2010 Nationals

So, my first real cross nationals have come and gone (when Nationals were at Hardwood Hills in 2005, it was my first year, and I did the "Open Challenge"). Before getting into my own race, I want to highlight the awesome race that the Boy had. He had a great race, grabbing the holeshot, and staying with the front group. He faded a bit partway through the race, and then rallied to recover a couple of spots and finish in 6th. Such a great ride, and really fun to cheer him through!

I wasn't going into this with particularly high expectations, but I did have some thoughts on what I thought was good and achievable. Unfortunately, I had a ride that I am far from thrilled with - I just didn't have the legs or the lungs on race day.

My start was, to be frank, awful. I went from the second row to the back of the pack in very little time (see the video for a "how not to start" lesson from yours truly). Riding in a pack is something I definitely need to work on to get more comfortable here. I was riding with a small group of about 3 girls, and it was pretty good. There was some back and forth, and after riding up the "run up" while they ran, I thought I might be able to pull away from them. Oh so wrong! I put it in the big ring at the top, and my legs rather quickly told me that they weren't down with that. After a couple of turns, the girl behind me powered past me, and though I put in an effort to stay with her, it was the last I saw of anyone else. Well, at least until Wendy and Katy blew past!

I was really happy to hear that I was riding the run-up, while a lot of the girls just ahead of me were not. They were, however, pushing a bigger gear through the top section. Thanks to Brad and Rachael for yelling at me encouraging me to use the big ring - I needed a bit of a push to keep working, and it definitely helped. The Boy stationed himself at other painful points on the course, generally near the top of a climb, to remind me to keep going at times when throwing in the towel seemed like a really nice option. When I asked him point blank if I could quit, he told me to just keep going on the course to the finish area, where I could tell the commissaires I was a DNF. Of course, by the time I got there, I was feeling better, and just went around for another lap.

I finished one lap down, in 19th. I am pretty sure that on a better day, finishing on the lead lap was definitely achievable, as well as a couple more spots in the finishing order. One of the coolest things about racing was definitely the depth of the field. Definitely the strongest I have ever ridden in - honestly, how many times will I line up right next to Catharine Pendrel, Women's World Cup champ???