Sunday, February 03, 2008

TOUR OF NEW BRAUNFELS

Today was my first bike race ever. I've been wanting to try a bike race for awhile now and so I decided that I would give it a go this weekend in New Braunfels. I had no idea what I was getting myself into or what to expect. I'm just glad I didn't show up to the race with race wheels or an aero helmet (as I would have looked completely out of place)!

We left the house this morning around 7:00am since my race started about 9:15am or so. When we got to the race site, I looked around and said to Brandon..."wow, these people look really serious." Ofcourse I was out there to RACE but I was also thinking more on the lines of this will be a really fun group ride...I'm guessing that's not what everyone else was thinking. Anyways, we brought our trainer so that we could warm up before the race (supposedly all the cyclists warm up on trainers). I warmed up for about 30 minutes while Brandon was giving me some strategy tips and I was asking all my usual race day questions...and yes there are a lot of questions!

Onto the race...the "open" women (~20 women) started 10 minutes before my Cat 4 group (~20 women). They were racing 4 loops (48 miles) and my group was only racing 3 loops (36 miles). My plan was to stay with the group for the first loop to check out the course and try to find a place to attack on the second loop and see if I could get away. So...on the first loop I stayed with the group... just as I (we) planned... but there were only about 3 of us working in the front which was frustrating. When we finally got to the second loop I made an attack up a hill and didn't look back. O.k...I looked back a couple of times because I didn't want to get caught! I ended up getting away and rode solo for the last 2 laps...and it was hard! I do have to say though, that this was a great way to get in a solid bike ride for today.

It's all about having fun this year and trying new things. Will I do another bike race? Maybe, if it fits into my schedule. I do love to race and it's fun to mix it up whether it's a triathlon, running race, bike race or even a swim meet! Yes, I'm planning on swimming in a swim meet at the beginning of May (at UT).

2 comments:

BreeWee said...

Aloha Amy!
I got to your blog through Cotter's... I recognized your name from a Zoot email. I just joined the team too.
Just wanted to wish you the best of luck this season and hope you cash in on some of that bonus prize money with your speedy racing!

Amy Marsh said...

Hi Bree...my husband and I were wondering if that was your name on the Zoot e-mail list. Very cool! Good luck to you as well this season and hopefully we'll see you at some races.
-acm