I didn't have a chance to update this sooner but I survived my first bike race and even achieved all of my goals. Goal #1 was to finish with the same number of teeth with which I started. For those who don't know my riding history, this is very important as I've already knocked out my teeth twice in bike accidents and I really don't want to do it again. Goal #2 was to stay upright. Maybe this was just a subset of Goal #1 but I really wasn't in the mood to deal with road rash or need to replace another pair of bib shorts after last summer's bear incident. Goal #3 was to be able to finish the race. I didn't expect to stick with the lead group the whole race (and I sure as heck didn't) and once you get lapped in a crit, the officials can pull you from the race. I assumed I'd get lapped once I got dropped but didn't know how badly. Thankfully, I didn't do too bad and it was a pretty wide course so I didn't get pulled. Although I have to admit that in the course of the race, when I saw them about to lap me, I was pretty close to offering to stop.
On the good side, I had set a sub-goal of sticking with the pack for 15 minutes out of the 45 and I did that. Only 13 times up the climb though - and I still need to get better on the climbs. Look for a future posting on how 'fat girl can't climb.'
Next up: The Bunny Hop Crit on May 2. Wish me luck!
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