The Race: Jefferson Cup Road Race
The Course: 5 laps for 50 miles total
The Field: 1/2 women run concurrently with 3 women
The Finish: 4th
By the time I got to the neutral rollout for Jeff Cup at 9am, I was nearly shaking from lack of sleep and general exhaustion. I didn’t even have the energy to feel nervous. (Monika’s plan for conserving energy during breakfast: “No laughing!” Followed by laughter.) It was really nice to sit at the start line with women who were chatty and friendly, as opposed to ones who were willing to shank you for your spot on the line (although I genuinely miss the regular crowd of Speed Week ladies).
The race started and the first four laps were pretty uneventful – the Sticky Fingers riders launched a few attacks to stir up the field, the Virginia Asset Group girls kept things moving along, and we rolled happily through the lovely countryside. Well, happily except for the ‘significant climb’ on the course, which I’d like to think would have been a piece of cake on any other day, but literally rendered me gasping and drooling on each lap. Monika at one point even had to whisper, “Get out of the drops and on the hoods to help you breathe.” Have I mentioned how much I love my teammate?
Near the end of lap four, an unrecognized rider attacked and opened a small gap. It didn’t look like it would stick, so nobody made a move to chase. When the gap started growing, I got nervous and tried to pick up the pace but my energy was dwindling fast. Syn-Fit’s Laurel started taking long pulls on the front, but my efforts to pull through were weak and the field couldn’t get organized to shut down the gap. It grew and grew, Laurel would pull and pull, I’d pull a little bit, other people would jump in a little bit, and then we’d all slow down and wait for something to happen. The motor ref let us know regularly how big the gap was and the news was never good – it opened up to a minute and ten seconds towards the end of the last lap.
The whole situation was frustrating. I was angry at myself for watching this rider open a small gap and not shutting it down. I was annoyed at the peloton for not being willing to work together to put in the effort to pull back a single rider. But that’s bike racing, right? The solo breakaway went on to win, and good on her for going for it. It was most certainly a learning experience for the rest of us.
Laurel drilled the pace for the last 2.5 miles of the course (those long legs can do some serious damage) and we broke into a field sprint when the finish line came into sight. Sticky Finger’s Sarah launched off my wheel to take second (Sarah, can I get a commission for all of these accidental leadouts?), a rider from Sport Lap got third, and I crossed the line in fourth. Absolutely 110% exhausted and ready to call it a week.
Great job this past week!! It has been fun to watch your progress – way to go girl! I bet you are exhausted now, but wow!!!!, what great rides you’ve had in such a short period of time in your foray into road racing!! Some people take several seasons to learn what you’ve been able to experience and execute already (and some never do!) Great job to both you and Monika! Sometimes a dialed in team of just 2 can be the mot lethal out there! And, don’t worry, you’ll get the leadout down. A very seasoned and smart sprinter like Sarah just knew how to take advantage of a great wheel! So, in a way a compliment – you’ll get it down soon enough!! Plenty more chances! Hope you have a good rest this week – looking forward to watching the rest of your season unfold!! And, I know it seems like a million years away, but you should really consider doing the green mountain stage race in VT in September. A tough, tough stage race for a tough, tough girl!!! Plus, it is gorgeous up there 😉 A nice transition into the “off” season –err — mountain biking 😉 See ya!!
Hi Kate. Thanks for the comment! This week of rest will definitely feel good. I will consider the Green Mountain Stage race – Monika did it last year and talks about it a lot, so I think she’ll be urging me to joining her this year. Thanks again for the kind words!
The part about women being ready to shank you for your spot made me spit out my gum. Too funny! Good way to finish off the week! Congrats!
Enjoy a rest week, I got tired just reading about it.
You’ve also inspired me to try road racing, gonna do a few of the Greenbelt races to dip my toes.
Hey Lindsay…”the motoref” you speak of was ME!!! 🙂 I have to say that I hated letting you guys know what the gaps were. I could see you all killing yourselves! The looks ya’ll were giving me were SCARY!!! Good work at Jeff Cup, though!
I knew it was you, but I was too busy hanging out in Painville to enjoy your company. But thanks for doing a great job! Although the news was never good, it was still great to get regular updates.