This race is always on the calendar, on account of the Halloween Hijinks that are so much fun. This year, John, Lizzy Allbut and I dressed in an Underwear theme, based on some brand new size 50" waist men's white boxer briefs we happened upon at a thrift store. All 3 of us wore them, with formal suspenders, black bras, and panties on our heads. No hidden meaning, but so obnoxious that we made quite an impression. Pretty comfortable to race in, too, on an almost 80 degree day. Lizzy and I wore ours in the actual race as well.
My favorite costumes:
Spy vs. Spy. Their beaks were extremely well done; covering their faces completely and about 4 feet long. Black and white coveralls, gloves, hats. Fighting each other the whole time.
Pink Dinosaurs. 4 people Sheila Moon skinsuits, pink feather boas, and the most creative dino heads made of rectangular cardboard boxes, with teeth cut in, covering their helmets and projecting forward.
Shark swimming upstream. A woman with a hand made fish costume that covered her and most of her bike, made of felt, who went backwards on the course, "spawning".
Pregnant Brownie. Very realistic big belly with short brown skirt, green top, girl scout badge banner.
Sabine Dukes' fat Lucho Libre wrestler. Belly, butt, jockstrap and mask. Scary.
Anyway, the race:
I signed up for women 45, since they offered this rare category, but the 35's and 45's started together. The A women went, then B's at a minute, masters at a minute, and C women at a minute. This made for a pretty crowded course. For once I got a good start and slotted into 4th place. I got some good draft on the first flat part, then attacked. Kathleen Bortolussi came by me after a while, and I got a little rest on her wheel, then attacked again and was leading the wave.
Things were going well. I liked the fast parts and felt good on the corners. The hardest part of the course, a short, steep uphill that was rideable with momentum and a clear shot, was going ok for me, though I dabbed the top once. I was passing people a lot. The C's were getting lapped, and I worked my way up to 6th place in the B wave, passing about 12 of them in the process.
On the last lap, Kathleen was a good 20 seconds back and I started to ease up. I let one of the B's pass me back, and a Bicycle Trip Rider (who I thought was a B since I didn't know her) passed in the swirly before the steep hill. Coming into the hill the last time, I backed off a bit at the bottom to give myself room, and a B rider who I won't name, who I had passed, took the opportunity to jump around me before the hill, completely cut across my line, and caused me to have to get off the bike. Luckily it was a clean exit and I was able to run 3 steps to the top and remount. But, why do this? She was in 7th place, I was leading my group. It was rude. Or maybe just oblivious. Anyway, no harm done and I completed the last little bit of course to finish the race.
Later on I found out that the unknown Bicycle Trip rider was actually in the 35's and won the wave. I won the 45's and was 2nd overall. Not that it matters, since I wasn't actually racing against her, but if I had known she was in my wave I would have tried harder to stay ahead, just for the "glory" of winning the wave. Since I never saw her the whole time I guess she was a slow starter who came on at the end. When it matters, I'll make sure to know who I'm competing against.
All in all, this year so far has been really going well. For whatever reason my bike handing on the technical areas, a former weakness, seems to be really improved. My weight loss seems to be helping with running and hills, and I'll keep practicing starts, as I did this week, to improve this weak area. Fingers crossed: no illness, no injuries.
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