RACE WEEKEND - Marian and Purdue

I hadn’t raced in 1.5 years. During that time I had considered myself not much of a racer. And then I tried racing this weekend: a crit at Marian and a road race at Purdue.

(For those that don’t know: a criterium is held on about a 1 mile loop. The length is determined either by amount of time or number laps, and then in the final lap, everyone sprints to the finish. There are lots of corners to turn, and it is a fairly technical race. A road race is generally either one long loop or laps around a longer loop. It is based on the number of laps or number of miles, generally has more hills, and it is more based upon strength.)

Marian:

I guess racing is a bit like learning to ride a bike: some things, you just don’t forget. First example: when racing, it is a bad idea to stick to the back of a pack, because you’re more likely to crash and you can spring better. Thus, I clawed my way up to the front as soon as we turned the first corner. Remarkably, I was able to keep up: a great sign that I was training enough.

The course had some very sharp turns. I hadn't tried cornering much on the new bike, which has 700x23 tires rather than 700x25 (narrower). It seemed a touch more sensitive, but I hadn't gotten a feel for what its traction was like, thus limiting the degree to which I was willing to lean.

Two girls crashed right in front of me (!) pushing me up to second in line. This is what got me 2^nd and 3^rd place in two of the prem laps. (Premium laps are sprints within the race that you can get points for if you win the lap).

And then I felt really dumb because I hadn’t noticed the sign the announcer guy was holding up saying 1 lap left (busy trying to catch up to the lead pack) … and I didn’t sprint. Dropped me down to 13^th place overall. I dropped the f bomb about 20 times before convincing myself that it only happened because it was my first race in 1.5 years.

Purdue:

Everyone had been talking about a monstrously steep hill climb in the 4 mile loop of the Purdue road race, which scared me to no end because I get absolutely no hills training in Chambana. Everyone built it up so much though, that it turned out to be not so bad. Also, Lindsay, a teammate, told me to realize they’re just like wind, only these I couldn’t draft on. In addition to that hill I hadn’t trained for, I took too many pulls, and thus I unfortunately could not catch up to the lead pack after my 4^th lap.

I did nearly pass a Wisconsin guy who claimed to have puked earlier in the race (thus his bad placing), and to have been from Switzerland (of course he spoke English with a perfect American accent). To make things even more bizarre, a herd of deer crossed the road ahead of us. The race ended with the 5^th and last climb … I was so burned out I started screaming, kendo-style, on the way up. It sure got me up there, and I even passed a Mizzou girl on the way. (A guy asked me after the race if I was trying to resurrect the Chief.) I placed 9^th out of 22 finishers.

Race weekends aren’t all about riding bikes, in fact. Tony Vo, who has apparently been to every city in America, guided us to a local brewery in Lafayette, IN where we tried some good beer with fish and chips. Good times.

Overall, a really fun weekend. I got to experience the race endorphins for the first time in a long time, and I also got a great workout to boot.