When last I reported from my summer of bike racing, I had just competed in the Inaugural Ironclad Crit and I was very very pleased with my 4th place finish. I was looking forward the next weekend, to racing the challenging Vancouver Courthouse Crit, but... as it frequently happens, life kinda took over. My mom came into town and that weekend was spent moving from one tiny apartment to one larger apartment. I thought that I could pack and move all of my stuff and my roommates and my GF’s in a few hours, up and down a flight of stairs, and then race the following day. But honestly, two hours into the 22 hour ordeal, I realized that racing on Sunday was not going to happen. As a matter of fact... racing on Monday was not looking very promising either. Not only were my legs shot from climbing and the heavy lifting, but I was departing on Thursday of that week to go to Reno for a wedding just to come back 24 hours later and play in an all weekend long camping softball tourney in Washington... so, putting my life back in order and finding my toothpaste amongst the sea of boxes, was honestly at the top of my list of priorities.
By the time life had finally settled down, I had missed out on two weekends of racing and two Monday Nights at PIR and a few nights out at the track. No fear though, I would make up for all of it by driving to Longview Washington to race in the Longview Criterium. A new race on the OBRA calendar, this course was unlike any other crits in the fact that it had no corners. That’s right, no corners. It was just a big round circle that we’d race lap after lap after lap on. That means... no breaks, no coasting. And, depending on who’d show up, that means sufferfest after sufferfest. This should be noted, that as a bike racer, I am commonly not one to “bring the pain”. No, more often than not, I am the one to chase the pain bringers. I don’t lead the race, I sit in a relatively safe spot behind others and pedal only at the cadence I need to to coast on to a sprint finish. I race with conservation in mind and I am pretty decent at reacting to other people’s actions and making informed decisions about when to move and where. So, having said all of that, I was ready to be in some pain at the Longview Crit, especially when I saw the field of women who also showed up.
(this is me in the orange showing some cleavage in a ill-fated attempt in trying to talk my body into racing)
It’s not that the field was big by any means... really, we only had eight riders. But three of those seven riders were pretty damn fast Cat 2 women and one lady was a Cat 1 rider recovering from a big back injury. Added in that the race was around 3:15 pm and by this time heat had escalated to a disgusting 97 degrees out, I knew that this was going to be one of the harder races I’ve ever done. Basically, my willingness to expend my energies goes waaaaaay down when you add in any kind of heat element to the equation. Nevertheless, I hadn’t raced in two weeks and I had driven all the way to Longview and I told myself I was going to race this race and I had paid my fee... so, I was going to race it, heat stroke be damned.
I warmed up as usual and tried my best to drink tons of fluids and subsequently, had to use the bathroom a few dozen times. As it came time for our race, we lined up on the start line and the official went over the rules, and then... just like wishful thinking, asked us if we would mind if they shortened the race from 45 minutes to 35. This, was the most amazing thing I had heard all day! Shorter? Oh hells yes...! But then I realized he was “asking” us, meaning, someone had the opportunity to say: "No, I paid to race for 45 minutes in 100 degree heat so damn it I’m gonna get my money’s worth!" Fearing the worst, I glared over at my fellow racers and thought to myself.... “if any of you say anything I WILL CUT YOU!!!” And honestly, I think I meant it. Luckily though, no one audibly objected and soon, we were on our way. It didn’t take long to realize this was going to be rough race. And, it didn’t take long for me to wonder if I could really hang at all. Every breath felt like trying to breathe in a sauna... hot, dry, gasping for air. Two laps felt like they took twenty minutes to complete when in all honesty, it had only been two minutes. I found myself glaring at the clock at each lap... 32 minutes left? WTF? We’ve been out here forever!! And it was round about that time that the “pain bringers” decided they had had enough of dragging our sorry hot asses around, and made a break for it. I saw it happen, I heard the gears shift and people rise out of their saddle and go. I felt my body react in the way it normally does, to respond to the sudden bursts of speed, to do the same... but when I went to sprint to catch them... my legs, my lungs said “FUCK NO! Are you CRAZY? It’s 97 friggin degrees out here! And when/if you catch them, what are you gonna have to do? You’re gonna have to stick with them. Sit back down.” And, so I did.
(me, hanging out at the back of the pack for about 30 minutes trying to avoid a DNF)
I tried to do my share of work with the remaining five of the pack but my body was not cooperating. At each go around the lap I looked on the clock, expecting to see some time frame slightly more manageable, but it wasn’t even at 25 minutes yet. We hadn’t even been racing for a full ten minutes and I wanted to quit. I’ve never DNF (did not finish) in a race before, but I was so ready to here. At one point, I even stopped pedaling and pulled off to the side, but for whatever inane reason jumped back into the line of racers, at the end. There were a few sprint prize laps thrown in there, a few mini break attempts for the remainder of us not in the front three. And at each attack by an opposing rider... I responded by doing just enough of what I needed to to not throw up or get dropped. And eventually, following this strategy of extreme conservation, the clock counted down and eventually the laps themselves started counting down.
By the time we got to 5 laps to go, I started thinking about what I’d need to do to at least place well. I mean shit, I’ve stayed in the race this long so I might as well try to at least win the bunch sprint for 4th. So, I plotted it out... steady, safe, hydrate, good wheel, bad wheel... and eventually we came to that final lap. From here, I put myself in a position about three from the back and as we entered into the final curve ahead of the sprint, the two ahead of me made a jump while in an extremely unlevo like move... veered waaay off to the left hand side of the wide road, across the seam I was sure was going to grab my wheel, and made a break for it. Trying to shave off anyone from behind me intent on sucking my wheel and all the while, trying to surprise attack my unsuspecting pack leaders. I guess it worked, I came from behind and nailed a pretty clean sprint finish for 4th place overall, right behind those Cat 2 ladies in the break.
At first, I felt a little bad for winning the bunch sprint since I was in the back most of the race, not really racing or working... just more or less trying to survive and not quit. But... that feeling or any feeling of happiness was quickly replaced with “Ooooh, I don’t feel very well. It’s about 100 degrees outside and yet I’m shivering and I have goosebumps. This can’t be a good sign.” So, I paid a nice little visit to the medic tent there at Longview and sure enough, I had a little bout with what they like to call “heat exhaustion”. I hung out with the medics for a bit with cold compresses all over my body and ice cold water. The medics and I discussed many a things there under that canopy: life, love, race promotion, and before I departed assuring them I was good to go home, they gave me a t-shirt to show their gratitude with hanging out with them. Sweet!
Despite the awful race day heat, the course wasn’t that bad. Sure, the pavement had some seams with massive gaps in it, but as far as crits go, the course was fast. And that’s what made it so challenging. As well, the people of Longview were really excited and supportive of having a race there and for all the racers in attendance. Even better, they put together a pretty impressive purse for the top five women finishers. Sure, I got a little heat stroke, but coming home with a check for my efforts didn’t make it seem as bad. Hopefully next year this race won’t happen on the hottest day of the summer and also the same day as the Rapha Race (which, from what I’ve heard was epic) so that this town can get some more riders out and some more people out watching and buying sausages and coffee from their vendors. As for me, well... check or no check, I think I’ll play this one by ear depending on the weather forecast for next year.
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