It was raining when we left Milwaukee, but we were optimistic it would clear up along the 50+ mile drive to Sheboygan. It did, for the most part; but we warmed up to the sound of thunder...Three top 20 finishes today for the team. Siobahn, Ekaterina and I all hung in through relentless attacks to the finishing sprint. Rhiannan's time is coming and we're gunning for her to hang on tomorrow. We all know what it's like to see a three foot gap, turn into five, ten and then you're off the back. It's a split second decision that gets harder to make the more you're hurting.
It seemed like every lap had a rider off--never much organization, but required consistent chasing. I once bridged to a Mercy rider and we worked for a bit, and gladly let a third (Comedy Central) rider take a turn pulling. I thought we had a promising gap, but turned out that they'd trailed on the last bridge and had strung it out to catch up. At least they're taking us seriously.
That was my first "attack" ever in a race, or at least my first whole-hearted attempt to get in a break. It's a bit scary, there's a certain amount of vulnerability and gambling involved. How much do I give? How hard will they chase? If they catch me, can I get back in and recover? What if they counter my attack and I have to suffer to hang on to the pack?
I went into today's race fairly blind. I rolled up to the start to find my HR monitor had lost its signal (needs batteries, I think) and my bike computer magnet wasn't lined up. I had no idea of my speed or HR effort and after training for so long with it, I found it a bit hard to gauge myself...I don't think it hurt me, I don't think I would have done much differently but it would have been nice to know what the speed the pack was holding and chasing with and what I needed to push to stay off the front. I looked down at my speed, only to find out that it was apparently 12:47pm. Not helpful. Damn.
It started raining with two to go...just big, slow drops at first and then a steady rain that made it very difficult to see on the last lap. I was sitting third heading through the start/finish when they rang for the "bell lap". The overall leader was pulling and was followed by a 16 year old that WAS NOT going to go around to do any work. So, the Flatlandia rider took us around the course in the rain at a good steady pace. The combination of pace and rain stifled any attacks on the back half, which surprised and pleased me. I jumped on the small rise just after turn 3 (of 4 turns). We all stayed in formation around the last turn, even though I made a decent attempt at getting past the leader in the corner. She squeezed me out and I had to feather my brakes. That move left me a big gap to cover in about 200 meters and I just couldn't ever get it. A couple more inches would have given me second place (Photo finish!). Oh well, a podium's a podium, right?
I should have jumped just BEFORE the hill. I waited too long, I think. Live and learn. All in all, yay for today.
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