Mason Lake #3 RR

I survived my first road race! I was so nervous about the race but as it turned out I had no reason to be because I never rode with the pack anyway. I guess my opinion of a "neutral start" varies drastically from everyone else's. I lined up in the back of the pack and got hung up when a girl ahead of me stumbled getting clipped in to her pedals. The pack took off and that was that...I was dropped from the start.

About 3/4 of the way around the first lap I hooked up with two Starbucks riders and a rider from Team Group Health and we started working together which gave me a much-needed break. I had been riding frantically trying to catch anything. We worked together pretty much until halfway around the last lap. The TGH rider was stronger and she peepled off and one of the Starbucks riders was struggling pretty hard so she fell back and her teammate went with her.

In hindsight I should have worked harder to keep up with the TGH rider. At least I got some race experience and I definitely rode at a pace I've never ridden before. I'll be looking forward to getting out there some more and getting some pack experience. I think I was one of the last Cat 4s to roll across the finish line but I know there were a few riders behind me so I wasn't quite last. They only post the top 25 finishers so I'm not sure where I ended up. The field looked to be about 35 riders.

Photos are courtesy of Amara Boursaw at Wheels in Focus. More Mason Lake #3 photos.

Ice Breaker TT

Today was my very first bike race and it was a blast! The race was a 10-mile time trial where you ride out 5 miles, turn around, and then head back to the start. If it wasn't for my kick-ass boyfriend I wouldn't have even made it out there. When my alarm went off at 6:30am I was grumbling and thinking the typical "Why oh why am I getting up at 6 in the f*** morning to go ride my bike?". After lots of prodding I finally got up and the weather actually looked decent -- just very cloudy. By the time I had a quick breakfast and was ready to load up my bike a typhoon had come in. It was POURING rain and the wind was gusting hard. I was ready to bail at that point but Marcus urged me to go since he didn't want me to be the person who never shows up for races. I very reluctantly agreed.

The drive down to Flaming Geyser State Park was rainy and windy and I was tempted to turn around lots of times, but went ahead and stuck it out. I was one of the last people to register and got a 10:50 start time which also made me one of the last people to run the course. I was a little depressed since I figured I'd be the slowest person out there and being last would make it obvious. Plus, I had about two hours to wait around until it was my turn.

The late start time turned out to be a blessing in disguise as the first people riding the course had to deal with very gusty winds. By the time 10:50 rolled around the weather had improved and it was warmer and the winds had mostly stopped. I got in line to go and had so much adrenaline pumping it was insane. It was a little nerve-wracking that I had to clip into my bike and wait while someone held me up. Then I got the 5-second countdown and I was off. I took off quickly but was taking care not to go out too quickly as my biggest concern was lasting the entire 10-mile course. Surprisingly enough I was zooming along at 25mph. I had been warned that there was a big headwind on the way back, so I was trying to take advantage of the tailwind on the way out as much as possible without wearing myself out for the ride back.

As soon as I got to the turn-around point and headed back it was like hitting a wall. The headwind was so strong it was really a downer. I was working hard and having lots trouble even getting up to 16mph. Most of the way back I was fighting my legs and just trying to stay between 14-16mph. The race went so unbelievably fast though that I was at 9 miles before I knew it and then I could see the finish! I cranked hard and crossed the line with a time of 32:08; about a 19mph average.

I went into this race with no expectations since this is my first year and speed is not my forte. Honestly, after my performance testing at CycleU where I struggled to do 18.5mph for a 5-mile time trial, I was fully expecting not to average over 18 for the Ice Breaker. My time was a pleasant surprise and even better was that I wasn't quite the slowest Cat 4 racer!

Official Results

Eye of the Tiger!

Somehow I survived the 58-mile Zoka training ride on Saturday, though if someone had been driving behind me blasting "Eye of the Tiger" I probably would have enjoyed it more. Saturday officially marks the longest ride I've ever done on the bike. When my alarm went off at 7:30am I was thinking to myself, "Why the hell am I getting up at 7 in the morning on a Saturday to go ride my bike in the rain for 60 miles just so I can get dropped on hills and end up abused and punished?" I honestly don't know what I'm thinking most of the time....

We started the ride from the 405 Exit 9 P&R and of course there was immediate climbing heading into Newport Hills. Somewhere halfway on the ride (I think maybe Issaquah-Fall City Rd) there was a monstrously long climb that nearly killed me and left me about a good 5-10 mins behind the main pack I'm sure. There was a smaller slower pack of about 2-3 people behind the main pack so I was trying my best to not let them slip too far ahead.

About 30 miles into the ride I was so convinced I was done that I have no idea how I finished. The guys on the team are absolutely awesome and two of them came back midway through the ride to make sure I was still back there. They even rode with me up the hills when I was nearly grinding to a halt. I apologized profusely for being so slow but they didn't mind at all and I was happy for the encouragement.

I think what I love about cycling is that point at which you hit the wall but then astound yourself at your ability to keep going. You learn that your body really can do things that you don't think possible and that it's really all a mental game. I felt great when I finished the ride (even though I was the slowest) and looked back at all the times I thought "I'm done....it's over!". At some point all this pain will make me a great rider I hope.

I'm durable

I found out officially as of Tuesday afternoon that I didn't break anything in the cycling crash. Yeah :) Of course, I had to pay a $25 copay, take 3 hours off from work, and sit in the waiting room of the doctor's office for an hour before he said, "Nothing broken. You'll live. See you later." Why they can't tell you these things on the phone and save you a trip is beyond me. The wrist feels better but is still a little sore. I finally got back to bowling last night and managed ok with an ace wrap.

Beware large cargo planes with propellers...

I went out for my first ride today since the crash two weekends ago and it was certainly memorable. I started out on a team ride but had some instability in my wrist so went home, wrapped it up, and headed back out to do the south lake loop on my own.

I turned into the Renton airport and was cruising along, enjoying my ride, and checking out this very large military cargo plane parked along the fence with all four propellers going. Yeah, those of you who are smart are probably thinking 'oh no'. I don't know what I was thinking about, but it certainly wasn't the amount of force those propellers put out. So in a matter of seconds I was engulfed in gale force winds, desperately trying not to fall over, all while continuously bouncing into the curb. How I didn't fall is beyond me but the worst part of the whole ordeal was the look on the faces of the airport workers who were standing next to the plane. They were all bent over laughing, probably thinking, 'what an idiot!'.

And the moral of the story is:
Beware large cargo planes with propellers. They are not bike-friendly.