well, where to start. i was feeling really good. the pace right off the bat was slow. i hung in the front with jules, jess, and julia. at the hill, people started to hammer up. i knew this would kill my legs, so i kept my cadence as high as i could (90+), but slowly fell off the back that way. at the top of the hill, the front pack was already quite a bit ahead of me. i decided i had to catch them, but didn't want to pull a bunch of other teams with me...so i put the hammer down and pumped out a few miles at about 25-30 mph. i caught the pack, and hung in the back spinning easy and recovering. after a while i felt better. pace stayed easy for a while. first attack, i kept with the group but my legs ached. second attack, same thing. third attack, legs hurt more. i knew if someone really put the hammer down i wouldn't be able to keep up. i don't know if it was my legs, or my self-talk about my legs, but when the birchwood girls put on an attack, i couldn't keep up. jules and julia, both VERY strong riders, also fell of the back, as did a peace coffee girl. we tried to put together a pace line, but it didn't hold together. slowly we broke up. jules and i should have stayed together, as i could see her just up ahead for the rest of the race, but couldn't get enough juice back in my legs to sprint up to her. anyway, at this point i started getting REALLY down on myself. i stopped working as hard and tried to think about being at the top of the hill and finishing. i spun easy for a while, drank some water....and checked behind me to be sure i wasn't losing any ground that way anyway. got to the hill and powered up. got to the top and sprinted to the finish. legs feel fine now, but i was really sad that i didn't have more power when i needed it.

go with my strength on the hill. i hate spinning. i have a lot of strength and should have used it there and hung with the group, instead of having to make it up at the top of the hill. i cooked my legs and was in marginal form for the rest of the race. i'll say this was 'below average' as compared to how i race in a tri. totally different beasts, but still. i learned a LOT for next time. :)

not much of a warm down. my bad.


see above.

plus, i had really high expectations for myself...and i know other people did too. lots of people thought i would be a contender my first time out as a cat 4. i think these expectations were weighing on my psyche more than they were helping.


this was a fun race...and a beautiful day.

and i think i'm better suited to tris...but i'll try to convince myself otherwise and do more road racing. :)