Resting on Disappointment

2 weeks of big races are over and I am going into a small block of time off before ramping up for 'cross season. After Vermont I only had one chance at redemption, and that was in New York at the Windham Pro XC Tour event. I signed up for the Cross Country and the Short Track knowing that I was sitting on good form. Helping keep the mood cheery for the week was my friend Judy who flew in from Colorado to race the women's XC and STXC (Congrats on going to Worlds!). We got on course Friday and after 1 lap I knew this was a course I could do well on. Climbs weren't too steep, and had technical portions mixed in. The descent was butter, with lots of places for style points. Unfortunately we got kicked off after 1 lap because of the start of the Cat. 2 & 3 XC races. We finished the ride on the road and called it a day, satisfied with what we had accomplished.

On race day, I slept in a little trying to get as much rest as possible. I knew that since the course was even shorter and faster than Mount Snow, I would be getting pulled at some point. My goal on the day was to prolong the inevitable as long as possible. Call-ups were confusing, as I was called up waaaaay in the back, as opposed to near the middle the weekend before. The start, like most of these races, had me on the brakes almost as much as on the gas as riders in front of me avoided other riders and tried not to hit the deck. As we passed the finish line trailers and started to climb, I realized I was going to get caught in a major bottleneck and started to settle down for the inevitable. After getting off and running through a short section of singletrack, it was back on the bike until the next section where I lost balance trackstanding after a rider pulled off and stopped in front of me and was forced to run again. On the bike once again, I made my way up the climb, passing riders steadily until the descent. This went on for laps 1 and 2 (the passing, not the stopping) and into lap 3 where a got slowed down by what must have been allergies. I blew snot rockets up the climb on the third lap and barrelled down hoping to get one more lap in at least, but alas was pulled in 52nd position out of around 75 starters. A slight improvement from last weekend, which is sad considering I broke my cleat last weekend. I'd say the difference was in the starts, as I started better and was snappier at Mount Snow due to cooler weather. The heat was on at Windham for the start, and I had to ease into the race. Even though I was getting stronger/faster each lap, I didn't stay close enough to the leaders on that first lap to give myself a 4th lap of racing. I probably would have made up another 5 to 10 places if I had kept going for another lap, as riders were blown up all over the mountain, ripe for the picking.

In conclusion, I'm disappointed in my finishes, but still confident that I am on the right track and can make this cycling thing work at the professional level (what that means exactly I'm still pondering). I'm going to take my motivation into the 'cross season and put it to good use throughout the Mid-Atlantic. If all goes well, I'll make an appearance at National Championships and then who knows what else?

Until next time, shalom!