Husband: I'm so proud of you jumping in and doing something really hard.Hehehe.
Me: To be honest, I really didn't think it was going to be that hard.
So today I did my first road race.
Last night we were talking over dinner and I said something along the lines of thinking I'd be in the middle of the pack.
My husband said, I think you should be prepared to come last tomorrow. The people in the race are a cut above the people we ride with. Remember that most of the people we ride with (who are stronger cyclists than you) don't even race.
Oh yeah. Fair point.
I'm really glad he said that because it grounded me and set my expectations a little more realistic.
Comparing yourself to other cyclists' abilities is really dangerous because it's so context specific. Even if you do the same ride with the same people, it could be completely different due to a variety of factors - weather / how people are feeling / what people want to get out of the ride / etc.
So we woke up around 5am to get ready.
My lovely husband offered to drive me. He hadn't decided whether to race or not, but was going to pack everything just in case. He'd planned to ride down to the start with me and then ride up to the finish line and watch me finish.
I was glad because I'm not familiar with the north and can get quite anxious driving up to that area.
Last month, I watched some friends race Cyclocross and found that everyone has a different approach to pre-race jitters.
Today I learnt that I am a whingey, physical pain sort of pre-race jitter person. Not a hardcore focussed determined person. Oh well..
As we got closer to Terrey Hills, I just felt so much pain in my stomach. I ended up clutching my stomach in pain as my husband was driving.
We arrived at Terrey Hills and parked our car.
Me: I think I'm so nervous I'm going to cry.
Husband: Well let's get going so you can cry while you're on your bike. Tears of power.
As a friend commented. "Best. Husband. Ever."
The good thing about getting nervous before a bike ride, I think, is that once you get on the bike, you don't have the energy or mind space to think about anything outside of cycling.
So I was fine once I got on the bike.
We got to the Akuna Bay marina, the start of the race.
It was freezing.
There were about 15 names in Women's C/D grade. I was first to arrive, so I was given Race number 1.
So the different grades started with a few minutes in between to separate the groups.
We started with the neutralised climb out from Akuna Bay. The girls at the front said to yell out if the pace needed to be slower.
Going up that first climb was difficult as we were all so cold. It was definitely not at a comfortable pace for me.
I wasn't sure whether to yell out because I was dropping. So I didn't. I thought, if I'm going to drop I'm going to drop and I felt like everyone was more experienced, so perhaps someone else would yell out or notice and slow down.
Me and a few of the other ladies dropped off the back, but Alexi from Manly Warringah who was helping run the race was helping get us back on the group by pushing us back in.
Once we got out of the neutral zone, Alexi spoke to us and said that people were welcome to attack but it might be nice in the interests of being inclusive and being social if they left it until after the turn at West Head.
I tried to stay on, but I lost the group at the Willunga climb about 8km into the race. (4km after the neutral zone). Alexi suggested the pivotal point was when everyone got out of the saddle to get that extra power up the climb and I stayed sitting in the saddle.
So there were 2 major things I noticed today that I was lacking skills in that I think are definitely things to work on if I wish to race in the future:
1. Climbing out of the saddle.
I only learnt this 2 weeks ago so am still pretty beginner at this.
You get a lot of power, but you also have to know how to transition in and out of this action and which gear to be in.
2. Climbing hills in the big ring (the front gears).
I'm still not 100% on changing across all my different gears, but am getting more familiar with them.
Because I tend to prepare my gears when I know something is coming up to prevent getting caught in the wrong gear and I also tend to sit in the small ring just in case, my husband suggested that I practice changing gears as much as I can so I can become more familiar with them.
Which is a fair point.
Climbing in the small ring means that you're getting more distance for each pedal stroke.
You have to have the power to be able to turn the pedals in the big ring, but it does keep your momentum up more effectively.
So it was suggested that I don't go all the way to West Head and just turn around to try and catch the group (as there was no point me cycling majority of the full course by myself).
However, when I went to turn and catch the group, another group came up from behind me so it wasn't safe to turn and once I turned, there was a very strong headwind / crosswind.
