...is hard.
I did Wards Ferry Saturday and it was hard. Like really, really hard. The whole course was uphill, downhill, uphill, downhill and, of course, everyone sprints up every uphill, which makes me feel like my heart's going to explode
I did the 3/4 race (which is totally not fair, because I shouldn't have to race with 3's when I am not really even a 4) and it was suppose to be 4 laps of this horrible, horrible course. There were about 15-20 people in my race and it starts on this windy, pothole-filled, long downhill and then the second half of the lap is lots of steep uphills. By the end of the first lap we were down to 10 people. 2 people got flats in that first lap, a couple mechanicals, one girl I don't even know what happened to her bike, she just went skidding across the road in front of me and was gone.
And I thought I was going to pass out and fall off my bike as we're sprinting up every hill trying to drop people. But I hung in there and then the second lap was a little more mellow (a little) because we'd shed a decent number of people so everyone left mellowed out for a little bit.
And then we got to the hilly part on the second lap and we're going hard up and down and up and down and I'm kinda hanging in the middle of this group. And we're near the end of the second lap, going down and back up and I shift into my big ring to stay with the people on the downhill then I try to shift into my little ring and I did something wrong because suddenly my chain is flapping on the outside of my crank. I try to shift and it gets tangled around my derailleur. I think that I can just pop it right back on and get back with the back of the group (there were like 3 or 4 girls right behind me at the time), but when I stop the chain is wrapped up in knots, doing that looping up on itself thing. And I can't get it untangled. I'm sitting there for like 5 minutes trying to get it back on my bike. Eventually this guy on a motorcycle has to stop and help me. It was sad. And by then I was never going to catch back up.
I'm not sure I would have been able to hang in there another 2 laps anyway, but I was doing a decent job of holding my own. And it turns out for all that I'm supposedly a 'climber', I'm definitely comparatively better at descending then climbing in these kind of races.
Next up, Sacramento Triathlon.
3 comments:
crappy about the chain. they have minds of their own sometimes. i have found myself wishing for a mechanical during horrendous bike races sometimes, but the one or two times my wish came true i was more pissed off than anything.
i see something about madera on loren's blog?? no ice breaker?!? oh no!
madera is great fun. lemme know if you want any top secret tips!
yeah, i have to admit i was a little bit wishing i had a good reason to stop then i was just pissed off instead.
i'm heading to down to madera because my boyfriends doing it (and there was an issue with only one car and trying to be at two different races, so no being able to get to icebreaker). i haven't decided if i'm going to race it yet or just train and watch.
but top secret tips would be awesome!!!
i see. the old "i need a ride" excuse. well.
jk ;)
actually i don't have too many top secret tips. i did win the 1/2/3 crit there in 2005 by being opportunistic. it's not a technical course. but then i had a hard time eating so i decided to skip it an had a mediocre TT that afternoon. so that's one tip: recover and rehydrate before the tt!
then in the RR the next day, the biggest hill was the feed zone hill, so when i opted to get water instead of follow an attack, that was the last i saw of the front. so tip #2: tell your feeder to either stand at the end of the feed zone or don't stand there at all! actually the 3/4 race (or just 4s?) might only be 2 laps, so you could skip the feed and just keep the pace high. feeding is for wimps anyhow.
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