D & Q Summer Sizzler at Gloucester County College 7.11.10

So I was a bit nervous about my first XC race in 2 years, as I knew that riding fast did not come easily to me anymore.  Having a heart problem that made it impossible for me to ride at intensity for a year leading up the the heart surgery, and then having the heart surgery, and then finally being able to start doing endurance rides again, and then being run over by a truck....well you can see why I have no top end.

But the season had been going well, and I was looking forward to racing this course since I used to regularly train there when I first started racing bikes and worked in Jersey.

It only took me 25 minutes to get to GCC.  No traffic.  I set up the trainer under a tree on the course right near where my "feed zone" would be, and started my warm up.  Yes, the sucky thing about XC is I have to warm up, with a road bike, trainer, and powertap.  It's a pain to lug all that but there is not getting around it. 

When I got to the line we all realized that the competition was in 40+, the only young chicks racing were Kathleen Harding, Carolyn Popovic, and Deborah Leedale, who ended up DNFing.  Katherine and Carolyn could fight it out for first place. So I started out fast, and about a quarter of the way through the lap a photographer told me I was a minute off the leaders.  It  felt good to fly, but I knew I would have to settle in a bit, which I did, and Andrea & Lisa were on my tail when I was going down a drop too fast and crashed hard. Endoed actually, I have no idea why.  I lost 2 places, shook it off and got back on my bike. 

Anyway, I had the second fastest first lap in my class, behind the winner Lauri Webber.  I dropped 2 minutes between my first and second, but at least held it there for 2 more laps.  So I have the endurance, just need to be able to hold the speed.  Ended up 5th, won a  few bucks, and felt really good about it.  The best part was only having to do 4 laps.  Are you kidding me?  To be done a race in 2 hours and 19 minutes? And actually get paid cash for placing?  I could get used to this again.