Gateway Cup - Day 3: Giro Della Montagna

Today we headed to The Hill neighborhood for Day 3 of the Gateway Cup.  Today's course was not around a park, but through a super cool Italian neighborhood.  The course was a big rectangle, 4 blocks long by 1 block wide.  There was a "hill" on the back side of the rectangle, but since there was a downhill going into it, it was not a significant factor in the race.  The bigger factor was the narrower streets which made changing position a lot harder than the other courses we've done so far.

I showed up at the race site super early and was able to ride the course for a good 15 minutes before the men's 4/5 race started.  I spent the rest of the time warming up on the trainer.  Today was a much nicer day as it was cloudy and in the mid-70's... a HUGE change from the last 2 days which have been over 100 degrees!

I lined up at the start line feeling fairly confident today.  Unfortunately that confidence went out the window about 0.1 seconds into the race.  The whistle was blown and I went to start only to find my rear wheel would not turn!

I jumped off my bike to figure out what had happened.  No one had run into me.  The chain was in place.  Then some guy jumped out of the crowd telling me my rear wheel was not attached to my bike!

I have no idea how that happened since I had been riding my bike for the last hour without any issues.  I didn't know what to do.  A race official told me to run back to the pit and get my bike fixed.  I would be given a free lap.  Since my wheel wouldn't turn, I picked up my bike and ran in my bike shoes down the sidewalk, back about a block to the pit.  I had no idea how to enter the pit, so I threw my bike over the fence and told the guys my wheel wouldn't turn.  Fortunately the pit crew was totally relaxed.  They helped me figure out how to get around the fence, calmed me down, fixed my bike, and then tried to convince me I owed them a six-pack of beer and a back rub for their services.  At that point I was more than willing to give away beer and back rubs just as long as I could get back in the race!

I was pushed into the race about 1/3 through the field and spent the first 5-6 laps hanging out in the back of the pack, like usual.  Today's group was STRONG.  I had to work just to hold on!  My cornering sucks so this course was particularly challenging for me to try to hold my position.  I was not in any sort of position to go for the first prime and instead just tried to stay in the draft.



Coming around Corner 1 early in the race

 For the 2nd prime, I worked my way into an OK position but stood no chance on the sprint.  I crossed the line 5th, but was happy to be with the lead girls for the first time in this race.

As the remaining laps ticked away, I found myself bored in the pack.  I could tell some girls were getting tired and I felt like I wasn't working at all.  I decided I needed to do something, figuring if I went hard and died, at least I would have tried.

With one lap to go, I attacked.  I doubted I could get away, but at least I got recognized for my effort as they announced my name over the loud speaker.  I hit corners 1 and 2 in first place which gave me the opportunity to make it through 2 corners without hitting my brakes.  I hammered up the incline on the back side, but could see shadows of girls coming up on either side of me.  I hit corner 3 in about 5th place and then got passed by some more girls before corner 4.  I had a crappy turn on corner 4 but was able to catch 3 to 4 girls on the 3 block sprint to the finish line. 

Despite my crappy start, I managed to finish 13th in a field of 39.