The New Kid Races...

So for the past two weekends, my life has belonged to Rutgers Cycling. Actually, just weekends isn’t really accurate. It’s sort of a lifestyle change as race season starts. By mid-week I’m anticipating the weekend not because I’ll get to relax, but because whenever I think about it, adrenaline starts pumping. I'm spending more time riding than anything else, stretching, doing recovery swims, practicing handling skills and reading everything I can find about cycling.

I’d love to be able to say that the past two weeks- four races in total- have gone smoothly, but that would be inaccurate blogging. The first race- the Rutgers Time Trial- was bad going in- my muscles started cramping before the race, and by the end, I had to lean on my bike just to walk. Still, I was in the top half of Intro Women, so I wasn’t totally upset. I couldn’t do the Princeton Crit that afternoon, though I did have an amazing time screaming my head off cheering for my teammates.

The next day, my legs were feeling better for the Circuit Race at Rutgers. However, the cycling gods were not smiling on me, and when a girl from the University of Delaware crashed, I went down with her in a massive pileup. I recovered from it and, bleeding profusely and road-rash covered, made my way to the finish, ending in a sprint that made me (and my parents and sister, who came to cheer) very proud. I’m still healing from that, since for some reason, my body isn’t healing bruises or cuts very well lately. I have bruises from two months ago on my legs!

Midweek, we did a 50 mile base mile ride, and I realized, as I was riding with 15 or so people I now consider to be my friends, that for the first time, I feel like I’m in college and I love it.

I had high hopes for the Grant’s Tomb crit the next weekend and started out strong, riding alongside or directly behind Karina, who is turning out to be an amazing racer. The last half of the last lap, I got a cramp, so the sprint ending wasn’t exactly my strong point, but I finished mid-pack. Still, I had a great time and I realized just how amazing it is to have a whole team cheering for you!

Sunday was a crit at Stevens Institute of Technology, and I knew right away that it was going to be a terrible race for me. There was a sharp downhill that curved at the top, followed by a sharp right at the bottom. The saving grace was the hill to the finish. I spent the few laps that Intro Women raced braking too much on the downhill and catching back up on the uphill. Had the race been longer, I may have gotten more comfortable with the downhill, but with only four laps, that never happened. The sprint finish was pretty great though- in the last hundred or so yards, I passed at least five other racers on the uphill, thanks to my Dad and half the team cheering me on.

I’m learning a lot and getting more comfortable on the bike, and most of all, I’m having an amazing time with amazing people. I’m missing this weekend so I can run a marathon, but next weekend I’ll be back on the saddle for racing in Philly!