Photos: RFA hanging out before the start; MEA with Webcor team mate Phyllis at the start; MEA off at the start; MEA coming out of the start house
Place: 4th out of a field of 8 in the W45+ category with a time of 35:38. I was looking forward to this race but I didn't have time to really focus on hill climbing as a result of all of the time trials from the end of May to the present (Beat the Clock (x2), Dunlap and Sattley). Indeed, I did the Beat the Clock TT the day before (with a PR of 26:30) – definitely a Zone 5 weekend. The 10k course went up the Northgate side of Mt. Diablo with a total elevation gain of 1740 feet. The first 1.5 miles were rollers followed by the real fun with grades of up to 15%. My only previous ride up Mt. Diablo was the low key hill climb last fall which went up the south side so, to my detriment, I lacked the first-hand course knowledge.I was the first one out of the start house for the W 45+ at 8:23 so we had the pleasure of warm temps and light winds – most of the TT start times are based on alphabetical order so, as an "A", going out first is my accepted destiny. (My Webcor team mate Phyllis advised me to change my name to Zallen.) The Elite 4 women started ahead of us and the Pro Elite 1/2/3s were behind. The start house and ramp was a first for me and quite cool (although I witnessed an elite 4 male start in too high a gear and almost go off the side of the ramp). The TT itself was rather uneventful; I passed a few of the Elite 4 women early on and was passed (effortlessly) by a Pro Elite 1/2/3 woman near the top. I raced at a pretty steady AT throughout and felt good, but could have done better simply by knowing the mountain. It was great to have Phyllis as a racing mate – if I had to miss out on third place by 7 seconds, at least it was to her! And I even got a pound of Peet's coffee and a few bucks for 4th, so how I can complain?? A really well-organized race – glad I did it and now I have a benchmark for next year . . . .
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