My First Race (And a Twenty-Mile Ride Outside My Comfort Zone) By Jessie Chapman
Monday, September 24, 2012 at 07:28PM 
There comes a time when it's harder not to do something than to finally just do it. You know; when you've run out of excuses and there is nothing more to think or say, and people start to assume you're simply not ready or your intention isn't true. Even you can't stand to hear yourself whine about it anymore. Fear is usually present.
That something for me was competing in my first race. That time was 7:30 am last Sunday at the Tour de Greenwich competing in the women's 50-59 age group. Needless to say, I'd waited long enough.
Sure, if I didn't try, then there would be no possibility of dropping a chain, blowing up, crashing or having an embarrassingly slow finish. But then there would also be no possibility of learning, accomplishing something new, or surprising myself. And couldn't it be enough to simply have some fun? Well, honestly, probably not. (Most Targetraining members are driven enough to relate to that!)
A little background here: I starting amping up my cycling last December when I began taking classes at Target. (Until then, I had done most of my riding was alone; although I was better than a recreational cyclist, I was self-taught and had little idea what I was doing. I didn't even own a pair of cycling shorts.) My first experience with Target started with a bike fit. Classes were followed by an upgrade of my ride to a Cervelo, annual membership, logo-emblazoned shorts and jerseys, some private lessons, a power meter rental... You recognize the path and velocity here: I was drinking the juice and becoming a perfect member.
I was also getting stronger quickly. But something was still missing.
I wanted to see how far I could challenge myself and possibly others. So, I joined the Endurance Club with the goal of doing my first race. At first, I considered duathlon. But with my daily commute to the city I realized how hard it would be to dedicate the time to train in one discipline let alone two. So, even though I had reasonable encouragement from Eneas and Tim (for competing in my age group) and strong V02 test results, I decided to focus on cycling.
Fast forward to mid summer. Lots of members' impressive race results had been showing up in my Facebook newsfeed every Monday since early spring. But I still hadn't chosen a race. "How about Tokeneke?," I asked Eneas. "You can do it," he said. "Don't over think it. Sign up now." (You can probably hear his tone and economy of words.) A few others were less sanguine.
Needless to say, I didn't "sign up now"; I decided to ride the course first. On July 4th, on my way to visit friends in W. Simsbury, I did one lap around the Barkhamsted reservoir; a hilly, 22-mile loop with 2,100 feet of elevation. The race for women is two laps. Comparing my time for just one with the 2011 results, I projected that my best chance would be to tie for last place among the few women who manage to finish. But I didn't give up on the idea completely; I added gears and continued to train while on vacation by renting a decent road bike that I rode in the hills of Santa Barbara. However, when I came home I was hugely relieved to find out that I was off the hook! The race had been cancelled due to a lack of volunteers.
But as more weeks and races passed, I was feeling frustrated that I hadn't made progress against my goal. And how would I be able to I get any satisfaction attending the upcoming Endurance Club party? Participating in a few 100k's didn't seem like enough.
I got my determination back three weeks ago at the head of a Saturday morning Green ride with Chris and Bones. They encouraged me to do the Endurance Club's 40k time trial the following weekend. (I did the 20k earlier this summer.) And after the ride, Lois Duke and Eneas said the right words to finally convince me to do the Tour de Greenwich. "Life begins outside the comfort zone," Lois, regular aqua bike competitor, reminded me. "You'll do well," added Eneas.
Further motivated by a solid time in the 40k TT with the generous help of Chris K.'s Zipp wheels on my road bike (even after missing the first turn on to Westway by a 1/2 mile--aargh!!), I was finally ready to commit to my first race.
My strategy was simple:
- Shut up
- Sign up
- Show up
My competitive advantage is my strength for my age group. But I'm still light on road skills and, of course, have zero racing experience. So I appreciated picking up some helpful tactics along the way:
Start at the front...stay off the white and yellow lines...warm up and break a sweat beforehand (Eduardo); stop crushing your gears...don't get boxed in...(Bones); switch to the small ring when you pass the farm house on your right on Burying Hill Road...stay with any riders wearing Danbury Audi team jerseys (Kristin); use a heart rate monitor (Dean); don't over bake your turns (okay, whatever that means?!)...the horse country, not Burying Hill Road will be the 'moment of truth'...(Rick); stay with the peloton...no matter what, don't get dropped...don't get dropped...don't get dropped...(Everyone). I even consulted Google.
