My pockets were stuffed today. I had the usual iPhone, snacks & camera, but I also had a rain jacket and rain pants — just to keep the rain away. I was wearing my winter riding gear — my Pearl Isumi barrier jacket over my winter-weight jersey & base layer, long mid-weight tights and my (heavy) winter riding shoes with covers. Long fingered gloves and my turtle-fur helmet liner completed my outfit. I’d have to shed a little when I was climbing, but I’d want it all (and probably more!) on the descent back to Lyons.

Yesterday when I rode back into work on the second leg of my commute, I was tired. Not sleepy tired, but fatigued tired. My training plan called for me to put in two 20 minute efforts where I elevated my heart rate (HR) to 140-155. Well, I tried. My body resisted and my legs cried out “NO!” when I tried to ramp up my effort. I tried several times — just in case my first attempts were too early in my ride and I wasn’t quite warmed up yet. Each time I had the same result. My legs weren’t having any of it!

Well, today was a continuation of that theme. I was OK going along at a relatively low-effort level, but as soon as I tried to elevate to a more strenuous level my body (mostly my legs) resisted.  My HR gravitated towards the 120’s and it took a major mental & physical focus to nudge it into the 130’s. I hardly saw it go above 140 all day.  I think this is a sign that my body needs a break. Will be talking to my coach about adjusting the training plan going forward to include more recovery time between hard efforts.

The canyon was gorgeous today – looked very different with low hanging clouds hovering right above the tree tops. It was quiet and there wasn’t much traffic – bike or car. Very enjoyable. Just wish I had more ‘jump in my skates.’

Here are some photos from today –

This is what’s left of a mountain after several year’s of strip mining – at least that’s what I think they’re doing. Maybe they just felt like carving it back a bit — (Really?)

Not your normal canyon shot. Low hanging clouds and chilly temps were the order of the day.

This is the little Raymond store. On a nice, warm weekend, there’d by a half dozen or more bikes outside the store at any time. Today, there wasn’t a single one. The store owner had a fire going though, in case a cold cyclist should wander in.

When I got to the Peak-to-Peak highway, the sun poked out for just a few minutes and I actually saw my shadow. Well, I saw Pogo’s shadow!

It was just my kind of ride! First one at elevation for me this year, but I was eager to give it a try. Three of us met at the Park ‘n Ride and waited on two others (Doug & Jeremy) who had RSVPed. After about 15-20 minutes of waiting and wondering, a text or phone call cleared up the situation.  Doug and Jeremy had found a public parking lot and took it to be the Park ‘n Ride. So they were waiting there for us while we were waiting a few blocks away for them. Made me chuckle to think that anyone could get lost in such a small town. I think Nederland may be 6 blocks square!

Once we found each other we stayed together the rest of the morning. Our tour guide, Paul, took us all over his “neighborhood.” First we rode a short out-n-back to the tiny mountain town of Eldora. Doug was riding his cyclocross bike and gravitated to the sandy shoulder and was hardly on the pavement at all. The town was quaint and a good warmup for what was to come.  From there we headed south, and up hill on the Peak to Peak highway. We didn’t stay on the highway long. When we got to the turn-off for Coal Creek Canyon (Hwy 72) we took a very sharp left hand turn. That rolled along for a ways until we came upon So. Beaver Creek Rd. This was our (except for Doug who avoided pavement like the plague!) first adventure on dirt for the day. The road was in excellent shape and was almost as hard paced as asphalt. I used to live in Coal Creek Canyon some 17-18 years ago and rode my bike in these parts back then and I don’t remember the roads being this nice!

That road dumped us back on to the P-2-P Hwy where we turned left and started to climb again. We kept going until we got to another dirt road with promise. I had taken this particular one, The Gap Rd, many many times while living in the canyon. Again, the road seemed to be in better shape than when I lived up there.  We only road to the Panorama Point where I snapped a shot of the guys in the new BSV kits.

Okay, here’s what the other side of the kit looks like.

This ended up being our turn around point. Paul had some other options that included dropping down into the Golden Gate Park (via dirt!) and climbing back out (via asphalt) but as a first ride in the mountains – this was perfect for me.

No one was out to set a killer pace. Everyone was getting a good workout but we also were able to visit a little as we rode along.  I knew both Paul & Doug from riding at the track. This was the first time I’d ridden with either Mark or Jeremy. Both were strong riders and really nice. Actually, I haven’t met anyone in BSV that I haven’t liked right off the bat. It was a neat feeling to be part of the club. We were all wearing the new BSV kits.  I must admit, it felt great to be part of a club/team. I spend so much time riding by myself — it was a blast to ride with my new BSV friends!

As is usually the case, a rider passing me lights a fire deep in my belly. It brought my mind back on task and without direction, my legs started turning the pedals quicker and with a tad more force. The light at the intersection went red as the rider who passed me came upon it. That gave me a chance to catch up.  When I rolled up kinda next to him, I couldn’t resist asking him if he planned to camp out when he got to his destination. He turned to me and gave me a big, warm smile and said, “No, but I suppose I could.” Shortly after that, the light turned green and off we went.

I stayed a respectful distance back — didn’t want him to think I was sucking his wheel. But, as we spun up to our top speed (it was slightly downhill and easy going) he glanced back and with his right hand signaled for me to take his wheel if I wanted. I shrugged, said “Sure!” and inched up to a good drafting spot. He was tall and very fit — as a friend of mine would say, he was “Easy on my eyes” — even from behind!  He was riding that mountain bike as fast as I was riding Pogo — which was probably 18-20 mph. A very strong rider!

