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Emily Schaapveld's Journal
Race Report (Day 1 - Altoona)
posted by M at 08:10 PM on April 06, 2008
Thirty women showed up to participate in the Altoona Road Race this past Saturday. Ten raced the women's open and 20 made up the Cat 4 field...WOW, what a turnout!
This race was much different then last weekend's race at Kent Park. Now, I will be the first to admit that during the second lap at Kent Park the words "I hate bike racing" rang repeatedly in my head. The Altoona race was a much different story. It was 25 degrees warmer, the sun was shining, and the course was not nearly as hilly. To top it off, I had 19 other awesome women to race with.
It was a 3 lap course. Right off the bat, one girl shot ahead of the group and fought the winds solo for 2 1/2 laps. As a group we debated whether or not to catch her, but decided that the winds were so hard, she was bound to wear herself out...and sure enough, she did. With the lead rider out of the way now, it was time to start hammering down. With the last lap nearing the end, an All9Yarder breaks away and maintains a good lead on the group, until Kelli, I, and couple other riders charge ahead to close the gap. I fall off the pack, struggling against the harsh crosswinds. A couple other riders speed past me and I fail to catch their draft. At this point I am hanging on to 6th place. The finish is in sight and another rider makes her way in front of me. I pick up speed and attempt to shift back into my big ring only to discover that I can't. Great...a mechanical in the last mile of the race. Sure enough, without my big ring I struggle to pick up enough speed to catch the rider in front of me. Sadly, I end up taking 7th place, but it was a great race!
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Comments (2)
06:07 AM on April 07, 2008 UTC Ana Nelson wrote:
Darn Mechanicals!! I am wondering if we shouldn't take our bikes apart, give the parts to someone who knows what they are doing and have them put them back toegether. This is getting old.
04:52 AM on April 19, 2008 UTC Jenni-O wrote:
Aww. You guys did awesome though! Do you know how hard it is to find a good mechanic?! The fact that the pedals and handlebars haven't fallen off your bikes means you could work at almost any shop in the country. Ya'll got skillz!