Not So Great Weekend

Last weekend I decided to head to Clear Lake, Iowa to race. Although there was a big local crit in the Twin Cities, I'm desperate for upgrade points and knew I could do well in Iowa. I couldn't get any Birchwood 1/2/3 women to join me, so I set out to recruit girls from other teams in the metro. In the end, we showed up with 5 Twin Cities girls at Saturday's crit and 3 of us stuck around for the road race on Sunday. Not a bad turn out for a make-shift team!

Unfortunately my weekend turned out about as horribly as I could have imagined. I finished the weekend with a DNF and a DQ, no money and no upgrade points.

The frustrating part is that I'm in shape for the podium and my results didn't show it. I've never had a DNF before, but I got myself in a bad position and was pushed into a line that took me straight through a pothole. I flatted with 2 laps to go and then had to watch people I know I can beat take home all the money. At least I won a prime earlier in the race, so I wasn't completely a loser.

All Photos by NorthIowaSPIN

The start of the women's 1/2/3 race.

The field coming through the back side of the course.

The pothole that ended my day.


On Sunday, I had a super great road race. I felt like I was reading the field well and anticipating all the attacks. At the end, I was able to give Bianca a good lead-out for her to take 2nd and I crossed the line in 4th. I was pumped that I would be going home with money and upgrade points, until I found out I had been DQ'd for a center line violation!

I'm not going to say it was an inaccurate call. I did cross the line. I will admit that. At one point I reacted to an attack without thinking about where I was in the road. Someone yelled at me for it and I thanked that person for the reminder. They were right. I shouldn't have followed the attack on the left side. However, everyone in the field was as shocked as I was that I got DQ'd over it. Everyone I talked to said that if I got DQ'd, there were other girls that should have also been DQ'd because they were over the line a lot worse and a lot more often than I was. What really gets me is that I got DQ'd in a race that didn't have a follow car. That meant the girl who turned me in (and I know who she is) actually went out of her way to track down an official after the race and tell him to disqualify me.

Part of me understands that I did, in fact, fuck up and I really should pay for that. The other part of me wonders why no other rules were enforced in the race (i.e. The girl who leached onto the back of a men's field as they passed us and drafted off them for a number of miles... Why didn't she get DQ'd too? Drafting off another field is also illegal in road races.)


All Photos by NorthIowaSPIN

Me and Dee.

Me and Dee again.

The women's 1/2/3 field.

It took me a good three days before I was finally able to put these shitty races behind me and turn my focus to upcoming races. Even with the bad results, I will still admit I had a great time in Iowa and look forward to returning for future races. I will definitely do the Clear Lake races again next year... After all, I doubt I could do any worse!