If you're on Facebook you already know I went to DirtFest last weekend. I promise to tell that story next post. But I'm behind, so I have to start where I left off.
Early-season spring road races: Bloomfield Spring Classic, Binghamton Circuit Race Race, Hollenbeck's Spring Classic, and Bristol Mountain Road Race-most of the Corning women raced in most of these.
Except for Binghamton Circuit Race, I spent a great deal of time getting dropped and chasing from behind at the mercy of whatever cat 1s and 2s were driving the race. Last year I got dropped once every race. This year I got dropped two or three or maybe even four times in each race this year, instead. Yes, definite improvement. Here's some short recap for those people looking for race reports.
Bloomfield GVCC Spring Classic
It was very cold, somewhere between 38 and 43 degrees. The weather forecast mid-week had assured us of moderate temperatures and dryness. No such luck once the weekend rolled around.
Ruthless Sherman, Daniela Floss and myself carpooled up together in Ruth's Prius, and we stared out the windows in dismay most of the way there. We hoped it wouldn't actually rain, but it began promptly as we started the race.
Full Moon Vista called most of the shots because Christine Schryver is so strong there's not much any of us can do about it. We knew not to chase Yvette because Christine looked so obviously much stronger that we knew she had the best chance of winning, and the MVP Healthcare girls and the NiceTri ladies would jump on Yvette so Corning didn't need to. But when Chris attacked we all had to try to go along. I stayed out of the wind almost completely the first lap, and Ruth stayed in it most of the time, which probably had FMV guessing who was our designated rider (Dany? me?) I acted like I was strong enough to hold onto everyone (might as well bluff when you can). Until I got briefly dropped early on in the second lap. Then I got back on. Ruth and Dany worked their buns off and we were all just mixing it up after FMV started things. It was so cold. And wet. The rain continued and the wind got stronger and it didn't matter because the punchy surges on the climbs continued and I BURIED myself to hold on going over one of the bigger bumps in the road. I knew I was in trouble then and would definitely get spanked. On the next bigger sized hill I got dropped for the second time and couldn't get back on, just before we started the third lap. I glimpsed Ruth looking over her shoulder back at me. I knew what she was thinking ("Maybe I will drop back and get Vanessa.") NO, RUTH, I thought to myself. It's NOT worth it. Ruth stayed with the pack but admitted later she thought about coming back for me. I told her she was better that way. I wasn't strong enough for her to help me.
I continued flogging the living daylights out of myself while riding the last lap of the race alone. I knew that several other riders had been dropped before I was, and they COULD be working together behind me, and possibly catch me if I slacked off. But I held onto 6th place and one upgrade point. I felt pretty happy about that afterwards, especially considering how hard I'd ridden.
My older brother Jason, who lives in Rochester, did his first USAC road race ever. And did pretty well, too, even though he raced with bare legs (insane). I'm still surprised he didn't freeze his leg hair off. In spite of being drenched and freezing, he had a great time. Crazy. I think he's slightly addicted already. After crossing the finish line and getting my timing chip cut off, I rode downhill with the other girls and froze my hands badly. Big Reynaud's attack. I had to hold my swollen hands under warm running water until they calmed down. I couldn't take off my soaked clothes to change until my fingers started functioning. After the race, Ruth, Dany and I all went out for food with my brother Jason, his friend Bob, and my sister-in-law Kellie who probably thinks we are all insane to race in that kind of weather. I have to agree with her. I will never seriously believe a mid-week weather forecast again.
Binghamton Circuit Race
Binghamton is an exception to the typical hilly road race out here, being a circuit race on a short loop that you ride over and over, with some stiff wind to make things really drag out if you're getting tired or get trapped on your own.
My teammates decided to help me try to steal an upgrade point or two in this race, since it's one of the only races where I have a chance of hanging with them instead of getting dropped on a hill. On this course the only hill isn't very big and definitely not a separator unless you're out of shape enough AND the pace is fast enough that eventually one more time over it when you're over your limit will pop you off the back to contend with the wind by yourself.