Practice was limited to riding the course at a moderate effort the day before. Now, I understand that it could have made a much bigger difference to have ridden it several times. Better yet, with a coach to help me with strategy and pacing. But it still helped a lot. Knowing where the hills were saved me from dropping a chain on race day, which I did on Saturday, and practicing the windy downhills gave me more confidence on the scariest parts of the ride.
Plugged in to my iPod, I started to focus (and hydrate) the night before. DeadMau5, Blue Oyster Cult, Coldplay; high-energy stuff. A neat thing started to happen: I was itching to feel the road beneath me and start the race. Was I audacious to even fantasize about placing in my age group? Would I be terribly disappointed if I didn't? What was my goal, anyway? Thankfully, this energy didn't interfere with getting a decent night's sleep.
Race day. Got up at 4:30 am, which I usually do. Caffeined up, showered, ate fruit and a Luna bar. Hydrated some more. Adrenals geared up. Arrived at Greenwich High School at 6:30 to warm up. Recognized a few friendly Target members--all guys; exchanged encouraging words of support. (Thanks again, Gary, for helping me pin my first number on so it wouldn't flap in the breeze.) Unfortunately, no other women wearing Target jerseys or who I recognized. I was on my own.
Time to start the women's heat. I took a place at the front and surveyed the competition, as they surely did with me, including their ages. I was definitely one of the oldest riders up front. (But it can be hard to tell when women are fit, wearing glasses, arm warmers, etc.) No Danbury Audi jerseys to hang with. However, Bethel Cycles would certainly do. Equipped with my Cervelo and Zipp wheels, and kitted out from Target Training, people might have assumed that I knew I was doing. Oh, if they only knew! I left my power meter off, (which I still haven't figured out how to fully use) in favor of rented race wheels and had no heart rate monitor. My perceived effort, speed and focus would be more than enough to think about. Nerves gave way to feeling numb and like a poseur.
The race was off. After clumsily clipping in, I easily handled the two immediate hills. The lead peloton formed with about a dozen women including me. I felt strong but stayed in the middle. (Let the the front do the work...) That is, until we were north of the Merritt and made the right turn off Round Hill Road. By the time we hit the first hills on Old Mill Road I'd been dropped. (So had a few others.) I was afraid that if I worked any harder to catch up I'd blow up on that short wall that is Burying Hill Road. I thought maybe I could catch up later.
As you experienced riders already know, I never did. (Even though I had the thinned-out peloton within sight a couple of times in the horse country.) I knew my only chance at a decent finish was to ride the rest of the race like I was in another time trial: on my own, as fast as possible. It was a joy to finally get on to the gradual decline of Stanwich Road. I settled in the drops and did my best to fly home.
Although no woman passed me after I'd been dropped, I wasn't sure if any were close behind. In fact, I never looked behind me once. (In hindsight, I should have. I didn't realize until final results were posted that a few were much closer than I ever realized. When had they stealthily gained on me? Why hadn't I heard them?)
Twenty miles and a little over an hour later my comfort zone had officially become larger. I crossed the finish line right behind two men with a time of 1:02:39. Good enough to place third in my age group. (15 finishers) And just over 1:00 minute behind the 1st place woman--a 30-year old. (2:00 minutes behind a woman who competed in the open category.) I placed 8th among women overall, including the open category competitor. (50 finishers)
If anyone had told me, even a year ago, that I would be training and racing with Targetraining I would have said, "No way." For years, I've loved seeing fit, fast Target riders in beautiful pace lines along Green's Farms Road. They filled me with envy and admiration; but I never thought there'd be a place in that line for someone like me. (Okay, well maybe there still isn't a place in THAT line for me!)
My first year year at Target and my first race have turned out to be pretty amazing, after all. Now, maybe it's time to finally figure out how to make better use of that power meter I'm renting...
Reader Comments (1)
Yay Jessie!! I always knew you would kick butt when you decided you were ready to race! And I am so glad you made that decision!! So looking forward to many races to come :) Congrats rock star!!