Staying upright and finishing

This used to be my hope for any cat 4 bike race, but the Tucson Bike Classic stage race showed me that maybe all of this training is working!
Stage 1: A 3 mile TT, witha 6% climb to the finish. If a time trial is the “race of truth”, then I finished with Wonderwoman’s golden lasso around me…..10th place, “I should have went harder.” Disappointment in these results did not linger with fellow teammate, Angie Axeman staying with me and providing  comedic relief. 

Stage 2: A 40 mile road race with 700 feet of climbing. (I need to add a head wind to that description) The official had to yell “Go!” twice to get our group to really get started because no one wanted to be in front, climbing into the wind. The first lap (20miles) I sat in and stayed with the group. A few attacks happened in that first lap, but nothing that got away. On the second and final lap, a girl from the back , whom I hadn’t seen all day, attacked on the hill just before the turn. Smart move on her part. I hesitated, or maybe I was blocked in, or I didn’t know how to get around these girls. Either way, she got away with four other girls, “oh  no! I’m getting dropped again!”. I couldn’t let this happen. I worked hard with two other girls to catch what was now going to be the second group….i’m still working…we’re down to just 2 of us…now it’s just me. Then a girl with maple leaves on her jersey came around me and told me to hang on. It was Canada! I recognized her from yesterday, she’ s from Quebec. Canada and I worked together and cought the second group. I rode in and finished within this group. I don’t know what place I was because they forgot to put my name in the results. The important thing is I didn’t get completely dropped! This is improvement!

Stage 3: 28 mile circuit race. It was cold and I was cranky. Luckily, Angie mixed some yogurt and granola for me to eat in the car, my crankiness was fading.

I sat in, I didn’t go to the front once, I watched the girl who had the successful attack from yesterday, she was up front. Our group was passed several times by the masters men’s race. Usually the motorcycle came first, then the men wooshed by. So when I heard a voice yell “on your left!” I thought it was another men’s group wanting to pass us. It was the girl in my group, “the attacker” from yesterday, yelling, “On your left!” as she started her attack. How did I let her out of my sight? I couldn’t let this happen again, I worked hard to catch back on. (Where was Canada?) Another girl came up behind me to help, we hammered as hard as we could and caught them. I did not let “the attacker” out of my site again. Going into the last lap, I stayed in the back with “the attacker”. She waited until the finish to make another move, but we were all together.  I finished with the group and even sprinted to the line. I finished 6th in this race and 7th overall-this is better than staying upright and finishing.