Yankee Springs Time Trial

Racing season is officially underway! Mitch and I, along with many of our On 2 Wheels teammates and various friends, raced the Yankee Springs Time Trial on Sunday. As always, it was a great way to kick off what is sure to be a fantastic season.

But first, let's back up. Last weekend, we met Rick and Nichole at the trail for a little preride. I was a bit anxious about my abilities, because I was so doggone slow up at Harrison and didn't push it at all when I rode Island Lake with my dad. And when I finished my lap at Yankee, I found my time was a full ten minutes slower than last year's race time. Ugh!


Our preride group

It's hard to have "place-based" goals in a class without consistent competition. I can't go out each week, like Mitch, and have a group of people to pit myself against because my class is small and there are often only two or three of us. So my goal for Yankee, which will probably carry over to most of the races, was simply to be as fast or faster than last year.

We left at the crack of dawn, and I was all bundled up because I'd have a few hours to kill in the cold while Mitch raced in the expert class, along with Rick, Nichole and Jake. I brought Macie for company, and she made friends with everyone! She was so good, letting tons of people pet her and snuggle her...though thanks to all the dust, she was filthy by the end of the day! We cheered for Mitch and everyone as they came through on their first lap, and then I handed her off to Mitch's mom while I ate lunch and warmed up.


Such a good puppy!

When I finally hit the trail, I knew it was going to be a good ride. I struggled a bit at the beginning, but hit my rhythm about three miles in and never looked back. I powered up loose, rocky hills that other women were walking and navigated root-filled uphills much better than last weekend. The downhill parts of that trail are just so awesome: fast, flowy and at times a bit technical. I was having so much fun that a few times, I had to remind myself I was racing and hammer harder. I came in strong at the finish, and met my goal: eleven seconds faster this year than last.


Mitch's start - he's so fast!

Mitch also did great; his class was fast and competitive, but he had a good ride and consistent lap times. He won't make excuses, but I know being on medication for a particularly irritating allergic skin reaction all week slowed him down a tiny bit. Still, he was happy with his performance. Friends and teammates deserve a big congratulations, too. Nichole's reluctant debut as an expert racer was awesome, Rick was on fire, and Jake made the jump up, too, and met his race goals.