Last week I finally decided on a cycling team to join. I am the newest member of HUB Endurance Chattanooga. So this past weekend was going to be my debut in the team colors at the Berry Peddler road race and time trial. I wanted to do well as my first team showing but also for myself as usual. I recently found out about the BAR point series that TBRA does which basically allocates points to riders based upon finishes in sanctioned TN races. BAR stands for best area rider and the rider with the most points at the end of the year in each category gets awarded the state championship jersey for best rider. Well, I am currently in first place for the cat 4 racers so the places and points at each event I enter just became that much more important to me now that I know what is at stake.
I knew the RR would be hard since there was a Cat 2 climb 7 miles into the 32 mile race, but I wasn't sure the tactics that would be employed since the climb was so far out from the finish. I raced based on the assumption that there would be a rough regrouping of the top riders after the climb so I didn't go completely all out in the climb. I didn't hold back a whole lot either though. As soon as we hit it, one BPC rider went solo up the road. I wasn't too worried because the wheels I was watching were still close by. Climbing continued and people fell off from behind. With about a mile left in the climb, the group of five I had been climbing with started pulling away, 3 of which were on the same team. I didn't want to explode, so I just continued on in a steady fashion. The gap only grew. I finished the climb and could still see them up the road a bit. I tried to close in, but it just wasn't going to happen with who was in that break group. So I rode 17 miles alone. It was a hard, lonely 17 miles, but I kept pushing on especially once I began to see some riders up the road after being in no man's land for 14 miles. I was able to spot two riders who seemed to have popped from the 6 man break. If I could catch them, then I would be back in the running for 5th place. New goal. Well, I kept struggling to bridge the gap, and I could see a line of four riders approaching from the rear that were making up ground. Edging closer and closer, I finally put in a big effort to bridge the gap to the two riders up the road. Mentally, I knew it would be better for me to get to the front group before the back group bridged the gap and I definitely didn't want to sit up, wait for the 4 man group, and have them fly by me without me being to latch on. Once we were all together, things seemed calm. We were under 10K to go and I was rotating down the line. Once I saw that the two lead riders were on the same team and not rotating, I made my way back up to them and sat in third wheel. The pace lifted as we edged closer to the finish. When I saw the 500 meter sign, I jumped. I didn't notice an immediate reaction in my periphery, but it was hard to tell. When I saw the 200 meter sign, I stood to launch my sprint. A few revolutions in, I took a quick glance around to see if I was going to have to fight it out. Nope, I was clear. I sat up and cruised through the finish line for 5th place.
I cruised back to my car and began switching wheels to my TT bike for the time trial later in the afternoon. I was set to go at 1:40: five minutes after the women and the first cat 4 racer. I went out hard and quickly found my acceptable pain level to sustain for the 7 mile TT. Going into the turn around, I didn't quite slow down enough and missed the cones. My rear wheel eventually locked up and skidded out as I tried to correct. A little scary, but once I was up and rolling again, it seemed to be fine. I buried myself and enjoyed having the wind mostly at my back now. I really dug deep over the last 500 meters because I knew how close the race in Sparta had been. I didn't want it to be that close again, or if it was, I wanted to be on the winning side and knew that I left it all out there on the course. I came across the line in 16:24 which was a 25.7 mph average: a lot faster than I was at Sparta. Once the results were calculated, it was only good enough for 3rd place here. I was 10 seconds behind first and 7 behind second.
So, overall not my best showing, but I guess I shouldn't have been expecting too much. I've been overtrained and taking time off. I'm tapering and trying to prepare and focus all my energy and time on ITU Cross Worlds. Three days and counting. The big race is this Saturday. I've done everything I can and can only hope I have recovered and tapered properly. I will go out and race my best. The top 2 from last year's national championship will be there along with a few others. It is pretty much a preview of what nationals will be like this year except it is on my home turf and not at altitude. If I can't beat them here, then I don't belong on the start line in Utah.
Bar Standings: Cat 4
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