As luck would have it, the next light turned red as we approached it.  We easily fell into conversation again and I learned quite a bit about him, his work and his family before the green light put an end to our chat.  We didn’t talk much for the next few miles into Lafayette. There was a nice descent and then we climbed up a long hill where I fell off his wheel because he put an extra push in — thinking that he wasn’t going fast enough for ME! Huh!

That third light couldn’t have come soon enough – I was ready for a short breather! We picked up our conversation as if it had never stopped at the last light. Again, our exchange was very comfortable and we seemed to have lots in common.  My new friend, Billy, was heading home to Louisville and would be leaving me there. I thanked him for the ‘pull’ and wished him well and encouraged him to “Be safe out there!”

As we started up again – I reflected on the last ten miles and how much I had learned about this individual over the course of waiting out stop lights. His name is  Billy. Billy is a firefighter in Longmont (Station #6, the one  near the Safeway on Pratt), he’s married with 3 young kids (he was taking them to music lessons when he got home). His wife doesn’t ride. Billy  was brought up in the suburbs of Chicago but now he and his two sisters live out here. His parents, still live in Chicago, but they also have a place in Erie and split time between the two cities. His mom is 62 years old  and both his parents are active. Oh, and Billy has done the Leadville 100 before and plans to do it again this year. He commutes to/from work on his mountain bike as much as he can.

Sheesh — that seems like an awful lot to learn about a complete stranger at three short lights. Of course, there’s something about cycling that just seems to open people up. This was certainly one of those cases. I’ll be on the lookout for a lean & mean cyclist with a red back pack on a mountain bike from now on!

About 2:30pm I started checking the clock in the lower right hand corner of my computer monitor. I could feel little butterflies starting to expand their wings and tickle my insides. Each time I checked in with myself about whether or not I wanted to race — the answer came back a quiet, “Sure, let’s give it a go.” At 4:00pm I left my computer and headed off to change into my bike shorts &  Blue Sky Velo jersey. Everything went smoothly and I arrived at the race site about 35-40 minutes ahead of our start time. Another process change was that I pre-filled out a race form and had my 2 race licenses in a small ’snack’ baggie inside of my cycling shoe — so I wouldn’t forget to take them with me to registration!

The only hitch was with something I didn’t have much control over — the registration line was long and slow. Getting registered for my race gobbled up half of my warmup time. However, I still had the other half — about 10-15 minutes. There were plenty of folks riding the course already so I just slid right in and started going around and around. Everything felt good.  After 2-3 moderate laps, I did half a lap at close to race pace. Everything still felt good. Looked like I was going to race!

There was a slight delay as the race committee waited for the EMT to arrive. Good to have an EMT on site — as there was a crash during one of the races last week. No one was seriously hurt, but had there been the EMT would have come in handy! Our group initially waited at the start line but were sent off for a couple more warmup laps. Finally, the EMT arrived and we headed off on our “neutral” lap. I was situated in the middle of the group as we  crossed the start/finish line and began racing in earnest. The pace picked up, but I was able to keep up without any problem on the first lap or two. After all, at this point it was just us women. Then the men’s group caught us and the race changed (as expected). Although I can’t be sure, I think most all the women gave the extra push to jump onto a wheel as the men’s group rode by. I know I did — and there were 10-12 women in front of me who also did. We jostled around a bit as everyone found a place to ride safely and preferably out of the wind and turbulence of the edges of the pack. I made a few poor choices as far as picking which wheel to follow and where to ride in the pack. I got boxed in a couple time on the corners where I would have preferred to take a tighter, faster line.  It seemed that with each lap I found myself a little closer to the back of the pack.  And, as anyone will tell you — it is MUCH harder to ride at the back of one of these packs! A rider at the back is subjected to much greater speed changes and effort swings. It takes a lot more energy and it is much harder to find a rhythm there. Well, that’s where I was today! That is, until about 5 laps to go when I couldn’t bridge back to the group after being stuck behind a slow-cornerer. UGH! Truth be known — I’m not sure even if I had bridged that lap whether I could’ve done it again the next time around! I spent the rest of the race just trying to hang on. I no longer had the pack to protect me from the wind, or provide me with a slip stream. I did work with a couple of other women who also fell off the back about the same time I did, but it was clear to me that we were not going to be in contention today.

It is hard to tell, but I think I either got lapped right at the end, or would have if the race had gone on much longer. I rode hard and gave it a good effort but man, the race felt fast — faster than either of the other two races I’ve done.  I was certainly disappointed with my finish, but not with my effort. I’ve still got a lot to learn and strategies to try. Bottom line —  I’m having a blast being part of it all.

When I came home and uploaded my ride data, I had to smile. Two of my laps today were my fastest of any of the three races, and 4 of my top 5 laps happened today. My peak speed was 32.4 mph,  and I had one lap speed of 28.3 mph (at a heart rate of 164). So, I was right — it was a fast race today! Kinda wonder what next week will bring. I plan to be ready, warmed up and on the start line again!!! My track buddies, Michelle and Cathy both managed to stay with the guy’s pack. I think Michelle might have even won the women’s (SW4) category!

