First Elite Race

My first elite race was what I would consider a success.

pic courtesy of Rusty

The weekend had a whole different undertone. I can't even explain it, it was just different. I didn't have the nerves I always have. I didn't have to hit the bathroom 5 times in the morning. I wasn't nervous on the preride. I didn't cry during the national anthem (well, ok, I did tear up on that one, but not as much as usual). I didn't almost puke when Don said GOOOOOOOOO because I was so unbelievably nervous. It was just different. I wasn't even nervous. It was something I'm TOTALLY not used to.

I had a plan. My plan was to finish 4 laps, hopefully somewhat consistently, not to bonk big time on lap 4, to NOT pull over when I was passed but instead to hold my line or pull to the side a bit but keep moving, not to get worked up if I encountered any "less than cordial boys passing me" and to finish, hopefully not dead last, but if that was the case, so be it. And I accomplished just about all of those goals.

We lined up at the start and as I'm conversing with my peeps, I'm looking ahead of me and behind me at ALL the boys I see. The thoughts running through my head were "holy crap, ALL these boys are going to have to pass me at some point". And "wow, I'm out of my league standing here". And "crap, I hope I can make all 4 laps". Don yelled GOOOOOO and off we went. The start wasn't as fast as I was prepped for it to be, however I'm a fast starter so I was right at home redlining it out of the gate.

Lap one I pulled an insane pace. I was breathing so hard I thought my lungs were going to explode. The top comp guys caught me about 2/3 the way through the first lap. We dumped into tight single track sections with me wedged between comp boys. I rode like I've never rode before. I had no idea I could even ride technical sections that fast. . . . . .let alone that clean. I wanted to stay out of the way and avoid pissing anyone off. My heart rate was insane. My head kept saying "there is NO way you can hold this for 4 laps". But I didn't care. I did what I could and figured how am I going to know, unless I try? I managed to hit my lap timer for each lap and the first one took me a hair over 29 minutes (29:16). Off to lap 2.

Lap 2 was similar to lap 1, riding at or over LT for most of it, hammering it as hard as i possibly could through the single track to stay out of the way, pulling the pace back a bit on the flats to let people around me. I still rode relatively clean, pulled a 31:40.

Lap 3 I thought I was going to die. I kept thinking "if I was in sport, this would be it". I was so tired I made a few stupid mistakes. I dropped my chain going into one section and that prompted a group of comp/elite boys to be on my tail. I biffed a tree, cranked my gears, and had to pull over to let them by, about 4 times. I got a little angry at myself, kept wondering how in the WORLD I was going to do a 4th lap when I wasn't even sure I was going to get through this one. . . . . then I yelled at myself and said "who cares?!?" I took a deep breath, concentrated on riding clean and forgot those around me. That seemed to work MUCH better. According to my watch, that one took me 32:03. Had I not had to do a 4th lap, I think I could have pulled a little quicker time on lap 3. . . .but looking at sport, it looks like those lap times alone would have put me in the top 10, which is cool.

Lap 4 was much more relaxed. Only a few passing me, a much calmer pace. . . . . .one of my goals was also to make it up all the hills on ALL the laps vs having to walk anything on lap 4. It hurt like hell, but I did it. I saw Christine just ahead and tried to keep my pace up so she didn't put to large of a gap on me. Again, I rode the single track hard, rested on the flats when I needed to. . . . .tried to ride clean. Then I hit those stupid downhill, off camber turns towards the end. EVERY SINGLE YEAR I endo there and this year wasn't the exception. My first 2 laps I rode them like a pro, my 3rd lap I fumbled a bit, my 4th lap I sailed over the bars and face planted in the dirt. Idiot. I got up, shook myself off, watched the Goat ride effortlessly past me, assessed any damage and rode on. I was so close to the finish I could almost smell it. I wanted to be done. I hopped back on and rode my heart out. Christine was long gone but there were a few boys on my tail. I tried to stay out of their way and get to the finish in one piece. I succeeded.

Almost every boy that passed me was kind and courteous. Many of them knew me by name and cheered me on. Some of them even coached me though the turns, helping me ride even faster. Only a couple were less than nice, and I didn't let that bother me. Overall, a success.

4 laps, 2:04:40, AHR 181. 17th out of 20. A couple dumb mistakes, one endo. . . . . . . .my first elite race under my belt. Sweet. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be.