provincials

I am going to cut to the chase on this one - another year, another near-miss of the elusive Provincial podium. I spent a bit of time being bummed about it, and then a bit more time being resigned, and now I've moved on. One more race left this season, can't let dwelling on one race outcome kill the whole season (or at least my outlook on it)!

Both the Boy and I had Friday off, so we drove up to Ottawa. I had hoped to arrive early enough for a quick spin, but alas, it's dark at 4:30 around these parts, so that was a no-go. Glad I brought the trainer - I was stiff from sitting in the car for so long, so I set it up in the hotel room and still got in an hour to spin the legs out before dinner.

Saturday morning was nice and relaxed - neither of us were racing until noon, and the hotel was very close to the race course. We got there around 11, just as the race before ours was getting started, so we checked out the course on foot. I hopped on the trainer for a bit, and had time for a couple of laps before the start.

My start was not great - I think I need more practice in larger groups to get more comfortable with the pack and high speeds at the start. I spent a good chunk of the first lap trying to find places to pass people. I finally got up into 7th on a long grassy power section, and could see 5th and 6th a little ways ahead. Unfortunately, it was not a course where it was easy to close gaps - I spent most of the race holding a pretty steady gap on 6th, never quite making a dent in it. With about three laps to go, the gap was suddenly much larger, and I could see a couple of women slowly inching up on me, too. I knew that Lori was in the Masters category, but I didn't know about the woman with her, so I kept the pressure on. Smart move, since they came within 15 seconds of me, and the other woman was in my category!

I knew I hadn't podiumed for the race, but I also knew that some of the women ahead of me were from Quebec, so they wouldn't be eligible for the Ontario provincial podium. That element of not knowing was what kept me from giving up when it was hard on the course - you just have to keep plugging away and hope for the best. In the end, I missed out on a Provincial medal by one spot - I finished the race in 7th, and as the 4th Ontario rider. I was upset when I realized I had come so close and come up short again. I've had four consecutive years where I've been really competitive in the Southern Ontario races - and have come up with 4th at Provincials each year!

I took a few minutes to dry my tears, a few hours to replay the race and try to figure out what I could have done differently, and a few days to just get over it (with the help of a few good email exchanges). And then, of course, I was ready to go for the last race, at Albion. After all, can't let a great season end in tears!