Bike Race!

Last weekend I did my first road race.

My teammate, Jen, offered to drive me and Manda up to Marty MN, near St. Cloud, for a 30 mile race.

I felt good that day, ate the right stuff, warmed up enough, brought all the required equipment.

Our group of cat 4 women had 10 racers, and two 40+ women raced with us as well. I was surprised at the easy start pace. No vying for position or sprinting off the front. I was able to hang with the pack pretty easily and only almost got dropped once on a hill. I didn't take any turns at the front, since I wasn't sure what the pace should be, having never done a road race before, so I stayed in the middle or back of the pack.

After about 6 miles, I noticed that Jen was off the back. I had agreed ahead of time to work with her, so I was sad to see her struggling. I kept looking back, hoping she'd catch back up. I even told my other two teammates that she was dropped, hoping that they could either help pull her back up or at least try to moderate the pace of the pack by going up front. Neither of those things happened, and she kept dropping further back. I was doing okay holding on to the pack, not dying, but not exactly able to stay near the front either. I was having a moral dilemma. All I could think about was how bad Jen must feel riding into the 20 mile headwind all by herself. And there was still a lot of road to cover.

So I tried to motion her up when the pack slowed a little, but she wasn't able to make any ground. So it was then that I made the decision that makes Michael think I'm too nice. I dropped back to ride with my teammate. I could've probably held onto the pack for another few miles, maybe even the whole first lap of the two lap race, but then I'd be shelled off the back into no man's land and we'd both end up riding alone. This way we'd be able to work together right away and at least see what its' like to ride a road race, rather than a time trial.

So I waited and waited, soft pedaling until she caught up. Then I pulled her up the next couple hills and into the wind. By the time we got to the top of the one big hill, she was feeling strong enough to pull on the downhill. Wow, Jen is really strong on the gradual down/flat parts! We averaged about 27 mph while she was pulling. It took most of the rest of the course for us to figure out that she was stronger on that type of road and I was stronger on the hills and into the wind, but eventually we managed to work with our strengths. By then we caught up to Manda, who was riding alone. Turned out she had stayed with the pack for the whole first lap. We worked a mini paceline to the finish and then we had a fun sprint between the three of us. I have to learn to take a leadout and come around, as I'm always the one in front until the last second and then I get passed. But it was really fun and unlike my time trials and criterium experiences, I never felt like I was going to throw up. Michael would say that means I wasn't working hard enough, but hey, I finished and I had a good time and we worked as a team :) There was one person who had a DNF, so I came in 11th out of 12.

I'm excited for the next time.

Kate's Crit

I finally did a "real" bike race. Today was my first criterium. It was at the State Fairgrounds, with nice wide streets and 6 corners. The course was about 3/4 mile, and we had to do 40 minutes. I'm not sure how many laps that was, but it ended up being around 13 miles for me.

The race was a women's open race, with cat 4's scored separately from the cat 1-3 women (of which there were quite a few.)

Some of the women on the starting line had just completed the Nature Valley Grand Prix Pro race this past week. I could only watch in awe as they pulled away and lapped me within the first 4 laps.

I tried as hard as I could to stay with the one person who was still within a reasonable distance, but I was giving everything I had and she was still going just a bit faster than I was.

The effort involved was about the same as the 7 mile time trial I did last year, which means the heart rate was above 180 the whole time and I felt like I was going to either throw up or cough up blood.

Just when I was starting to think this is crazy, there's no way I should be out here (about the time the leaders had lapped me for the second time) I managed to catch on to a group of three who came around me. I could immediately tell the difference between drafting in that group and riding alone, and decided that I was going to do whatever it took to stay with that group. And I stayed with them for the last 8 laps, finishing dead last, but finishing nonetheless.

It was harder than I thought it would be, even though everyone told me how hard it would be. But it was also the most fun I've had while pushing myself to the limit. Way more fun than a time trial, because there's a mental boost when you can ride with other racers.

