bye bye cat 4

Well i must say it was rather fun while it lasted but alas i must join the big girls in their game.
this weekend signaled the end of cat 4 riding for me, but not to worry i went out with a bang.

After arriving to the Saturday rr with just enough time to sign on , get changed and warm up ( thanks to a directionally challenged driver ) the two giant "kids" lined up to score some BC team points and cause some pain ( for both ourselves and our competitors ). Within the first quarter lap we were accomplishing our goal. Without and conscious effort on the team's part the pack had fragmented into several smaller clumps with the front group only registering 6 ( some credit must however go to the new, but fast Megan Rathwell for pulling the unwilling group up the first long climb ) by the time we got to the top of the WALL OF DOOM the lead pack was down to 4 with Megan Rathwell powering off the front. After some shared effort with one of the local ride girls and some yo-yoing I Finaly caught up with her just before the end of the lap, only to have her slip away again when we reached the WALL. But a certain spectator wasn't about to let me loose her and followed me yelling for me to ride faster ( i was pretty sure that wasn't possible but a scary guy in a large truck is pretty good motivation ) with about 7 km to go i caught her and sat on her wheel waiting for her to make me pull or for her to attack , but neither happened and it came down to a sprint for first , after her power housing the course i had the legs and took the win by several bike lenghts.

Sunday morning came far to early and i dawned my skin suit at 7:30 am and started warming up for what was to be my hilliest time trial yet, now i must admit that time trials are not my favourite form of punishment but this one was much less horrible and i ended up 3rd ( which ment that i needed to win the crit to keep the overall )

As Sunday afternoon rolled around i was excited about the technical but flat crit that i was about to embark on. After umpteen times around the course i lined up front and center , ready. the pace was moderate from the gun and picked up a bit for a few of the laps but nothing that would really shatter the group. because of my solo status and the nasty headwind i sat out of the wind in second place for 90 percent of the race watching for anything dangerous but nothing really presented itself and it wasn't until the prime lap that the speed picked up again with Liz from local ride making a serious effort for the three points , but after some good cornering i had a gap and sprinted for the line and took the points. When i crossed the line and looked back i realized that i had quite a gap and made an effort to stay away but the group pulled me back and i took my second wheel spot back with no opposition . In the final lap Rachel Canning and i jumped and seceded in acquiring a small gap which we kept to the line.

well im going to miss not being the poor sucker suffering off the back but my dues must be paid and im down with suffering as long as i learn somthing aling the way.
bye bye cat 4