First Win of Season

Start of race, photo by Pony shop

Our plans for this weekend changed quickly Friday when both WI cross races were canceled. Since Kevin was up in WI and I was in Chicago, heading down to Louisville wasn't an option, plus to race the Elite UCI race one needs to preregister. So we went to the CCC's Bartlett race. This course is not one of my favorites but it is nice and long so that is always a plus.

We got to the course around 9:30, just in time to see Tom racing the 40+. He looked smooth and strong on his Eriksen singlespeed and had a great finish. I paid my $35 dollar registration fee(charged $5 more since I didn't prereg) and then went for my warm up. It was a nice feeling lining up with the other women in front of the Cat 3 men.(Finally a little respect for the ladies!) After call ups, none for me since I have been racing in WI, I rolled to the line. The official said go and we were off.

Lately my starts have been really good and today was no exception. I got the hole shot taking the first corner with a few seconds of a gap and by the barriers I was able to make it stick and grow. Let me comment on the barriers, the first set were 3 barriers set on a downhill. They were extremely fast and you really needed to scrub speed before hitting them. The second was also slightly downhill on a hard right hand turn, weirdly positioned. I was actually cringing when a photographer was taking pictures, as my barrier work today was embarrassing! Going into lap 2 I kept my gap around 20+ seconds and kept hammering. Lap 3 I started to get worried because I could see the Cat 3 leaders making their way through and I was worried one of the ladies would grab and use wheels to close the gap. I just kept hammering on and actually grabbed a wheel or two myself. I then heard Kevin and Tom scream that I had opened the gap even more and to just stay steady and strong. I rode out the last 2 laps grabbing my first win of the season!

Here's my little rant: After getting changed I went to pick up my payout. Now, I don't do this for the money but I have been spoiled from racing in WI where Renee of Madcross has fought for many years to get equal payouts for women. Unfortunately her fight has only effected the WI series, as my payout was $30, not even covering the cost of registration. Kevin though got 3rd and came out even. ~holly