I took my bike to work on Monday and rode the Candelas Circuit course. The course is basically a 2  mile climb up from Indiana Street to Hwy 72 and then a 2 mile screaming descent back to the starting point. There is about 400 ft of elevation gain per lap. The only thing that made this less intense than the criterium race was that I was the one setting the pace! There is an official race that was postponed recently because of a winter storm (that didn’t materialize!). The SW 55+ do three laps for the race, so I decided to ride it 4 times to see how I did. It is a fun, tough climb. There are a few steep (7-9%) grades and some extended grades too.  It took me 58 minutes to complete my laps. I saw 50 mph on my computer as I flew down the hill one time. There was a stiff breeze out of the west — so I had a headwind climbing — but it also helped me get up to that 50 mph mark. I probably could’ve even gone even faster except there was some clods of dirt in the road about half way down from construction vehicles that were building neighborhoods along this new road.

On Wednesday, I skipped the criterium, but put in an hour long ride up to Carter Lake. I’ve done this ride a bunch and know that I can get in an awesome workout in a short amount of time. I can get about 1,100′ of climbing over a 16 mile course and the switchbacks up to the dam really get your attention. Again, I was in control of my pace and there was no chance in me getting caught up in the moment and doing something stupid (as far as my calf muscle was concerned anyway) as there would have been had I raced.

On Thursday, I took the opportunity to use Pogo to run to the credit union at lunch and get some cash. Using Google’s ‘bike’ option on their mapping page, I found a relatively safe route to/from the credit union. There were a few dark clouds when I started out, but I honestly didn’t even give them a thought. By the time I got there, did my ATM thing and headed back, the whole sky to the north was very dark and I could see streaks that were obviously rain. It was still dry where I was, but the storm front had brought with it nasty, swirling winds. I fought the winds the whole way back.

Then, on Friday, I was able to ride into work since Beth and my Dad were going to drive down in the evening (and could pick me up!) for a Mammoth lacrosse game. It was a tad nippy to start but it was a gorgeous morning and I was very content to be riding my bicycle! The trip took a little over 2 hours and I was showered and sitting at my desk about the time I normally do when I drive. Of course, by the end of the evening at the Mammoth games, I was a very tired puppy! Hard to get up early and stay up late anymore. I’m such a wimp!

Then today, I was back up bright and early. With a goal of getting a longer ride in and including a fair amount of climbing, I headed towards Estes Park. I don’t know why, but I didn’t ride up that canyon once last year. Not even part way.  It is a beautiful ride and has plenty of climbing, but on the stretch I did to Drake, there is nothing steep or sustained.  Again, I could tell that my track work and early racing have made me stronger. I rode up the canyon (albiet, with a tail wind) strong and if I’d been asked to ride all the way to Estes Park, I know I could have done it without any problem.  Not today, I had plans to meet my Dad early afternoon to spread manure. Didn’t want to be late for that!

I do plan to ride tomorrow — but even if I didn’t, my goal of starting to build up my mileage base and add in some climbing has been met this week. I need to stay focused on this for the next several weeks so that I will be prepared for the BTC on June 17th.

Let’s just say I got off to a bad start. After I found a place to park (…one of the lucky ones!) in front of the Food Share building,  I went around to the back of my Subaru to get my bike and gear. Wouldn’t you know it, Pogo had a flat tire. It is no big deal to have to change the tire but I was a little concerned with how long it might take and how much it would eat into my warm-up time. I set about the task at hand and watched several other racers head off to the registration area as I put in a new tube and got everything back in working order. Once that was done, I quickly gathered up my race number, my water bottle, gloves, helmet etc. The registration area is about a quarter to a third of a mile from the parking lot. There was a line, but since my race was up first,  I would be allowed to cut if needed. When I got to the front, I was asked for my ACA and US Cycling licenses. DRAT! They were back at the car. Nothing I could do except ride back and get them. By this time, it was mere minutes before my group was scheduled to start. As I was riding back from my car, with my licenses, one of the other racers mentioned that our race numbers should be pinned on the right this week instead of the left as they had to change the start/finish line. Guess which side my number was still on….

I finished the registration process and hustled over to the start line. One of my Blue Sky Velo teammates. John,  ran over and started unpinning my race number to move it from the left to the right. Apparently, they were allowing folks to have it on either side, but my teammate didn’t know that.  He was still working in moving the number as my group rolled out for its neutral lap. Another 30 -40 seconds and my number was finally pinned back on — but my race group was well down the road by this time. I took off at a sprint to catch up with them (on the ‘neutral’ lap) so I would be in the pack when the race started at the end of the neutral lap. John came riding up along side as I was chasing them down and helped bridge me to the group. I was huffing and puffing though. Oh, and then… the race was on! So much for a warmup!

It took me a few laps to catch my breath and get my systems all running at ‘race’ speed. There was a breeze that made riding the back stretch more difficult than usual for the riders at the front of the pack. That was not me. I found a quiet place in the middle about 3 rows back from the front riders.  It was a good position for me. I was within striking distance of the front riders, but protected from the wind.  By the third or fourth lap, the men’s SM Cat 4 & 5 riders caught our group (SW Cat 4) . The pack was now 20-25 riders strong. There were some squirrelly riders in the pack (mostly guys!) and I had to be VERY careful about where I stuck my front wheel and how I took the corners. I was extremely impressed by the way the women in the group handled themselves and their bikes.

Before the men caught us, one of the junior riders (also on the course the same time we were) was riding right in front of our entire pack and without warning, or signaling, just sat up. Not a bright move when a dozen riders are bearing down on you at 20 mph!!! The lead women had to jam on their brakes and ride around him — I saw it coming and was able to adjust without a problem. It did catch a few riders off guard though.  And then, on one of the later laps, one guy misjudged the corner, had too much speed to negotiate the turn and shot so far wide that he ended up going up and over the curb into the field! Luckily, no one else was involved in that adventure.  I am continually amazed at how fast things are happening during the race. It is critical that riders stay focused, alert and loose.

