I don’t know why I waited so long to race the Winter Short Track Series. Perhaps it was the overload of collegiate cycling that requires quick transitions between seasons making the limited rest weeks invaluable. Maybe it was just the fast that it was something new and I wasn’t ready to jump into another new situation. Regardless, I’m so impressed by the series so far and the racing is so intense and fun.
Sunday’s race was cooler than the kickoff race. It was around 40 degrees when the sport and expert women started, so the perfect temp for no arm warmers! This time I was steady on the start, no squrreliness! I had a fairly good position going into the woods on the first lap, still a little back from where I wanted to be but I knew I could make it up. The course was very dry, and a lot faster then the first race. Since it’s on dedicated mountain bike trails, the flow is good and fast, almost too fast into some corners for me! Since it was the same course, I felt pretty comfortable, knowing where I was at all times. That is a benefit of doing series races!
I felt really steady throughout the race, working my way up, back and forth with a couple other racers. My times were a lot faster and more consistent than before. I kept trying to get a lap in under 4 minutes but didn’t quite make it this time.
The last few laps ramped up the intensity. Ann from BikeLaw was either right in front of me or behind me. Just after going through the finish to start the 9th lap I heard the announcer state that the expert women were coming through and starting their 10th and final lap. That made me hustle even more, I was about to dip into the woods and didn’t want to deal with them passing on singletrack. My goal was to make it through the woods before they caught me. Amazingly, I was able to make it the entire lap, getting to do the entire 10 laps of the race! On lap 10 Ann was right behind me the entire time. She’s stronger on the straightaways than I am, and I was sure that once we got out of the woods and onto the gravel she’d pass me. She started to pull along side, and I gave it everything I had. There was that period of time that stretches out in uncertainty, could I hold her off long enough? Would I have enough once we hit the pavement? I just kept turning over the pedals, going as hard as I could, not looking behind me and taking as straight as line as possible into the finish. It ended up that we had about a second difference in finish times! I ended up in 4th place, my best non-collegiate race finish to date! It’s a great finish, but being so close, yet so far to podium is a disappointment.
Short track is changing how I race. It’s a different format, and while I raced it for Mars Hill, I’ve grown as a racer since then. It’s exciting having competitors, not being alone while racing, evaluating my strengths and weaknesses on the bike vs those of whoever is in front or behind me. There are just two weeks left of short track! I’ve got some goals for those two races, but I’ll keep those to myself for now.
Don't Just Marvel...Do 