Speaking of my teammates, they WERE most of the race. We had a group of maybe 11 open riders, with the masters women and some cat 4 women mixed in. For the Corning team women, we had full strength in numbers. Everybody came: Margaret, me, Dany, LiLynn, Tami, Ruth, Sara.
We all rode together the first couple laps at a very moderate pace and got blown around a bit in the wind. Sara took a flyer off the front on the back side of the loop and got smacked with the wind but the few non-Corning women in the group still had to go catch her.
After maybe three laps they rang the bell for a prime on the next lap. Three of us sort of rolled a little bit faster down the hill and of course when I looked back there was a little gap and Corning unifoms all over the place but especially on the front of the group and everybody let us go. I said to the other girls, "Hey, forget the prime, let's just keep going." Dany and the girl from Rothrock (Evelyn Korbich) both agreed, and we just sort of kept on rolling and nobody did anything to stop us. Especially not the other Corning girls. Evelyn took the first prime uncontested, and then I did some on-the-spot teaching for Dany because she didn't know how to paceline. But she's smart, it's not hard and we made it work. The wind made life a long, long, repetitive slog, lap after lap. Dany rode over the line first to take the second prime. "What is a prime?" she asked. I told her it was a prize that she would get after the race. She liked this.
The umpteenth time through the start/finish Bob yelled something to me about "--sss is coming, wait up?" What? I couldn't hear what he was saying in the wind. How and why would I want to wait up? Eventually we caught up with some of the other girls from behind and said hi. LiLynn and Tami and a couple of others were riding together. Margaret must have taken off, I didn't see her just then. Then Ruth caught up with us! Apparently she and Sara took off a few laps after Dany, Evelyn and I rolled away, and then when Sara lost interest in chasing, Ruth kept going and after FIVE LAPS ALONE IN THE WIND caught up to us. I wouldn't have lasted ONE LAP in that wind, alone. Forget about five. Then without even catching her breath, Ruth jumped into the rotation.
So then Ruth and Dany and I all tried to gang up on Evelyn and I guess I should gotten to the finish line before she did, but you have to wait for the sprint or make a decision to do something else meaningful before it comes to a sprint and I haven't had many chances this year to work on endgame strategies because, let's face it, I'm usually just not around when it really counts in a road race, which is at the very end. Granted not every race we do is a hilly road race. We all get a chance eventually to turn things in our favor. A chance, anyway. So Evelyn got there first. Kudos Evelyn! She's only (I think) 16 years old but has been racing a while already from what I hear. She has a nice kick.
I feel bad that Ruth and Dany did so much work to try and help (and LiLynn and Sara and Margaret and Tami all blew the race to pieces behind us as well!) but I still couldn't figure out how to get to the line first. But hopefully we'll have more chances to keep working together. It's not easy in the road races around here, because the hills are big, I'm no climber, and I can't hold on to Ruth or Dany on the hills.
Dany was tickled with her prime prize-she picked a yellow alien head-shaped blinky light (the eyes light up). I have a feeling she will collect many more (and larger) primes if she keeps racing. Probably things more like wheelsets and loads of cash. We'll see.
Jason and Bob came out to race again, after staying the night at our place to shorten the Sunday drive from Rochester. Jason did two races, finishing 22nd in his first race and I believe 7th in his second race. Now he's about a 3rd of the way toward his cat 4 upgrade. I'm glad he finished safely and he felt pretty happy with his races too-he learned a lot about where to work, how to work smart and where to save energy.
Hollenbeck's Spring Classic Road Race
Well, finally we had the perfect weather conditions for a race. Sunny but not too hot, breezy but not too windy, and not a chance of rain forecast. Hollenbeck's always gives us one of the best races around here. It's ALWAYS well-run and organized thanks to a massive group effort from the FLCC. Because of this it seems the fields grow every year, and the women's race only ever gets harder. This year we had Full Moon Vista there again, plus a Canadian or two, Suzanne Lucash, Anna McLoon, and the girls in "Corning wear" Dany and Ruth, LiLynn, Margaret, Tami, me.
