Nith River Road Race

Another Sunday has come and gone and another race in the race schedule is done.

This past Sunday was the Nith River Road race in Wellesley close to Waterloo.  We didn’t know the race distance until we were actually started racing it with only a maximum time showing up in the technical guide for our category of 2hrs.  The course was 16.25k long with lots of rollers and some kind of technical corners aka more than 90 degrees.  With that being said Mother Nature had to put her own touches on the race too.  Basically half hour into the race she started to pour on us with extra treats of thunder and lightening and then on the last lap the rain finally started to subside.

Now for the race here we go I thought it was going to be like the previous weekend’s race with a slowish start to the race because almost half of the women’s field was at the UCI Gatineau races from Thursday to Saturday.  Well that wasn’t the case as soon as the neutral start was done within the first couple of ks the first attacks happened…I learnt at this point I have to better place myself within the group to sit in with the front half of the race and not the back half if I want to stay somehow with those girls.  Another lesson learnt. So then I was left in a group of 3 other girls to go around the course.  Oh and then the rain started oh and the thunder.  Oh gosh how this was a fun race.  The group was one kalisto team member and 2 p-k team members and the one p-k member didn’t seem like she was having fun at all.  Both of the p-k riders had done the Gatineau races and the one was fried.  So in the end our group became 3.  The weather got heavier and we kept on going around the course right til the end and then the sun came out for us to finish under. 

One of these races I’ll figure out whose wheel is a good one to stick onto and then maybe I will finish with or actually have a chance at the end of the race.

So many things leant in this race that now all are stored up in my head for the next go around which will be the K-W Classic.

Sorry this race report is coming so long after the race but here it is.  It was a busy tting kinda week.  Many ks rode on my tt bike to get ready for nationals, which are coming up so quickly.

Shell

Bike the Bruce

What can I say but I moved back up to the senior ½ category and my first race was this past weekend in the great north.  Bike the Bruce was the race and it was done on the long course. 32 fun kilometers of fun filled time with wind coming into our face going out and cross winds that kept on trying to blow us off the road.  Wow.  With the length of time I had before the race I should have got in a better warmup but I was freaking cold.  It is May right?  Well my coach because of the length of my race told me this weekend I didn’t need to get as long a warmup so well I kinda went with that notion but I still got on the trainer.  Lining up at the start looking around thinking do I belong here again?  Sue P and Leigh H was a couple of the ladies on the starting line both former Olympians.  I was interested in how they race and work within the group. 

The race started off fairly slow considering that we were suppose to do 3 laps of the 32k course.  So the first lap was a good warm up for us all.  After the first lap finding out how strong the wind was how slow we went into the wind on the way out the race promoters shortened our race to only 2 laps.  So coming around through the finish line we were told that it was our bell lap.  The pace of the race didn’t really change much until a rolling section of the road and then the attacks started.  I was actually able to put in one attack myself, which I was kinda proud about.  Almost came out the back end of the group then but still managed to stay in.  After the attacks settled down for a little while we were going down division st going towards Wiarton and some how I got myself towards the front of the group again.  I was taking cover beside Sue P on her inside cause the wind was coming from the left side.  For once I figured out where the wind was coming from and was in the right position at least for a little bit.  Sigrid Z and Sue P were paired off at the front of the group and I was just behind them.  Sue P slide back and I somehow took her spot at the front of the group with Sigrid Z and then took over the front.  Well I should have figure out for myself that this was a bad move on my behalf.   I had spent too much time at the front of this race and at this point in the race I should have drag my butt off of the front period.  The road started to rise up a little and then a left turn onto McNaughton which also rises up and well the gas got turned on within the group and I didn’t speed up and I lost the back end of the group.  So after that point I had to buckle down and ride my hardest back and try and try some more to get back onto the group.  Well that didn’t work this time.  I could see them down the road but I could only go as fast as I could and it wasn’t fast enough.  I rode my butt off back from Wiarton to Sauble Beach.

Like I have said before every race you learn something new and every race you learn something not to do the next time. At least I didn't get dqed like at last year's race.

Shell

Prerace of Masters Nationals time trial course

This weekend was all about testing my legs out on the masters nationals time trial course.   

When I do this race in July I will only be doing one pass at the course so 21.66k not the two passes that I did this weekend.  All I have to say is wow.  Tough course.  I wasn’t sure what to expect from the course.  I know it’s nationals and they can’t just give us a simple out and back course.  I understand that.  All of the time trials that I have done to date is an out and back type except for the one time trial I did in Georgia.  The Georgia time trial had 2 turnarounds and a hard right hand corner into the finish line.  This course for nationals has 5 right turns, a left hand turn, 9k of rollers and almost right out the gate you have a roller that has a part at an 7% ave grade.  It hits you like a sack of bricks.  Or at least that is what it felt like to me.  The not knowing the course was killing me.  The second time around the course was good and knowing what was coming up was good.  Knowing the corners was insane almost not having to brake going around them was great.  Some practice is needed going through the front half of the course especially through the rollers. Oh my gosh.   

Time will tell for me, on this course for me.

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.