Jennifer Dilworth Hynes — mtbchk

Why is it that the weather never cooperates for a 1:00 Winter Short Track Race? Yes, it was cold on Saturday. I can handle cold. I’m always cold anyway.  But, it started raining at 12:45 – fifteen minutes before the start of our last race. It was 39 degrees and raining. I took off the outer long-sleeved jersey I was wearing and donned a rain jacket. Neal said I’d be hot, but he obviously doesn’t know me well. I’m always cold. I even had “Toasty Toes” in my bike shoes. Those things rock.

 

The race started like all my others. I held on to the group for the first lap, but they lost me in the parking lot at the beginning of the second lap. I changed my gearing (harder) for this race, and it seemed perfect. The conditions were good, despite the rain, and I was able to carry more speed in the climbs. I felt good this whole race. I gained another 14 seconds per lap. I did 11 laps. No pukey feeling, no passing out, no cramps, no low blood sugar. I even felt like I could have gone one gear harder. Maybe next year.

 

Final series stats and thoughts:

Over the 5-race series (ok, 4 for me, due to the DNF, see earlier report below), I gained a total of ONE FULL MINUTE PER LAP. I feel like this is a great accomplishment for me. I’m feeling stronger, both mentally and physically. I only did 7 laps my first race and I did 11 in the last race. I struggled with a relatively easy gear in the first race, switched to a harder gear near the end of the series and feel like I could have gone harder – at least by one more gear.

 

Thank you so much to BlackSheep Cycles for sponsoring me in this series. You guys are great!

 

p.s. — I lost another 1.2 pounds.  Yay!

p.p.s. — Congrats to Brian for getting 2nd place again in the 5th race and for a second place overall finish for the series in the Singlespeed class!  Whoo hoo!  My fireplace mantle is beginning to look like a high-school gym lobby.