The Sweet Taste of…Finishing!

Perhaps you’ve heard the old adage in bicycle racing or athletics in general, that making it to the start is half the battle.  Well, if making it to the start involves training, then my battle this summer has been fierce.

I started off the summer with some great fitness and a big ego boost with a 4th place finish at the Collegiate Road National Championship RR, a 5th place finish in the omnium, a 4th place finish in the team time trial, and a 4th place finish for the University of Arizona team overall.  I came home to Tucson ready to put in some big training hours in preparation for the Cascade Cycling Classic and Elite Road Nationals in beautiful Bend, OR.

But then, I hit the deck.  Hard.  In a training group ride.  Unlike a previous crash earlier in the season, this one sent me to the ER.  Although I was super lucky to escape without broken bones – just broken bike parts – I did end up with a nerve impingement in my rotator cuff in my right arm.  Unfortunately, the injury kept me off the bike for nearly a month, as I couldn’t even hold the bars without my arm going numb.  Not exactly the preparation I had in mind for Cascade and Nationals.

But I slogged it out at the Tour de Nez, slogged it out in training, and even braved the group ride again with some words of encouragement and a few pushes from my awesome coach.  And suddenly, less than two weeks before the start of Cascade, I realized one blazing hot afternoon, just after a fantastic MTB ride in the mountains with Spring, that I couldn’t breath.  Apparently, I had developed what is know as Reactive Airway Disease (aka asthma), due to some environmental or exercise induced condition.  My reaction: #*$$*^&$%*^!!!!!!  I’d never had asthma in my life!  And to top it all off, I couldn’t take an inhaler (albuterol), since it is a banned substance according to the US Anti-Doping Agency, and I did not have an exemption for it and wouldn’t be able to get one in time for Cascade.  The breathing problem was just as bad off the bike as it was on the bike, so I decided to give Cascade a go despite it all.

So before I knew it, I found myself lining up against the best women in the United States here in Bend, OR for the six-day, six-stage Cascade Cycling Classic.

In sum, the team rode well, with Marilyn finishing as our top placed rider in 29th.  I had exactly two good days on the bike during Cascade, two horrible days, and two mediocre days.  Not too shabby considering all of the mini-fiascos leading up to the race.

And I must admit, that there were a few too many moments when I considered dropping out of the race, either because I was off-the-back, not breathing properly, feeling discouraged, thirsty, hungry, you name it, but in the end, I slogged it out and finished.  And guess what?  It feels good (in a weird, self-inflicted painful kind of way).  I may not have had my best result (66th in GC) or stage placings (32nd was the best, I think), but I didn’t give up, and it actually feels pretty glorious to fight the second half of the race battle and win.

And next time, watch out, ladies, because I’m going to be prepared, and I have one too many race-demons to exorcise.

But now, I am just going to go try to finish the Elite Nationals Road Race. 

Until next time, happy racin’!