It all began with a bit of confusion as Smith Road was divided by a highway, and I turned on the wrong side. I stopped and asked a meandering trucker with bad teeth (I was in an industrial park) if he knew where this go-kart racing track was. He spoke with a meandering drawl, put a lot of thought into it, and then decided he really couldn't help me.
So, I used the old noggin', went across the highway, and found the other side of Smith Road. From there I wound over a narrow road through Texas jungle and decided the directions would have been better if they had read, "turn left at the old woman in the moo moo on her porch, go three miles passed the folks in the trailer, and continue until you see roadies warming up." There was nothing but dense tree cover and old houses until I popped out at the race track.
I parked and then went to register. The guy at registration didn't seem to understand me when I asked about the women's categories. Seems there were none. They put me in the master's men. "So this is bike racing in other places," I thought. "Great."
I did a two second warm-up, then lined up. I saw one other woman in pink and a tall skinny person who I suspected could have been a woman, but I was not sure. We were in a pack of about 20 guys. I decided it was going to suck, but did my best to hang with the pack. I did so for about 1/4 of a lap. I am proud to say that the other two (one?) women were also dropped pretty quickly.
Since I was dropped with no hope of recovery, I decided to have a good workout and practice some racer skills. I've been reading oV's race tips, and was inspired.
Unfortunately for this guy, he was also dropped, and I was ready to practice drafting. The race track was a series of right and left turns causing a constant change in direction, and there was a constant wind, so I decided to stay on his wheel and practice moving in order to let him take the wind for me. I remember back in the team clinic days learning this sweet spot stuff, so I decided to give it a go with someone who didn't know me. He let me ride his ass for about three laps, then he dropped off the course. Dammit, I had to go it alone again. So I decided to practice cornering and picking good lines. It was fun on the race track.Some people know I am almost
always smiling for the camera in races. Notice I am not smiling here. Headwind, loneliness, and a dedication to suffer it out had me going hard. My hands also fell asleep on this bike. Why does that happen?The biggest shame of it all was that I was lapped twice by the field. Well, the Master's men. I am a non-training Cat-4 woman. So, it was twenty minutes of zone four to zone five heart rate; I think my heart rate monitor hadn't seen numbers like that since I did my max test with a great coach .
Turns out I took third in my category. I guess there were three women out there...
I was disappointed to see so few women racing. There were a ton of them watching, or coming to pick up their men at the end of their races. Chris told me there would be women from UT there. Maybe it wasn't their night or something. Now I know why this woman and this woman work so hard to get women's racing supported and recognized.
All in all, I think it is cool that in Austin they can race all week long after work. I'd like to see some of that around here. I asked someone to organize it, being she is sooo good at these things. A vague smile was her reply. I guess I'd better figure this one out on my own...