We probably rode a dozen laps or so and with a couple laps to go, I was riding exactly where I wanted to be in the pack. I had my eyes on Michelle Stoll and Cathy Nicolleti and was watching their every move. Michelle rode at the front early in the race and was just behind the leaders as we entered the final lap. Cathy had stayed tucked in on the inside edge near the curb. She wasn’t going to ride any extra distance if she could help it. There were also a couple of other women in front of me who were also riding strong. My plan was to stay put until the final stretch and then cut out wide and sprint on the outside down to the finish. The pace picked up for the final lap as soon as we crossed the start/finish line. We had been riding along at 20-22 mph. Almost immediately, the pace rose to 24-25 mph. I like having my computers during the race — I just love watching the data (I know, I’m supposed to be racing, not watching).  I had not expected the pace to increase this much and I found it difficult to keep up with the pack. I did not fall off the back, but neither was I in any position to “cut wide and sprint on the outside”. When we rounded the final turn, I tried to stay with my plan. I asked my legs to sprint…. and they flat ignored me. They had nothing left.

I guess I had gone to the well one too many times. I was disappointed in myself but also knew that it was my body’s way of telling me that it either needed more rest before a race or perhaps a little bit of warmup before kicking it into high gear!  Five days earlier I had ridden the Boulder Roubaix, I also rode 25-30 miles each of the next 3 days…  guess my body had a right to be tired! It was still a blast!!!!

I never did get to test-ride the course. I actually felt fortunate to have driven most of it before the race. When I drove home Friday night, the volunteers were out setting up the start/finish area and putting up signage along the route. It looked like it was gonna be a grand time! There were close to 650 racers according to the on-line registration site. There were only 5 women in my category (SW55+).

After feeding the ponies, I gathered up all my stuff (including my new cyclo-ops trainer) and headed out. With an hour and a half before our start, I pulled in and rode my bike over to registration. There was no line! I was all signed in within a few minutes. I set up the trainer and got Pogo situated so I could warm up without getting run over by all the cars, bikes and pedestrians heading up and down towards the registration area.

My warm-up went well. I did get on and off a few times — just like at the Frostbite TT — as I’d remember something that I needed to take care of.  Pin my number onto my jersey, get my water bottle ready, pick out which gloves I would wear, put on my shoe covers etc. One of these days, I’ll have it down to a routine and my warm-up won’t get interrupted!).

With about 15 minutes to go, I put everything away and rode over to the start area again. I hooked up with the other gals in the SW55+ group. There were five of us — Sue, Susan, Debbie, Maurine and me. All the other gals were seasoned racers. By reputation, Sue was the one to be feared. Last year she won just about everything there was to win! And, the year before wasn’t that much different. They all looked rather intimidating.

We waited around listening for our group to be called to the start line. Our published start time came and went, as did that of the SM65+ who were supposed to take off a couple of minutes before us. Finally, we got the attention of the official starter — clearly they had screwed up and were not happy to see that we weren’t already on our way. The men’s pro group was due to start shortly. Now, it was highly likely that we would still be out on the course when they were racing. That was NOT in the plans. Oh well, the hustled us to the line and due to the time crunch ran the SM65+ and the SW55+ groups together. This was actually a HUGE advantage for my group because now there would be 25 riders in our group instead of 5. Working with the men would save us a ton of energy and raise the pace of our race considerably.

That proved to be true. I knew to be patient. I kept an eye on Sue and Susan as they appeared to be staying right up with the men.  My plan was to just sit in the pack and try not to get dropped. I was nervous about any inclines. Knowing that I out-weigh all the other gals, any sort of climb could be a problem for me. My plan for that was to attack the climbs as much as possible — knowing that it was going to hurt like hell. The first short climb didn’t bother me, but it proved too much for Maurine and Debbie. Both were dropped off the back and left to fend for themselves. Not an enviable position. Sue, Susan and I hung with the guys. The pace was at the top end of my ability. Luckily, Susan didn’t seem to comfortable with it either. Sue, on the other hand, seemed to be struggling less than we were. I made a mental note of that. The first dirt section was over before I knew it. When we hit the pavement, the pace got even faster. I stayed tucked in and tried to catch my breath a take a sip from my water bottle (just not possible on the dirt sections!). We all seemed to stay together regardless of the terrain. There was one small attack from one of the guys, but the group quickly responded and he was caught almost immediately.  Susan sounded like she was about ready to blowup. Deep, gulping, raspy breaths. She kept going though. It got so that I didn’t need to look around to see if she was still with the group — I could hear her literally breathing down my neck!

About 4-5 miles from the finish, the race turned onto (paved) Nelson Rd and went west. This is a difficult uphill stretch. Whenever I’ve ridden it as part of other training rides I struggle to get up it with any speed. Today was no different. Everyone struggled — but I struggled a bit more than Sue did. She started on my wheel, but quickly jumped around and created a significant gap when she realized I was having difficulty. I knew this was the turning point in my race. Susan was in even more trouble than I was, as were a few of the guys. By the time I finished the climb and turned onto the dirt road, Sue and the lead guys were probably 30-45 seconds ahead of me. And, now I was on my own, heading south into a headwind and the hilliest section of the race. All I could do was tell myself that the group behind me was in a similar state — and that if i was hurting…they were probably hurting just as much, or more!

