Race Report - Vanport Kermesse
Yes, how crazy is that, a race report in JANUARY!! Ahh but it was loads of fun out at PIR today. An interesting little 6k circuit IN and AROUND and BEHIND and then ON the PIR racetrack. It was like a bad county road most of the time, with uneven surfaces, potholes, and alot of gravel. (Not to mention tons and tons of goose droppings everywhere). I was on my road bike, with a pair of 700×28 Gatorskin tires.
The sun came out for the 1:30 Womens race, so off came the jacket and earwarmers. All catagories were combined for a total of 14 women. (I believe it was a pretty low turnout overall in all catagories). My plan was to just hang on to the Cat A girls as long as possible, and it worked. Halfway through the first lap, Jen Waggerin (Cat 2) jumped off the front and tried to get away, and her failed attempt left us with a group of 5 off the front. I had a good hard pull at the front on the 2nd lap, then spent the next 10 minutes just trying to catch my breath and hang on.
Then halfway through the final lap, my seat collar once again failed and my saddle went crashing down. (Thought I had that fixed, but apparantly the bolt is stripped). Luckily when you are 5′2″ on a 48cm frame, you don’t have far to go. But even still, I was having a tough time pedaling with my seat so low. So with the last 1/4 of the lap to go, I put it in my big chainring and stood up, pushing the biggest gear I could. It was a bit early to be starting a final sprint (or was it??), so I ended up out in front coming through the final turn. As luck would have it, only one gal got past me (Jen) at the finish. Anyway, I highly recommend this race. Just do it for fun, or for the experience. It’s great practice for your bike handling skills and a great workout. Safe venue, well run, plenty of parking & potties, plus food & coffee tents! There are two more, Jan 27th (after the Vancouver Lake 1/2 marathon, ugh!!) and Feb 3rd.
See you out there!
Georgann
PS - Most of you probably already know this, but OBRA has a new rule starting this year (today) that strictly forbids riders to cross the finish line while warming up on the course. Don’t do it! The officials were getting UGLEEEEEEE with people today who made that mistake!