Iola

First off I have to say race day at Iola was just gorgeous. Sunny day, course in great condition, and the excitement of seeing everyone after a long winter. There is something so exciting about the first race of the WORS season. I could hardly wait for this one, especially since I love the course.

All I could have asked for is maybe four more hours of sleep. I'd like to see how I would do in a race with a full 8 hours of sleep the night before! The drive up was rough due to tiredness and major allergy issues. Lots of sneezing, itchy eyes, scratchy throat, stuffy nose, all that stuff. I also stopped for a little while at a rest area to take a nap, which was a good thing, I felt much more awake after that.

In the morning I saw Dana at breakfast. I haven't talked to her in a while so I didn't realize they were coming to the race. It was nice to see her for the first time since Chequamegon. They must have left the race early, because I didn't see her later in the day.

There was a long line at registration and at the tent they said I couldn't use my race number plate from last year even though it was the same, so I changed to the new plate. I got everything done before my race started but only managed to ride up and down the parking lot rows once or twice for a warm up. I had hoped to get more of a warm up to prepare for the first hill. I had decided to ride the Blur instead of the Tomac. (I realized at Rock Cut that I am liking the Blur much more since I had the bars cut.) The seat was set higher, and I couldn't get back up on the seat once I got to the front row, so my start was a tad wobbly and people passed me. I missed an opportunity there for a great start - I almost never get to start in the first row. More people passed me as I struggled up the hill after the turn. Things got better after that. A girl in front of me took the good line I wanted to take down the sandy hill that goes by the start area. I wanted to ride it faster but I didn't want to leave the line and venture over into the churned up sandier area to pass. That was the beginning of the theme that played for the rest of the race - I often felt stuck because I was not aggressive enough or comfortable enough passing in the singletrack. I don't have the fitness to get the acceleration that I needed. I did have it in some of the open areas when I was able to pass people, but not consistently. I had the same problem again on the screamin' downhill that shoots you up the big hill. The two girls in front of me were taking the downhill really really cautiously. I am a cautious rider too, but I wanted to go much faster on that downhill in hopes of getting partway up the hill. Yet I didn't feel comfortable trying to pass two nervous people on the downhill. So I poked along behind them, having not had the fitness to pass them before. (I realize that many of you in other categories have the constant challenge of passing others and don't see what the big deal is, but I don't have as much experience with being the passer. We seemed to be closer together this time, and there were more guys with us.)

Anyway, many parts of the race were really really fun, and some parts were really painful. I walked some hills, and I had lots of company. When my back/legs started to really hurt vs. just ache I would give it a rest by walking up a hill, which worked really well as pain management. I lost some places, but I was able to finish the race. In the first lap I was just surviving, but in the second I started to warm up and got a little spring in my legs. My back was getting worse but the rest of me was starting to wake up. I was passing back and forth with several people, at least one of whom was in my age group. I didn't know most of the people in my age group in this race, which was weird, so I wasn't really sure who was who. None of the people that I was riding around seemed familiar except for a few of the teenagers. It didn't feel like the races last year, it felt really new and different, with so many familiar faces not there. We passed quite a few guys. It was fun watching people's strengths and weaknesses as we rallied back and forth. One clydesdale guy who struggled mightily on the uphills was super confident and fast on the downhills. Some people would pass me on the hills but I'd catch them on the flats.

It was only my second trail ride of the year, but I didn't feel quite as clumsy as I usually do at this time of year. I think that's because often my first race is one of my first times out on a bike that year, but this year I did more road riding in the winter than I usually do. I think it helped, although I still had my share of bobbles on the turns and roots.

In the fun singletrack on the back part (second part) of the course a big group of us got stuck behind a little boy (I mean really little!). I think we were all hoping to get a chance to pass when things opened up, but he held his own in the open stretches and we'd end up piled up behind him again. It was frustrating, but what can you do? You just have to be patient. That seemed to last forever, though it probably really didn't.

When we got near the end of the race, I was in the final stretches of singletrack behind a teenage girl that I had seen on and off the whole race. She looked familiar from last year. I wasn't that concerned that she wasn't going that hard until I saw that we had caught the person that I thought was first place in my age group. At that point a guy behind me was yelling for this girl in front of me to pick up the pace, since she was just poking along. That was when I really needed to have some nerve to pass in the twisty singletrack but I didn't have it. I made a comment that the person ahead of us was in my age group, but I should have been more direct and asked if she could let me pass. I thought there would be a long enough open spot somewhere but it just didn't work out that way. If the finish had been a little further from the place we popped out of the woods I could have passed the age grouper in a final sprint, but even then the other girl was in the way. So, due to my lameness, I lost first in age group by TWO seconds. I definitely had enough ooomph left to catch and pass first place, but apparently not the guts to ask for what I needed to do. It was still a fun race though, and I still love the course.

We had a good team turnout of ten people, considering the long drive for all of us. Several people moved up to new categories and quite a few people made the podium. It felt like a really good start to the season.

And getting to hang out and catch up with so many people afterwards was, as always, great. There are still alot of people I didn't get to talk to, so I hope I see some of you at Lake Geneva!