I pushed myself as hard as I could — much harder to do this riding solo than in a group. I looked back a couple of times and didn’t see anyone within striking distance. I labored up the hills. The men’s pro group caught me on one of the longer stretches of climbing. I pulled way to the left of the road as they flew by me like I was parked instead of pedaling. I watched them for a while as they overtook Sue and her group on up ahead of me. Shortly after that, Sue’s group was also out of sight. The last mile or so seemed to take forever.  A little voice kept telling me to push so I didn’t get surprised at the last minute. I listened to that voice and pushed all the way through the finish line to take second place.

It was only much later, when we took the podium, that I learned that Maurine had ridden herself back into contention and overtaken Susan right at the finish line for third place.  Debbie came in a distant 5th, about 5 minutes later.

What a blast. I was spent, but it felt so good to ride hard and do well. I know what I have to work on to get better and I think, with time, I will see improvement. But for now, I’ll savor my moment on the podium!

Me (2nd) , Sue (1st), Maurine (3rd)

I left work early (for me, anyway) and headed north as if I was going home. But, instead of going home, I turned off at Hwy 52 and headed west towards the big IBM plant. I was headed for a small industrial park and the first in an 8-week series of criteriums sponsored by Ideal Market, Whole Foods market and Primal wear (cycling apparel).

It has been on the order of 25 years since I raced in a criterium for AT&T at the Denver Corporate Games. I vaguely remember the excitement of the race, the intensity of the competition and the pain associated with riding ‘all-out’ for an extended period of time.  Today,  more  vividly, I remember the thrill of  speed,  tight quarters, turning sharply and jumping out of the saddle after the turns to get back up to speed as quickly as possible and the sense of accomplishment after it was all over.

Let’s be honest — I had butterflies as I drove to the start. I was downright nervous. Would I be fast enough not to get dropped, or even worse, lapped!? Could I dig deep enough and push myself hard enough to be competitive? Once there, I found the registration area easily and waited in line with all the other racers. There were several categories — I would be racing in the SW-4 category. No age category this time. I would be up against 20, 30 and 40 year-olds. I also saw a gal who is in her early 60s. She takes her racing seriously — races at the Boulder Indoor Track and has already gotten 2-3 other races under her belt this season!

Finally, time came for my group to race.  Our group went a short time after a group of junior riders and ‘Newbie’ men. All of us were on the course at the same time — and it was crazy! We started with a neutral lap and then the race was on. The pace ramped up quickly and hovered around 20 mph. I drifted towards the back of the pack and tried to get a feel for what was going on around me. I knew that the Rocky Mount-Izzie riders would be working together and were probably would dictate the outcome of the race.

The men’s group came around and lapped us  on our 2nd or 3rd lap. Not knowing that maybe I shouldn’t, I took the wheel of the tail end of the men’s group and joined their pace line. A few other women did the same thing and we were quickly swept away from the rest of the women. I stayed on the back of the men’s group for a lap or so and then realized that the pace was unsustainable for me. I sat up and drifted back towards the women’s group again — but, in doing so, I made a critical error. I lost too much speed so that when the women’s group came up on me, the Rocky Mount – Izzie riders flew right by me. It happened so fast that I didn’t have time to react and was left off the back. I spent the rest of the race chasing them down. There was one other rider, Wendy,  who was also caught in no-man’s land (or no-woman’s land). I caught up with her and stayed on her wheel long enough to catch my breath. Then I suggested we work together — since she was pulling and needed a break, she was all for it! The lead group was too far ahead by this point — we were not going to catch them. I decided to sit on Wendy’s wheel until the last lap and then make an attempt to out-sprint her to the finish. I never got the chance though. When I thought there was still one lap to go, we crossed the start/finish line and the race director signaled that the race was over. And there I was, tucked neatly behind Wendy…. finishing 6 instead of 5, instead of being a contender in the lead group.

Today was full of lessons. Patience being the biggest one. Next week, I’ll be staying with the women’s group the entire time and will be watching the Rocky Mounts-Izzie racers VERY carefully!

I showed up at the track about 20 minutes before the warm-up / open ride hour at 6pm. Races were scheduled to begin at 7pm. Don’t know why, but there were only a small handful of other cyclists and none of them were planning to race. No problem, I stuck to my warm-up plans and put in a nice long 20 minutes of easy riding. Then added some higher paced laps with a few almost-all-out sprints mixed in just to get the juices flowing. I admit it, I was excited. Even a bit nervous. It was my first time racing on the track. There were similarities to how I felt before the Frostbite TT — but the experience itself was vastly different. First and foremost — there was no wind!  And, there weren’t nearly as many people around. There were three groups of races.  Men’s A, Men’s B and Women. Each group raced the same type of event, just different number of laps in some cases.

