Frozen Flatlands needs a name change

I got to Spokane last night (late as usual) and just got back a little while ago from the first stage of the Frozen Flatlands omnium. Let's see...it's barely frozen. The weather here is near 70 and gorgeous! And flatlands? Who the f*** came up with that idea? The 50-mi road race today had some surprising climbs in it I wasn't really prepared for.

The women's field was about 20 riders. 6 were 1/2/3s and the rest were Cat 4s. The first 20+ miles were like a leisurely Sunday afternoon ride. The wind out there was brutal (the worst I've ever raced in) so I think everyone was content sticking together.

I do have to say that I fear a little for my safety tomorrow at the circuit race given the pack riding conditions today. Almost every Cat 4 rider demonstrated their fabulous wheel overlapping and weaving skills. I stayed up front with the 1/2/3 ladies to stay out of trouble. My favorite part of the ride was the two girls who kept fighting over a wheel, but rather than one of them taking it, both of them overlapped the girl's wheel on each side. Fabulous.

Somewhere around the 30 mile mark everyone took off up a hill that split the pack. I hung almost all the way to the top then got popped. Suck! The pack sat up a bit afterwards and I wasn't that far behind so I tried to organize two other girls with me to chase. For some reason it just didn't get organized. I didn't feel a sense of urgency from them and unfortunately the wind was so strong that without help it was impossible to get anywhere. That was the last time I saw the pack, which was disappointing because I know we could have chased back on.

Four of us pacelined for a while until two teammates took off a few miles from the end and I was so busy staring at the girl's wheel in front of me that I didn't see them go. Idiot. Letting a gap open in that wind was a bad strategy and I knew I couldn't chase them down. I finished with the other girl shortly behind them.

At the time I popped off I know there were a few Cat 4s still with the pack but I think the rest were off the back behind me. I'll have to wait until tomorrow when they post the results to see for sure, but I think I may have squeaked out a top ten finish. I guess we'll see. I'm gorging myself on seafood fettucine, chilling out, and working on the recovery plan for tomorrow's 60-min circuit race at Spokane Raceways.

Lessons learned today:

#1: Wearing a long-sleeved jersey with half-fingered gloves gives you a very gay sunburn stripe across your wrist and half of your fingers.
#2: The start of the neutral rollout is never a good place to say, "Hey, is my rear tire half flat?" With some air I might have actually made it over the climb. Idiot.