Dunnigan Hills Road Race -- August 17,2007

I really didn’t feel like racing yesterday morning. After the crash at Timpani, it just didn’t seem as important or fun. My knee felt okay and my boyfriend was racing, so I decided to give it a go anyway. I saw Ryan before her race and wished her the best. I didn’t expect to see any more bellas, but ran into Angela who was racing masters. A new Bella, April was in the Cat 4’s with me. A slew of Velogirls and Hill&Co ladies asked about Tracy Loper and wanted to express their concern. I gave them what I knew and told them about Tim’s blog.

I started towards the back with April, with the plan of moving up as soon as I could. April went up front early on a picked up the pace for the group. Man, she’s got some power. Unfortunately, I was stuck further back with no way out. The whole race was nerve-rackingly slow and bunchie. I was having post crash nerves, but reminded myself to relax and be loose. It was rough when several times there were blood-curdling screams from other girls when someone ran over a bottle in the feed zone and another girl swerved a little to avoid a pothole. I wanted to blast off the front and end the misery, but knew that time-trialing in the wind would be foolhardy after just 10 miles. “Just be patient” I had to tell myself. I got yelled at when I moved closer to the more stable front and stole a wheel. “You’re supposed to signal!” I heard and “pick a wheel”. I was really careful about how I stole it really—the old parallel parking maneuver—get right next to the person in front and slowly gradually move back on their wheel. There was even a big gap there for me to get into. Sigh.

We were neuter-ized 1k from the finish, right before the right hand turn over the overpass. Track season paid off—the minute the motorcycle pulled off I attacked hard and made it to the top with a few others. I was blocked for a minute and then poured on the gas to get 3^rd place. It was a close one. Another Velo Promo t-shirt for the collection. Time to send in for my Cat 3 upgrade. Yay! Thanks to everyone for support, advice, and fun.