The first race was an 8-lap race where a point was awarded to the rider who crossed the start-finish line first on each lap. Easy math — the rider with the most points at the end of the race wins. I was glad I got to watch the two men’s group go first. In one of those races, a rider started taking laps early.  He continued to ride hard and collect laps until he had enough that there just weren’t enough laps left for anyone else to have more than him. I decided that I would adopt the same strategy. My number would be 5. That way, if I had 5 laps, it wouldn’t matter how the other laps got split. Easy math and I didn’t have to keep track of who else was collecting laps. When the race started, I found myself behind Cathy and Ellen. I was a bit boxed in but decided to stay put for that lap. As we got into the second lap though, I decided to start collecting. I came up track from behind Cathy just enough to ride between them. From there, I turned on the ‘after-burners’ and pulled away. Once I had a little more than a bike length lead, I dropped back into the sprinter’s land and just kept going. It was not easy to see what was going on behind me, and I kept envisioning them catching and passing me so I just kept focused and rode like I had a bear chasing me! A hungry bear!  As I was out-running the bear, I collected laps…. 1, …. 2, …. 3,….. 4,….. and finally 5. Once I had all my laps, there were still 2 left to go in the race, but I pulled up to the blue line and took my foot off the gas. No need to worry about the bear anymore. I had what I wanted. I had won the race.

I think I surprised the other gals. All of them had raced before and knew each other, and each other’s ability pretty well. I was the great unknown. Until that race, of course. Suddenly, I became the one to beat!

The second race was an elimination race.  Every 5 laps there was a sprint and the last rider who crossed the start-finish line was eliminated. We started at the top rail and rolled down into a neutral lap. Then the race was on. After the neutral lap I found myself behind Michelle and Cathy (again!). This was not a good place to be. I was also boxed in a bit as Ellen was up track at my right shoulder. I stayed where I was and tried to figure out a strategy. Clearly, I didn’t have one going into the race so I’d better come up with something pretty fast…. lap 5 was upon us! Luckily, there was one gal who was slower than the rest of us and she was easy prey for the first elimination.  Then, on to the next 5 laps. I still lacked a clear stategy and I was still at the back of the pack. Nothing came to me and as we went into lap #10,  I was at risk of being last. I had to move up track to get around anyone. That took extra energy. My sprint power saved me as I motored past Ellen on the straight away right before the line.  I could feel that the extra sprint and having to take the long route took its toll. Michelle and Cathy were in a nice rhythm and I was trying to catch my breath and find one. It never quite happened though. Before I knew it, we had gone another 4 laps and I was in the position of having to go up track and around Cathy again. This time, I couldn’t quite pull it off. As a result, I was eliminated. Michelle and Cathy fought it out for the win, but Cathy was no match for Michelle who took it easily.

Two races down, one to go.  I found that I was less nervous now. There was only one 30-lap race left for us. This was a scratch race where the first person to cross the line after the prescribed number of laps wins. Period.

There was an interesting twist. Cathy was going to all the racers before we started suggesting that we work together for the first 20 laps and make it a 10 lap race. Looked like she got buy-in from the other racers, which meant if I didn’t go along, it would end up being 4 against one, me!  I decided to just ride my race and if it looked like I couldn’t go off the front and stay out, alone, for 30 laps, then I’d play along for a while.

A Scratch race sounds easy enough but there are lots of factors to consider in such a long (relatively) race. Should you try to stay out front? Should you work with other riders in a pace line? And, if so, how much work should you do versus them? Who’s wheel is it good to be on and who should you avoid when it gets to the last 3-4 laps? I knew I didn’t want to be behind Cathy if there were other riders in front of her. I was most concerned with Michelle. She has sprinting ability and good endurance. But, she wore the same outfit as 2 of the other riders so it was hard to pick up on who was who easily. We started from the rail again — nice, clean start (during one of the men’s races, a rider slide out twice as he left the rail — go women!). After a neutral lap, we did settle into a pace line with riders generally taking a 2-lap pull at which point they’d swing up track, allow the line to ride by beneath them then drop down at the end of the line. We went around and around this way for close to 20 laps. I did a little bit of math and figured that if things kept going the way they were, I was not going to be in a good position when we got down to 3-4 laps. So, when it was my turn to be at the front, instead of taking a 2-lap pull, I took a 1/2 lap pull. This did surpised the group — but hey, we’re racing, right!? Now I was at the back with about 8 laps to go. I watched at the other riders continued to work together. I was plotting for when to make my move — now when my next turn to take a pull was! With a little over two laps to go, I swung up track and started to rev the engines. Cathy was directly ahead of me and I think Michelle was on my wheel. I pulled past Cathy in a couple of pedal strokes and dropped back down into the sprinter’s lane. This left Michelle with no place to go for a few seconds until I pulled farther ahead of Cathy and a gap appeared. I kept the pressure on though and try as she did, Michelle was unable to stay with me or pass me. I crossed the line first and claimed my second win of the evening.

It was a whole lot of fun. Very different than time trialing, that’s for sure. So far, I’ve enjoyed both of them. I’ve got to wait a month for my next track race. I think there is another outdoor opportunity the end of March. Stay tuned!

The Frostbite TT has been on my radar since sometime late last year when I started thinking about tossing my helmet in the ring of racing. And, for the last week to 10 days, I have spent a fair amount of time thinking about it, planning for it, and anxiously awaiting my turn at the start line.  I sought out the advice of a trainer, Lester,  at the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine for my pre-race warm-up routine.  Lester gave me a warm-up that was similar to what I had sketched out for myself, but with much greater detail. Another piece of advice he gave me was to take time before race day to prepare two lists — 1) a list of everything you’ll need to take with you on race day and 2) a time-line that works backwards from your start time. Making sure to include things like ‘register and read race info’, ’start warm-up routine’,  ’a last potty stop’, ‘pin race number to jersey’. I made both list. This activity is right up my alley, so I made the lists waaay ahead of race day and refined them the entire week leading up to race day. The other two things I was keen on was watching the weather forecast and the race start times.

