Time flies when you are training hard. During the past two months, I have been fortunate enough to be back in Los Angeles preparing for the 2005 season. Although there has been record rainfall, the sun has shone more days than naught, and my little legs have gotten in a ton of base miles. My days have been filled with training, sleeping and eating. Despite what you may have heard, cycling is not a glamorous sport.

This past weekend, I participated in my first race of the season, the McLane Pacific Cycling Classic. This is the first NRC (National Racing Calendar) event of the year so all the pro teams come out in full-force. The weekend started off with a downtown criterium in Merced, CA. The race was a 6-corner crit on an .8mile circuit. The Women Pro 1/2

Field raced 40 laps, approximately 30 miles.

There were about 70 racers who toed the line. In addition to the local California teams, the top U.S. woman squads, T-Mobile, Quark, Victory Brewing, Subway and Webcor were represented. In typical fashion the riders jockeyed for position at the start, and as soon as the gun went off the race was in high gear. I am not a huge fan of criteriums so adding to the fact that it was also my first race, I was a bundle of nerves. I, however, was not alone. Most of the other racers were also racing for the first time so there was a lot of nervous energy in the pack. The rule of thumb for success in a criterium is to start at the front and stay there. I failed to heed this guideline, starting and finishing in the back. Due to difficulty getting my cleat into my pedal at the start, I found myself sucked to the rear of the pack and was playing catch-up for the first couple of laps. Once I got back on to the group, the ride was much easier but I was unable to get to the front due to the furious pace. There were constant attacks being launched from the top-teams but none were successful. The race ended in a field sprint with Ina Yoko Teutenberg of T-Mobile taking the win over Laura Van Gilder from Quark. Despite a back of the pack finish, the ride was still positive. My legs were in good form and I never felt out of my comfort zone the entire race, a good sign that my fitness level was where it should be.

Sunday was the road race, which took place in the middle of an orchard in what felt like the middle of nowhere. The Women Pro 1/2 Field raced 72 miles, 3 laps of a 24-mile flat circuit with a few rollers. The race is famous for its brutal crosswinds that typically decimate the field but this year the weather was perfect. The start of the race was delayed for 30 minutes due to a farmer protesting the race by dumping a pile of cow manure across the start/finish line. With the first race of the season under my belt, I was much calmer. The race started at a leisurely pace that lasted almost the entire first lap. We were going so slow the field behind caught us about 15 miles into the race. As they were passing, the women decided to take a pee break. I opted to stay on my bike, for fear of being left behind with my pants down. Towards the end of the first lap, the action began with an attack that resulted in the first crash of the day. Two of the riders who initiated the attack crashed into each other, taking down other riders in their path. Although I was right behind it, I was able to squeeze by unharmed. The crash, however, wiped out the top sprinters from Victory Brewing and Subway. After the initial attack, the floodgates were opened. The attacks kept coming but with little success. Without the crosswinds, the course was not difficult enough to break-up the field and too flat for anyone to really get away. At the end of the second lap, I decided to go with an attack and had my fleeting moment of glory when I crossed the start/finish line leading the race.

My Mom and Stepfather were in the feed zone so I felt like I should reward them for their hard work. Most of the race I drifted from the front to the back of the pack, depending on the speed. When the race got hard I found myself in the front and as the pace slowed I seemed to drift toward the back. At the end of the final lap, before making the last turn into the final stretch to the finish, I was able to get myself to the front of the pack in a good position, Kristin Armstrong of T-Mobile, however, attacked with another rider on her wheel and was able to make a good sized gap on the field. Her teammate, Ina Yoko Teutenberg, got to the front to stall the pace and was screaming at her, “Kristin go”. But, maybe due to her German accent, Kristin thought she said “Kristen no”. In the midst of this confusion the pack started to swarm and pick-up its pace. Ina decided to take matters into her own hands, bridging up to her teammate with the field in tow, she out-sprinted the field, for her second win of the weekend. I improved upon my result from Saturday, finishing in 24th place.

Although I felt I had the fitness to finish in the top ten, bike racing is not always a matter of survival of the fittest. My positioning in the pack throughout the weekend was not up to par so this is something I will try to improve in my upcoming races. The good news is that my training is going according to plan and I should be ready for my key races later on this spring. So, here is to a fine welcome to the new season!