Since I just remembered this, I had my very first real panic attack (!) due to “Laughing Gas” also known as Nitrous Oxide so I made them change it to pure oxygen, which is probably the only reason why I am still alive. Anyway… For those of you who don’t want to feel the wind off the pelaton, see every move and attack, and basically bonk, DO NOT READ this entry.
The last week in June, I went to a Junior Development Camp in Wisconsin with a few of my Mesa teammates. Camp rolled off to a rocky start because I had forgotten all of the releases that my parents had signed and was threatened to be sent home. One Kinkos trip and what I thought was a panic attack then (I now know better) later, I was being introduced to the staff facilitating the camp. The next day felt harder than it seemed to for everyone else. I later realized that my front brakes had been rubbing (and yes, I had checked them before I had ridden but the brakes were loose). Also the scariest moment in my entire 18 years, 1 month, and 2 days of living happened on the first day. While on a descent I looked down at my odometer and saw 55 mph. AHHH! Scary enough going that fast but when I looked up from my odometer, I saw that I was going through a gravel patch on the rode so I took a deep breath, almost swerved out but thankfully managed to keep the rubber between me and pavement. The rest of the week was filled with speeches, individual time trials for USACycling field tests, long group rides, nasty cafeteria food, and sleep. All in all, it was good week.
July went by, nothing too exciting. Sooo NATIONALS were awesome! We arrived the Saturday before my first race. Bend, Oregon is one of the prettiest places I’ve been to. It would have been even more enjoyable if it wasn’t having record high temperatures in the mid 90s that week, especially since our host house didn’t have air conditioning! Who’s ever heard of such a thing?
My road race was Wednesday, time trial Friday, and crit Sunday.
The night before my RR I went to bed at 8:30, but then I woke up at 10:30 and couldn’t go back to bed for at least 3 hours. I did everything to try and go back to bed; I went outside where it was cooler and laid on the ground looking up at the magnificent stars which were completely untainted by light pollution. I went back to bed; when I woke up I realized I had left my phone outside. I raced out but the automatic sprinklers beat me to it. It wouldn’t turn on but I am a seasoned pro with phone water damage so I took the parts apart and put it into a bowl of uncooked rice. Half a day later, my phone had resurrected and is in perfect working condition. Oh yeah the race…
The race was 84 km consisting of three 17-mile circuits. The road race was rolling for the first 10 miles. Then there was climb of a couple miles at a steady grade of 7%. At mile 14, there was a beast that gobbled up riders one by one and shredding their legs. It was about 150 meters of 15% elevation and then it continued for about another mile and a half at 6-7%. Everyone was out of the saddle for the steepest part of the climb but the most torturous part of the climb was that it kept continuing. I sat down as the lactic acid built in my legs and lost all of the oxygen from my lungs.
There weren’t any real attacks the first 2 laps but the pace was pretty high so people were being dropped, especially on the Mile 14 Beast. On the third lap, Coryn Rivera attacked. Three girls went with her followed by a group of three more and then there was me in the third chasing group. My group worked well together and caught up to the second chase group. Then the Beast 14 struck again and the pack was separated. I crossed the finish line by myself for 6th place, 1:22 min behind Coryn who won with a solo attack. It was a tough race.
I was strongly considering not doing the 24k time trial because I don’t have a TT bike and I haven’t practiced with aero bars or in that position at all. But I figured what the heck and I would do it as a tempo ride plus I had already paid for it. I threw on Johnathon’s spare aero bars and Matt Pence’s wicked hot (but apparently more aero with all that tape covering the ventilation holes) aero helmet and took off. Thirty seconds in I passed my 30 second girl and I kept picking girls off which felt good! So I turned it into a little more than “just a tempo ride” and I started to race. The 12k out was uphill. At the turn around I had already passed four girls but I can’t turn worth anything so I went 2mph around the turnaround and had to start up again from scratch. On the way back, I caught two more girls and then sprinted in for the finish. To my (and everyone else’s too) surprise, I got on the podium with 5th place!
It was 97 degrees while I did my tt. Matt Pence, Matt Fickinger, Ethan, and I went tubing in the river that went through Bend after our TTs. The water was 45 degrees (I made that up but I’m sure it must be close) and felt splendid.
When I arrived at the crit course on Sunday, I realized that both the tubular tires on my new aero Eastons were flat and I couldn’t pump them up. I took them to Shimano neutral support who helped me. Better late than never, I got on the course to warm up and did a couple of hard efforts and felt peachy. At the gun, Jackie from Kenda hit it hot and was off the front. She was chased down but I wanted to keep the pace high. I attacked a few times. I was pulled back but the pelaton was getting smaller and smaller. I didn’t want the race to come down to a field sprint because I know some of the girls in the chase group are crazy strong sprinters with thighs like Cav’s. No one really wanted to pull and I wanted to break the group apart so as I was pulling at 26.5 mph, I attacked (yes, I know off the front was stupid, but I felt great!). Again this attack didn’t particularly stick but I heard some heavy huffing and puffing behind me. Katie from ISCorp countered so Jackie (Kenda), Cynthia (Hincapie), and I made a four person breakaway which stuck till the end. We gained half a minute on the chasing pelaton. The breakaway worked well together and kept the pace high around 23-24 mph. I was first around the final corner but the sprint was way too long at about 400 meters. I tried but I’m not that powerful yet. Jackie and Katie came around me right before the line. That was a huge bummer but it’s my first year racing so I guess a National Championship is a little much to ask for. It was an extremely fun race and I felt great.
I mounted the podium for the second time that week and received my 3rd place medal (which looks EXACTLY the same as my 5th place medal so I was peeved – they should look different or at least put the place on the medal!).
When I arrived at the crit course on Sunday, I realized that both the tubular tires on my new aero Eastons were flat and I couldn’t pump them up. I took them to Shimano neutral support who helped me. Better late than never, I got on the course to warm up and did a couple of hard efforts and felt peachy. At the gun, Jackie from Kenda hit it hot and was off the front. She was chased down but I wanted to keep the pace high. I attacked a few times. I was pulled back but the pelaton was getting smaller and smaller. I didn’t want the race to come down to a field sprint because I know some of the girls in the chase group are crazy strong sprinters with thighs like Cav’s. No one really wanted to pull and I wanted to break the group apart so as I was pulling at 26.5 mph, I attacked (yes, I know off the front was stupid, but I felt great!). Again this attack didn’t particularly stick but I heard some heavy huffing and puffing behind me. Katie from ISCorp countered so Jackie (Kenda), Cynthia (Hincapie), and I made a four person breakaway which stuck till the end. We gained half a minute on the chasing pelaton. The breakaway worked well together and kept the pace high around 23-24 mph. I was first around the final corner but the sprint was way too long at about 400 meters. I tried but I’m not that powerful yet. Jackie and Katie came around me right before the line. That was a huge bummer but it’s my first year racing so I guess a National Championship is a little much to ask for. It was an extremely fun race and I felt great.
I mounted the podium for the second time that week and received my 3rd place medal (which looks EXACTLY the same as my 5th place medal so I was peeved – they should look different or at least put the place on the medal!).
I was then abducted by USADA officials, shown to a bathroom, and handed a cup where my privacy was invaded.
The End.
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