Read the Race Bible………it is a must for stage racing. Many times it will be the same old, same old but every once in awhile a rider will be thankful that they took the extra time. In the San Dimas Stage Race bible for 2012 on page 12 there were two key notes at the bottom, the start and finish of the Time Trial had been changed by 1100 feet. To some this brought a smile and to others, well not so much. You see for those who had been doing the TT in years past, they had experienced the 25 mph sense of speed that the 1100 feet in the beginning of the TT had yielded. This year that would go away and bring on an additional 1100 feet of climbing at the top. A few of us went out and rode the course and had a plan for race day. Race day always brings the element of the unknown and this year it was the temperature and humidity. It was cooler than years past and the humidity was over 90% which makes the air very heavy. We (Amber,Lisa,Bea,Holly,Jenny,PC and myself) all warmed up with our own determination and plan. I can only speak for myself in realizing that the final 1100 feet took more energy than I had saved, it was almost as if my body knew the old finish line and said “ok that’s good” only for me to tell it that we had another 1000 feet. I rode the course according to my plan and now realize that I needed to save a bit more in the tank to keep my speed for the final DIG!!! We all commented that the last 1000 feet were hard and yet Kristen Armstrong threw down a 15:01 which is an average speed of 15:18 mph for 3.8 miles. There were four women in the 15’s, ten women in the 16’s and myself, Amber and Lisa in the 17’s with 17:16,17:36 and 17:53 respectively. Bea did 19:22, Holly 19:43, Jenny 20:31 and PC 21:48. Bravo to all of my teammates, it’s a difficult TT for a season opener and we all came away with a deposit in our fitness bank.
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