Gearhead CX Race Report

Since this post is largely about trying to beat guys in races, Fred, who commented on my previous post, should probably stop reading now.

Race #1 was against the women and cat 4 men. There were 3 other women and a handful of guys. First place was $200 (woohoo!), and I was planning on doubling up and jumping into the men’s open race just after the women’s, so my strategy going in was similar to McEwen- race hard enough to win the women’s race, and leave the guys alone. It started out like that, but within a couple of laps, I was gaining ground on the leader of the cat 4 race. I eventually passed him, and, of course, he chased, so I had to bust ass to stay away. Winning. Wait… Winning? Shit.

I tried my best to cool down a little without getting totally relaxed. I grabbed a gel and some water and kept rolling around until people started to line up.

Race #2: The payout was 10 deep, and 12 of us lined up. The goal was twofold- get money, and fu… uh… race hard. The start was great- I jumped into the course ahead of a couple of the slowest racers but behind the guys that I wasn’t sure of whether or not I’d pass. In the next few laps, I chased several of them down. For a while, I was alone between the 5 leaders and the ones behind me. I realized that I was pulling Larry Yancey (Mr. Honeybadger himself) back. It took a minute, but I eventually passed him in the box of turns just after the first barrier. The last three laps was hell. I felt every pedal stoke from the first race, but managed to hold off all of the guys that I’d passed and finish in 5th place.

Bounty for the day… (thanks Gearhead for such an awesome race/payout!)

 

Today, I suffered and, for the first time in a while, felt fast. It was both painful and liberating at the same time. A mile-marker on my road to Worlds…

 

2 thoughts on “Gearhead CX Race Report

  1. Awesome job, Gal….! Don’t be worrying any about guys who are “bitch-bashing”—and don’t be worrying about those male racers behing ya—they are just jealous that you are so physically and mentally tough….;-)

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