Review of 2007 Tour of Walla Walla Continued

Continued Review

Right out of the ditch, chain back on, I panic and spike my HR to 199bpm to catch back up. The descent is fast and long.

The pace was slow at first. It might be better to hit it in the beginning and take it easy up the first climb on the back side of the short loop. Things stayed together until the end of the short loop, climbing the main hill. At this point the head of the race made a break and the pack splintered up the hill. My teammate told me to go. I should have stayed.

Knowing what lay on the other side of the climb, I sprinted up the hill. I met up with a small group and tried a rotating pace line to chase. This was my first effort in a race scenario with this type of pace line. I was spent by mile 32. I did not know how to recover on the receding line and surged too much on the advancing line. I killed myself. Time for the solo ride. I made it to Walla Walla dead tired and out of water - should have taken a bottle at the feed zone.

The return leg on the flats and in the wind was a real bear. I had nothing left. An HB guy (seemed like a track type) caught me and let me hang on with another rider for a while (4miles). This is why I put more base miles in this winter and worked on recovery.

Somewhere around mile 45, two masters types caught me. A Byrne rider and a Recycled Cycles rider with about as much experience as myself. I was just happy to have the company. The back stretch of Walla Walla is desolate.

Both of these riders dropped me on the final climb to the finish - I was cooked. The entire women's field blew by my going up that last climb. Even my teammate who was five minutes back swears he saw me and was gaining on me. The last devil goaded me on and I was able to stand and climb the rest of the way. Quite pathetic.

What I would do differently: If I could, I would not stay up have the night before with my 5-year-old, puking. We had a stomach bug, mine just came out the other end. I was quite dehydrated. I wish that I had taken on a bottle at the feed zone after the short lap - I needed it. Normally two 22oz bottles is enough for 60 miles.

I have worked with a team (Wines of Washington) over the winter. Excellent prepartion for base miles and working on pace lines. I am getting a clue on how to recover in a rotating pace line and how to stay smooth. I will work with team mates during the road race. Last year, I had one. This year we should have at least 10 in the cat 4. I will finish with the pack this year!