Springbank crit in London

Well it was like any other morning before a race except I was nervous as hell like before the Georgia road race.  I was sitting waiting for my ride to come cause my race wasn’t until 1pm and my husband’s race was at 8:30am that morning and I just didn’t want to get up that early for a 1pm race.  I was lucky enough to have another racer in town that had room for me to travel with them to this race.  Of course just like last year it was raining on my husband's race and I was worried as hell, which wrecked havoc on my body oh my.  So at this point I had to stop looking at the radar that was just showing me rain and more rain and get ready to go and get ready to be picked up.  Thanks to Sarah and her family for picking me up and transporting me to this race.

We made a stop at the local cycling café Domestique before we were on our way to London.  Another coffee into the body was quite helpful for the road. 

We arrived in London almost an hour and half later to find my husband waiting for me and posed and ready to help me get ready for my race.  I went on to get my numbers for my race and when I came back the trainer and my drink was all set up for me to do my warm up.  I was able to get in a good 45mins of warm before this including a somewhat hardish blowout.  Felt ready for the race.

On the race start line feeling ready for my race and knowing my race plan well heck having a race plan at that point was good.  The elite women went off before us and we had 2 minutes to prepare for our race and one of the ladies I know had a flat right on the start line.  So with that it kind of distracted us all about when we were starting and then the whistle went off and oh man I was not ready but got ready in a hurry because I wanted to be first going into the first corner.  My thought was if I am first going into the first corner I can take the corner however I want.  It’s one of those corners that last year took me most of the race to figure out where I wanted to be and inside of the corner was the best place because it’s a hard left and off camber and sets you up for the second corner which has a lot of bumps in it.  The back straight away was very quick as usual and the little rise was fun as usual. 

The first lap I noticed I was doing a lot of work which I knew was bad on my part because I didn’t want to work for everybody else again as what I did last year but after the second lap I figured out that we created a break in the field me and 2 other girls.  A junior and a senior 3 and then after the third lap it was just the junior and me.  So we settled into and shared the work of the rest of the race.  I was always thinking are we going to get caught are we going to get caught cause you never know right?  After 2 laps of the race we, a junior and I, were out in front and on our way for a break away for 14 of the 16 laps of the race.   

In the bell lap my husband told me “You know what to do now” so I picked it up and let it rip out of the first corner and then along the back straight away.  With that little extra push at the end I was able to get about 15 seconds into my partner in crime for the break away of the race.

Even with the rain it was a great race.

Til next time

Shell  :-)

Good Friday Road Race

GFRR is always my favourite race because it’s in my backyard.  With that being said last year was only my first time doing this race so the comparison to each other is vast.  I raced a lot smarted in this year’s race and knew when to get off the front of group and out of the wind which really kinda impressed myself with.  I am finally starting to somewhat think like a racer especially after last weekend’s race.  Where to move in the group how to get out of the wind if I get stuck out in it, how to get some speed going and break the group up.  Obviously it wasn’t me that did all of the work finally in the group, which I made the mistake of doing last year and not having any more gas at the end of the race. 

There were some strong juniors in the race, which is nice to see some new young face in the field.  I loved that we were able to stir it up and create a break.  I was surprised when I finally looked back and saw how many people were with us before the last corner, which is where I made a mistake, and got myself into the wind and lost some positions in the group.  Oh well lessons learned.  Tactically I think I did a much better job in this race than last weekend’s race, which I am very happy about.  I still need more work on short little rollers damn I know I’ll be better on them some day. 

I was glad I was able to give some pointers to the newer girls in the group about following guys up the road which I did last year and got dqed from a race for.  They weren’t in my category so I felt it was better just to warn her rather than let her go down the road with the guy and then get Dqed by protest.  Everybody needs to learn at some point. 

For me this was a fun race.

Let’s see how next weekend’s race goes.  Springbank long course crit.

