Can you say bling? It's silver, in case you can't tell.
Note: This is a lengthy post - sorry for my long-windedness. USA Cycling considers one to be a "Masters Athlete" at age 30 (actually 29 but no matter) which means I've held that designation for some time now. Trust me, the term 'masters' means nothing - these athletes are fit and go to nationals because they can throw down. When I was doing some goal setting early in the year, I decided that I'd like to do well at Masters Nationals in Louisville which basically means earning a medal in the time trial, road race or criterium. Being from the Midwest, I suppose criterium racing is my best discipline - the more dicey and technical, the better. In looking at the way events were scheduled for Masters Nationals week in Louisville, it was obvious that the TT was the only race I was going to be able to do - or else I would have had to spend all week down there, something I really couldn't do.
I jumped in with Josh for the ride down to the Lou and we arrived late Saturday at my teammate Janeen's place just as the adult pajama party was starting. About Janeen's parties - legendary would be the most appropriate word. The first thing I saw when I walked in? Some guy wearing a floor length satin fuschia nightgown - one of those disturbing things you just can't really ever "un-see." I visited briefly with Paul and Lori but was really tired after a long day so I headed up to my third floor retreat for a little reading and some rest. I didn't get a whole lot of sleep until the power went out at about 3am at which point everyone left - to get breakfast.
Sunday was spent getting bikes checked, picking up race numbers, previewing the course and getting some rest. Josh and I grabbed some excellent barbecue at Mark's Feed Store - me opting for some chicken and Josh devouring nearly an entire pound of barbecue pork. I have to say, it was truly impressive...the menu calls it 'World's Largest Barbecue Sandwich' - and it definitely was!
Monday morning we awakened to cloudy skies and some on-again, off-again rain. Heading over to the race venue with Lori I turned on Josh's ipod and the first thing I heard was "...now imagine your pain as a white ball of healing light..." Thank you very much Tyler Durden - you just made my day. Josh and Paul had headed out earlier as their start times preceeded ours and by the time Lori and I were getting ready to go, the sun had come out and the wind had picked up. Warm up was stellar - legs were good, I had my head together and The The (The Mercy Beat) was the last thing I heard before heading to the start house - perfect.
The course was 38K of rolling, curvy terrain and it suited me well (no climbing!). It seemed to be windy almost everywhere except for a short stretch on the way back that felt like tailwind. I needed to keep things under control and not overstart - I have a tendency to go out way too hard and blow up early, so I kept an eye on the power meter and settled in. I'd passed the 4 riders ahead of me by the turnaround and picked off one more about 3 miles later. I rode hard the entire time but never really suffered - to do so could have been dangerous in the later stages of the ride, so I just kept things steady. In the end I came across the line well behind the winner but very comfortably ahead of third place - a strong performance that could have maybe been better, but certainly not one that could have won. The first place time in my age group was the fastest time for a woman on the day - I think mine was 3rd fastest.
Time trialing is really sort of a new thing for me - in all my years of racing the bike I never worked at being a good time trialist. This season alone I've done more time trials than in my entire (eeeek!) 15 or so years of racing and I think I'm beginning to like it - it's made me stronger on the bike in general and helped me to discover an aptitude that I wasn't aware I had. Even more excellent is the fact that I haven't lost my sprint - at all. There are so many people responsible for helping me get to this point especially my favorite local masters beasts and my coach, John (who, along with Andy Coggan won their tandem category). Thanks guys - I can't tell you how much you've impacted me this season but I think the medal speaks volumes.
Any podium finish at nationals is a very cool thing - I'm very pleased with how things went for me. My teammate Lori also earned silver in her age group and I believe Kenda's Arizona contingent got a medal on the tandem. Over in Columbus we scored a bunch of top 10's at the Grandview races so it was definitely an excellent team weekend. Not to be overlooked were a bunch of top finishes by other Midwest masters athletes including Leigh Thompson who won the 45-49 age group. I have to occasion to race some of the local TT's with Leigh - she's super strong and is a truly deserving champion - way to go, Leigh!
If I get some photos I'll be sure to post them - thanks for reading. Up next, Superweek!!
I jumped in with Josh for the ride down to the Lou and we arrived late Saturday at my teammate Janeen's place just as the adult pajama party was starting. About Janeen's parties - legendary would be the most appropriate word. The first thing I saw when I walked in? Some guy wearing a floor length satin fuschia nightgown - one of those disturbing things you just can't really ever "un-see." I visited briefly with Paul and Lori but was really tired after a long day so I headed up to my third floor retreat for a little reading and some rest. I didn't get a whole lot of sleep until the power went out at about 3am at which point everyone left - to get breakfast.
Sunday was spent getting bikes checked, picking up race numbers, previewing the course and getting some rest. Josh and I grabbed some excellent barbecue at Mark's Feed Store - me opting for some chicken and Josh devouring nearly an entire pound of barbecue pork. I have to say, it was truly impressive...the menu calls it 'World's Largest Barbecue Sandwich' - and it definitely was!
Monday morning we awakened to cloudy skies and some on-again, off-again rain. Heading over to the race venue with Lori I turned on Josh's ipod and the first thing I heard was "...now imagine your pain as a white ball of healing light..." Thank you very much Tyler Durden - you just made my day. Josh and Paul had headed out earlier as their start times preceeded ours and by the time Lori and I were getting ready to go, the sun had come out and the wind had picked up. Warm up was stellar - legs were good, I had my head together and The The (The Mercy Beat) was the last thing I heard before heading to the start house - perfect.
The course was 38K of rolling, curvy terrain and it suited me well (no climbing!). It seemed to be windy almost everywhere except for a short stretch on the way back that felt like tailwind. I needed to keep things under control and not overstart - I have a tendency to go out way too hard and blow up early, so I kept an eye on the power meter and settled in. I'd passed the 4 riders ahead of me by the turnaround and picked off one more about 3 miles later. I rode hard the entire time but never really suffered - to do so could have been dangerous in the later stages of the ride, so I just kept things steady. In the end I came across the line well behind the winner but very comfortably ahead of third place - a strong performance that could have maybe been better, but certainly not one that could have won. The first place time in my age group was the fastest time for a woman on the day - I think mine was 3rd fastest.
Time trialing is really sort of a new thing for me - in all my years of racing the bike I never worked at being a good time trialist. This season alone I've done more time trials than in my entire (eeeek!) 15 or so years of racing and I think I'm beginning to like it - it's made me stronger on the bike in general and helped me to discover an aptitude that I wasn't aware I had. Even more excellent is the fact that I haven't lost my sprint - at all. There are so many people responsible for helping me get to this point especially my favorite local masters beasts and my coach, John (who, along with Andy Coggan won their tandem category). Thanks guys - I can't tell you how much you've impacted me this season but I think the medal speaks volumes.
Any podium finish at nationals is a very cool thing - I'm very pleased with how things went for me. My teammate Lori also earned silver in her age group and I believe Kenda's Arizona contingent got a medal on the tandem. Over in Columbus we scored a bunch of top 10's at the Grandview races so it was definitely an excellent team weekend. Not to be overlooked were a bunch of top finishes by other Midwest masters athletes including Leigh Thompson who won the 45-49 age group. I have to occasion to race some of the local TT's with Leigh - she's super strong and is a truly deserving champion - way to go, Leigh!
If I get some photos I'll be sure to post them - thanks for reading. Up next, Superweek!!
