I actually trained for this race. Right after CX season & holidays I hopped back on the trainer and just started logging miles. I also spent a lot of time cross training- hiking, snowshoeing and even XC skiing. Toss in a few InCycle classes, gym sessions and a badass new bike...and the rest is history! My goal was 14 laps- 3 more than last year. Could I actually pull it off?
Boy, there were are a lot of racers this year! The first lap is always a total cluster, and for whatever reason I joined in the ruckus and rode super fast. In fact, my first 3 laps were pretty darn fast and my transitions even faster thanks to my husband Eric. By lap 6 I started to deteriorate though- I was actually getting bored (!) and was tired of riding by myself. I rolled into camp, plopped in a chair and lost it. After declaring my intent to DNF several times Eric somehow talked me into one more lap. Fine. So after a few miles I stumbled upon "Ear Guy" (solo guy who had an ear infection and rode my pace) and a few miles later we picked up "Thigh Guy" (slowed by severe leg cramps). It was SO nice to have riding buddies. At that point I was in 2nd place.
Sometime in the early morning I was informed that the #1 gal dropped out. That was all the motivation I needed. Thanks to Eric and Molly Martin I knew exactly what my competition was doing and definitely used that to my advantage. Around 2am Eric said "Right now everyone is sleeping or taking a break- you have to get out there and put a lap on them!". So I did!
On lap 12 I was climbing up "5 minute hill"...and lapped the #2 girl. Aw yeah. Lap 13 was OK and 14 was painful- my IT band lit up on every downstroke. By then I was 99.9% sure I had won the race so I kept it to a light spin and walked all the hills. I waited on pins and needles for an hour to see if anyone was heading out for a 14th lap, because that would mean 15 for me (ugh). But at noon the gun fired and that was it- I won the women's solo division!
Overall I had a great race. Food/water intake was really low but I never bonked or even came close to it. No sleep but I never felt the need to stop and rest. My support crew was top notch.
14 laps, 203 miles and $800 in prize money. Sweet.
Stay tuned for more photos!
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