Watopia figure 8 was on the menu which is a long ride for me. I needed a group to pace me or I would die on the flats. I went out hard but there were 7 riders with A cat power leading the group and so I had to let the split go right before the reverse kom when they dropped us. I sat now in 50th position and stayed near the front the whole way. We regrouped after the descent and there was a small group that split off. As we kept going on the flat, we picked up and dropped a bunch of riders who had stayed with the lead group too long. That use to be me, stay with the A's for as long as I could only to not be able to stick with the B's when they caught me. I got a little smarter, race savvy call it.
We had a group of ten to twenty and I started feeling it. I put it in fairly hard on the forward kom and did very good, 2:20 when 2:30 is good for me. I barely stayed with a dozen or so riders, kicking it up to stay in the group. In the Esses, I was struggling a bit again. I made the lead 10 hanging on the back. With 1 km to go, I got dropped and hung one or two seconds back. I waited until 500 to go and the sprinted hard. I hit 60kph and caught them with about 200 to go. I had a small kick and stayed ahead by 0.1 second. I won the sprint and finished 31 on the boards. I was 40th with 1000 meters to go! My heart rate was 200! A new record for an old gal like me. I had a lot of caffeine as my heart rate should have been about 180. I averaged 160, a pb for me.
I'm just thankful I can join a race like this. I'm pleased with my condition and preparation. Officially, I seem to be in 51st place of 113 on ZP. There were 125 B's and over 50 A's. I'll take it. Being 51 of 100 who may race next week. Happy? You bet. (yes I guess officially I'm not eligible for a dirt race but they don't seem to mind. It isn't like the pros that could enter and win, lol. Thanks DIRT. Great start to a six week event.
Next is Classique. Love it.
