How was the race?

Yesterday I raced in the 39th annual Springbank road races held in London's Springbank park. What a day! It was perfect weather and I was ready to race. Ready despite having put 116km on my legs the day before, but that's beside the point. (For the truly curious, I was a captive audience in a group ride I had to stick with lest I be lost in Milton, ugh)

Anyway, I brought my rollers with me (like a treadmill for bikes) so that I could be sure to get in a good warmup and I was not disappointed. Off to a good start, I rolled up to the line, feeling relaxed and confident. These feelings mostly just increased over the course of the race.

To put this into perspective, last year I was terrified as it was my first road race ever. I was late to the line, had no idea what I was doing or what to expect. I was quickly dropped and then left to conduct my own personal death march for the remaining laps (determined as I was NOT to post a DNF).

THIS year, I was on the line in good time. I stayed near the front of the pack for the entire race which is always a good idea because then you're still getting draft, and you are able to avoid most crashes as that usually happens deep in the pack where there is very tight quarters.

There was a crash actually and this theory was thus proven as I escaped unharmed. (thank goodness!)

I stayed in my big ring for the entire race (last year I didn't know that would be a good idea and dropped my chain once shifting between my big and small ring. what a newb I was!) and hardly even broke a sweat. I thought to myself -- this is easy! borderline boring actually.

About then they started announcing prime laps. A "prime" is a special prize awarded to the first person over the line on the lap it is announced. It basically adds to the amusement of those watching as we all fight it out in a sprint for 26 bucks. Btw the men's primes were 40 bucks. Where is the justice?

While I never expected to win a prime (as Merrill Collins, indisputeably the fastest woman in Ontario was also racing that day) I broke with each sprint to make sure that if a group got away on a prime, I would be with them. However, no one ever attempted anything.

There was some aggressive behaviour both endured and laid down by me. In road racing these things happen as we all fight for wheels to suck draft off and position in the pack. One lady took things a little too far though -- apparently she thought we were playing hockey. She managed to insert her elbow under my forearm and lift which meant I had to react or else be forced to steer sharply into my neighbour on the other side. This same lady was a menace throughout the entire race.

The other exciting moment came when an old man wandered onto the course directly in front of us. That same man repeated his mistake during the men's race. It is one thing to be run down by a pack of women doing 40km/h, but the men are hitting speeds of 60km/h on the flats. An official had to heroically jump into harm's way, grab the geezer and pull him to safety. The man had no idea what was going on around him and actually almost backed himself BACK onto the course right into the oncoming freight train of the men's peleton. It was harrowing. Everyone was safe and we cheered for the official. I don't think the racers even knew what happened.

Anyway, I finished the race sprinting as best I could (I found out this is a skill I could improve on!) with the best in the land. I came in 9th when it was all over but all the women posted the same time in the results so you can imagine it was a close race. We started together and stayed together. For next time I have a better idea of my options and the realities of my category so I will let you know how my experimenting goes.

All in all an excellent day spent in London!