I have mentioned before that it is a challenge to find women’s racing here, especially for new riders because you are just lumped in with the men and it really isn’t all that much fun, it is more just a good hard workout and avoiding crashes. Thanks to Local Ride Racing and a race called Race the Ridge I was able to enter a 3 day stage race in a women’s only Cat 3/4 category (1 &2 are the top categories) where I could try my hand at a 50km road race, a 12.5km time trial and a 30 min + 3lap criterium.
Where do I start… …lets just say the moment I took off from the start line I was hooked.
Road Race
Just because it is the lower category does not mean the racing is not aggressive, there are some very experienced riders racing in these categories (you have to earn your way up the categories with racing for points and winning races). We were all fighting for the best position on the wheel, I started the pace off at 48km/hour and then I had to fight my way back into the group with elbows being thrown at me to push me out. I was feeling strong and perhaps over ambitions, but I wanted to see what my body could do so I launched 5 attacks in the 1st 2 laps which was so fun. I keyed my sights on a couple riders who I knew where experienced and after my last attack when I was fighting to get back in the pack one rider launched an attack on the steepest climb and took a few girls with her. My biggest mistake was not going after them right away, I figured the pack would be able to bring them back but they just weren’t strong enough. We ended up chasing them for the last 3 laps, learning how to work as a team and losing a few riders on the way to end up with 4 of us finishing in a sprint (going for overall time in the stage race), and I managed, after a lot of pulling and still sprinting off the front, to finish a wheel length ahead of the girl beside me. I was so happy to have experienced racing for what it actually is! How cool! It was time to recover for the time trial.
Time Trial
I forgot to mention that I was on my own for these events on the first day, no teammates, no coach etc., but my 2 years of working at a bike store, Kevin’s support/training, history of athletics/coaching, and my good heavenly Father always looking out for me, I was able to muster up the courage and boldness to go out and do it. This was especially important for the time trial as you are out there all on your own, no drafting, just the bike and you.
So off I went, legs fatigued from the morning effort into the windy roads of Pitt Meadows, where the last 6km of road was treacherous, I don’t think I’ve actually ever ridden on roads that bad before this. To my own surprise I was able to actually keep a decent pace, I had a road bike, so I tucked in low sat on the rivet (tip of the saddle) and just powered down one pedal stroke at a time. The head wind sucked, the truck that just about hit me caused me to brake so I lost about 10 seconds or more, but I maintained a decent speed. Almost everyone else would be on time trial bikes that are much faster than riding on a road bike with aerodynamic helmets and clothing. I would say my clothing was a fairly aero, but certainly not my helmet, but I wasn’t going to let any of that bother me, plus I know my Cannondale Evo Road bike is freaking awesome and I was sure thankful for it on the bumpy roads. I was hoping to maintain at least 35km/hour but ended up with a 32.2km/hour average so not totally disappointing, a solid effort and I still beat a good few girls in my category, 18sec behind the girl I was targeting. Time Trial DONE! Another fear conquered and very much enjoyed!
Sunday Morning Criterium
I was really excited for this race, I have been wanting to do “Crit” racing for a while now, but the risk of crashing is high and I really needed to have my racing speeds up to stay in the group. I was so happy to have Kevin out to coach me and a few friends to cheer me along. These laps are fast with average speeds for our category around 40km/ hour, the top men will be racing this at average speed of 50km/hour. Today I was not going to make the same mistake as yesterday, I marked the 3 girls ranked higher than me and every time they accelerated I was going to be right on their wheel. I wanted to show that I had the speed and power to have been racing with them the day before, if I had caught their group I would have been in contention for 1st place, but it was all a learning experience. Anyways, the 1st 4 places got called up to the line by name I was 4th; really cool (like I see on TV) and then we were off. This time I settled in to the pack working on the line I was going to take around the sharp corners, and watching the other girls like a hawk, if they accelerated I closed it down ASAP. By the 3rd lap I could easily gauge where on the course the majority of the attacks were being made, I decided to launch a couple just to push the pace and I was always a fight to not be the last rider. On the sharpest corner coming into the finish a rider didn’t see me on her left and BAM, I think 4 or 5 of us down, adrenaline running, we all got up fairly quickly, I had to get my chain back on and the rider who I beat at the finish yesterday came back to make sure I was okay, that to me was amazing. Anyways, for a crash in the first half of racing, they stop the race and all racers meet at the start and we continue on, because our category is so small this allows us to keep racing. My first thought when I crashed was disappointment that I would have to stop racing, then I remembered we got to keep going after the medical staff checked us out. So we carried on a good pace, racing hard, by this time I figured out the 3 teammates working together to get the win for their GC (top) rider and another girl boxing me in every corner after the finish line to take my spot (she obviously was an experienced crit racer), which was fine except she didn’t launch any real attacks, so that was annoying, and of course she finished just in front of me. I made the last attack to the finish, and I didn’t think I could push harder, but in hindsight I knew that is was mental and I could have, I didn’t sprint as hard to the finish as the day before and paid for it with a 4th place finish.
Overall I made some friends, enemies and had the best time of my life in any single sporting event (and if you know me, you know I have done a lot). I am on a path now to help inspire more women to race, I didn’t think I could do it; I knew it would be hard and painful but I did it anyways and it has changed my life. No matter how many people say to me “you need to do more with your life than race bicycles”, I won’t listen, in one ear and out the other because I know how sport can change someone’s life and open up doors than never may have existed otherwise.
I am thankful to Local Ride racing for a great event, especially for women like me who are new to racing and to Kevin, my mom and friends who support me in this.
This is what inspires me to write again, I can feel passion burning in my heart, so for now the journey continues as I mend my body from the crash and continue getting stronger.
