Birchwood RR report
From: Lee Penn
Date: Aug 12, 2007 1:49 PM
Great report David!
Here’s mine… I went into this race feeling pretty good - my usual
bit-o-asthma and that’s it. FINALLY!
W123 - 4 laps in the very very hot afternoon… I actually thought I might
not race due to weather. During my son’s soccer practice, these ominous
clouds and gusting winds made me believe the afternoon was gonna be toast.
Instead, we have hot hot hot sunshine all afternoon!
Eleven starters. We have an almost five mile neutral ride to the start,
which was just peachy. We had a very chatty and delightful ride to the
start. Everyone rode a clean race, and it was super duper fun. THANK
GOODNESS the birchies had neutral water - it was super hot, and two bottles
would not have been enough!
Lap one - the group stays together until the 1 k 6.5% grade hill - we take
the hill at a modest pace but drop two. Lap two - I attack at the top
third, and we are now a group of six. Three birchies, Shana, Margo
(silvercycling), and me. Lap three - we stay together. There are a few
mini attackes by birchies, but everything is covered nicely. Everyone is
working well together, although I spend too much time on the front. It’s
hot. We are grateful for the shady patch that leads into the super fun
tunnel chicagne. Modest pace up the hill. Lap four - we stay together.
Fun through the tunnel. Several miniattacks - all covered. We get to the
hill - shana attacks, and she just flies up the hill. Field fractures into
shana, two birchies, me, next birchi, and silver cycling. I’m just way too
asthmatic to keep the pace. I don’t know if I could have kept the pace
without asthma, but, well, that’s the way my body works right now - it is
what it is. The order in which we crest the hill is the order in which we
finish. I hold up at the top to pick up heather (new birchie, cool woman,
mom). We work together until 200 to go, and I sprint off to take fourth -
in the money, it turns out!
Great things about the race: organization, marshalling, the AWESOME course,
the food (thanks bwc!), hard racing, and the women who raced.
My only mistake? I did too much work on the front - somehow, I just end up
on the front and unable to get off the front… Otherwise, my major
weakness was the final climb. I was super happy with how I raced and how
everyone else raced. What a blast!
Lee