I got dropped. On the first climb, which is kind of long. The front group slowed down, very much because Ruth and Dany sat on the front waiting for me and also because probably nobody else would work. Plus they get annoyed when things get too slow! I caught back on after dangling in the wind for a while, and sat in just long enough to catch my breath before...I got dropped again. On the second climb.
I beat myself up and got back on. Eventually. Thanks Ruth and Dany for waiting again...
On the third climb, a repeat of our opening climb, I got dropped again.
I ALMOST got back on, but...no. This time I wasn't coming back, even though I had Canadian rider Julie Marceau with me. What a great chase partner! We worked well together.
I finished together with Julie. She beat me to the line, even though I tried to really get her. Maybe I could have gotten there first if I had been more convinced it was a possibility and acted on it sooner. One day I might learn. I missed having Margaret with me-last year we'd ridden in together.
Tami and LiLynn successfully finished their first races as Cat 3s and enjoyed getting to ride that extra lap and twice the distance (something they both wanted). Congratulations, ladies!
And Then There Was Bristol
I expected this race to be no different than Hollenbecks or Bloomfield. I would kill myself to get back on after getting dropped on some climb, and then everybody else would hammer the hills, and then just sit around and pedal easy for a while until the next climb. I would ride at my absolute limit on all the climbs, or over it until I couldn't anymore, and then chase chase chase, catch onto a group that would barely creep along at 14mph looking at each other, and sit in being bored until the next chance to tear myself to pieces on another climb, then chase like crazy again.
Well, that's how it happened. Just add in some extra distance (51 miles total racing), hot sun, wind, only two bottle cages and no room in the jersey pockets for another bottle, plus Full Moon Vista, P-K Express, and MVP Healthcare all having multiple riders show up and it made for a very long, hot, punishing day. I finished last, and a few other riders decided to call it a day before doing that last lap. Sara was already changed and just hanging out when we got done. I felt a bit envious. Finishing in itself was sort of a dubious victory. I had gotten to that stage of dehydration where you become a bit nauseated and slightly apathetic. That final 50mph descent made me pretty lightheaded too.
Ruth and Dany turned in strong rides-Dany 5th, Ruth 6th-despite their own dehydration and annoyance at the group's total refusal to even try to chase the two riders who broke away-predictably Full Moon Vista's Christine Schryver, and MVP Healthcare's Laura Meadley. It's possible that if the group had immediately given chase and cooperated with each other in the heat and wind, maybe the race would have played out differently. Ruth and Dany's frustration with the non-reactive, sluggish group resulted in either Dany or Ruth always riding on the front of the group in the wind out of a) sheer boredom and b) desire to just move it along. I wasn't around a whole lot because of all the chasing I had to do, but every time I caught back up I found the pack creeping along and sitting on Ruth and Dany. And even if one of the the Corning women had taken off, they would have been chased down immediately and then sat on again. Nobody else wanted to work. During one stretch on the last lap after rejoining the group, I rode on the front for a little while and then tried to entertain myself by riding off the front for a bit but let's face it, I wasn't going anywhere. Mentally I had a hard time chasing like mad and then sitting up completely, and my legs didn't appreciate all that sitting around when it was time to hurt again. In some ways it would have been better to just go hard the whole time. We'd have finished the race a lot faster, for one thing.
Margaret and LiLynn also had a hot tough race in the women's Masters field (which had raced with the cat 4 women?). LiLynn had been dealing with a problematic and painful nerve in her neck but opted to race anyway, so her race certainly involved a lot more pain than it should have.
I noticed just now, that looking at BikeReg's results page, no women's results are listed AT ALL. According to BikeReg, only men raced at all. You have to go the YellowJacket website to even see evidence of a women's race.
That doesn't really matter, though. Because LiLynn, Ruth and I had quite an adventure getting to the race, and then Dany, LiLynn, Ruth and I had some interesting encounters on the way back from the race (Dany had ridden with Sara and Nate, but caught a lift back in LiLynn's car since Sara and Nate had an engagement in Geneva after the race).
