Double Race Weekend
I've been avoiding double race weekends due to two reasons - 1. needing to get caught up on life post-USGP and 2. the fitness isn't there. However, this last weekend both the MWI Cross team and the Brazen Dropouts (Paul R.) had races so I felt like I should go to both as both the MWI guys and Paul are such big supporters of the USGP and cross in general. Plus both sounded great.
I'm happy to report that doing both was the best decision EVER. I'm just going to tell you that both days I was still DFL but it was the most fun DFL in a long time.
Saturday was a new venue at Doyne Golf Park with a great hill, some sweet turns, and a little off camber for fun. Race started off and I was instantly in the back but I was with the group which is a good sign for me. I was sitting behind one other woman and she was slower than me in the turns. Still I was kind of just sitting behind her thinking about how we should go faster because I didn't totally see a point in passing her given that I'm always last. It seemed like a waste of effort to mess with fate like that. Finally I decided that I should at least pretend to be a racer and passed her on a short little uphill. After I went around her I kept expecting her to come around me once I hit some of the longer straight stretches. Once I'd decided to start racing though I felt like I was obligated to see how long I could hold her off.
Let's be honest though I hit a point where I was kind of hoping she would just get it over with and pass me as it was seriously painful to keep in front of her. There was one short steep uphill to off camber turn that was making my legs scream in pain each time up it. However, on lap #2 I could see that I actually had a manageable gap on the woman behind me so I had to press on suffering immensely. By lap 3 I had a sweet gap going actually and by the time the first guys lapped me I felt like I was not going to be DFL.
So now you're maybe thinking I had a mechanical or something that put me back into DFL. Nope not that. So now you're thinking I just cracked and couldn't make my legs carry me up the short steep little uphills. Nope not that either. Then what??? Nothing super exciting. The woman behind me apparently dropped out with 1 or 2 laps to go thus putting me back in DFL. Still super fun race and definitely one of my best races of the season in terms of feeling like I could race and not just ride around.
Next up was the Sun Prairie Cup and I have to say upon arriving I was thinking it was a huge mistake to try and do a double race weekend. Sheehan Park is also home to a steep little hill that we ride up and run up and go around (and stand on to heckle people) and I knew it was going to hurt.
I had by far my worst start of the season with a complete inability to get in my pedals and was basically gapped on the starting stretch. Luckily the course quickly narrows up and takes some tight turns which allowed me to get back on the back of the field.
Me in the way, way back - photo by djonny mac
Once again I had one of those days where I had to race and race hard. My teammates and I were fighting hard for the back of the pack and we all felt obligated to make each other hurt. I dangled just behind my teammate Shannon lap after lap. Eventually the guys started lapping through and I stopped paying attention to Shannon's whereabouts and figured it was inevitable I would be last. But then with one lap to go the guys were mostly by us and I realized we were still unbelievably close to each other.
Then it was game on again. I gave it my all to drag myself up closer and closer and closer. I told myself it wouldn't be fair to just let a teammate have it. I had to make sure she suffered as much as me. On the last set of barriers I gave it everything I have and I really was so close but when we got to the long stretch towards the finishing pavement I couldn't close it down. I expended too much getting back up to Shannon and couldn't finish it.
Me chasing after Shannon - photo by djonny mac
I think that may have been the most fun that both Shannon and I had had in a while racing. Hopefully we can push each other to keep it up (and maybe improve for next season!).
I'm happy to report that doing both was the best decision EVER. I'm just going to tell you that both days I was still DFL but it was the most fun DFL in a long time.
Saturday was a new venue at Doyne Golf Park with a great hill, some sweet turns, and a little off camber for fun. Race started off and I was instantly in the back but I was with the group which is a good sign for me. I was sitting behind one other woman and she was slower than me in the turns. Still I was kind of just sitting behind her thinking about how we should go faster because I didn't totally see a point in passing her given that I'm always last. It seemed like a waste of effort to mess with fate like that. Finally I decided that I should at least pretend to be a racer and passed her on a short little uphill. After I went around her I kept expecting her to come around me once I hit some of the longer straight stretches. Once I'd decided to start racing though I felt like I was obligated to see how long I could hold her off.
Let's be honest though I hit a point where I was kind of hoping she would just get it over with and pass me as it was seriously painful to keep in front of her. There was one short steep uphill to off camber turn that was making my legs scream in pain each time up it. However, on lap #2 I could see that I actually had a manageable gap on the woman behind me so I had to press on suffering immensely. By lap 3 I had a sweet gap going actually and by the time the first guys lapped me I felt like I was not going to be DFL.
So now you're maybe thinking I had a mechanical or something that put me back into DFL. Nope not that. So now you're thinking I just cracked and couldn't make my legs carry me up the short steep little uphills. Nope not that either. Then what??? Nothing super exciting. The woman behind me apparently dropped out with 1 or 2 laps to go thus putting me back in DFL. Still super fun race and definitely one of my best races of the season in terms of feeling like I could race and not just ride around.
Next up was the Sun Prairie Cup and I have to say upon arriving I was thinking it was a huge mistake to try and do a double race weekend. Sheehan Park is also home to a steep little hill that we ride up and run up and go around (and stand on to heckle people) and I knew it was going to hurt.
I had by far my worst start of the season with a complete inability to get in my pedals and was basically gapped on the starting stretch. Luckily the course quickly narrows up and takes some tight turns which allowed me to get back on the back of the field.
Me in the way, way back - photo by djonny mac
Once again I had one of those days where I had to race and race hard. My teammates and I were fighting hard for the back of the pack and we all felt obligated to make each other hurt. I dangled just behind my teammate Shannon lap after lap. Eventually the guys started lapping through and I stopped paying attention to Shannon's whereabouts and figured it was inevitable I would be last. But then with one lap to go the guys were mostly by us and I realized we were still unbelievably close to each other.
Then it was game on again. I gave it my all to drag myself up closer and closer and closer. I told myself it wouldn't be fair to just let a teammate have it. I had to make sure she suffered as much as me. On the last set of barriers I gave it everything I have and I really was so close but when we got to the long stretch towards the finishing pavement I couldn't close it down. I expended too much getting back up to Shannon and couldn't finish it.
Me chasing after Shannon - photo by djonny mac
I think that may have been the most fun that both Shannon and I had had in a while racing. Hopefully we can push each other to keep it up (and maybe improve for next season!).
posted by MadCross at 7:41 PM
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