I ended up just cycling the rest of the way by myself, but I kept reminding myself I was in a race so I should keep pushing.
So I pushed so I felt the burn in my thighs the whole time.
It was interesting seeing the other group pass - the other grades do more laps.
All in all, despite not finishing the course and dropping off the group quite early, it was a great experience, and I was proud and happy to have done it.
I'm not sure if I'll race again. I feel like it's definitely flagged areas of improvement for me and made me want to train West Head and try and improve my average speed. As this women's only race was a once off, I'm also not too excited about racing co-ed with much faster D grade riders.
(My average was about 21 km/hr and the group was about 25 km/hr so I'm still a while off, even when taking the speed increase when cycling in a group into account. I think the mens D grade was about 28 km/hr.)
Thank you to Manly Warringah Cycling Club for organising women's only grades and the Sydney Women's Cycling facebook page for their encouragement.
I saw that my friend had posted a jumping photo after completing a 10km run this morning, and I wanted to do something similar but this was all I could manage:
P.S. The ride back to the car Terrey Hills was quite tiring! I chose to go NOT via Akuna Bay, but there was still quite a long climb.
Me: Are you sure this is the easy way out?
Husband: There's no easy way out.
Me and a few of the other ladies dropped off the back, but Alexi from Manly Warringah who was helping run the race was helping get us back on the group by pushing us back in.
Once we got out of the neutral zone, Alexi spoke to us and said that people were welcome to attack but it might be nice in the interests of being inclusive and being social if they left it until after the turn at West Head.
I tried to stay on, but I lost the group at the Willunga climb about 8km into the race. (4km after the neutral zone). Alexi suggested the pivotal point was when everyone got out of the saddle to get that extra power up the climb and I stayed sitting in the saddle.
So there were 2 major things I noticed today that I was lacking skills in that I think are definitely things to work on if I wish to race in the future:
1. Climbing out of the saddle.
(via www.gettyimages.in)
I only learnt this 2 weeks ago so am still pretty beginner at this.
You get a lot of power, but you also have to know how to transition in and out of this action and which gear to be in.
2. Climbing hills in the big ring (the front gears).
I'm still not 100% on changing across all my different gears, but am getting more familiar with them.
Because I tend to prepare my gears when I know something is coming up to prevent getting caught in the wrong gear and I also tend to sit in the small ring just in case, my husband suggested that I practice changing gears as much as I can so I can become more familiar with them.
Which is a fair point.
Climbing in the small ring means that you're getting more distance for each pedal stroke.
You have to have the power to be able to turn the pedals in the big ring, but it does keep your momentum up more effectively.
So it was suggested that I don't go all the way to West Head and just turn around to try and catch the group (as there was no point me cycling majority of the full course by myself).
However, when I went to turn and catch the group, another group came up from behind me so it wasn't safe to turn and once I turned, there was a very strong headwind / crosswind.
I ended up just cycling the rest of the way by myself, but I kept reminding myself I was in a race so I should keep pushing.
So I pushed so I felt the burn in my thighs the whole time.
It was interesting seeing the other group pass - the other grades do more laps.
All in all, despite not finishing the course and dropping off the group quite early, it was a great experience, and I was proud and happy to have done it.
I'm not sure if I'll race again. I feel like it's definitely flagged areas of improvement for me and made me want to train West Head and try and improve my average speed. As this women's only race was a once off, I'm also not too excited about racing co-ed with much faster D grade riders.
(My average was about 21 km/hr and the group was about 25 km/hr so I'm still a while off, even when taking the speed increase when cycling in a group into account. I think the mens D grade was about 28 km/hr.)
Thank you to Manly Warringah Cycling Club for organising women's only grades and the Sydney Women's Cycling facebook page for their encouragement.
I saw that my friend had posted a jumping photo after completing a 10km run this morning, and I wanted to do something similar but this was all I could manage:
Me: Are you sure this is the easy way out?
Husband: There's no easy way out.
What a life lesson. :p
