GAP Final

by Trish Albert

Race: GAP Final
Date: 10-26-2003
Place: Heritage Park, Farmington, GA
Speed: 9.9 mph
Distance: 11.7 miles
Time: 1 hour, 11 minutes

Heritage is traditionally the last stop on the GAP calendar and is a favorite among racers. The venue provides a great place for a mountain bike race with a covered pavilion, a well maintained trail, and several good spectator areas. The course started out with a 1/2 mile very fast sprint down a dirt road, into the singletrack, back onto the dirt road, and finally into the singletrack and down several switchbacks. The singletrack was tight and had many roots and a small creek crossing. The 
trail then followed a creek for about 1/2 mile before climbing back up on an old logging road. It then dipped back down into singletrack with several small "v" ditches that required the rider to power through and "float" up the other side, lest an endo happen. The course then came back out onto gently climbing doubletrack before dipping briefly back down into the singletrack again. The main obstacle on this part of the trail was a bridge that came on a sharp right hand turn. The trail then went through a field for a very roadie power section followed by two flying doubletrack downhills. The course then headed back up a short, steep climb and into a grassy field for the final sprint down a gravel road. The finish line was under the pavilion. 

Four riders lined up for the Super Sport class-David Smith (Bicycle Outfitters), John Lilly, Ana Johnson, and me. As usual, the two guys took off and were never seen again. I only wish I'd known how close I was to John, though. My goal for the last two months has been to finish with him or slightly ahead of him during a race. Several things derailed my goals: food poisoning at Macon, a sinus infection that prevented me from starting Carter's Lake, and no front brake at Gainesville. Today would be the day! The threat of rain loomed as a front passed through Georgia. Atlanta residents were deluged on the way to the race. At the starting line Dan from Free Flite said that the radar indicated that rain was less than half an hour away. Everyone was given the option of voting down the number of laps. Super Sport decided to do two laps of the 5.5 mile course. The announcer forgot to tell us we would be doing the short course and not the long course, or I would have voted to keep it at three laps. Knowing the distance would be short, I could go all out from the beginning. This would be a good training ride for the upcoming cyclocross season, where women race for 45 minutes. I have not been doing much hill training other than running, so I did not know how I would fare on the three big hills on the course. We started with the Sport Clydesdales. 

With the GO!, we were off. I've been working hard on my starts for cross season and wanted to test myself out of the gate. Going into the first and second turns on the parade lap, I was in the Top 3. I left several of the Clydesdales and everyone in my division in the dust. That changed on the straight gravel road as several people passed me. Coming out of the pavilion, I was about 5th. I left another Clydesdale go by before we hit the downhill doubletrack. My legs felt great, and my breathing was fine. I was in my big ring pounding on the pedals. We hit the first short singletrack uphill, and I let my momentum carry me forward and up it. Normally, I would sit and spin, but I wanted to take every opportunity not to let John and David get too far ahead. Back out onto the doubletrack downhill, it was big ring time again. Once in the woods, I got stuck behind another rider going slowly down the hill. As downhills are my favorite part of riding, I was desperate to pass him. Unfortunately, I picked a bad time to get stuck behind him. Once we reached the creek crossing, I picked an alternate line to go around him. Ah, sweet twisty singletrack! I do love it so! This part of the course is the most fun as it is flat and very twisty. I did not let up on the throttle as I tried to stay between the trees and not end up wrapped around one of them. Through the whoop-de-do and to the base of the first climb. I looked at my computer and saw that my average speed was above what it normally is during this part of the race. I geared down just a bit and sat in to climb the hill. It is not hard but feels very long during a race. The next part of the singletrack is flat and fast. One of the senior sport women passed me. I began the next climb going too hard. Within a minute, I had a VCD attack. It hit so suddenly that I nearly fell off of my bike as I came to the steepest section of the climb. I told myself to cyclocross this part of the climb, but I could not muster the strength. I leaned on my bike for support and walked it as I tried to get my breath back. There was a look of concern from the volunteer monitoring that part of the course, but I gave him the thumbs up even though I could not breath. I walked another 20 feet up the hill and got back on. My legs would barely turn the pedals over. Kathleen Tokuda, a Master Sport Woman, came up to me, and I was determined to keep up with her. The next section was through a field, something I normally hate. I reminded myself that I would be doing a lot of power riding through fields and grass during cyclocross season. Rather than sit and spin, I got into the hardest gear I could push and powered through it. My lungs finally recovered on one of the downhills, and I was breathing normally again. I flew through the final singletrack section and started up the big hill. I looked down and noticed that I was in a fear a few harder than I normally ride in. My legs felt great! I took a bottle hand off from a friend and started the slight downhill. Racers carved a line to the left since gravel was recently laid on the road, which caused some wobbly lines during the parade lap. I went around it and powered down the long straight towards the pavilion. 

I started the second lap feeling as good as I did on the first lap. Another check of the computer showed that my average speed was still above normal from where it usually was on this course. THIS is how I was supposed to feel in a race--energy in my legs, breathing normally most of the time, and very good. It was a welcome change from the sloth of the last few months. Cyclocross training was finally paying off, and I am getting back in shape. The downhill was flying. I passed a rider right before I went into the first singletrack, and I saw a few more ahead. I made it an immediate goal to pass them before the first big climb. I continued down going as fast as I could. I made a hard correction with my brakes to slow down before going back into the singletrack. Once again, I got stuck behind someone on one of my favorite parts of the course. I slowed down and waited until we got to the creek and then passed. I took a drink and nearly slid out on a wet root. Just up ahead were two more riders. I picked up the pace and tried to catch them. In this part of the singletrack, speed can be hard to hold because of tight corners. Coming into one, only a quick jerk on the handlebars prevented a collision with a tree. As we hit a small rise, I passed both riders. I went through the whoop-de-doo and came up to the first big hill. Much to my surprise, I saw a sport woman and a Clydesdale rider that passed me on the first lap. I drafted behind them on the climb. My pushed myself a little beyond what I was comfortable climbing at but still conscious to back off if my breathing became a problem. We hit the singletrack together, and I decided to stay behind them. As we hit the second climb, the other woman took off, and the Clydesdale pulled slightly ahead of me. I rode the entire thing this time although I went slowly. Near the top, I put on the afterburners again. I flew down the short hill that brought us to the climb up into the field. Once again, I powered through the field. I could feel each fiber in my muscles working hard to put power to the pedals and propel me along. I flew down the final downhill and passed a Junior up a short rise before the downhill continued. I stayed in a harder gear and made the final climb towards the finish. I could not believe how good I felt after an hour of riding hard and never letting up. I pushed it to the top of the hill and through the gravel. Coming to the road, I stood up and sprinted. Back in the saddle, I continued to ride hard until the finish. 

I was disappointed that we voted the number of laps down. I would like to have seen what I could have done on the third lap considering how strong I was feeling. I think I would have set a new personal best for the course. I decided to ride a third lap at a casual pace for the extra miles. I came in way under what I had ever done the course on despite the very slow pace of the last lap. I was third in Super Sport behind David and John, but I was ecstatic with my ride. I was only about one minute 40 seconds behind John, a personal best. It's hard to compete with the guys, but I am going to continue to try to improve for next year and stay with them longer. With this race, I locked up third overall in the GAP series, which is great considering that I did half the number of races as most of the others in my division.