Sunday, April 11, 2010

Barbi-qued

So today was the annual Team Time Trial! It was a great day- a good fun race, which is what races should be, right?

We put together the strongest Pac Velo women's team we could and hoped to defend our title from last year... It was raining at the start which posed a challenge for sure, but I think we all were able to focus through that and we rode well together.

We stayed together as a group for the first half, but then Nalani got caught out in a gap and ended up riding home hard all alone. She did great though and helped us a ton with her strong pulls on the way out. Coming home we had a wicked headwind and it was hard riding... just 3 of us rotating pulls... but we knew we had some stiff Barbie competition and we weren't exactly interested in letting go of our title from last year! So we pushed the best we could and crossed the line in 1:03:54. This is me, Sandy, and Jenny right before we crossed the line.

I did not know where that would place us, but I had other immediate concerns on my mind... like, where's my next water bottle and get me some GU and is that my daughter wearing her pajamas with boots running around in that field???

I had about 15 minutes this year before I was to start my next race with the mixed team. Let me tell you- that is MUCH better than the 2 minutes I had last year! :) I had time to take my GU, drink some, spin my legs out a little and gather up my male escorts for race #2. Nice.

The second race was not nearly as hard this year as it was last year! Part of that is because I am more fit, but part of that is because all three of my male teammates had also already raced their own TTT so they were just as tired as I was. Phew! This year there was no yelling from me about how they needed to slow down... in fact, every time one of them was nice enough to ask, my response was, "I'm fine!" It's easy to sit on the back of a group of guys who are too tired to hammer that fast! ;) Unfortunately one of our guys didn't eat/drink between races so he bonked big time toward the end- I gave him my bottle that had some carbs in it but it was too late (lesson learned for him I'm sure!) and he dropped off the back. I actually felt super and took a couple strong pulls there in the last bit... we crossed the line though and I laughed because it was 1:04 something on my watch. Really? Our women's team beat our mixed team? Crack me up. I guess that makes sense though because we were all beat tired by the second round.

Anyway, Nalani and I took off on a 30 minute run while they were calculating the results. Unlike last year, I was actually able to run this time after racing 2 x 40K! No cramping at all! I was quite happy about that for sure. So all in all I was psyched about the day and how I felt... which took a little bit of the sting out of the fact that our women's team lost by 21 seconds. ARGH! Another one of our teammates asked a great question- "How could you have found another 21 seconds today?" Jenny and I looked at each other with kind of a blank look and said, "I don't know?" So we can't feel too baldy about it because we gave it what we had today and it just wasn't enough. We were Barbi-qued. That said, we like good races and are looking forward to a rematch next year. :)

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great job Pac Velo! I am proud to be a part of such a great group of athletes. It was a fun day! See you on the road. =) Roz

Black Knight said...

Great Job. Very nice pics. Hi from Italy

Regina said...

Sounds like an excellent day and a hard effort. Sorry about the loss, but as you said, where do you make up 21 seconds?

Two TTT's? Animal!

Big Daddy Diesel said...

I love the race of truth

Poor Nalani, I know how it feels to loose a wheel and and get stuck all alone.

2 TTT, even more impressive.

cherelli said...

Wow - you guys looked smokin' fast in that picture, can't believe the margin was just 21secs after that long! Well done though, pretty amazing to know you are so fit :)

Angela and David said...

Nice work. Sounds like you had an incredibly solid training day. Two TTS in a day is no joke. Seems like it's becoming your annual routine.

Katie A. said...

Awesome day Michelle! Two TT's and a run, that is a solid day! Be proud, 21 seconds is nothing to be ashamed of! :)

Loved the pics from the coffee plantation, when we go to Maui in November I think we will have to head over there one day!

X-Country2 said...

SOunds like a great day. Nice work!

Aimee said...

Wow..you are amazing! I can't imagine doing two TTs and then going on a run...wow!

Oh, and I loved the picture of you three biking! It is an awesome pic!

Molly said...

Great job! And totally impressive that you did it twice!!!

Jennifer Harrison said...

GOOD for you! Grrrr! That is SO hard to turn that around so quickly! WOW. Great work!

Clare said...

dang!

Frayed Laces said...

Great job out there! I must say, all us ladies as a whole kicked some butt. Many of the men's teams were nervous that we might have beaten them!
Did you guys have to deal with the traffic and crazy drivers too? I got run halfway off the road right before Kahana Bay.

kerrie said...

wow - that is so hardcore doing that x 2.
those barbies will have to be dealt with ;)