About an hour before the start time, I moseyed to a section of trail I wanted to nail during the race. The practice run didn't go so well, but I was confident I would be less clumsy during the action. Not wanting to do an entire lap, I started ducking under the boundary tape to cut the course. A couple of guys decided to join me in this strategy; however, none of us knew where we were. At one point, we came out by a paved road; I wasn't sure which way to go, so I opted to take the trail back. They decided to take the road, although they had never been to this course before. On my own.....I cut through some more tape and arrived at the same point by the road!!! ARGH! Fine. I'll take the road too. Now, which way do I go?
I decided to head out on the road towards the direction of the start thinking it would take me around to the entrance. WRONG! At this point I was getting concerned about expending energy trying to make the start. I was totally lost. Desperately not wanting to freak out, I let out one audible cuss word--audible if ANYONE was around to hear it. Behold! A lone car was driving towards me. I stopped my bicycle in the middle of the road and waited for its approach. She slowed the car not taking her hand from the wheel, a burning cigarette between her fingers. Awesome. Her window was down. I breathed in ready to ask, "Which way to the entrance?" But I didn't get a chance. Seeing I wasn't in trouble, she gunned it and drove right past me. I waved my arms frantically at her; the smoke must have clouded her rearview mirror.
I went back into the woods and started riding the trail backwards. I made it back with minutes to spare allowing enough time to grab some more water.
The start line contained 3 Cat 1 ladies, which meant if I finished, I would get a podium spot. I did finish--last. I was intrigued by the course, though. I enjoyed the openness more than I had in years past. And Big Wheel made it so much fun.
For something new, I tried the Tuesday night Time Trial in Morgan Monroe. This was my first of this kind. The instructions: Ride as hard as you can for 5 miles; you will see a big smiley face on the road. Turn around there, ride as hard as you can for 5 more miles back to the start/finish area. Call out your number to the timekeeper.
Riders started 30 seconds apart; I was 3rd. I rode as hard as I could. My legs were actually quite sore at the start presumable from Sunday's race. Nevertheless, what fun! What fun to be riding in the forest watching us pass each other. Randi and I called out "GO!" when we saw each other (going opposite directions). I sprinted to the finish. While my time wasn't anything to brag about (averaging just over 21 mph), I was the 2nd of 4 girls. Results are here. Thanks goes out to the timekeeper and organizer! Looking forward to some more of these workouts next year.
Meanwhile, there is more progress on the house/barn. Will post pics soon.
1 comment:
yeah, 21mph, that is just soooooooooooo slow. NOT!
give yourself a little credit!!!!!!!!!! its really good!
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