Lake Auburn Road Race, Cathy Rowell, June 3rd
WOW! I am pretty surprised by the Cat 4 report for the Auburn race this past weekend. So sorry to hear that you had such a bad race.
I actually thought this was a great race, despite the rain. We had 3 NEBC women on the line – myself, Sally Annis and Aiyana Currie, as well as about 15 other women for our 24 mile race. Having pre-driven the course certainly helped out, especially in the first few miles, as the pavement was pretty rough.
This was a GREAT strategic race for me after pulling for so many miles at Sunapee, only to get dropped in the hills. I wanted to remain with the lead group for as long as possible in this race, and specifically to be in the front going into the few big climbs on the course. The women started out at a decent pace, and would kick it up every few miles to see if everyone could hang on. A solo breakaway started pretty early, and by the time everyone was determined to get organized to chase, we were into the climbing.
I managed to stay with the group into the first steep climbs, which was my goal! I did end up getting dropped off the front on a long, steady ridge climb, however, and resorted to my TT’ing to catch back up to some of the other racers. When I did this, I THOUGHT I was on my own, but had a few tag alongs who decided they were content sitting on my wheel (thanks to Aiyana for a great pull at this point!), and then later gapping me. This really annoyed me! To make up for it, I later caught one of these women, stuck on her wheel for a breather (even though she tried her hardest to shake me off), and then jumped when I knew she wouldn’t be able to go with me, about 3 miles from the finish.
I think I finished somewhere in the middle of the pack, and was really happy with the way I rode this race.
Congrats to Sally who stuck with the front of the field in this one! I’ll let her and Aiyana pitch in with their reports.
—Cathy