Moe's Burrito Cross

Lapham Peak had a small turnout for the 1/2 Women's race with only six of us. We started out and I was hanging nicely with the group. I started out on Patti's wheel as I knew she was a slower starter but would speed up very quickly. Katie went by me so I jumped on her wheel. At the first set of barriers I came around Katie and got on Patti's wheel again but I couldn't hold it as she picked up the pace as Sam K and Sam S lifted the pace at the front.

I kept going with Katie on my wheel. I actually stayed in front of her on the long run up which suprised me. As we came through to finish our first lap she passed me and I tried to stay on her wheel. She would get a small gap on some of the straight aways but I would catch back up to her in the corners. Not too far before the run up I pulled through and lead through the rest of the lap. Right after the finish line I was in front and cruising around the first corner after that straight away when I heard Katie go down hard. I glanced back and she seemed okay so I took off.

I tried to keep pushing myself as I know that I don't get any faster as the race goes on and Katie and Michele were both behind me. I've raced Michele enough to know that the only way I could beat her is if the race was about 20 minutes long. After that Michele gets warmed up and is screaming fast. And at about the half way point Michele caught up to me. We rode together very briefly and then all of a sudden on one of the straight aways on the back side of the course she took off like a rocket. She's an adventure racer so she's used to racing for 12+ hours so it takes her awhile to get going.

At this point the top Cat 3 women and the back of the Cat 1/2 Women's field were starting to mix together. I was trying to not worry about the Cat 3 women and was just trying to keep in front of Katie. I had no idea where she was in relation to me though.

Finally the 30+ Men start to lap me. Jerry was the first one to go by and I didn't hear him coming so I almost took him out. He said right, I was taken by suprise and drifted right and we bumped into each other before I corrected and moved to the left. Nice beginner move on my part!

After that I went through the finish area and the lap card said one and they were ringing the bell. I thought with being lapped by the 30+ I would still have two laps to go so I was relieved if a bit confused. On my last lap Cindy from the Cat 3 race started to catch me. I'm dead tired at this point and just trying to survive to the finish. At the top of the run up she says she'll race me to the finish. I laughded at her because my legs were crazy tired. However, I had a chance to recover a little on the downhill after the run up. I was still in front of her after the 180 turn so I gave it a little gas and got a little bit of a gap back by the finish so hats off to her for giving me a bit of motivation which can be hard to come by when you're racing to not be last.

And yes, I held off Katie to take 5th place and I was able to make my goal of the season which was to not be the last place 1/2 Woman at every race this season. It was a pretty good day for me at a race that has never been a favorite of mine.