Pretty much all of my races this year haven't been very good. I race as hard as I can but i'm not going as fast as I feel I should be able to. My training has been fine but my races are horrible. Missouri State Championships was no exception.
We got up early so my dad could drive us down to Truman lake in time for my little sister's race and he could pre-ride a lap. I was a little tired but I after a warm up I felt ready to roll. My Specialized Fate 29er was ready to rock the trails and hopefully shred the competition.
I lined up with 3 other women and we chatted it up before the start. It was cool to race against some other women that don't live that far away. I'm so used to having to race the men since no one else shows up. We took off and I got the hole shot. It was a pretty bad pile up to get through, we had to go over a bridge that was just wide enough for 1 person to go over at a time. I managed to push through some of the men and put a couple of them between me and the other women.
I held the front for about 2 miles but I started to feel sick. My stomach hurt and I was on the verge of puking. Two of the ladies got around me. I stayed with them as long as possible but they dropped me and I was stuck riding on the wheel of a slower cat 1 guy.
I rode like this the whole first lap, all the while being passed by most of the cat 2 field. At the end of my first lap I went around the guy I was riding with and took off, I had gotten a second wind but it didn't last long.
A couple of miles into the lap the last place lady caught up to me. A cat 2 guy had just passed me and when I jumped on his wheel to ride with him he told me a lady wasn't far behind, maybe a couple of seconds. She tried to make a move around both of us but bailed at the last second. Next opening I saw I took off. I had been riding too slow and I wasn't gonna let her beat me, if she wanted to win she would have to chase me for it. She went after me for a while but gave up. I slowed down again but kept a decent pace so she wouldn't catch me again.
I came in a couple of minutes behind first and second, nowhere near as good as I wanted to do. The lady who got last place was really nice though and she recommended a college to me that she goes to. I ended up third over all and second in the state, the women who got first is from a different state.
Hopefully I get out of this funk sometime soon so I can go hard at Nationals and not let my team down in Canada. Next update should be for Ute Valley Pro XCT and the last couple of days leading up to Nationals. Maybe a tour of KC update too.
We got up early so my dad could drive us down to Truman lake in time for my little sister's race and he could pre-ride a lap. I was a little tired but I after a warm up I felt ready to roll. My Specialized Fate 29er was ready to rock the trails and hopefully shred the competition.
I lined up with 3 other women and we chatted it up before the start. It was cool to race against some other women that don't live that far away. I'm so used to having to race the men since no one else shows up. We took off and I got the hole shot. It was a pretty bad pile up to get through, we had to go over a bridge that was just wide enough for 1 person to go over at a time. I managed to push through some of the men and put a couple of them between me and the other women.
I held the front for about 2 miles but I started to feel sick. My stomach hurt and I was on the verge of puking. Two of the ladies got around me. I stayed with them as long as possible but they dropped me and I was stuck riding on the wheel of a slower cat 1 guy.
A couple of miles into the lap the last place lady caught up to me. A cat 2 guy had just passed me and when I jumped on his wheel to ride with him he told me a lady wasn't far behind, maybe a couple of seconds. She tried to make a move around both of us but bailed at the last second. Next opening I saw I took off. I had been riding too slow and I wasn't gonna let her beat me, if she wanted to win she would have to chase me for it. She went after me for a while but gave up. I slowed down again but kept a decent pace so she wouldn't catch me again.
I came in a couple of minutes behind first and second, nowhere near as good as I wanted to do. The lady who got last place was really nice though and she recommended a college to me that she goes to. I ended up third over all and second in the state, the women who got first is from a different state.
Hopefully I get out of this funk sometime soon so I can go hard at Nationals and not let my team down in Canada. Next update should be for Ute Valley Pro XCT and the last couple of days leading up to Nationals. Maybe a tour of KC update too.
Hey Keren, don't miss out on your chance to win a free entry to Dogfish Cross in Hermann!
ReplyDeleteGo here
http://www.hermanncx.com/race%20for%20free.html