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Taking Third Place

It was rainy, cold, and possibly fun.  My race plan was to go out and watch my heart rate, ride tempo, and not try and follow someone else’s wheel.  I rolled to the start and found myself to be the only woman starting in pro/open-single speed-expert.  How could that be?  With seconds to go about five others rolled up and we were off.  The disjointed start had me a bit off mentally.  I kept thinking about my race plan.  Within the first two miles I was dropped.  Cue negative self talk!  

The race course was greasy and cold.  It was an effort within the effort just to keep on.  Somewhere around 8 miles and before 1000 feet of climbing I went over the handlebars hard.  Cue frustration and pain!

I got back on and kept on riding.  Feeling stronger as the race went on I eventually found part of my category again.  I started having fun rather than trying to be deliberate about what I was doing.

I ended the night on a box taking third in my category!  Stick to your plan.  You made it for a reason.  Ride your race, not someone else’s.  Get out of your head and have fun! 

bike race