This weekend marked the first UCI races of the cross season: Starcrossed, Seattle and Rad Racing's NACT race. These races are star-studded, fast, painful, and fun (if you lean towards the masochistic side of things).
Starcrossed is under the lights and is one of the best race atmospheres north of Portland, crowds of people stuff themselves around the velodrome and into the beer garden to heckle, cheer, drink, and be merry. After some travel delays we rolled in mid-day sweating in our jeans and t-shirts. Quick sandwich and some bike maintenance and it was time for Drew to race the single speed race. Not sure if it was the lack of moustache bars, the missing golden speedo, or the tire rubbing on his frame, but he finished somewhere around 7th. After some more bike maintenance, squeezing into my skinsuit, and getting my numbers pinned on (really, you need me to wear 4 number plates?) It was time to warm up....just in time for the skies to open up. Sweet. So much for my file treads.
At the start line we sat for a few extra minutes after call-up waiting for the course to be cleared (yep, still raining) and then we were off...straight into a huge puddle. Off the line I had a great start, but then rode through a wall of water and my glasses might as well have been beer-goggles - blurry shapes, questionable depth perception, and a nervous set of eyes. I quickly dropped into the back of the pack searching for a way to get rid of the glasses...do I toss them?(nope, still have to pay for those suckers!) I finally got them off my eyes and lodged into my helmet and then rapidly realized that I was not anywhere close to my top-10 goal.
Onto the attack and I caught and passed a few girls and settled in with 2 others. Without the glasses my technical skills got better each lap, but my speed/power on the straightaways was definitely lacking. After battling it out with Linda Sone from Planet Bike, I out-sprinted her for 19th place. A little further back than I was hoping, but the battle between Linda and I was one of the best (and most fun!) race experiences I've had in a while!
Out of chamois and into the crowds to watch the men's race. Drew had an amazing start and was riding in the top 20 before giving up the ghost with a tight back and heading to the beer gardens for a beer with me. After the men's race we loaded up the car, headed to the hotel to check in and then went in search for food (please note, 11pm is NOT an ideal time for high-quality cuisine in Redmond, Washington!) We finally found a Red Robin and enjoyed food that didn't quite meet up to the photos on the menu.
The next morning we all slept in (with the exception of our travel buddy Nick who had to get up for the Cat 4 race) and then enjoyed a continental breakfast complete with eggs and waffles (mmm...waffles!). Back to the car and down to the race site, slightly less motivated than the night before. After an inefficient registration, bike maintenance, course ride, bike maintenance, bathroom break, and then a panicked number-pinning I rolled up to the start line with almost no warm up.
Off the line I was top 15 and followed Wendy Simms around the first corner. Road the first lap with Wendy Williams but fell off the pace on the straight-aways (which there were many!). Proceeded to ride in no-woman's-land for a while until getting caught (again on the straight-away) by a couple more girls. My sand-skills and cornering kept me ahead until the last lap when one of the girls attacked to outsprint me for 15th, leaving me just out of cash and UCI points.
Not a bad weekend, but not a great one. On the plus side, my bike is amazing, my technical skills are good, and my weaknesses are trainable. On the down side, my weakness requires time and work (time which I am a bit short on, and work which is a bit painful!).
This week has been mostly focussed on recovering and work, but this weekend holds the Cumberland cross race...lots of soft-terrained allyways to work on my straightaway speed! (Plus a good visit with the Island Cup crew!).
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