Race times were posted on Thursday and the Senior Women 55 -59 years of age ( SW55+) category’s start times were around 1 pm.   The weather turned out to be the biggest concern as the forecast was for high winds. Even with moderate temperatures, high winds can make for a cold, difficult and even rather dangerous event. I took a screen shot of the two cities that are closest to the I-25 exit 288 where our race began. As you can see, neither of them are very inviting! You know you’re in trouble when you are hoping for a 25 mph wind (over a 40+ mph one)!

The only good news was that at least everyone in my category would suffer under the same conditions.  I also wondered how windy it would have to get before they canceled the race all together.  Until that time, I’d just assume the race would be held and I’d continue to work to my timeline.

I packed several sets of cycling clothing since I really wasn’t sure just how windy it would be and how cold that would make it. I brought my winter riding shoes as well as my regular shoes, my mtn bike pair and my ultra-light pair that make me walk like a duck. I set Pogo up with the cleats for the ultra-light shoes and packed the other pedals. Pogo was pretty much ready to go. I did take the lights off and eventually removed the mirror and seat bag as well. If I had been real hard core, I probably would have taken one or both water bottle cages off too. As this was my first race, I decided that would just be silly! If I ever got to the point of having a time trial bike, a funny looking pointed helmet and a painted-on skin suit then maybe I’ll worry more about water bottle cages. Until then, I’m not going to worry about it.

It took several trips to the car to load up all my stuff. There were three small sport bags and a small box of bike tools. In addition to the cycling clothes, the bags were packed with food, camera, bike computers, sunscreen, butt-butter, water (lots of extra since I assumed none would be provided),  my handy-dandy little wind gauge, a printout of the start times, my timeline and warm-up instructions and a change of clothing for after the race. The bags were so full, I was convinced I couldn’t have possibly forgotten anything!

The wind was not bad in Berthoud when I left the farm at 9:30am. It wasn’t bad as I drove north past Loveland and towards Ft. Collins. However, as I crossed mile marker 275 it suddenly picked up.  And, it continued to get stronger as I drove farther north and the landscape got more and more desolate. I thought to myself — couldn’t the wind have waited just a few more miles?  Then, I reflected how it was probably worse north of exit 288 where our race started. I should just be thankful that the race wasn’t in Cheyenne!

The only parking around — see all the trainers set up with the
cars blocking the wind from the right.

Registration went quickly and smoothly. As I stepped away from the registration table, I spotted a Blue Sky Velo team member, Paul. I’ve ridden with Paul at the velodrome and he actually gave me one of his long sleeve team jerseys to wear until I get my own.  We parked along a long dirt side road with many other racers. The race was already underway and cyclists were in every stage of preparation.  Most racers were warming up on stationary trainers which was smart because the wind was whipping and as hard as it was to just stand up in the wind, trying to get an ‘easy’ warm-up going would be impossible. Clearly, my warm-up plans were in jeopardy! Hmmm, I didn’t bring a stationary trainer. Note to self: Add stationary trainer to list!

Here’s a photo of another Blue Sky Velo racer – Dave – warming up on his trainer.

Luckily, Paul did bring a stationary trainer and he was willing to share. His start time was such that his warm-up would end just about the time I’d scheduled mine to begin. Perfect, saved by the team. As Paul was warming up, I tried to decide what to wear. It was down right cold standing around in the wind. I started out with my winter-weight tights, my lined long-sleeve jersey and a couple of wind-proof layers on top of that. I pulled on a pair of winter-weight gloves as well and my winter shoes. Of course, that meant I had to switch Pogo’s pedals back too. So I did that. The wind was howling and didn’t show any signs of letting up. The only refuge I had was to use the car as a wind block or sit inside the car. When out of the wind, it was really quite comfortable.

Paul wrapped up his warm-up and headed off for his start. He was fired up and felt confident. Personally, I thought he was just a tad crazy since he decided to keep his disc wheel on! All I could think about was how the wind would be pushing sideways against that wheel the entire race. I was glad that Pogo had shallow-dish road wheels on instead of deep-dish time trial wheels.

My warm-up went pretty well. I had to stop a few times to take care of things like putting my number on my jersey and stripping off a layer of clothing as I warmed up. It didn’t take me long to realize that I had dressed too warmly. I stripped off my winter-weight tights and put on a mid-weight pair. I took off both wind layers and put on my Blue Sky Velo jersey as a top layer and I switched out my gloves to a pair I normally wear in the fall. I finished up my warm-up and headed over about 15 minutes before my start time.

The start line – with all the rabbits out on the course!

There were 6-7 riders ahead of me. Two of the six riders in my category were no-shows. Apparently they were smarter than the rest of us. The other gals in my group looked like serious competition. They were all tall and lean. I felt a bit out of place. I started to look around for the short/stout category of riders where I thought I’d fit in a bit better. No such luck. I didn’t need a watch, I could keep time by watching the riders take off. Every 30 seconds a rider would start out. After Ceil Murphy was sent on her way, I was next! One of the volunteer’s held my bike so I could be on and ready. I happened to glanced down at my gears as I got onto the saddle. DUH! I was in totally the wrong gear. I had fought the headwind on my way to the start, but now I was heading south with an awesome tail wind. I should have been in my larger front ring and at least mid-range on the back cassette. Instead I was just about in my granny gear!  Nothing I could do about that now.  The starter was on the final count down…. ‘5′,  ’4′,  ’3′,  ’2′, ‘1′    and I was off. 

