Saturday was a beautiful day for a race- the weather was warm, but not hot, and the location of Poor College Kids gorgeous. We had four members of our team represented at this race: PC, Lisa, Holly, and myself. PC led our pre-race meeting and instructed us on our strategy: try to get two teammates in a move and stay near the front on the narrow road to ensure that we could manipulate the field (broadly).
The race started on a downhill with a strict centerline rule enforced. I, of course, started near the back and watched as my teammates easily maneuvered up to the front, while I felt trapped and claustrophobic. I eventually made my way up to the front as well. The first 10 miles were pretty uneventful, except Lisa provided me with amazing advice (save your legs, don’t work too hard, and much more that proved to be very helpful later in the race!) Eventually, attacks started, many of which PC and Lisa instigated, and Holly countered. I did my best to join a move without chasing a teammate and pulling the field to her. A few failed breaks got swallowed up uneventfully.
The field was broken up when PC attacked, Lisa countered and then a few other women and I countered that. A group of five of us broke away (I had no idea we were in a break until we started taking turns pulling through). Our group of five was filled with strong riders and we started off taking easy and fast pulls, steadily increasing our gap. When we got to the rollers, I think that we increased our gap even more, which we confirmed with the motorcycle race official. It is really a different experience to be in a break knowing that your teammates are behind you. The knowledge that PC, Holly, and Lisa were working in the field and protecting the break gave me a huge amount of confidence that I hitherto had not felt in a race.
Our break made it to the turn around where our wonderful team support, Jacob and James, cheered me on and offered water. When we passed the field on the way back out to the course, I heard cheers from the rest of the team and I remembered to SPIN (seriously, I spun nearly the whole race), because I wanted to make PC proud. We lost one rider, and our break became four, with most of us pulling through and taking equal turns. When we hit the final set of rollers, there were a few attempts at attacks, which I held onto. Nearing the final turn, I knew that were down to a sprint (luckily, an uphill sprint). As we took off, I had no idea where the start finish was located, but I knew that I was in the lead… Except, I was caught and passed by half a wheel! Moral of my sprint: start earlier and go harder, because I felt that I had more to give. Second place did feel nice though.
I waited at the start finish for the field sprint. PC finished very strong in the sprint, with Holly not too far behind. PC is an animal- she finished looking very strong, but her legs were cramping (apparently since mile six). A sprint finish like that is amazing, but with the cramping, it was unbelievable that she looked so strong.
This was a great day. I think that we communicated well and both Lisa and PC showed amazing leadership both on the course and pre and post race. A great first road race of the season!
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