Til then

Shell

Calabogie Race Report

First race in Ontario was last weekend in Calabogie.  Six hour drive to north of Kingston to race the Calabogie Classic on the road race track that people get to race there lovely expensive cars on so much fun but made it really had to figure out the wind pattern on the track.  Kept on hitting a brick wall into the headwind and I especially loved the wind going into the finish line, which made for a very slow sprint finish.  At the starting line we were having a mix of sun and rain.  We also had some sleet during the race wow that hurt a lot but then the sun finally came out and then finally the finish.  I am very happy I went to this race to be able to see some competition that I would not normally had seen in southern Ontario.  For the most part the field staid together with only a little break trying to get away more towards the end of the race but it got reeled back in.  In the end for the sprint finish my brain didn't tell my legs to sprint but for once I was in the group and I was there and I felt strong. 

As for results I finished 3^rd with a funny story to go with that.  My husband checked the results and it said I was forth so we were ready to go home so we packed up and headed on our way after this weekend in the north.  It was not until we got home and finally settled after putting everything away after the long trip that my husband again looked at the results on the Canadian Cyclist forum and it said I was third hmmmm.  With a question to the promoter of the race he found out that somebody was placed in the wrong category, which moved me into 3^rd.  So yes I was happy with the result I was also happy with the 4th place placing it didn't matter the factor that I did the race and stayed upright I was happy.

Stayed at a nice hotel with a kitchenette so we were able to eat our own food and not have to go out to a restaurant the night before the race.  There was some hope that we were going to get out onto some of the local roads to shake the cobwebs out of the legs but in the end I had to ride the trainer in the hotel room.  Not too bad opened the windows and watch some much music or whatever was on the tv frankly it doesn’t matter anymore cause I don’t watch much of it.  The weather was not see nice and kept us indoors yes it’s April right it was snowing out.  Yes it was snowing could not believe.

Until next race which is local Good Friday Road Race put on by my club, Hamilton Cycling Club, so at least I’ll know the course like the back of my hand.

Shell :-)

back to reality

Back to reality and cold weather at home.

Training camp in Georgia is done with the second last ride going up Fort Mountain and then the last ride in town was with some good friends for a nice relaxing recovery ride.  11 days in Georgia and 33 hours in saddle with 2 +5hr rides.  Had a great time as always in our home away from home thanks to the LaPointe family. Always feel so welcome in their home.  Now as for the weather couldn't have asked for better weather a steady warm up as the end of the camp came with the last day of riding being our warmest day.  I think we managed to climb all the climbs in the Rome area and even some a few times.  Amazing.  The only thing I won't miss about Georgia this year is the amount of dogs off their leashes and not being fenced in. HOLY CRAP.  Dog sprints even on recovery days.

Out for a recovery ride tonight to try to get my tsb back out of the very low negatives and get ready for my first race in Ontario.  Calabogie is the first race for me and I am thinking that it will be the last time I head to this race to race it cause of how far away it is. damn should have figure this out before I signed up for this one.

Let's see how ready I am for the season.  Oh I hope the weather is a little better than they are predicting.

Georgia racing and training

Had an amazing race weekend here in Rome Georgia.  I was very happy with my performance in all of the races.  Did a time trial in the morning and a crit in the afternoon on Saturday and then a road race on Sunday.

The course for the time trial was prefect for me.  Not too flat not too rolly but lots of turn around points though.  The course was 7 miles long which equals out to approximately 11km.  I felt pretty strong throughout the race.  I was happy with my time for this early in the season but I got to the time trial race a little later than what I wanted but nonetheless everything turned out ok for that race.

The crit was in downtown Rome was very cool and even better to be able to race with the cat 5 guys.  Lots of challenging parts of the race and lots of learning experience gained from this race.  The course was a rectangle with a steep little raiser on the back straight away.  My legs in the end didn't like that little raiser with a miss shift on the second or third last lap so the field got away from me which I was sad to see but I tried my best to get back up to them no quitting for me.  The announcer was doing a good job in encouraging me in those final laps also with a call out on pretty much every lap "Shelly you have 5 more laps to go get back on there".  Thanks Bruce

