Women Cat 4 Sunapee Race Report - 5-21 Cathy Rowell
Cat 4 Women – 23 miles, 1 lap
22 starters, 9 NEBC
Pouring rain and 45 degrees at race start
Cathy Rowell, 2nd
Kristen Gohr, 5th â first race and flat at mile 8!
Erica Mains, 9th
Chandra McCarthy, 11th
Kathy Martin, 14th
Stephanie Marcott, 15th
Caroline Cardiasmenos, 16th
Pat Stabler, 17th
Julie Lockhart â 18th
Cathy Rowell: With less than inspiring weather, I decided that the teamâs main focus for the day was in keeping both wheels on the pavement, and having everyone finish safely. Thankfully, all 9 of our riders did just that, and they even had smiles on their faces at the end of the race!
Unlike last year, I stayed near (not AT) the front of the pack for the first 8 miles of the race. I had run into Brooke before staging, and she told me I should âtestâ my legs on the first climb and see what happened. I snuck out around the field on the right side, and started a small acceleration up the hill. Once I crested, I quickly saw that I and five other riders had a gap! I urged them to work together to keep away, which is what we did (losing one in the process). Having also received instruction for how to play the finish, I tried to race smart â coming back onto 103, I sat third wheel all the way through the rotary where the front two riders peeled off. I was in the small ring to climb the first step, crested onto the âflatâ, shifted to the big ring, and went. Unfortunately, as much as my head wanted the win, I went too early and ran out of both legs and gears. With Mike screaming at me from the sidelines, I managed to maintain second across the line â my best result to date! The funniest thing was having Marianne Stover come over to me (having watched the finish) to tell me that I did a great job, but that was a REALLY LONG sprint. Guess I know for next time! (My full report and pics of the women who raced can be found at http://twoadventures.blogspot.com)
Kristen Gohr: Amazing! My first race and I’m hooked! Unfortunately spent most of the race chasing the pack because of a flat tire. I was wicked nervous before the race but Cathy said just the right things to remind me that I was there to have fun. Can’t wait for June 2nd!
Erica Mains: Race #2. I felt confident. My pulled back muscle, the pouring rain, the chilly temperatures, my sore knees from the cool weather, somehow none of these things were detering me from racing. I was anxious at the prospect of my goal; stay with the lead pack. The short warm up ride with Kristen helped to boost my confidense even further, the air felt warmer and the road less slippery then I had anticipated. My knees and back loosened up within a mile. The first couple miles I felt great, everything was going as planned. Going into the first hill I felt good. I saw Cathy out of the corner of my eye attacking up the right side of the pack. I followed her lead. With 5 girls between me and Cathy I pedeled hard to keep up, but suddenly I hit a wall. I could feel the lactic acid pouring into my legs. As frustration built up I found myself suddenly climbing the hill alone. The rest of the way around the loop it was between me and the road. Every hill brought back the same feeling of frustration, but I pushed back, put my head down, and focused on each stroke. Ahead I could see 2 or 3 riders from time to time. I wanted to catch them. A couple of times I did, but I couldn’t hold onto it. At one point Kristen came flying up next to me, mentioned she had gotten a flat and then was gone before I knew it. I was jealous; I wanted to feel as fresh and relaxed as she had seemed to be. I pedaled harder, I knew the finish couldn’t be far. Chandra suddenly appeared beside me. Having a team mate nearby was exactly the inspiration I needed, I finally didn’t feel alone. Although I didn’t meet my goal for the day I got in some fantastic training, learned some valuable lessons, and have significantly increased my enthusiasm to train and try again.
Chandra McCarthy: Goal: Stay upright and on two wheels. I have a lot of experience racing in really bad weather conditions but just not on a bike. So I was pretty nervous and wanted to give some space to other riders during the first few miles when the pack was still together. Cathy made a move up a hill which broke up the group- this time around I wasn’t completely dropped and was able to keep in sight a couple of riders ahead of me. I was still by myself, but having someone ahead gave good motivation to keep pushing and reel them in. I had a technical malfunction with my computer and didn’t have a good grasp on the mileage or how close I was to the finish. So the last mile or so- I never really picked up my pace as much as I should have. But I really enjoyed the race and the course, even with all the hills. And my base layer of Under Armour stayed dry until the end!!
Kathy Martin: I felt horrible before the start. I’d been battling terrible sinus headaches all week and was feeling really run down and tired, so I didn’t have any expectations. My only goal was to finish. I did a lot better than I thought I would. I stayed with the pack for the first couple of hills, and then got spit out. I was on my own for a little while and then Stephanie caught me. We traded pulls pretty well at first, and then my legs decided not to work anymore. Stephanie waited for me and I got to recover a little on some of the down hills and started to feel better. After a while I think that Stephanie’s legs stopped working too, and I waited for her a little bit. After the last turn we both seemed to be feeling more energetic and we came up to the finish line together and sprinted it out at the end. It was actually a fun race in spite of the conditions, and I have Stephanie to thank for it! :-)
Stephanie Marcott: Wasn’t feeling strong for this race but I was calm and fine with going out in the rain. Turned out to be a really fun time. Fell off the main pack again, with a NEBC racer far ahead and one far behind. I though a moment to wait for the racer behind me but I didn’t want to get too far behind the pack so I chased down Kathy Martin and we worked together for the rest of the race. Kept looking back but couldn’t see anyone behind anymore; worked pretty good on the hills and pretty much kept a steady pace. Last hill towards the finish I became tired but caught up sprinted towards the finish. Great finish for Kathy! I felt really good with my finish too.
Caroline Cardiasmenos: I had fun! I knew ahead of time that this would be a tough race: hill climbs. However, pre-riding the day before gave me a sense of how to pace. I put in a decent warm-up and stayed dry before the start. I now know to push myself harder during the last portion of my warm-up with a few more sprints; I felt the first climb too much and that’s when I fell off the pack, whereas I felt great for the next several climbs. Anyway, I stayed with the pack for the first 8+ miles (even if we were going slow) and thus achieved my goal to “ride with A pack for some of the race.” The remainder of the race was odd as I was stranded alone between 2 NEBCers up front (Kathy, Stephanie) and 2 in back (Pat, Julie) and rode virtually all of the 15 miles by myself. At times, I was very close to K&S and thought I might even catch up to them—but then I’d have to climb by myself again and I’d fall back. P&J caught me twice but for a number of reasons (including a pride of 40 aggressive men and my having perhaps too much fun on the rainy down hills) we couldn’t stick together. By the finish line I was definitely a piece of soggy toast but I had a big smile on my face. I’m so happy I ignored the temptation to stay home and instead had a real “experience” with everyone.
Pat Stabler:
Julie Lockhart: Great start again! Good descent to the rotary (having done it without the crowd beforeâ¦), psyched to maneuver in the pack and pretty much stay or get to 3rd wheel for the first 9-10 miles ⦠two times I recovered back IN TO the pack the third time I found myself in the back, then off, I got back to the pack, but could not get IN ⦠as Pat passed me I said I was done â in the sense of with the pack. Rest of rack rode to catch Pat and Caroline succeeded catching Pat â we worked together and caught Caroline, but in the end her superior descending trumped our efforts. Great time ⦠fun race except the rain, and being alone sometimes. Kristen flew by and really astounded me with her strength ⦠this heartened me to try harder.