Before leaving for Bristol, LiLynn handed me the keys to Silver Bullet (her new used Volvo) and said "Cupcake, you're driving." Last October I just finally passed my road test, after refusing for some time to get a driver's license because I didn't own a car, and then coming around and realizing that a driver's license could be a good thing to have. Last year-the very weekend after obtaining my license-I drove Bob, his kids and myself to Ommegang Brewery for a CX race. During this first road trip behind the wheel as a fully licensed driver I promptly ran over a raccoon and killed it. Now LiLynn said because the raccoon crossed the road slowly in daylight it was probably diseased anyway and I had done it a favor. Let's hope so.
Then just prior to Battenkill I drove home from Glenn's after picking up my newly-tuned road bike, and on Route 13 headed up the hill to Newfield I killed a little wee bunny which I can only assume was suicidal since it ran VERY quickly across the road and threw itself under the car.
So on the day we headed to Bristol, Ruth picked me and took me to LiLynn's, where I warned LiLynn about my newly acquired habit of vehicular wildlife homicide, but her neck was really hurting her and she made me drive the three of us anyway. So immediately after turning off LiLynn's road I see a large deer trying to conceal itself behind a tree on the right side of the road, poking out only its head and staring with its giant brown eyes. That gave me a start but it stayed put. Ruth and LiLynn laughed. Another hour or so down the road a large squirrel darted onto the road and proceeded to zigzag as only squirrels do, down the double yellow lines. No other traffic in front of or behind me, I slowed down and blasted the horn while yelling. Meanwhile LiLynn and Ruth screamed with laughter. The squirrel decided not to die and removed itself to our left. Not even half a mile down, a large deer sailed over a fence on our right and flew across the road about oh, maybe forty or fifty feet in front of the car. We weren't in real danger of hitting it but we all screeched again and those two clowns in the car with me just laughed and laughed and I laughed too but I really felt convinced I'd kill something before the day ended. A few birds almost swerved into the car but veered away at the last second. So we made it to Bristol without killing anything except my nerves.
After the race, we loaded up the bikes and our tired bodies back into the Silver Bullet, cranked all the windows down because of the heat and cruised down the road with the wind blowing in our hair.
We stopped at a gas station in Ovid for cold drinks and snacks. My stomach still couldn't handle solid food but I grabbed a drink and a prize snack for later.
I stepped back outside to find my teammates on the sidewalk talking with two fairly inebriated young men in various stages of undress. One had no shirt but shorts and flip-flips. The other stood there in his bare feet wearing only a pair of boxer shorts-NOT the type you wear to the gym-I'm talking underwear-and accessories included neon-framed plastic sunglasses and a necktie. I stared for a few seconds then said to Ruth, "Hey Ruthless, do you know these punks?" Underwear Boy loved this and said "Right on sister, she's calling us out, man!" and high-fived me. Ruth didn't know them. The stretch Hummer parked at the gas pump had been ferrying them around on a celebratory post-grad school wine tour. They became fascinated by our story of coming back from a bike race ("Whoa, it's hard to DRIVE 51 miles, man, forget bike it!") and just as we had loaded into the car one of them jumped into the front seat with Ruth (almost on Ruth), took photos of us to document our coolness, then jumped into the back seat with LiLynn and did more of the same. Meanwhile the Hummer driver tried to herd them back into his vehicle.
Dany said, "Do you know Vanessa, that when this man in his underwear came out of the car at first he was wearing nothing at all?! He put his underwear on in the parking lot!" I felt some relief at not having to see yet another guy's junk in public. I had already seen one of the Bristol racers whip it out in the parking lot to relieve himself not even 50 feet from the port-a-johns (with almost no line at all). You see enough bare bottoms and whatnot in this sport as it is. Some guys have given me the impression they either didn't care who saw or maybe liked that a girl saw it. Please put it away, boys.
So after our little parking-lot interlude we all headed back down the road to Ithaca. Thankfully no animals large or small threw themselves at LiLynn's car on the way back. We returned LiLynn and her car home, and then Ruth dropped me off at home. After I showered, the house was quiet and cool (Bob was out running errands). I put my bike away, feet up, and enjoyed my gas-station junk food treat (CHEETOS!) with a clean conscience. And that ended the first part of road season.
Thanks for reading.
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