We couldn't have had a more beautiful day for the crit at Volunteer Park. As such, the turnout was huge and our Women's 4 field had over 50 riders! Awesome!I knew this race would be rough. I've lost my endurance, my top end, and my climbing. To make it even worse, I hit the gym hard this week and totally killed my legs. My goal was to hang for a lap and then see how long it took to pop. After a few practice laps, I pulled off to the side with a teammate so we could get a good position at the start. Only problem is that we started talking and not paying attention. Suddenly I looked up and everyone was lined up. Shit - nice job! So we lined up in the back and all got crappy starts.
I went hard the first lap and then the second lap I started fading. That damn hill kicked my ass. Last year I launched right up it but this year I couldn't get my legs to spin and my heart rate was through the roof. 2 laps and poof - done! A handful of gals were off the back behind me and slowly they all started catching me. I made attempts to grab a wheel and stick but my legs felt like lead. I couldn't get up the hill, and pretty soon that stupid post-pneumonia cough hit.
At the halfway mark, barely 15 minutes, I called it a day and pulled out. I had my fun, got a good high intensity workout, and didn't need to annihilate myself quite yet. So overall, pretty much what I expected, though I did go out a bit stronger the first lap than I thought I would.Tomorrow I'm off to Seatac for the morning mountain bike race, then I'll head over to Boat St to watch the crits. The mountain bike race is early enough that I had contemplated doing a double-header, but I think I need to keep the intensity in check and chill.
3 comments:
Gotta say it: I love your arm warmers. But please avoid using the terms "Volunteer Park" and "smackdown" in the same sentence. It gives me the willies. Even though I safely made it through the bottleneck 45 times on Saturday, I found myself flinching each time.
Well, the arm warmers would be so much cooler if I were a threat to the field or something! :)
It had to have been a great mental accomplishment to ride at VP again. Kudos to you for racing not once, but twice again! And I'll never combine VP and "smackdown" ever again! :)
Good to see you out there and now I know the face, the name and the bike. We ride the same one (if you still have the Ruby)
Good to talk to you Saturday, we are in the same fitness boat, its a long season and there is plenty of time to get it back!
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