On Saturday I did my first climbing-specific road race in Chattanooga. It was about 5800 feet total elevation gain, with two major climbs and a few smaller ones, for a total of 38 miles. I decided not to do the criterium or time trial because I'm still teetering on the edge of burnout, and thus wanted to err on the side of caution.

The night before the race I saw the list of women who had signed up and was rather intimidated, because there were some serious athletes competing - women who I have not raced with before, because they are elite level athletes who usually choose high-profile races to participate in. I calculated my chances of finishing in the top 10: Zero. The day of the race, I estimated somewhere around 37 women, which is phenomenal for women's cycling in the southeast. The women's side of the sport is definitely growing! In 2005, this race had 9 female participants. Last year, there were 18. It is by far the largest pack I've ever raced with, and I thought it was great fun.

I like climbing hills, so I thought I'd like this race. From the start I felt pretty good and had a goal of staying with the lead pack for 20 miles. The first climb was for "King/Queen of the Mountain", an extra prize designation for the race. That was at mile 10, and I stayed on the back of the pack until the end of the climb. I joined forces with two other cyclists to push hard until we saw the pack again and reconnected. That was a relief. I stayed with the pack until the final climb, which made the race a helluva lot easier. In a previous post I was talking about how much easier it is to race in a large pack than with just a handful of people. This race proved to me that theory is true. There were some times during this race when I was comfortably chatting away with a cyclist riding next to me, taking advantage of the draft. So maybe that's why I liked this race. It seemed like I was riding downhill a lot more often than climbing!

By the end of the race, I was out of water and very dehydrated. I should have packed an extra bottle, but thought there was a feed zone. That did not fare well for me on the last climb of 1200 feet elevation. The finish line was at the top. In the pack of about 20, I finished last on the climb, but still did well since I finished in front of about half of the field.

I'll definitely seek out more hill-climbing races next season. And I think that my motivation has been restored! My racing season is almost over since classes started last week. I have learned a lot about my limiters and how to train properly, so I am looking forward to a more wise and informed winter training season. Best of all, I graduate in December!!!