Whoops, Nationals

Well, this past weekend was a bit of a crapshoot. I had headed up to Madison for the U23 Nationals Crit, an event that was added into my racing schedule just two weeks ago.  I got up to Madison the night before and was able to relax a bit, find a Whole Foods and a local gluten free bakery.

I spent the morning of the race at the hotel before heading to downtown Madison. It was nice to see some friends that I hadn’t talked to in awhile, as well as the usual stalwarts from the MWCCC that were competing, including my friend Hannah from Lindsey Wilson who would be racing with me. I felt good leading into the race, with only minor nerves about racing on my old bike and some discomfort from the wreck the week before.

However, once the race started it was clear it was not going to be my day. I struggled to get clipped in from the line, and then the constant sprinting/ slowing down motion of the first few laps made it hard to find a rhythm. This continued for the next fifteen minutes or so and I was dropped along with Hannah. However, as USA cycling said, the race was very “Controlled” and because of the slow pace in between Hannah and I did fight out way back on. Unfortunately, another few accelerations and I was back off. However, this time Hannah was further behind and mentally I just cracked with my body following suit. It was clear that someone was wrong, which was only made more obvious as I became friends with a trash can after I pulled out.

I could blame it on the bike, the wreck, and the long car ride but simply put, my legs weren’t there nor was my mentality midrace. I was not riding like I have been the past few weeks. I have always struggled in races where there are massive changes in pace like that, but it is frustrating to be dropped and DNF in a race with only 17 other women, many of whom I have raced against successfully in the past. It is even more frustrating when the average speed was less than that of the 10-12 year old juniors and the words "parade" and "group ride" were being used to describe the event. 

Everyone has bad days, mine just happened at an extremely inopportune time. I am still glad I went because it provided a much needed wakeup call and will be a little push to keep going. I know I still have a long ways to go but looking back I can still see how far I’ve come in just 2.5 seasons of racing. I’ll be doing the entirety of Prairie State this coming week, which will be my first big set of Pro/1/2 races. I fully expect to get murdered, but I also know that I can’t spend the rest of my time riding in the 3/4s fields. Time to put on some big girl bib shorts.

My replacement race bike should come in after Prairie State and hopefully by then I will have shaken whatever is going on with me mentally and physically.