Cat. 3 debut

Today was my first offical race as a cat 3. Upgrading from cat 4 to 3 means an extra 15 minutes of racing and tougher competition from more experienced riders. I wasn't too thrilled about today's race because I've been under the weather the past few days, plus I was worried about getting my butt kicked all over the course.

Evergreen high school isn't one of my favorite venues but certainly not the worst (which is Kelly Creek by the way)- it's got a lot of grassy turns and a huge sandy run-up. The weather this morning was nice- sunny and in the 60's. I hate to say it, but I was secretly hoping for rain and mud. This is Seattle after all so I'm sure I'll get my wish eventually. We arrived really early so I had plenty of time to warm up...and worry about getting my butt kicked. Finally we lined up and I squeezed into the second row. I stayed around mid-pack but was in some serious pain. My mouth was super dry and I couldn't breathe well. Ugh. That first run-up was pure torture. I definitely need to get out and run more! The next two laps were marginal then I finally perked up and got back in race. Eventually I was lapped by one of the men, so I hopped on his wheel, held on for dear life and passed one girl. Thank you random guy! Then right at the end two more guys passed and I used their momentum to pick off two more girls.

After a grueling 38 minutes I came in 6th out of 21. I was aiming for top 10 so this was a nice surprise, given the fact that I've been sick and it's the first race of the series.