my guts out in the process. Unfortunately the sharp turns before the downhills+my dubious cornering skills in the rain really slowed us down and we were caught before the downhill. The rest of the race was uneventful. It was only the last lap that the hill decidedly split up the field. Unfortunately I was one of the stragglers.