a long time coming...

On the podium - 3rd place
Breck Gold Run Rush Race

Backstory
Way back when I was a beginner racer(circa 2004) I headed up to Breckenridge to do the Fall Classic Stage Race. The beginners were basically racing a dirt road and the sport categories and above were racing a 25+ mile race w/lots of singletrack that included something called "heinous hill". Not wanting to race a dirt road - I jumped in WAY over my head and signed up as a sport racer. Such was my introduction to racing in Breck.

Needless to say I had my ass handed to me in that race and subsequently over and over again since then. All I can say is those Breck riders are tough, fit, fast and talented riders.

From 2005 - 2007 I rented a summer condo in Summit County and I was a fairly regular racer at the Breck Wednesday night race series...consistently finishing in the bottom 1/2 or bottom 1/3 of the pack. Due to gas prices and not having the condo the past couple of years - I haven't raced any Breck Wed nights in the past 2 years.

This year in order to get ready for racing at altitude for the Firecracker 50 - I've made the trek to Breck to race this June.

Expectations
I've never done this particular race(Gold Hill Rush) - I like to say because the timing was never right but in reality it's probably because it includes "heinous hill".

Currently the sport women are broken out into 3 categories. 19-34, 35-49, 50+. My racing age is 49 so I'm officially the oldest person racing in my category.

The first race of the series (2 weeks ago) - I finished a respectable 6th out of 12 girls in my category. Finishing in the top half vs the bottom or bottom third of the field. (hmmm...maybe i don't suck...)

I had no expectations for this race . I've never ridden this particular course so I didn't know what the descents were like or how long the climbs would be. This is a climbing race and i'm not a climber. My strengths lie in techy, rocky, ledgy descents (i.e. the Amasa back entrance) and short, bursty power moves. Plus I'm a solid 4(!) pounds heavier than my normal weight this time of year. (don't know if it's a post-menopause thing, more muscle from all the weight lifting this winter, or just eating too much - maybe a combination of the three...)

Gold Run Rush - 2009 SMC race #2
So determined to get in one more high altitude race before the Firecracker - i booked out of boulder ~3pm and headed to Breck.

I got to the start and warmed up on the first 2 miles of the course. It starts off with 1.5 miles of steepish climbing and just going at a normal pace was painful.

Normally I would start in my middle-ring but I decided to start in my granny gear. I wouldn't go all out at the beginning either - I would try to pace myself for the climb.

Off we go - I was probably toward the back of the pack as we started the climb - but i kept myself in check and let the girls go. I'd say around 5 minutes into the climb I was feeling pretty decent so I picked up the pace and started passing people. I saw several girls blow-up - that familiar sag of the shoulders and the drop of the head. (i know i've done that many-a-time)

As we continued to climb I surprisingly felt pretty good so i kept pushing harder and harder until I was toward the front. I was shocked but I told myself I could think about how good I was feeling later and right now I had to focus on the task at hand. A girl in a pink jersey and I traded places a couple of times on the climb keeping close to each other.

The first descent was a short singletrack section. I heard someone behind and as we exited the descent the guy behind me said 'you ride some nice smooth lines'. I was pleased with that comment as I consider myself a competent descender but not a great descender.

The next climb was a half-mile 10% grade climb and I felt FANTASTIC. I was in granny gear but I spinning hard and I passed pink jersey girl and another girl at this point. I put the hammer down...after a brief respite we came upon heinous hill.

On heinous I saw the 2 girls in the lead and I focused on staying on the bike hoping to clean it and make up some time. I ended up having to walk 2 short sections as my rear tire spun out and i couldn't recover and at this point pink jersey girl passed me.

After the top of heinous - it was mostly downhill with some short bursty climbs thrown in. On the flatish sections or the short climbs I would catch up to pink jersey girl and look for a place to pass then a descent would come up and she'd gap me. I was riding conservatively on the descents as I really didn't know what to expect. I kept hoping that I would be able to pass pink jersey but I never did. Pink jersey girl finished 2nd (with me in 3rd) 40 seconds ahead of me.

So that's it - my first podium at a Breck Wednesday night race. A big deal for me. ;)