Monday, October 19, 2009

Woo hoo!

(Photo from Russ)
I did three cross races this weekend in a little more than 12 hours. = )
On Saturday, I went up and did the cross race in Verona, WI. Last year, I was dead last -- in part, due to still having the Shimano brake levers on my bike and in part because there was a lot of climbing and a run-up. This year, the log was not there meaning the run-up was rideable but really tough. I was 9th out of 12 Cat. 3 women. I had a horrible start, passed a few girls with one not sticking. Not a great race but not terrible either.

I was a little nervous as to how all the climbing at Verona would do to my racing on Sunday. But, the course in Carpentersville was excellent for me. It had lots of turns, a spiral which I'm starting to get good at and a pump track! I was a little hesitant on the pump track at first but by the race I was sprinting towards it and not braking. It was so much fun! The sand pit seemed shallower. You actually had to do a U-turn. My first race, I rode it most of the time but did tip over one lap. The photo shows my determination to ride it as I suck at running.

My race went awesome. I was was 5th out of 10 girls. My best finish for a Cat. 3 or Womens 123 race. I beat a couple girls I never beat. I went back and forth with a girl. It was great.

I did the Men's 4B. I cut my warmup short to snag a prime starting spot in the first row. I really was feeling all the racing. I would make it through the U-turn in the sandpit and then wouldn't have enough energy to power through the last little bit. It was really frustrating and cost me spots. But, I still had loads of fun -- even when there was a crash that caused me to put a foot down, which immediately got ran over by a bike. I rode a little slower than the morning but still pretty strong and was getting better about picking spots to pass people. I actually got 26th out of 67. Being in the top 30, I actually got series points! So, I'm currently 7th in the women's 123 and 68th for the Men's 4B. = )

Next weekend is the ABD race and I'm hoping to do the Wisconsin cross race on Saturday but we'll have to see. It's Tom and mine wedding anniversary -- nine years. While I can think of nothing better than racing cross for our anniversary, I'm not sure if he'll agree. = )

1 comment:

Julie said...

Nice! You rocked it on Sunday! Great seein' ya, and congrats on making the 4b rankings;)