First Mass Start Win - Ever!!

If someone had told me I would be awarded the first road race "W" for Team Headstrong....I would have thought they were hallucinating...really! Saturday, I crossed the line first in the inaugural Upstate Cycling Classic in Pendleton, SC. Winning in South Carolina, my new home state was especially sweet.

The Pendleton course was a difficult technical 11 mile loop with some tight turns, hills and headwinds. Teammates Elizabeth Brady and Debbie Gillespie were in there with me. We had a great mix of women racing, including a strong junior lady and a cat 1 NRC racer. During the second of two laps for the cat 4 women and four for the rest of the field, Debbie went up to the front to stir things up in some nasty headwinds. We were all together with 1K to go when the cat 1/2/3 women were neutralized and the cat 4's were starting their sprint. Elizabeth went early before the final corner with me on her wheel. I came around her on an uphill finish a little earlier than planned - but had no choice but to just hit the gas. I had no idea who was behind me or how far back they were. With the finish line mere yards away I saw a flash of pink to my left....oh crap....someone trying to come around...no way...I wasn't going to lose after a far-too-long sprint - found something a little deeper and won by a half a bike length. My heart rate was 187 at the end - a never before seen number for this 45 year old woman!

Women's cat 4 road racing is experiencing some exciting changes in upstate SC and western NC! Through the efforts of many individuals, new category 4 women are showing up for races in never before seen numbers. The cat 4 women's field at Donaldson Center and the BMW criterium in the Hincapie Spring Series was larger than the cat 1/2/3 field. Rich Hincapie gave the women their own field in both of those races and it was well received by all the women I spoke to. For the Pendleton race, there wasn't a separate cat 4 field, but a few women approached the promoter and a cat 4 womens race within the open race was created. We started with the entire field, but did fewer laps and had our own finish and scoring. Again, there were more cat 4 racers than the combined 1/2/3 field.

As a cat 4 racer, I can tell you that the view from the back or off the back of an open field can be discouraging and intimidating. You pay for a race, but often times find yourself hanging onto the field for dear life, for as long as you can, and then practicing your time trial skills to the finish line. This has happened to me in both road races and criteriums. There is little race strategy, cornering, attacking, sitting in or pack movement going on when you are in the red zone. After a string of these types of "races" (ie sustained VO2 max intervals) it is easy to just hang up your racing cleats.

The Greenville Spinners just started a new womens racing team and I have seen at least one member at every race I have been to this year. They are exactly the type of enthusiastic new racers we need to continue to grow the sport of womens cycling. Hopefully more promoters will offer womens cat 4 or even 3/4 fields to encourage women to join the rewarding world of womens racing.