Rain, Rain, Go Away

The second weekend of Spring Series saw the double up for the women of Giant - with the "classic" (and only one that I've done) Zero Ave course, followed by the daunting Armstrong course on Sunday (the down, across, up, across course).

Saturday started out with some questionable weather, but the actual rain held off until moments before we jumped into our cars post-race. The roster for the Bs had Alena, Lisa, Jenelle and myself, while Kath and Claire were representing in the Cs. The B race was less agressive than last week's River Road course, quite possibly due to the pain that was to be inflicted by the hill repeats of the following day. We marked everything really well as a team, but in the end, nothing was able to make it more than a few hundred meters off the front anyway. Jenelle made a move early on and brought a tag along with her out front, but unfortunately her compatriot decided that he was too out of shape and was not able to pull and the break was pulled in rather quickly.

As the race went on, the wind picked up and it became rather evident that it was going to be a day for the bunch sprinters. With a lap to go, Lisa came and found me and we began to think about the finish. Jeremy had given us some good advice - namely that the lead in to the finish is REALLY long, so we were good and prepared. With a few kilometers to go, Lisa started her assault on the front with me in tow. At first I hesitated a little, as I really have never been lead out before, but I put my faith in Dr. Howard (hee hee) and had her wind me through the bunch to take the final corner at 200m in about 6-7th spot. I lost her wheel coming out of the corner (something we can work on, as Lisa believes she needs to take the corner faster, which means I really need to pick it up!) and as I came out of the corner I put my head down and chased the back wheel of the dudes in front with everything I had (which was somewhat reminiscent of the training sets I was doing on the track earlier in the week!). With a good punch out of the corner I managed to nip across the line in 4th (scared to death that I would get a yellow line violation!) for a good showing for Giant. One that was only solidified by the girls in the C field who were showing the boys how to race and managed to get an all Giant breakaway off the front - only to be caught in the final 400m...too bad, but a great experience to Kath and an exceptional return to racing for Claire only weeks after knee surgery.

Alas, a sprint finish was not to be had on Sunday - which was a day of which epic tales are told. We dwindled in numbers somewhat with only Alena, Jenelle and myself taking to the line, but we had plenty of rain to keep us company. I must say, I was impressed with the gusto of the bicycle racers in the lower mainland as I have not seen a day that gross for a good long time! After being entertained by Jenelle and Cody Campbell trash talking a la Talledega Nights on the start line, we descended the back of Armstrong in which can only be described as the most frightening descent of my life. For some unknown reason I had decided that my capette would be enough to shelter my eyes from the rain - but man was I wrong! I spent the descent blinking as fast as I possibly could and I actually had to close my eyes a couple of times (at which point I prayed I would not crash!). I did make it to the bottom in one piece (had you told me earlier that it was the descent that would scare me I would have laughed!) and moved forward to get ready for the climb. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Armstrong - the hill is broken up into 3 bits. There is the first REALLY quite steep part (where I wanted my 27 cog), then a little repriese before another jut up, then a sweep to the left and up another 200m in more of a false flat. Believe it or not, it's the last one that usually tuckers the legs. Jenelle had a mishap on the first climb - and was relieved to know that for once that "I think I have a flat feeling" was correct and not just a sign of failing legs. She was able to find herself a pump and a tube and jump back in on the second lap (after freezing half to death - apparently we don't climb that hill as fast as I think we do!) From there it was the patented BC race of attrition. My selection came down much differently than I had expected....after the 5th lap I had been gapped over the top of the crest by about 15m from the front group (I was the last girl in the front group which gave me a good sense of glee) and I was chasing hard with a few of my closest buddies to get back on. Unfortunately as I was pulling through, the guy pulling off decided to pull off into me and we tangled handlebars and went down. It was one of those pleasant falls - the kind like a good mud slide tackle in soccer - and I was up quick enough to see the group about 300m ahead of me and know that with the wind picking up, I was never going to get back on. The dude I crashed with was also kind enough to teach me just how much profanity could be yelled in a 30 second block - quite a talent if I do say so myself.

So the crew finished off the race in the traditional 1s and 2s format of struggling up the hill - but we all finish it and were happy to retreat to warm, damp clothes in the car, as that was the best that we could hope for.

Definitely a successful first full weekend on the bike and I'm stoked to get out there and do some more practising to make us the most cohesive team around!