Fit Mom's Blog

Bike Racing is the MOST fun I have ever done that involved sweat. I can be aggressive on a bike. Go fast on a bike, yell at the other women to go faster, and generally be this other person- someone you wouldn’t know off the bike. It’s as close to action and a contact sport that I most likely will ever do. It is WICKED fun.

The morning started off with a nice 5-6 mile run with 15 thirty second intervals on a muddy track with some girlfriends. Then home for oatmeal and a protein shake with the family and we were OFF! From our home to Long Beach takes an hour and hubby and I both savored our capuccino’s for that extra JOLT on the way there. Upon arrival, we grabbed the kids, ran to registration and got ourselves registered to race. Luckily and maybe not so lucky, our races were back to back with no time in between. Hubby got a total of FIFTEEN MINUTES to get dressed, pin jersey and get on the race course. Boys were equipped with a scooter and a tricycle, two helmets and a crapload of snacks (not that healthy either). There are times when I need them to sit down and NOT MOVE so the yogurt covered pretzels did the trick.

So, hubby is out racing- HERE.

And we are here.

Parked right next to the starting line with a parking lot of space for the boys to ride around. Within FIVE minutes, Ryan parked his bike in the center line and spun out his tires and got himself completely covered in muddy water.

Oh well. (I wasn’t warming up or anything) And my oldest was doing a lot of crashing and going fast on his scooter. They were having a blast. Yes, I was very nervous at this point. If Paul had been around, I’d have spent some time on the potty having issues. But, he wasn’t, so, I didn’t. Didn’t seem to matter anyway, I did fine.

Paul finished in the top third of his race. His races are seriously more competitive than mine. There were over 100 racers in his Master’s Category race. The guy who won, Thurlough Rogers, is FAMOUS around here. I was told today that he has been a Cat. 1 since he was 8 and the only reason he isn’t racing in Europe is because of the size of his head. Ha. So, as I count the guys crossing the finish, I hear them announce, women Cat 1-3, and Cat. 4 staging to the start. I see Paul, and I roll out to the starting line.

The women are given race instructions and told to roll out. Lap 1 was seriously slow.

Anthony (in yellow),  our designated “race support” did a complete running commentary the entire race.  For both women’s races there may have been 50 or 60 total. We were put into “neutral” for a lap and a half because of a semi-truck on the course. This at least allowed me to get warmed up!  Finally, when we could GO, life got pretty interesting after that. I have a bad habit of KILLING myself in races. (see old post) But, there are times when you’ve just got to take it UP A LEVEL, you know what I mean?  Today, though, I managed to NOT kill myself in the first fifteen minutes!!  I did attack the group several times but the important thing is the FINISH. To be in the top 3-5 would be great for me since I don’t train! The sum of my riding in the last month has been three fast, hard rides with my amazing workout buddy.

Here it is:

I finished second. I knew that I was as strong or stronger than a lot of the girls, but, not sure how much pain I could inflict on myself in the last lap.  And luckily, I had two laps of fast riding in a DRAFT- meaning I wasn’t in front.  I had no idea how my legs were going to hold up because it is a half mile sprint.  So, I stayed seated the whole length of the sprint with my hands on the HOODS (this is bad bad bad).

Me in front attacking…

Almost to the line with my hands on the hoods!  My tongue was SERIOUSLY hanging out, here. Glad you can’t see that.

That’s me in the middle.  Should have had my hands in the drops with my butt up and out of the saddle!  Will live another day.

My winnings? A Medal, Jamba Juice Gift Certificate and a Cliff Shot Gel.

Life is good!