Rock Hill Road Race - Rookie's viewpoint

I have been trying to come up with the words to describe my experience at the Rock Hill Road Race last Saturday. All I can say is... Wow... not so profound, eh?

My second bike race was mentally taxing... There were at least 35 Women 4 racers plus 50 Masters Men Cat 4 - add them all to a two lane road with a forbidden double yellow line for 47 miles - and you get an exhausting adventure! My first error was getting caught in the back with the yo-yo's and my fellow ya-ya's. At one point a woman next to me was so openly scared, all I could hear her mumble was, "... I have children at home..." as we went screaming down a hill. Great.

I saw my teammates close by and at the earliest opportunity I made my way closer to them. My second error was not having the confidence to stay towards the front during the early part of the race. Numerous times in the middle of the ride, I found myself at the front of a second stream swimming up the road. I was out in the wind with unchartered road ahead.

At another moment, I felt so spent, I desperately wanted the race to be over. But I remembered Randall's motivating prerace stories of not giving up… the pain is temporary… the self-doubt quickly faded. I also recalled my conversation with Stratton. She said she normally feels a boost of energy 90 minutes into a race… Ah, the good and the bad of being an endurance athlete… I know that feeling. If we can fight through the first 90 minutes, we can do anything. And we did.

My computer has been causing me grief so I just had the timer running on my watch which was strapped to my bicycle. At about 1:40 into the race, I figured we had another 35 minutes left. At that point Team Headstrong was taking over the race. Randall, Joe and Tom were cycling through at the front and I came up to try and offer some help. An unattached woman who I considered a nemesis at first due to an unexpected and accidental “run off the road incident” of Brady (who brilliantly stayed up right and in the pack!) turned into an ally and helped pull at the front.

What I couldn't believe was that I was pulling the pack. What was I doing on the front of my second bike race? Was this another error on my part? I told Giselle later that day, I wasn’t sure I belonged on the front especially in a men’s race but at that point I was already in the thick of things hoping the team could pull in the breakaway.

At that point, my energy was strong. I felt good. At 1:57 into the race, I still thought we had another 20 minutes left in the race. We could catch the breakaway. I saw a road sign for Fernand Road (?)... "oh dear, we are almost done"... I had mentally marked that sign during my warm up with Emily and Brady. Up ahead, were the last turn and the end of the race!!

We turned the corner on the last stretch with Stratton on the front. We both got trapped as we were approaching the 1000m mark. At the sprint line I gained a little room as the man next to me encouraged me along to my first "sprint" finish. We finished in 2:02. 24mph average is what I was told we did… all I can say is… Wow… and thank you to my team for motivating and encouraging me. Hearing Teenie and Randall calling out the shots while all other teams were mute… you are true leaders.