The Mead Circuit Race was a suffer-fest but I am so glad I
did it. I raced the course last year and it is the only time I’ve had to run my
bike in a road race! This year, I heard that while the course is different,
there were still lots of areas with thick, sandy dirt and gravel. Very true, I
came to find out.
Let me make a note to self here that volunteering to marshal
for three hours in the hot sun at a crazy-stressful intersection where race
parking meets race course is not a good idea, even with a comped reg fee. I did
drink lots and try to eat, though I became more nervous as riders finished and
offered daunting news about the course conditions. I just kept thinking if I
did it last year I can do it again.
Our field was Pro 1/2/3 but there were six of us all
together and I was the only 3. Cash and prizes went 5 deep and I sure as hell
did not want to come in sixth place. In my warm-up, I made a contract with
myself that I am agreeing to suffer for the next three hours. I heard Alison’s
voice tell me (with confidence!) that there is no reason for me to get dropped.
I knew if I did then the race was over right then and there.
We had fifty miles, or four laps, and our race start was
mellow but still a decent tempo. The first lap we all got a feel for how much
our bikes were going to be moving beneath us and it was scary but I did it – I
even drafted quite close to the other riders in the dirt. There was a lot of
contesting for position that seemed more about testing out each other than
getting out of the wind. I really protected my box and stayed third wheel
despite efforts to snatch my wheel and push me out of the draft.
The second lap definitely picked up in speed and Cat Johnson
made some rather annoying (because they were effective and eventually stuck)
attacks. I let the others close the gaps and I tagged on the back. We had
dropped one rider, Andrea Koenig (Zilla) on the first lap. Julie Emmerman
(Primal) and Rebecca Blatt (Kenda) were doing a lot of the work. I stayed
behind either Cat or Melanie Wong (GS Boulder). I felt surprisingly brave in
the dirt and was pushing it, and I even unclipped my right foot in the air on a
sandy, sharp right turn so I could stay balanced. Somewhere mid-second lap
Melanie and I got dropped and we worked our asses off to close the gap. I am so
proud of us M! I worked really hard to keep up with those girls. I told myself
“Go in the red!” and “They’re suffering too!” “You agreed to this!” and my
favorite “Yes, it IS worth it!”
The third lap was the worst. By now I was out of water and I
know I wasn’t alone. Rebecca had lost her whole bottle cage on the first lap on
some rough washboard. I’d say about a third into the third lap she dropped off
and I was trying to get her to stay in because I, too, was getting dropped by Melanie,
who was getting dropped by Cat and Julie. I watched Melanie get farther and
farther away and thought dammit, that’s the podium, go get her! I was tired and getting
sloppy on the dirt, which suddenly had no depth and was like riding a bike in
snow without sunglasses. I almost lost momentum in the sand but somehow stayed
clipped in and upright. Melanie’s gap got bigger and then I was alone, just me
and my brain and aching body. Then I was SURE I had a flat, but kept riding. My
wheels spun in the loose dirt going uphill, as I wasn’t going up with the same
speed as before. Where there were decent lines before, there was only thick
sand everywhere. I had no water. Still, I insisted on hustling and sticking
with it.
Starting the fourth and final lap I begged for water at the
feed zone and some gracious woman gave me a bottle as I rode by. What an angel!
It had to be 80 and there was no shade. I tried to keep at LT, then Tempo, then
at least Endurance! pace, especially because I didn’t know where Rebecca or
Julie were. I was really surprised when Julie passed me since she had not been
with us the whole race. We contested the results because actually Melanie saw
Julie go off course, however she somehow did pass me and passed Melanie and
technically came across the finish in third. Even after she passed, I still
committed to racing because I figured I was safe from Rebecca catching me, but
you never know. I sprinted through the finish even though I was by myself ;-)
Everyone was a bit thrown off at the podium. I assumed
Andrea was DQ’d and Melanie had third, I was fourth, and Rebecca fifth. In the
end, the officials acknowledged that Andrea should have known the course well
enough after riding three laps to not get lost, but they only decided to push
her one spot instead of a full DQ. So that put her in fourth, me in fifth. I
wasn’t last!
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