Woo hoo! Another race night!!

I missed the UBC crit last week because I was pretty burnt out from a long weekend away, and had much to catch up on at home.

This last weekend was my last weekend of major training for the 4 Peaks for Parkinson's ride on June 5 - I did a mountain climb up Cypress, then Grouse. I feel more and more ready for the ride up all four....aside from being nervous. But enough of that! If you want to read more about my ride prep, I've posted about it over here.

Back to the race.

It was a sticky, humid evening. I was shocked to get outside in the fresh air after being sheltered in the air conditioning all day.

My cycling kit was almost immediately sweaty.

I was running behind because of work and having to walk the dog...so we had to go super fast up Ontario to get across the city and into Burnaby. Pretty positive I got some PR's on that ride!

I didn't have much time to spend warming up before we got in line for the race. The cat 4 and 5 men took off, and we followed right behind them. We were only lapped by one men's group -- who should have neutralized before attempting to pass us on the CORNER -- but they didn't. We did our best as a group to keep neutral until all the men got by us. I think that was our best effort yet.

This race had fewer women in it than normal - just under 20 riders. It seemed faster and more difficult than previous races. There was a lot of floating fluffy bits/pollen in the air, and when we rode against the wind, the fluffy bits would stick to your face, get in your nose, and in your mouth. I felt as if I had a fluff beard at one point!

There were a few women at the front of the pack nearly the entire time. They seemed aggressive and they were able to keep the speed up. Some of the girls that are racing are still a bit sketchy, and I have no interest in being anywhere near them in the pack. Though there hasn't been a crash yet, I don't want to chance it.

We are certainly getting speedier in the corners, but not everyone is letting off the brakes yet. I'm feeling a lot more confident in the corners than when I started.

Prime lap bell chimed, and the pace picked up a bit. As we came around the last corner towards the finish line, the majority of the pack started to speed up and eventually sprint. Some women stood, some women sat. A woman from the back (ATAC team) of the pack crept her way up and up and up, steadily from the left side, and gave an explosive burst to break out in front just in time to take the prime.

The rest of the race was spent at a relatively quick pace, with short efforts to sprint and break up the pack, lots of moving around the road from left to right (kind of not sure why the front of the pack was doing this???) and general back and forth from front to back and side to side.

The bell lap rang, and again, our pace quickened. I had a plan in my mind to make my way to the front. I had no problem getting up to the front, and with a face full of fluffs, I tried to keep that place.

Coming around the final corner, the pace quickened even more.

I pushed my tired legs harder to keep up. I was out towards the left of the pack, and very close to the front. I would have been happy to fight for fifth place.

The last 75 to 50 meters, everyone started to sprint - and so I followed suit. I was absolutely determined not to be dropped below fifth place.

The finish line was still a ways away.

A Glotman rider was right next to me, and we fought inch and inch to push a wheel ahead of the other. I was full on with pain face. I pushed and shoved my bike. I used my arms, my legs, my full body to propel my bike forward in hopes of keeping my place.

It was of no use.

I placed 8th in the end. It was a close and hard race. The 8 of us at the front of the pack were within inches of each other where we finished. We all tried really hard.

It was a great race. I haven't tried that hard, ever!

I'm really looking forward to next week.

This weekend I took part in my very first cycling road race. Not even a year after getting my road bike, and jumping into Lycra, and I'm already giving road racing a shot.

I can honestly say I tried, hard as I could, to do well in this race. My bike had other plans for the day though!

The race was Jeremy's Roubaix, out in Pitt Meadows. This is a classic race put on by Local Ride, and is part of the Cycling BC Premier Series. The race takes place on the same day of, and is inspired by, the Paris Roubaix, a really famous cycling race in France. The race featured a 10 km course, with about 50% of the course on gravel paths. The proceeds from the race go towards helping a local young and talented racer, Maggie Coles-Lyster, make her way to race World Championship races - which is a cause I'm happy to support.

I had my normal pre-race nerves - and with this being my first road race and not knowing what to expect, I was a little extra nervous. I'd barely been riding a road bike for a year, I had barely been on my bike all winter and I am not generally the fastest rider in any group.

Because the registration line-up was so long, I had only a short couple of minutes to warm-up my legs. The women's Novice/Cat-4 group was small - less than 10 of us. The majority of the group was decked out in team colours and kits....I was just happy to be sporting my fancy new SAKO7 socks.

The race started a little behind schedule, and off we were...

I started off close to mid-pack, and had no problem staying in that position until a corner came up. I would fall off in the corner because I was taking it too slow, and then I'd have to sprint to get back in. By the middle of lap two I was in the back of the pack - but I had managed to figure out the corners, so that I wasn't falling to far behind the group.

In my mind, I was going to hold on as I was, until the third and forth lap, where I would take chances on the paved sections to sneak up a place or two. My bike had other plans.

On the second lap, as we came off of the gravel section and back onto the paved road, the group went to sprint ahead. While I went to stand, push and sprint, my gears decided to jump around and caused my to spin wildly and make no head way. I frustratingly fumbled with my feet on the pedals and tried to get my gear to a better place - but by the time I was set to sprint, and sprint I did, the pack of women riders was far ahead. I used as much energy as I had in me to sprint and push and sprint and try to catch back up to the group - but they pushed faster than I could before I ran out of energy. Gassed, I finished the race on my own.

I finished the race and headed straight home.

I was being a poor sport. I was frustrated with my mechanical failure. I was embarrassed with my performance. I was being hard on myself because I knew I could have done better.

I eventually got over it. I had a bath, drank a beer, swore a bit, talked about it. When I left the race, I swore I would never race road again - I was that frustrated. When I calmed down, I realized that road racing presents a new challenge for me. I may not have a fancy bike or equipment, I may be new to this sport, I may not be the strongest rider or the fastest sprinter...but I am determined and I don't give up. I like this challenge.

I have a couple weeks until the next race, and I have plans to practice hard and get prepared. As my boyfriend was reassuring me, I will only get better if I keep trying. He's right. I know he is. I may fail a few times, or a whole bunch of times, along the way - but as long as I keep trying, and don't give up, that's what matters the most.

So, for now, I'll race my Frankenbike. It's been all dialed up since the race, and the gear issue has been fixed so that won't happen again. I'm looking forward to having a better attitude at the next race, and being more prepared, now that I have an idea of what to expect.

 Tell me about a time you did something for the first time, and how it went for you.

Event Organizers - Local Ride