Now for the road race on Sunday.  Once again all of the women were racing with the cat 5 guys.  The course was 55 miles long or 88.5kms and 2 climbs up Horn mountain which is a 4km long climb.  First time around the loop the pace was pretty moderate which was good for me because I was not feeling the best and on my "A" game.  The group hit the first time up Horn pretty hard but I was able to get into my own rhythm and was able to pass a lot of people on the climb which I was pretty surprised about.  Now I was at the top of Horn and was able to descend with nobody around which I was very happy about because of the technical quality of the descent.  I saw a guy in front me on the descent and I figured I needed to make it up to him to give myself any chance to stay in the game.  On the second lap I was starting to feel much better and took in some gels to help me a long which boosted my energy.  I was able to get in with 6 other people and we all started working together to get ourselves back to the bottom of the main climb.  On our way to the mountain we were able to pick up a couple more guys into the group which helped our battle with the headwind on 136 gradual up hill and down hill.  The group stayed together until the bottom of Horn.  The last climb of the race.  I made sure and thanked everybody and congratulated everybody on a good job getting us all to last climb.  I was able to climb to a first place finish in this race because of this group of guys.  I was so thankful for their hard work and I was also happy that I was able to contribute to helping the guys get to the bottom of the climb.

All though the women fields were not very big here in GA, I was thank for the racing experience here in Rome.  For myself I was very happy to race with the cat 5 guys for the extra competition.

Now onto the training portion of the training camp.

Recovery ride on monday after the race weekend ending with a great lunch at a local bakery in town.

Just over three hours in the saddle with 2 great climbs today.

More of flatish ride tomorrow and lots of climbing on Thursday...I can't wait. :-)

Until next time.

Shell :-)

Spring has sprung not

Well I guess I said it too early that spring had sprung.  Got over 12" of snow on Tuesday.  Rather surprised with this because I was having a pretty good week outside the week before with getting out and riding for 14hrs.  Though it is Canada so you should expect anything in the spring and they said that it is was going to be a colder and wetter than normal spring here in Southern Ontario.  Dammit I was hoping they were going to be wrong. Nope not so lucky.  Now I am even more lucky I got through the whole winter without getting sick from my poor husband that was sick a few times to have a cold sneak into my system just under a week away from my first race of the year and spring training trip to Georgia.  I should have known something was up last Sunday with my body during some intervals that my numbers were a lot lower than what I expected or where I should have been.  Then bang started not feeling good on Tuesday of this week.  Oh well at least I am into my recovery week.  So I just need to relax and hope the germs get out of my system fast.

Well gearing up for packing tomorrow for Georgia and had a little get gather for my birthday tonight that is next week so all will be better next week when we are on our way.

Rest relax and massage on Monday.

Just short one today.

Shell :-)

Spring has sprung

Was finally able to get outside and enjoy balancing my bike last weekend.  Oh my it was so great to get out.  Only took a few minutes to get the bearings back on the bike so glad that happened here and not in Georgia in a few weeks during a race.  Been out four days this week already and have already been up one of the local hills 10 times.  Have to still work on the cadence on going up hills but it's coming so i am happy.  In the 4 rides outside I have already had 1 flat tire well planned at my front door and almost got hit by a car that just wasn't paying attention to little things coming up the road in the bike lane.

Getting more ready for Georgia and the races that are coming at the beginning of that trip.  Waiting on my new specialized transition to come in if it ever does come in.  It's too late now for this trip for the time trial that is the first stage of the GA Cup Omnium in Rome.  Thankfully I didn't sell my old time trial bike from last year. At least at this point I have my club cloths so I will be fully outfitted in club colours in all of my races now.  I finally have my race license for the season which I got at the Toronto bike show a few weeks ago and by the way I can't believe I went to show and didn't buy anything other than my license.  Still have to sign up and renew my membership with the hamilton cycling club but this will happen this week.  Everything is coming together our normal accommodations have been set up with our friends in Georgia and we are so greatful  for this every year.  As I have said Rome is our home away from home.  Don't need a map to get there and to get around town let alone get around while riding.  Love it.

Waiting on the weather to somewhat clear a bit for today's ride of 3 to 4 hours.

Keep the rubber side down and watch out for those cars coming out of driveways.

Shell  :-)