Copperopolis Road Race

By Victoria Vallstrom
Date: April 15, 2006
Category: Women 3
Filed Size: 12
Distance: 3 laps (62 Miles)
Teammates: Holly and Katie (great to have teammates)
Place: 2nd (thanks to Holly "the protector")

The Women's 3 field was fairly small-only about 12 of us, three of which were PABW Powered by Tibco ladies :) Katie, Holly, and Me - awesome to have teammates in a race.

Before the race Katie communicated Linda's advice "Don't attack on the first hill" and "stay out of the crosswind on the flat sections." I concurred and stayed a couple of riders back during the first lap. A couple of people dropped back the first lap and of the remaining ladies ~8 most people took turns to pull.

The beauty of having teammates really became apparent to me: anytime I got exposed to the front Holly immediately pedaled by me and protected me; she did not want me exposed at any cost. In addition, Holly also reminded me a couple of times not to work in front and to eat my food - she was like a coach on the field making sure I left nothing to chance.

In the 2nd lap the pace mellowed out; but knowing my legs were not that fresh, I knew there was no chance for me to pull away, especially seeing we had 3 particularly strong ladies in the field that I immediately knew were my competition: Natasha, a Galaxy Granola Lady, and Lisa P. And not to forget Holly of course who is a really strong climber but not my competition by my protector :)!

Third lap something needed to be done. The full pack of the 8-9 ladies were still there, no one dropped so hitting the first climb on the 3rd lap I started to push harder. Lisa, Galaxy Lady, Natasha and Holly hung on. But then the Galaxy Lady flatted (such a bummer for her - she had a very good chance for a 1st placing). At the end of the first climb Lisa, Natasha, and I were left. We shared to load on the flats to be able to keep the gap from the others; but soon Lisa fell back a bit and she stopped doing any pulling. I am not sure if the was blown, or just strategically smart, but I could sense that she was starting to get a bit tired, and I could see how it would be between Natasha and me unless one of us flatted.

Natasha is SCARY FAST on the downhills, and the long bumpy death-staring-in-my-face downhill is just before the finish. I knew I had to keep her wheel on the downhill (which had been really hard on the 2 previous laps). By the time we reached the final descent Lisa had fallen back a lot, and I was able to hold Natasha's wheel on the descent. However, on the short flat section before the hill finish, Natasha kicked off and gained a big gap. I knew it was over but kept on pedaling. I managed to close the gap on the climb but the climb was not long enough for me to catch her before the finish.

I came in 2nd, which I am very happy about. Natasha deserved the win, looking back at the race there was not really anything I could have done differently in order to take first. Natasha was the strong one in the race; and I was the one that worked hard to keep her wheel. She so deserved that win and she did it in style.