WARNING: this is long.

Friday Jordan and I headed down to Salida for the Salida Omnium, a 3 day bike race featuring a time trial on Friday, road race on Saturday, and criterium on Sunday.  I had never done a bike race before, so jumping headlong into a 3 day event struck me as a really smart idea.

We checked in about an hour before the time trial (TT).  Since Jordan went 3 hours after me he went and secured a sweet camping spot while I warmed-up/meandered to the starting line.

All the Cat 4 women were lined up in alphabetical order, putting me in third.  We started in 30 second increments.  I got in trouble for my numbers a couple of minutes before I started and random people around me rushed to shove pins through my Rocket Science racesuit that I had so carefully avoided wounding (turned out ok though).  When it was my turn to go a guy held my bike up and I carefully balanced on the pedals trying to figure out the best position to start in.  I was sure I would topple to the ground the second the starter said “go!” and the man supporting me let go.  Luckily, I made it off the line without splattering onto the ground.  I went out really hard.  Probably too hard, but I really wanted to catch the two girls ahead of me before the turn-around.  Got one about 1.5 miles in and the other right before the turn-around at 4 miles.  Then, the gorilla hopped on my back for the rest of the ride and we crossed the 8-mile mark in 19:40.  8 miles isn’t long, but it was definitely not easy!  The course was only flat for a little ways, with a slight climb almost the whole way out and a steeper section to finish with.  I rode Jordan’s TT bike and since I’m not used to the aerobars managed to repeatedly bang my knees against the arm pads (or whatever they are called…how about “elbow holders”?), leaving me with bumps the size of bouncy balls on both knees the rest of the night.  They turned a beautiful color purple.

My 19:40 was good enough for 3rd and Jordan brought it home in 16:53, winning the Cat 4 mens race.  I think he had an advantage starting mid-alphabet, but he says “it doesn’t matter, that’s the point of a TT!” =)

Saturday morning I braced myself for the 36-mile road race and met up with Bethany a little before noon in downtown Salida.  Naturally, we had some bike issues that left us dashing to the starting line with seconds to spare.  Maybe we didn’t get in a real warm-up, but at least our heart rates were up!

We had a 6 mile neutral roll-out to the race start.  In case you’re like I was on Saturday and have no idea what this means, you just ride casually to the start as a group behind a lead car.  There’s no jockeying for position or anything because it doesn’t matter since you come to a stop at the real start for awhile anyway.  When we finally started for real, I made sure to position myself toward the front of the pack so I would be in a good position for the climb.  The climb has a 1300 foot vertical and it is steep for a nice bit.  Since it’s a private road it was impossible to see the climb before the start.  Me and a couple other girls were up front and the rest of the pack was chit chatting.  Tea and crumpets may or may not have been served.  With each passing second I grew more and more froggy and couldn’t wait for the climb to finally come.  When it did, I went all out.  And the climb kept going.  And going.  Then it “flattened” but kept climbing.  Yasmine, who won the TT the previous day, and who was up front with me from the beginning of the race, totally hammered the climb and was out of sight.  At the top I could see another woman up ahead and I finally caught up with her at the bottom of the descent.  Anne and I worked together for the rest of the race, she was another really strong climber and would always pull ahead for the looooong climb.  She provided encouragement and pointers, both of which were very much appreciated.  When I said, “It seems like you’ve been doing this awhile..” She responded, “20 years honey!”  At first I thought holy crap, but then I realized that I’ve been riding a bike for 20 years too, 19 without training wheels =)

Up the climb 2 more times for a grand total of 3900ft of vertical gain and I finished up in 2nd.  Yasmine was first, and though Anne was ahead of me, she wasn’t in my Category (even though she started with me, which is why it was fine for us to ride together.  She was in the 35+ division, I think)   What a painful, awful event!  But I mean that in the best way possible.  It was one of the most well run events I’ve ever done, the race director was very on the ball and it was unreal to have 1/2 the course completely closed to cars.  And at the top (we finished at the top, obviously) they were grilling up burgers!!  I gobbled it up, washed it down with a Dr. Pepper, and wished I had $5 for another.

Day 3!  I was definitely most nervous for Sunday’s crit.  At Interbike last year I watched the crit race held in the Mandalay Bay parking lot and it was a demolition derby with bikes.  On my way to the race I stopped off and bought a pair of cycling gloves, I figured the odds were I would need them.  Jordan and I both heeded the advice from our campsite neighbor who was a Cat 2 cyclist and really knew his stuff.  He suggested we start in the very back, get a feel for the race, and work our way up.  Again on the line there was something wrong with my numbers and some kind stranger had to come running out to help me get my number the right way up and “out of my armpit”.  The referee loved me!!  Rolling off the line I stayed put in the back, watching it unfold and learning quickly who would go and who wouldn’t.  I gradually made my way up to the front group of 7 or so and we broke away from the rest.  Work was not being distributed evenly, so we spent some time shaking off the freeloaders and wittled it down to me, Yasmine, and another woman.  The three of us made a big break and started rolling and put some serious time on the chase pack of 8.  It was definitely a best-case scenario.  We all worked, we all communicated, and we stayed together.  On the last lap I tried to open a lead on the gradual uphill on the back straightaway because I knew I don’t have a good sprint, especially downhill (the finish was on a slight downhill).  I couldn’t pull away though and we rounded the final corner together, me first.  I tried my best to hold off Yasmine, but she can sprint like crazy and blew by me.  I ended up 2nd, totally stoked that my first crit had gone so well.  I felt so prepared for it from the work I’ve put in with the team at crit loop practices.  The figure-8 course definitely played to my advantage as there was tons of cornering, which I’m realizing is my forte.  As for the demolition derby?  Crit racing is actually a lot more like an F1 race.

All in all a great weekend of racing that left me totally wiped out on Monday!  I ended up 2nd in the GC for Cat 4 women, and now I am tempted to race some more!  I’m very glad that Jordan talked me into doing all 3, it helps to know that my cycling isn’t totally hopeless going into Tuscaloosa.  Now if I could just shave a few minutes off my swim…

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