Day 2 of the Chicagoland race weekend kicked off with the 2 mile time trial. After my unspectacular showing at the 340m dash, I was not exactly overflowing with confidence. SaH (Il Peloton) reassured me that I would do much better at the TT because the distance and the fitness required play to my advantage. She reminded me that my performance at Montreal 24hr Relay was not a fluke. I was skeptical because all the pro women seem to be faster than me.
The course for the TT was not terribly challenging but it was definitely not a walk in the park. About 15m after the start, it took us under the tunnel with grooved pavement. It was a fine balance not to lose my footing so accleration was not trivial. After the tunnel, we made a right turn onto the smooth pavement which took us to a 180 turnaround over 2 car lanes. We picked up a bit of speed going at a slight downhill before a longish climb. At the top of the climb, we looped into a small area (right turn, left turn, left turn to interlock pavement, left turn back to the road). Then it was a nice descent into a right hand turn. We skated under a bridge before downhill to a hard left for the finish line.
Remembering my success with using the speed alert of my Garmin from Montreal, I quickly set my GPS unit to alert me if I travel slower than 30km/h. Turned out this was once again a very effective strategy. I did not feel fast while skating and I certainly slowed down way too much for the "obstacles" of the course. Luckily, the speed alert taunt me every time I slowed down. I finished the TT at 6:31, placing 5/9 in the pro women category (official results available here).
The 10k criterium was a 6 laps race over a small loop (see course map in blue). Since the pro women were close to the last group to finish the TT and we were the first of the pros to race the crit, a second warm up was not really necessary. Unbeknownst to us, there were points awarded at every lap...we skated the race as if it was a straight 10k race. The start was tame and I easily got into the lead pack. ME (Toronto Inline) did a long pull to keep the pace high so I just sat in the pack behind JW (Asphalt Beach) with little intention to do much. However, as soon as ME peeled off, the younger girls seemed to want to control the race. It was back-and-forth between hard accelerations and easy rolling with everyone standing up. Coach SZ once said to me you may not be the most qualified skater to initiate attacks but it doesn't hurt to try. After all, 2009 is a year of learning. There is no better way to learn than to take risks and make mistakes when there is nothing on the line. I was feeling comfortable in the pack so I decided to practice my attacks. In the start of lap 3, as soon as the pack stood up, I accelerated to the front and watched in amusement as the pack reacted. I had no intention to breakaway so I eased back into the pack. I suppose the young girls did not want me to get in the middle of their team so I fell back to the back of the pack easily enough. I did the same thing a few times more. Once the two girls at the front blocked me so I just sat behind them. Another time I heard they said to each other "let her pull" and I ended up at the front for a bit for no particular reasons. I wasn't getting away so I tried to drop back after a while. Of course the girls trailed behind me as I swerved left and right. The whole thing was rather funny until we came to about 15m away from line and the announcer suddenly called out "This is a points lap!" and all hell broke loose. We grouped up after that and it was apparent that the race would come down to a field sprint. I positioned myself behind JW and somehow beat a couple of girls at the line so I didn't come last in the field sprint. I placed 8th out of 13 (official results available here) and was very happy about the way I skated.
What I enjoy most about multiple race events is that there are lots of opportunities to socialize with fellow skaters. Between the Saturday morning races and the marathon on Sunday, there were lots of free time. On one hand, I knew that I had to take it easy and stay prepared for the marquee race the next day. On the other hand, it was tempting to have some fun in Chicago. I managed to convince a few friends to indulge in my foodie tendencies. We visited Superdawg for an authentic Chicago-style hotdog (a real drive-in!!!) and Al's Italian Beef for a sandwich. Not ideal pre-race food for sure but the experience made me sooo happy. I love my friends. :)
I woke up too early on Sunday morning. Uncharacteristically, I did not sleep well so I was very quiet. I suddenly felt like I had a huge task ahead of me even though I knew very well that I had nothing to lose. I was in a very strange state of mind. In the span of a few hours, my race plan changed dramatically before I was finally at peace by using the "worst case scenario" way of thinking. All I needed to do was skate. Just stay with the lead pack for as long as I can. Everything else would take care of themselves.
The start was easily manageable and I stayed close behind MT (Team Rainbo). She was skating on the right hand side of the pack which quickly organized itself into a long paceline. I wasn't overly worry about not being in the pack immediately and just watched for my opportunity. My window came soon enough and I ducked behind JW. The pace of the pack remained fast with accelerations thrown in every so often. I stayed with the pack close to one lap but was gapped (and eventually dropped) in a right turn. I did not see anyone behind me so it meant I had to keep up a good race pace to catch other stragglers dropped from the pack. It took half a lap of solo skating before I caught up to JW and TY caught up to us too. I let out a sigh of relief that I did not have to skate the rest of the race solo. Unfortunately, I relaxed too soon. As we came out of the little loop around on the east end of the course, I turned into a lane not closed to traffic on W Central Road (see course map here). Volunteer yelled at me and I slowed down quickly to get myself back on course. There is rumble strip dividing the two lanes alternating with some smooth sections. I made a sharp left hoping to stay on the smooth part but it was not to be. As soon as my wheels hit the ginormous rumble strip, I went down like a plank. No sliding. Just bam and knees, elbows, lower left rib cage, and upper right hip bone all hit the protruded part of the rumble strip hard. JW was considerate and waited for me. I quickly got up and did not dare to look at the damages. I felt like the wind got knocked out of me and my right hip bone was throbbing with pain. I had to keep skating and let adrenaline do its magic.
A couple of climbs later, I felt like myself again. Unfortunately, JW was fading away. TY and I waited for her once but when we dropped her unintentionally for the second time, I decided to keep going. It was not too late to salvage my race...I was counting on passing other girls getting dropped from the lead pack. That did not happen until the final lap. I slowed TY down and told her to follow my acceleration. I did not want this girl to jump into our draft. It worked according to plan. TY and I sprinted for the line and it was the end of a rather uneventful race for me. I finished 11th out of 15, only behind everyone in the lead pack. It was not the race I wanted but all things considered, a decent effort to build on for the rest of this season.
As soon as the race was done, every part of my body was aching. The long drive home was very uncomfortable but it could be worse. Road rash was kept to minimal because I did not slide over the pavement. However, the impact from the fall means that I have some nasty bruises to deal for the next little while. Best to take it easy for a few days.
Holy crap, look at those abs! Jessica Alba better watch her back!!
Posted by: Cor | July 28, 2009 at 14:08
Oh Cor, I can always count on you to make me smile. I am actually quite self-conscious about posting that picture but I figure you would demand road rash pics. ;) It's for you buddy~~
Oh yeah, the bruises are starting to surface today. Black and blue all over!
Posted by: DessertByCandy | July 28, 2009 at 14:16
Candy's showing some skin!!! I have one in nearly the same spot from a fall in January. I was so sorry to see you fall - heal quickly and I'll see you at the next one :)
Posted by: Jessica | July 28, 2009 at 17:02