Madera Stage Race, March 12-13, 2010 - MEA Report

Cat: W4, Overall GC: 4, Field: 43

I did this stage race last year and was really looking forward to the race, knowing that it would be a fun weekend. Rich and I drove down Friday night in heavy rain hopeful that the weather forecast of showers tapering off for the crit Sat. morning would hold true. I was ecstatic to wake up to sunny skies, albeit windy.

Stage 2, Criterium, Sat. 9:50 AM – finished 26th with the pack.

This was my second crit (first was Madera last year)– my goal was simply to finish with the pack and move on to the next stage – mission accomplished! After the first couple laps, I anticipated when the group would surge and was prepared to respond and was better positioned.

Stage 3, Sharon ITT, Sat. 2:22 PM start tim. Time: 28:22 Place: 3/43

I was the first W Cat 4 out – I am used to it with the last name beginning with "A". There was a lag of 3 minutes between my group and the preceding Cat 5 men. Unlikely that I would catch anyone, but I did pass one guy shortly before the finish line– and no one passed me. I had an ambitious goal of 26:30 but that was not to be realized for several reasons. First, the wind was absolutely fierce which led to slower times generally for all. Second, I think that I was so relieved that the crit was over that lacked some of my TT inner drive. Third, on the second leg with a cross wind, I got stung by a bee on my right temple. I thought "HTFU" and picked it out of my hair/helmet – the bee definitely got the worst of it (although the side of my forehead today is swollen and red). But it did cost me a bit of time. I pushed through the strong cross/headwind & headwind on the last two legs of the course but it was brutal. Throughout the race I felt quite stable on the bike even with the wind and riding at 45 degrees at times. I decided to race with the rear disk but used Rich's Bontrager Race XXX Lite instead of my tri-spoke on the front. I love to TT and look forward to BTC TT this Saturday for great training. After the TT, I was third in the GC.

Stage 4, Daulton RR, Sun. 11:55 AM. Place: 13/43, 51 miles (3 laps).

I was happy to start in the second wave and have more time for recovery (especially with daylight savings time change). The first wave started ½ hour late, so that affected all of the second wave start times. The temps were perfect for a road race. Pretty uneventful the first two laps – I love the series of short roller coasters and found that after the first lap that I could easily take the lead on the rollers. We dropped part of the peloton on the first lap and more on the second lap. However, on the first leg of the 3rd lap we were neutralized single file for quite a while until a men's peloton passed up, which gave some women who were TTT'ing the course to rejoin the lead group. I wanted to be well positioned for the last climb on the rollers on the last lap for the finish and was moving up on the left just when someone at the front flatted and slowed the pace. I seized this opportunity and suddenly found myself in a solo breakaway with a sweet lead on the first roller. It was heaven and I felt strong – and then encountered a mechanical problem when I tried to shift. I made the mistake of trying to adjust the gears instead of just gutting it out. I lost my lead and finished 23 seconds behind the lead group (13th). Frustrating and disappointing, but live and learn, and at least I know I had the power – just didn't execute. Looking forward to Topsport Stage Race in 2 weeks!