Cootamundra Handicap weekend

I promised to write a race report for the Cootamundra weekend and realised that if I didn’t do it now, I probably wouldn’t get around to it at all. So at the risk of rushing through the weekend, here it goes…

But before I start, I should mention that I rode two completely different races – my Saturday race was the worst one in living memory; the second one of my best. In hindsight, the cause was obvious: preparation, pacing and placement… my Garmin results show the difference in performance quite well so I’ve included them in case people are interested.

Disaster Saturday – 106k Coota Classic: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/109971517#.TlzA_5AaCo8.email

On Saturday morning Libby, Rach, Boss, Andrew and I headed to the wonderful town of Cootamundra to participate in two handicap races. We met up at the motel and followed check-in with the usual race prep, a quick sandwich and a casual ride out to the race start. A train crossing nearly caused us to miss our starting time, but luckily we just made it, though there was no time for a warm up.

Because I had flukishly won the Wagga handicap earlier in the season, I sadly wasn’t allowed to start with Libby and Rach and had to join the next bunch, which consisted of boys only. Big mistake as it later turned out! Shortly after starting, I knew this wasn’t going to be my best race. My heart was racing and the sandwhich I’d had earlier wasn’t sitting well at all. Sure enough, I had trouble pulling my turns up the first hill and by the second one at 15k, I well and truly hit the wall and had to drop off the bunch. I tried to stay with the following bunches but – unsurprisingly – that failed miserably!

With another 50k to go before I could DNF, I was grateful for the company I came across on the way. The first was an older rider who I pace-lined with a bit until I lost him on an uphill; second was a guy who I had a pleasant chat with until he managed to stay with the overtaking bunch (well done you!) third was Rach – and boy was I grateful for a familiar face at this stage. We rode well together for a while until I could no longer keep up with her when we joined up with a bunch we caught. On my own again, I met Kingsley, a bloke from Chiffley, who convinced me to keep riding for another 2k into town rather than stopping right there and then for a snooze in the grass.

And that’s exactly what I did after arriving into Coota, having completing just 75% of the course. Thank heavens Rach noticed I needed lots of Gatorade and a bite to eat, both of which helped massively. And the great thing about DNFing is that you can hang around to watch the finish, with a fabulous result for Libby (2nd female)! Andrew also placed well, but Boss unfortunately had to pull out of a brilliant race early with a puncture.

Sunny Sunday – 66k Coota Recovery: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/109971523#.TlzAoe0GvQY.email

The next day started a lot better than the previous one. To start with, I’d slept for a grand total of 12 hours! Brekkie was also a lot more sensible too: no heavy sandwiches less than an hour before race time, but a banana and some home-made banana bread, followed by a banana gel just before race start. (Bananas are my thing now!)

Another massive improvement on the day before was that I got to start in limit! This helped big time as I wasn’t forced to smash myself with 35-40k per hour speeds from the word go. That’s not to say that it wasn’t hard to stick with the bunch, but for some reason it just seemed to flow a lot better.

The bunch worked really well together, everyone pulled their turns and we were keeping ahead of the other bunches. Unfortunately we lost Rach after a while, whose stellar effort the day before was having an effect, together with a few other limit riders. But as we continued to work as a group for the next three laps it took a long time for the next bunch to pick us up with less than 10 k to go.

A spectator warned us that the next bunch was only 1,5 minutes behind and I was sure we’d get caught. But not long after, my Garmin showed 64k on the clock and I realised the finish was not far away. Pace-lines were out the window at this stage and everyone was jostling for a good position. I was sitting about 10^th wheel with Libby and Emma just in front of me. When we turned the corner, I realised I’d better join the sprint. Because I was in a fairly well protected position, I was able to move up the right side of the bunch fast and overtake a few people before finishing 4^th overall and first female, a result I totally hadn’t expected. I wonder if I can convince the organisers I should start in limit again next time….

So there we go, I love handicaps. But above all, I love the weekends away, hanging out with friends. So thanks heaps Rachael, Libby, Boss and Andrew for a great weekend!!!!!!!