So, this past weekend I went with the cycling team to Georgia Southern in good old Statesboro to do some racing. Racing for me has never gone well and previously my record is finishing next to last in 1 crit, next to last in 1 time trial, dead last in one road race and dropping out of a couple of other road races and crits.
I struggled with whether to go or not this past weekend and Friday night it seemed like I might have made a bad decision. I wanted to prove to myself that I cycle because I like it (and not for other past reasons), but traveling with a bunch of bitchy and disorganized boys tests my patience. But, my new mellowed out self decided to wait til the end of Saturday to decide whether it was a waste.
Saturday morning was the road race. 8 girls, including my new teammate Jenn. The 8 of us rode ttt style almost the entire time. My strategy was not to get dropped by the group. I was thrilled when I hit 10 miles and was still with the group (last year on the same course I had been dropped long before then, then I flatted). Not only that, but I could tell that I was stronger than some of them because my pulls were faster and also a little longer. By the time we turned for the last 10 miles it dawned on me that I was going to get to be a part of a sprint finish and I got really excited. I started thinking about where I wanted to be position wise and how I'd be able to make sure I hadn't just pulled so I would be fresh. We passed a guy who said the finish was a ways down and everyone just took off. I had fortunately placed myself in a good position, which managed to open me up and box in another girl. This paid off, and my new sprinting abilities helped me take third place (and I beat the much stronger UF girl, which was awesome)!!! I can't describe the feeling I had, but I can say it included an enormous goofy smile and a lot of emotions. This was a huge moment for me since I've always struggled when it comes to being athletic. It almost made all the crap that happens worth it.
Later that afternoon my new teammate and I did the team time trial, a first for the GT Cycling team. I really didn't want to ride it since I was pretty tired, but we did it for the team. I gotta say, I was pretty bored of the TTT by then, since that's all the road race was. Not only that, but Jenn died towards the end and I basically had to haul her back in. Regardless, we got a good time, almost the same as the A Vandy women, and I was impressed with how strong I am. I was irritated, however, that we had to ride almost 6 miles back to where we were parked. The boys went to go pick us up, but missed us so we ended up riding the entire way back. Very slowly.
The next morning was the crit, which I am not a fan of since they run all the women together. This pisses me off, but oh well. Our strategy was get lapped enough so that we get pulled (so that we could still get points), but then we discovered that they weren't pulling people. I was retarded and wasted a bunch of energy bridging a gap with the florida girl to get to the A women, which was futile since I can't keep up with them anyway. I stuck with the Brevard girl for a while, but then got dropped and grouped up with Jenn. Then we went back to the TTT practice, alternating pulls on each lap. My goal was to stay away from the slow Auburn girl, but that didn't happen and soon it was me and Auburn with Jenn out the back. Anyway, I did the bitchy thing and rode Auburn's wheel until the last turn after which I left her ass and beat her by a lot.
The rest of the team had a great showing also, which was really good. I really enjoyed actually getting to race, which was a first for me, although I know I will struggle on the hillier course this weekend. I am surprised and ecstatic at my own strength though, especially since usually after absences I struggle a lot. After this past absence, though, I've put in 5 really good rides, so here's hoping I can keep the momentum going. I think my body is finally adapting, as well as starting to look like it's adapting, so that makes me excited. I'm more motivated now to ride, but still unsure of whether I can commit like I did last summer. But it's good to know my Summer of Speed didn't go to waste, because it was rough and took a lot of dedication and determination.
Here's to not getting dropped this weekend and getting to sprint to a finish again... this time with spectators hopefully.
*Will's suggestion for a title, after being asked what I should call the entry about this past weekend racing. Other suggestions included but are not limited to: Going Slow as Fast as I can, Renovating my cottage of wattage and Using my cottage
