3 June 2010  |  Race Reports

US Pro XCT #3 Race Report

As I anticipated, race day was HOT.  I decided to forgo my usual warm-up on the trainer and headed out for an easy lap of the course instead.  Unfortunately, I took a wrong turn and ended up on the longer amateur loop.  With only 1/2 hour until the start of the race I was starting to panic a bit, but I eventually came to a junction where a course marshal gave me directions back to the venue.  Disaster averted.

Back at the trailer, I had a few minutes to cool off before the start.  I wasn’t too concerned with getting the hole shot- in fact, I decided that letting someone else set the pace for the first 2 laps would be fine with me.  After the start loop, I was in 5th behind Willow, Heather, Kelli and Katerina.  Willow was up in front, and she had opened up a small gap.  Katerina and I went around Kelli and Heather, caught up to Willow, and the three of us rode together for the rest of the first lap.

By the end of the first lap Willow had dropped back, and I went to the front to take a pull.  I ended up getting a small gap on Katerina and rode the rest of the race by myself.  I stuck with my pre-race plan: I rode conservatively, drank 2 bottles per lap and doused myself with ice water each time through the feed zone.

Lots of people asked me if I was worried about getting heat stroke again, but honestly I wasn’t worried about it at all: I know exactly how hard I pushed myself in Santa Ynez, and there is no way I will ever go that hard again in a hot race. It’s just not worth it.  That said, it still felt good to win a race in those conditions.