OPUS - 5/10/11

I knew this would happen. The weather in MN skipped right over spring and went straight to summer. This week it was 83 degrees as I was riding out to the OPUS complex. For once, I was organized enough in the morning to ride my bike to work and then could ride straight out to the race. (Usually I pack my bike in my car and then have to drive out.) Funny thing is, I was able to cut about 30 minutes off my commute to OPUS by riding my bike rather than driving.

The ride out was good, but I was a little nervous about what my legs would feel like during the race. I'm used to a 50 minute warm-up and then a race. This time I had a good 30 miles on my legs before the gun went off. My legs didn't feel great, but didn't feeling horrible either.

I ended up in the front for the first 2 laps. That's not where I wanted to be, so I let Martha and Meredith get in front for the 3rd lap. Ideally I'd like to be about 3rd in the pack going into the sprint. For the first sprint, I started too soon and didn't have enough go-go juice to hold it through the line. One of the SPBRC girls beat me, taking the 5 points and leaving me with 3. After that I ended up in front again and was hoping a good effort on laps 4 and 5 would drop the pack. Unfortunately the girls were extra sticky this week and I couldn't quite shake them from my wheel. I got through those laps and then sprinted again for the points on lap 6. This time I started my sprint at the right time and got to the line first with Stef about 1/2 a wheel behind me.

"We've got a gap. Let's go!"

That's the statement I was waiting for! Stef and I had finally managed to drop the pack and were off on our own again. Neither one of us seemed to have anything in our legs. I was struggling to hold onto her on the downhills and she was struggling to hold onto me on the uphills. With 1.5 laps left, we knew we had a significant gap and slowed down a little. For the last lap, Stef admitted she had nothing left and dropped back as I rode toward the finish line. I tried to give one last good sprint effort, but could barely get myself out of the saddle. My legs were done! Thank God we had a good lead on everyone else!

I crossed the finish line first, with Stef a second or two behind me. I'm not sure where the other Birchies finished. I immediately left the race site to try to ride the 18 miles home before the approaching thunderstorm hit. (I made it as far the Midtown Freewheel before the tornado sirens went off and the hail started. Fortunately the storm was over in about 20 minutes.)

This is the 5th race in a row Stefanie and I have finished 1st and 2nd. We have both sent in our requests to upgrade to Cat 3, although I'm not sure when those upgrades will take effect. Soon enough we will be racing with a whole new group of girls! I can't wait!