Sent by Karen Brems on 11/3/09

Sunday was race #3 in the Surf City Series. Venue was the same as the Halloween race, but they changed the course a bit. Mainly they added more times off the bike, which is not so good for me! Besides the same finish line double barrier, there was a set of uphill double barriers, a short stair section, and then a kind of long run up. The tricky thing about the run up was that at the top of it was a short, bumpy downhill into a loose turn, and then the same steep but (barely) rideable uphill into the fire road climb from yesterday. What that meant was you absolutely had to get clipped in right away in order to make the turn and get enough momentum to make the hill. Clipping in on a downhill is hard because you don't have as much resistance on the pedals, so it you don't get the cleats lined up perfectly, the pedal just falls away beneath your foot. I have been spending quite a bit of time training my mounts and dismounts and clipping in quickly over the past several weeks, but I still seem to fumble at least 10% of the time and this proved to be my undoing today!

The fields were smaller on Sunday than Sat, but all the top women were there again, so field size didn't make much difference. I got another terrible start - I could not clip in and ended up probably 8th or 9th going into the first single track. Kerry Barnholt got the hole shot and Stella was on her wheel and there were a lot of slower riders between them and me, so it was danger! I passed riders wherever I could and finally made it up to Kerry and Stella by the time we hit the flat, headwind field section, but it took a lot of energy that could better have been used elsewhere! Towards the end of the first lap, the 3 of us had opened a gap on the rest of the field. Then we hit the run-up and I could not get into my pedals quickly enough to get momentum up the next hill and stalled out and tipped over at the top of it. I pick myself up as Kerry and Stella rode away up the hill. Just as I get going again, Carmen D'Aluisio and Gina Hall come by me - they now both ride for CalGiant and were working together to catch Kerry, Stella and I. As Carmen goes by, she yelled something like "Good job!" to Gina. I passed both of them back on the hill and started chasing as hard as I could to catch the front 2. I knew I had to make contact before the long headwind section, which I did (barely!). Carmen and Gina did not come with me, so now we were 3 in front again.

I made the run/ride section on the 2nd and 4th lap, but fumbled again with my pedals and stalled out on the 3rd lap and had to chase yet again. On the last lap, I knew my only chance to win would be to get on front of Stella and Kerry on the first run-up, make the hill without stalling and try to open enough of a gap on the climb to make it to the turny, barrier finish. I spent most of the race in 3rd position - either chasing or trying to recover just a little bit. I just didn't have the extra gas to make any passes. With about 1/2 a lap to go, Kerry started pulling away inch by inch from Stella. I could not get around Stella to do anything about it though. I made a last big effort to pass on the wider section going into the last turn before the run-up, but of course Stella wanted to be first to that turn too! We were shoulder to shoulder going into it, but she had the inside line, so she got the lead. Somehow I managed to squeeze by her at the top of the run-up though. Kerry now had a few seconds on us, but this was my chance to at least get 2nd. Unfortunately I blew it again and didn't get into my pedals at all through the turn and had to dismount and run up the next hill. I stumbled and Stella squeezed by me and I lost my balance again and fell to the side. I got going again as fast as I could, but there just wasn't enough course left and I ended up 3rd a few sec. behind Stella. Carmen was 4th.

Overall, I felt pretty good about my fitness, and being able to bridge gaps, but I wasted it making up for mistakes instead of using it for racing! I don't know why it is so hard for me to find my pedals - they are right on the end of my cranks, just like they always have been!! I never ever have this problem on the road. I have actually gotten quite a bit better, but clearly I still have a ways to go! Today I practiced 40 mounts and dismounts at BayFront Park on my way to work! I am also treating every stoplight on my commute as a chance to practice my starts! As soon as the light turns green, I clip in as fast as I can and accelerate a couple of pedal strokes!

Print | posted on Wednesday, November 04, 2009 12:57 PM