2012 Tour of Battenkill

2012 The Tour of Battenkill Women Cat 4 White This race was my 1st bike race & another HUGE learning lesson for me! I was given GREAT advice from my friends and THEY WERE ALL RIGHT! But, I like to try things out my way and this usually means I end up making mistakes (lol). I should have listened to them but I didn’t and this is why (lol): I raced in the Women’s Cat 4 White field. We were sent off at 2:40 p.m. 10 minutes behind the Women’s Cat 4 Blue field. I took my friends advice and made sure I placed myself in the top 15 of the white wave. At the start, I was very nervous being so close to so many riders so I opted to get as close as I could to the yellow lines and I’M SO THANKFUL (to you know who) I CHOSE THIS LINE! They sent our group off following the pace car for the first few miles. The pace car was going pretty slow but this is what I’m told happens. The majority of women in my group were not friendly at all (this is a race so I kind of brushed it off… but I really did not like being in this tight group with lots of pushy & I don’t give a hoot riders… but this is what I guess is also common at these races???). There was a woman in orange that managed to squeeze and push between me and the girl to my right. How she did this with not enough room I don’t know but we were so close she kept bumping into my hand and trying to push me over the yellow lines (lines I was told not to cross or I’ll get disqualified). I opted to try to give her a nice clue to basically say back the hell off by nicely saying “Hi, I’m Robin. Good luck today & boy it’s a tight group.” The women in orange spoke rudely to me and said well you just have to get use to riding like this (which I was thinking she’s probably right?)… So we kept at it she kept bumping me and pushing at my right hand and I kept fighting to keep my line and then there was a loud POP and someone to our right front got a flat and slowed fast and everyone moved around it quickly causing several riders to go over the yellow lines or else they would have gone down. I manage to only cross one of the yellow lines (is that o.k. or not? I don’t know). At this point, I had enough of the women in orange and her I don’t give a hoot style of riding and pulled out and got around her and closer to the front. I knew she was trouble and I did not want to be close to her. At this time, our group was still following the pace car and I could see the women in orange moving up but to the far right and I was o.k. with that because I was not going to leave the yellow lines with this group. Sure enough there was some sort of HUGE PROBLEM around the women in orange and a women went down HARD to my right and in the front of me but the bike detached from her and ended up right in front me and few others so we all had to cross those (BLESSED) yellow lines in order to stay up and not create a pile up. At this point WE WERE STILL FOLLOWING THE PACE CAR! If I could tell you or have enough time to explain the MANY things going through my mind at this time… To sum it up, I was thinking: What did I get myself into? I have my entire triathlon season ahead of me. Why did I agree to try this? I’m going to crash if I stay with this group. I don’t want to be out for my triathlon season. What do I do? With all these thoughts and concerns going through my head, I THREW OUT ALL THE GREAT ADVICE MY FRIENDS SO KINDLY GAVE ME! I had ENOUGH! I was going to the front and if this meant I was going to use all my energy then so be it. I wasn’t going to stay behind this CRAZY, don’t give hoot group of KATY female riders (lol). We took a turn onto the 1st packed dirt road and I pulled into the top 3 in the front. The pace car speeded up and we started to pull up the first hill. I was keeping my eye on the women in orange as to make sure I was in front of her because I knew she was trouble… BOY I’m GLAD I did… Sure enough shortly into that climb she went down! I feel bad for saying this but I was a bit relieved because I didn’t have to worry about her being next to me or in front of me or causing me to crash. At this point we were going what I consider fairly slow and I wanted to test the group out to see if I could drop them and I THOUGHT TO MYSELF I DON’T WANT TO RIDE WITH THIS INSANITY, this group! I’m going to CRASH IF I STAY WITH THEM (My crash on last Tues. nights ride was still very VIVID in my head & I was willing to give this race up in order to STAY UP)! I thought well maybe I might be able to break away so I pulled to the front and pushed the pace and they all followed. I didn’t pull my hardest but hard enough to bring the pace up. I felt GREAT on all the tar roads but the dirt roads I was very nervous riding on. I barely had any prior riding experience or training on dirt roads and this was one of my ultimate down falls & mistakes in this race. Well, like MY FRIENDS SAID if you show them you are strong then they will make you pull them the entire way and this was the case. I kept pulling then trying to pull off, moving to the left and bending my elbow to let them know I was pulling off but when I moved left they all moved left. I even slowed down to a coast & peddled backwards on a downhill and they still stayed behind me. I was a bit frustrated and slowed down more… Finally someone else took the front and I drafted top 5 behind. It didn’t matter who took the front… They were all taking it easy and going at a pace that considered slow… As we hit more dirt roads I realized I did not like drafting on dirt roads behind this group AT ALL! I ended up purposely taking the front just so I could get away from the CRAZY lines they were all taking. I ended up pulling the majority of the first 40 miles with a few other females helping out here and there. I tried talking to the females into helping form a pace line with me and to do a break away and we attempted this many times and each time I would break away hard, then the group I talked to would follow and then I would pull off the front and the girl with pink socks (who helped me pull a good amount but less then I) would keep my pace but the other girls would slow drastically and then the large