People’s Community Bank Omnium June 5 and 6th

Johnson City, TN

June 5^th:

RR (the Roan Groan) – 30mile race up Roan Mountain the last 8 miles at an average of 7% (1st place Wcat 1-4)

The Roan Groan is an infamous climbers race that lived up to its reputation.  I have to admit being a little nervous since I have been dubbed a “climber” among the women’s field since the 2009 Highland Rim RR and this would be a true test of that title.  The women’s field consisted of Cat 1-4, with some serious power in Team Belladium and Nashville Cyclist.  Living up to our reputation, the women lined up and paraded out for the first ten miles.  There is nothing more frustrating than to sit on the front and drive a hard pace only to be stranded on the front.  The first hill began to break up the pack.  We dropped off some of the Cat4s.  Marilyn Senz from Asheville Fitness went on hard on the downhill and even harder up the next climb dropping off the rest of the weight from the group leaving about 8 people.  We began rotating the paceline to get some time on the rest of the field until we turned onto HWY 143 which began the climbing.  There were still a few individuals hanging on the back while a few of us worked so after some hard pulls, the thinning began.  Parri Gilbride, a powerhouse from Team Belladium, pulled up next to me and told me to trade off with her on the front to drop the rest of the field.  We traded pulls from the base until Parri told me that we were alone.  I sat up took a quick look and no one was behind us.  Fixated on the straggling men in front of us and the beautiful scenery, we climbed the next 8 (7%) miles together alternating positions.  At the 1K mark, I was concerned that I wouldn’t have enough to keep her off until after we rounded the corner and it leveled out some especially since she can out sprint me 99% of the time.  As we came around the corner, I stood up and started the sprint in, I could hear her get up to chase me and knowing she was on my left side I moved left to force her to go around me on the right.  The strategy worked and I won.

TT (Watauga Orthopedics Trial) – 2.7 mi; 2.75 laps around Boar Industrial Park  (4th place W cat1-4)

Not much to say.  The course was rolling with a long uphill on the backside.  It was hot and muggy and my legs felt like they weighed as much as one of Paul’s calves.  I made a mistake with my gearing on the long hill which slowed my time and ended u p with 4^th for the TT.  Not bad considering I didn’t have a TT bike, skinsuit, or deep dish wheels like some.  Parri placed right in front of me so we were tied for the omnium.

June 6^th – The Tennessee State Championship Criterium (9th place cat 1-4)

Originally there weren’t many women signed up for the Omnium but they allowed “day of” entry for the crit since it was for the state title.  We ended up with 35 women: team Kenda, Missy Petty, a few additional Cat1/2s that I didn’t know that were all fresh and ready to ride.  I had previewed the course earlier in the day and it seemed like a relatively open course.  I was taking the laps before we began and ran straight into the barriers blocking the road which had previously been open.  The course had been changed back to the original 8 corners, narrow  “s” turn, slight uphill and one sketchy corner.  The size and strength of the field made me nervous but the extra cornersI almost made me wet my shammy.  We started and I missed the jump because I couldn’t get clipped in fast enough.  I spent the next three laps playing catch up to the front field.  When I finally caught on, I settled in to get a feel for the race.  On the next lap, I jumped on the hill and ended up on the front.  I dropped back into the field staying in the top 6.  With five laps to go there had not been any serious attacks so on the next hill, I attacked again, bouncing a little on the sketchy corner.  I stayed on the front through the straight and then dropped back a little again.  With a little over a lap to go, I attacked the hill again almost laying it down on the corner but I sat my backend down on the saddle and regained control , Missy yelled at me to keep going that we had the gap but after almost crashing, it took a second to get back up to speed.  Last lap and I was playing recovery to get back up to the front.  I wasn’t as worried about winning as trying to keep my place in the omnium (tied for first with Parri).  With the mass sprint for the finish, Parri finished in front of me but I still managed second for the omnium.

Anyway, that’s it….  for this race….

How did I get here?