I learned a lot about what to do and especially what not to do. And I'm so very glad I kept the rubber side down, and I FINISHED!

First crit is now out of the way. Whew!

The Novel Plan:
In order to finish a complete mostly edited draft of my novel by the end of the summer, I have created a timeline for myself. I will have to edit five chapters a week for the next six weeks. So far I've done the first five, so I'm already in week 2. If I force myself to stick to this plan, I WILL have it done by August. The idea of that is so thrilling to me that it might just be enough motivation for me to do it.

An unrelated goal: get back to doing yoga 3 times a week. I feel so much better when I'm doing yoga regularly, and it will help me mentally get through this crappy weather when I'm not inspired to get outside on my bike. Yoga has a trickle-down effect on my life. When I do yoga, I eat better, think more positively, and feel more calm and centered.

New Moon Night

Today I bought my cycling license. I don't know how many races I'll do, but I hope this will encourage me to try some types of racing that I haven't yet done. And I'm happy that in the future the results will say "Velo Bella" by my name, rather than "unattached" since you have to have a UCF license in order to put down a team affiliation.

Tonight I reworked ch.'s 1-4 of Dog Days. I'm trying to iron out any plot irregularities, since I wrote each chapter on its own and probably have a lot of incongruities when the thing is read as a whole.

I'm trying to stay on track with the goal to finish the book by the end of summer.

And I'm toying with the idea of either taking a week off just to write, or finding a writers' workshop somewhere this summer where I can do some major work.

On another note, I'm eagerly looking forward to the first installment of CSA goodies, which should happen any week now...

The news this week is as follows:

Pea-sized hail does not dent my car! I found out the scary way, listening to it ping off my roof.

Michael's car was stolen on Wednesday night and recovered Thursday morning. His computer and other electronics were taken, but the car was OK! Well, minus a broken window and door scratch.

Today I turn 38. I feel good.

I bought a new rosebush today. It's called Hope for Humanity. What I really hope for is that it survives through the winter, unlike all my previous roses that didn't. But I was informed that a shrub rose (such as this is) should survive, unlike my previous hybrid teas.

I now have an external hard drive, which means that since I spent the money on it, my computer will probably never crash and I won't need it.

My novel now has a rudimentary website. Go see it at http://dogdays.weebly.com/
You can even read the first chapter.

I got my second flat tire on my new bike on Tuesday. Last year, riding Red, I didn't have a single flat and now on Big Blue I've had two in about a month. Well, those lovely expensive things can sometimes be high maintenance. And I maybe shouldn't have been riding on a road with rocks that would've been better used for landscaping.

That's it for now. Happy end of May!

Since I haven't mentioned it in awhile, I want to give a shout out to my new bike. I LOVE YOU!
Today Michael installed the computer, which means I will quit bugging my cycling buddies to tell me how fast we're going and how far we've ridden. I got to really test it out on some hills on Thursday night, when I was out getting lost in Mendota Heights and heard someone call my name from a gas station off to the right. I had no idea who would be yelling my name in the middle of Mendota Heights, but I looked over and there was my teammate, Manda, waving at me from the middle of a group of cyclists. "Come ride with us," she said, so I did. It turned out it was the Freewheel Bikes group ride, and as it happened, it was my first real group ride of the season (real in that I wasn't the ride leader, and thus had no say in the pace.) It was hilly and a faster than I'd been riding, so it was a good challenge. Big Blue helped me keep up with the pack and I was happy to have run into Manda and the group.

Summer Break!

Okay, I know I'm only taking one class per semester, but I still get that feeling of relief at the end of the school year. I will have my Tuesday nights free again. Maybe I can finally make it to a group ride out of NOW Bikes. But the best part is that I will be free from school guilt for three months! I get a little obsessed about doing my homework. I don't know why this kicked in AFTER I finished the majority of my schooling, but at least I finally get to know what it's like to have a 4.0 GPA.

Here is the final version of the cover of my book, which I turned in as my final project. Summer goal: finish WRITING the book.