I spent the first few seconds getting into the proper gear. Then I ramped up to race pace. Everyone told me to hold back initially – that excitement and adrenaline might cause me to go out to quickly. I kept that in mind. I focused on Ceil up ahead of me. She was my rabbit. I also focused on my breathing and on my cadence. It was very hard not to get caught up in the moment. A part of me wanted to treat the race as a 30 second sprint. I knew that was the excitement and adrenaline that I had been warned about. It might also have been the strong cross/tail wind. I looked down at my computer and saw that we (Pogo and me…) were flying along at over 20 mph.  Immediately the thought that came to me was — “The second half of this race is gonna hurt like hell!”

Have you ever wondered what goes thru a racer’s mind during a race? I have. Now I have an idea – at least I have one data point. For me, it felt a little bit like being a pilot or a race car driver. Every few seconds I’d check in with myself — Was I pushing too hard? Was I pushing enough? How did my legs feel? Was there tension in my neck? my shoulders? Was I gripping the handlebars? Where was my rabbit? Where was the wind coming from now? A quick look at the computer for my cadence and heart rate. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Even after the initial start where I expected my heart rate to be elevated, my heart rate was always over 160 bpm. Go back thru all my training Garmin data and you’d be lucky to see a half dozen rides where my heart rate gets that high. And, here I was cruising along the I-25 frontage road revving my heart like there was no tomorrow.

There were many more rolling hills than I expected. Since I hadn’t ridden the route before, each rise was rather unexpected as were the downhill stretches. As I pushed on, I tried to make a couple of mental notes that might help me figure out where I was on the return trip. I suppose I should make another “Note to self: ride the route before you race it!” For many, this was not their first Frostbite (can you say… Slow Learners!) so they knew the route and had a good idea of how much energy they’d need to make it back at full throttle. Me, I was flying by the seat of my bike shorts!

After almost exactly 16 minutes of racing, I came to the turn around point. Only one gal had passed my at this point and she had also passed my rabbit, Ceil. She had trouble navigating the ‘U’ turn though and went down. Ceil was closest to her but not affected by the fall. I was far enough back to watch it happen but she was up and off again before I made the turn. My second gearing mistake happened at the turn. Perhaps it was because I was watching the rider go down, maybe it was just the excitement of the race, but I failed to gear down. As a result of my inattentiveness, I went into the turn in my highest gear.  Now, as soon as I made that ‘U’ turn I was hit with a 25+ mph cross/headwind that made it almost impossible for me to pedal  in that  high gear. Even jumping out of the saddle and really leaning into it was not very effective. The other problem is that changing gears under such stress is also difficult. So, again, it took me 10-15 seconds before I had worked my way thru the gearing snafu and got things back to where I could race again. 

My prediction came true. The ride back was hell. The headwind component of the wind was stronger than I’d realized. I knew that I had over six miles to go so I had to pace myself or I’d blow up for sure. Ceil had pulled away a bit as I was fumbling with my gears. My challenge now was to ride as hard as I could and still have enough to finish strong.  Having never time trialed before, I had no previous experience to draw on and the wind was a huge wild card. When I looked down at my computer now, my heart rate was in the mid 160s! And every time I looked down it was in the mid 160s. I was just waiting for the boiler to blow or for the leg muscles to pop!

Other riders started passing me more frequently now. There were a handful of women (60+ and 65+) and I think they all passed me. Then some of the senior men (don’t know the age group) also started to catch and pass me. A few of them flew by me like I was going backwards. To be honest, at times, I wasn’t sure which way I was going! My speed on the return trip started off in the mid to high teens, but by the third or fourth mile had dropped down to the low teens.

A mile or so after the turn-around a gust of wind caught me by surprise. It blew Pogo and me a foot or more to the right. Then another gust came right after the first and pushed us another foot — this time right off the road! As I tried to steer us back onto the pavement from the soft shoulder a third gust took Pogo right out from under me. Luckily, after the first gust I was already taking action to unclip and was already free and able to get a foot down to avoid falling when the last gust hit. The wind was so fierce, it was not easy to get us back on the road and moving again. We rode a good three to four feet from the edge of the road after that!

With a couple miles to go, Ceil was out of her saddle and struggling to pull away. I was struggling to keep her in my sights. My low back started to cramp a little and I could tell that I was digging pretty deeply into my reserves in order to keep going. I remember telling myself to dig deeper, to push on the uphills and to just ’slice’ thru the wind. (Anyone who know me and my blocky build can get a chuckle out of that one!).  Mostly my self-encouragement worked. I dug deeper, I pushed harder but with a little over a mile to go, I found that when my reserves were close to empty and there was a split second where I feared I might run out of gas before the finish line. It was also clear that my rabbit would escape today and all I could hope to do was limit the damage. It took everything I had to push up the last incline to the finish line. My teammate Paul coached me before the race saying “When you see that finish line, just put your head down and bury yourself!” That thought crossed my mind — but my body had nothing left to give. I was afraid to try to stand and sprint in because I wasn’t sure my legs would support me. I stayed seated and pedaled as hard as I could all the way across the finish line. 

I made my way back to the parking area and rode up and down the off-ramp a few times to cool down. The cool down only happened when I headed down the ramp. Riding back up the ramp into the wind didn’t serve to cool me down very much! As I rode, I reflected. It was a difficult race. I would have liked to have ridden a stronger second half but overall I was pleased. I learned a lot about time trialing today and a lot about myself. I think I’d like to try it again.

Back at home in my new team’s jersey – with the whippets!