Brimfield Road Race

Today was the Brimfield Road Race near Peoria, IL. The weather couldn't have been any better. It was in the upper 70's almost all day. Earlier in the morning it was almost cold. There was a slight breeze, but it wasn't enough to be a factor in the race. I don't know exactly how many women were in the field, but we lined up for 51 miles (3 laps). I liked the format of this race because the Women Cat 3's were scored seperate from the Women Pro/1/2's.

The first lap was pretty tame. I guess I didn't realize it, but two girls were off the front for about 1/2 a lap on the first lap. I thought they were riders from a different race that we were catching. Shows how much I pay attention! There's a decent hill where they had "Queen of the Hill" points for. It wasn't all that steep because it was big-ringable every lap. That kind of helped weed out the field. This course was awesome. Several rollers to keep you on your toes. The views weren't too bad either. This was by far my favorite road race I've done.

Anyway, eventually three Pro/1/2 women got off the front. A few people tried to do some chasing, including myself, but since we couldn't get organized the break stuck. It included June who made the winning break at the Iowa City Road Race. Once I saw she was in it, I knew it was going to stick. I ended up doing quite a bit of work in the race, or so it felt like it. On the last lap, another girl and I duked it out for the "Queen of the Hill". It was pretty tough. I didn't realize it, but we got a huge gap. Once I realized it, it was too late and after we started getting or stuff together, the pack was on our heels. So I just try to sit in and save energy for the sprint the rest of the lap.

The sprint was one of the longest I've been in. At the end, I had nothing left in the tank. I couldn't feel my legs and my head was beating to the pounds of my heart. I rarely push myself to these limits. But I ended up pulling out 3rd place. I'm happy with the result. I'm not a "road racer" so 3rd place makes me feel a little bit better. I normally miss a break or something else. My legs are a bit tired tonight, so hopefully they will feel ok for tomorrow's crit. Not sure what that will be like. I've raced the crit before, but that was when they did the Women's Cat 4's with one of the men's races. I think it was my first year racing. There are some pretty big fields here, especially in the Pro/1/2 men's race. I was impressed. Anyway, that's all I have for today. No pictures as of now. Might see if I can find some eventually. Have a good night!
-A