group would be back with us. I was getting so FRUSTRATED and I kept thinking of the GREAT ADVICE MY FRIENDS GAVE ME THAT I WAS NOT LISTENING TO! I knew they were right! I was beginning to feel the ware & tare on my body from pulling this group and trying to break away from them. It was right around mile 40 that I came up to my dear friend Kelly who was sent off in the Women’s Cat. 4 Blue group 10 minutes in front of mine. She yelled to me HI Robin and I said HI back. At this point I pulled off the front and sat 4 riders back to eat and drink and boy did the pace slow whenever I pulled off the front. I did not like the slow pace (lol). Kelly was able to pull up next to me and we talked. I told her no one is pulling. I’ve been doing most of the pulling. She said that’s what happens. I knew I was in for trouble because I was feeling the fatigue but I thought to myself maybe I’ll just keep pulling trying to tire them out and stay with the front 4 and then attack on the last hill. I thought I was a bit tired to try to time trial the last 10 miles but I was leaving that as a possibility too if I felt up for it. Our group pulled onto another bad dirt road. I took the lead on the dirt road (again, because I did not want to be behind these unpredictable riders on these types of roads). I pulled for a good amount and then SUPER KIND Kelly pulled up and said Robin, here I’ll pull for you for a bit and BOY did she do GREAT (with all her mountain biking skills), I felt comfortable riding behind her and it was a HUGE relief to see her at that point. The dirt road ended and we went onto tar. I LOVE TAR! Did I say I REALLY, REALLY LOVE TAR! Kelly said o.k. Robin I’ll see you at the finish good luck & I said the same to her. I hit the tar and took off the group staying with me again all the same moves… I pulled hard pulled left and slowed down and they all followed. I was like well if this is how it’s going to be then I just keep pushing trying to tire them (but I knew I was tiring myself more). Next came the WORST DIRT ROAD and this is where I made THE DECISION TO LET THE RACE GO (I stopped fighting for a bit and that was enough). We started down an even worse dirt road that was super soft and deep with rocks. I was thinking how the heck am I going to make it through this stuff? I was in the front and thanking God I was because who can ride through this stuff? What where those course designers thinking? Why am I doing this? My triathlon season is just starting… I started down the decent and my back wheel starts fish tailing SUPER BAD I started losing control and I thought I was going to go down I was almost sure I was going down… I pulled though it and kept up but 4-6 rider pulled around me (I would have done the same… I wouldn’t want to ride behind me on this rode too)… We started up a dirt climb I had no problem staying with them. I could see the pace was DRASTICALLY INCREASING and I realized this is it they are going for THE FINAL BREAKAWAY TO THE END! This dirt road continued on and we started another decent with another HORRIBLE dirt section again I started to fish tail and again almost went down… I managed to pull though and stay up (how I did I don’t know, I again was sure I was going to go down)… I had to slow down to stay up and the breakaway group created a little gap between me and them and I was thinking I’ll catch them and I started to push it up a hill and I was gaining on them and then it was another decent and again the same HORRIBLE dirt. I tried to keep a fast speed but when I entered the thick dirt I began fish tailing even more and I thought to myself this time… If I stay up, I’m going to take it easy and just get through the rest of this HORRIBLE DIRT… IT’S NOT WORTH IT… I don’t need to CRASH, get injured or go down and do who knows what to my body… I figured I had 3 chances and I’d used more than that up. I slowed drastically and just found a line I could ride and not fish tail and get though the HORRIBLE dirt. At this point the breakaway group consisted of about 10-12 riders who they all were I’m not sure because it was some that helped me pull but it was also some that just sat it while we did the work. Faces I didn’t see much (lol). I kept a steady pace the remainder of the dirt section but the breakaway group was nowhere in sight. I ended up passing a female in my group going up one of the steep hills (I think she bonked) and I asked her how far in front were they… She said about 3 minutes? I don’t know how true this was but I was like well I’ll just keep going steady. The dirt road finally ended and I was like THANK GOD! I hit the tar and it brought a SMILE to my face. At this point I didn’t think I’d really catch anyone else but I figured I’d finish as strong as I could. I hit the tar and started to push it. I could see bikers in front of me and I was looking at their numbers most of them were men but I came across another female from my group. I pulled next to her and asked her how far in front were they and she said about a quarter of a mile? I’m not sure how true this was? I pulled hard & long and then she pulled not so hard or long, then I pulled hard & long and then she was no longer there. I kept going and then came up on a group of 3 women from the Cat. 4 blue group in a pace line with a guy at the end. I thought maybe we could get the line going faster so I pulled up the man and said can I ride with my group (lol). He looked shocked and laughed and said of course and let me in (lol). I knew he wasn’t supposed to be drafting on them as did he. I stayed for a short bit then pulled in front of them trying to get them to go with me but they couldn’t keep my pace so pulled away. There was only about 5K’s left and I was disappointed but determined to finish the race as I was approaching the last kilometer I could see someone from my wave and so I sprinted it and passed her right at the end. I ended up 6th in my group. I was HAPPY with the GREAT experience I got as well as an AMAZING workout. I learned a lot and for now on I plan to listen TO THE GREAT ADVICE FROM MY FRIENDS (lol). Results: http://velocityresults.com/results/376/tour-of-the-battenkill-cambridge-ny