Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Sugar Loaf - Race of the West

When ever the Sugar Loaf race weekend rolls around all Florida racers cringe inside. In the month before the race, the only "mountian" in florida is dotted with cyclist trying to get in prep for one of the hardest weekends of the year.

This year I was excited. The course was about 12.5 miles long. The first big set of climbs was buck hill, followed by bruce hunt, and then sugar loaf. ( for anyone not in FL sugar loaf is the only respectable climb you'll find. Although its not terrbily long, at only about 3.5 minutes, it is extremely steep).

I raced the womens 3/4 which was combined with the masters 55/65+ field and the cat 5 men. We had a big field with 70+ riders. I had a good start possition and knew that I had to be at the front.

Once we rolled through the nuetral section everyone looked towards Dave Viney, but bight as we reached the first hill he broke a spoke. As everyone looked around at each other a couple cat 5's went to the front and began to hammer. One by one cat 5's were slipping off the front. As we reached the first big hill the field surged and began to reel riders back in. Once we finished buck hill the field was back together. My legs had felt okay but were not feeling amazing. I moved up the field as sugar loaf approached.

As we started sugar loaf I felt okay but once we reached the steep section my legs begn to scream. The field was being shredded and I found myself alone, though luckily not for long. I was soon joined by a strong cat 5 who pulled back the group of abot 10 riders ahead of us. During our second lap we made contact with the second group on the road which also contained the second place girl.

For the final 2 laps our little field stayed together. There were a couple attacks here and there but it was mostly a steady tempo. On the last lap I was tired and the other girl had out climbed me every hill. As we began our final assault on sugar loaf my legs blew. Our group was ripped apart and so were my legs. I managed a happy 3rd place in womens and top 25 overall with a new P.R.

The next day started off gloomy. Dark grey clouds had started rolling in and occationally spit out a few drops of rain as a warning the coming weather.

The field size was dramatically smaller. The women 3/4 had only about 7 riders and although combined with the master and cat 5 our field topped off at about 35 riders. We had a 4 mile nuetral start which was both relieving and disapointing with the biggest climb of the day nuetralized.

As we crossed over Buck Hill Road the race started. The course went out though Groveland on a route that I was somewhat familiar with. Our race was 55 miles long and the terain was rolling but the big killer was the major cross winds.

The first 10 miles were insanely fast. I tried to stay near the front to avoid getting dropped. About 20 miles in our little field had shrunk to only about 15 riders with only myself and Michelle Moulton left to represent the womens race. Michelle had won the previous day so I knew she would be hard to beat.

Dave Viney had found his way off the front yet again and had taken 1 other rider along. We had 3 strong cat 5's in the field and in about 5 miles they had pulled the two man break back from out of sight.

As we reached about 15 miles to go my legs felt tired but I was really excited to reach the finish. We made our way through an industrial park and the field began to split. I followed a wheel up the right side and was in the middle of two fields.It had finally begun to rain hard. Michelle was behind me to my left. As we sped down the hill the rider next to me locked up his brakes. He sped straight into a curb and rolled into the grass. As we crested the next hill I looked around to find that Michelle was no longer in the group.

With only about 6 miles left I was in a small group of 8-10 riders. With only 2 others willing to work I put in alot of work at  the front trying to get some distance between me and Michelle. I could turn around and see her chasing but slowly the gap increased and eventually I was able to relax and enjoy the ride.

I crossed the line in the rain with a smile. I finally got the win.

This weekend had some big up's for me. In past road races I had hydration and cramping issues but this weekend wasnt plagued by any of that. I was really excited not only with my finishes but also with the improvements over previous years.

With little racing until May I look forward to getting in some good quality training. This weekend is Webster-Roubaix which is always an epic race.

race hard!

ciao 



(picutures courtesy of Jan Chalmers)


after sundays race

sunday womens 3/4 podium


suffering up suarloaf

sutrudays women 3/4 podium

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