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Today was my first race for the year. I woke up before the sun was up to get to Kenosha from Cedarburg for the second of three weekend training crits. http://www.ambikerace.com/2009/calendar_09.htm#March.

All the women were grouped together, and race time was 9am. I was feeling pretty good but at the same time, I was unsure how all my training the last few months was going to pay off. Amy was also there which upped my confidence. Having a teammate in a race in always a nice thing- and I’m excited to have 4 other girls this year to race with!!!

To start, there was about 15-18 women; a few women’s masters categories, women’s 4, and women’s open would all be scored separately. I was right where I needed to be from the start. A few laps in, I found myself taking a pull, not going too hard, I tucked in and went, half a lap later I glanced back and noticed a decent gap between myself and the rest of the field. Not feeling quite strong enough yet to hold them off for long, I let them catch me.

During the next handful of laps, I did a few half-assed attacks to see what would happen, and no one really responded then either, again I let them catch me and decided to sit in and rest up for the end of the race knowing that this race would be mine. With a few laps to go, the field was down to about 10 or 12 girls, and a few of them decided to pick up the pace a bit. I made sure not to let anyone get too far ahead and it was going to be down to a field sprint. After the last corner, a few girls started going for it, and said to myself, no way- this is mine! I went as hard as I could for the line and ended up winning by a few bike lengths.

Coming into this race, I figured it would be an easy one, and I’m glad it actually turned out that way! This is only the second race I have ever won- the first being a collegiate race a couple years ago. It felt good to get the year off on the right foot. I know the races will just get harder, especially when the collegiate season ends and all those girls are back in the regular races, so I need to keep working hard! I look forward to next weekend’s race in South Beloit!

The annual pilgrimage to the top of the planet for the
Birkie marks the official end of the off season and start of
the road season. The long 10+ hour round trip gives plenty
of time for bike mag browsiing and reflection on what kind
of upgrades will be needed to support the 2009 racing
campaign. Car banter shifts between wax choices and tire
options.

The best of the Birkie comes from its ability to condition
the suffer-o-meter to readings in the 3+ hour range (unless
you are Jabo, in which case the meter readings top out
around 2:45). It demands physical AND mental focus to ply
the hills and dales along the fabled trail. Taxed legs and
lungs leades to sloppy form which leads to taxed legs which
leads to SLOPPIER form which leads to carnage all along the
trail. Imagine the hardest road race, purple spots in your
eyes, when suddenly you forget how to pedal in circles.
That’s kind of how the Birkie works. Fight the purple
spots, keep the form in check and hope you don’t go all
in too early.

Some early season roller skiing with Jabo, Butter and Kevvy
tweaked my form to a happy place I hadn’t been able to
achieve in 10+ years on skis. With favorable snow
conditions, i was able to log a ton o’ time on
skis/roller skis. The carrot was a 6 minute gap that left me
out of the first wave this year (from the 4th last year).

Starting in the 2nd wave eased much of the congestion. I
quickly got into a rhythm and was ahead on my splits at all
the key spots (Firetower Hill, “OO”). Rolling
through the psychological mid point of “OO”, the
headphones went in, the Romones came up and added motivation got me through the griding rollers on up to “the
decider”, affectionatelly known as Bitch Hill. It’s
not particularily long, but after getting whacked in the
legs by a ball peen hammer for a couple hours, it’s
steep enough to cause some wimpering.

Rolling over the top in 2:30 with about 9k left, I knew I
was on the outside of breaking 3 hours (another goal). Fast
forward through some Naked Raygun, Social Distortion and I
found myself at the edge of Lake Hayward with both quads
starting to protest — and 8 minutes to finish — I caught a
wheel and high tailed it to Main St. without so much as a
glance at the watch. . . The final tally brought relief
2:57, good enough for the 25%-er club and a Wave 1 start
next year.

The plan now becomes an effort to introduce the Orange
Train to Wave 1 by leading out Jabo to the Power Lines then
graciously pull aside and let the giants battle each other
with purple spots.

By Steve Smith