Capital Reef Round 2

CRC was not a race I'd planned on doing. I had looked at the course weeks ago and decided it was a climbers course and I was still looking forward to some more July downtime. But with no kids, no school, no boss to ask if I could take another day off and a free place to stay, I had run out of excuses for not doing this race.

There were only 5 women registered in the Women's 4 field and three were Ski Utah. Not bad odds.

Once again I stole these pics from Rios blog. I took a few but left my camera at Kara's place in Fremont (I'll just use it as an excuse to go back soon). Thanks Slingshot for taking great pics!

After the TT I was only 44 seconds out of first. That has to be a record for me. I usually lose at least 2 minutes in a TT. (It is not so much that I've improved but my kick butt teammates Allison, Jamie and Breanne have all upgraded.)


After the TT we rode 10 miles back to Fremont. By then Kara and I were starving and we had to race again in only 2 hours. I had a big protien shake and a banana. Soon it was time to gear up and head out for the next stage. By the time we got to Kara's 90 year old grandma's house in Teasedale my stomach was churning and angry. I stole a couple of Grandma's Tums and got ready to head out for my warm up. It was then that I realized my cleat was spinning around due to a missing screw in my shoe. Thankfully Grandma had a screwdriver. I tightened the two screws the best I could and we headed to the start.

My stomach was still angry as we rolled up to the start line and took off in the hottest part of the day for a very hilly circuit race. I made it down the hill and around the corner. As soon as we hit the first hill I was off the back. By the second hill I pulled over and threw up. My stomach felt better but I was weak and miserable and going very slow. My cleat was also loose and I had no power and was not comfortable standing up to climb. When the Jr. passed me (yes I was going that slow) his follow car got behind me for a while. I really thought about quitting at that point. I think I was full into altitude sickness. Since I had only about 6 miles left I decided to finish out the stage so I'd at least have the option of starting Stage 3 the next day. My 44 second time out of GC was now a 15 minute deficit.

We headed back to Fremont where I drank what seemed like gallons of water and took apart my old shoes to fix my good shoes. I went to bed as early as the party on the front lawn would allow and woke up every hour to drink more.



On the way to the Road Race the next morning Kara was full of plans and tactics. She was sitting in third with 5 minutes to make up. Maybe if she could get a break away she could close that gap. My stomach was feeling better but I was exhausted. I was really dreading getting on my bike. I told her I'd work for her if I could but really my goals for the day were to just finish, not throw up and not cry.



We got into Torrey and pulled up to Shane riding down main street swearing and screaming that his start time was in 3 minutes and he couldn't find the start. His exact words were @#%! @#$! We couldn't find it either and flipped around. Torrey isn't that big and we still had plenty of time before our start.. .. or so we thought. We found the start at the park and as we got out Breanne and Jamie informed us that everyone's start time had been bumped up by 30 minutes. We got to the start line just in time, once again with no warm up and this time no Kris. We told the refs that we didn't think she'd quit and that we were sure she'd be there if she'd known about the time change. Finally, after they waited a bit they started us.

There was a screaming headwind and I was determined to stay with the pack into the wind and up the big climb out of Torrey. We settled in at a reasonable pace and took turns pulling at the front. Surprisingly I started to feel really good. I even went to the front and set the pace up some of the climbs with the idea that at least if I was up there and no one else wanted to work then I could set a reasonable pace.

Since I was still with the pack and Kara had been pacelining right behind me I told her to attack up one of the rollers in Fremont from second wheel. She got a little excited and took off on the downhill right before the turn into Fremont. Suddenly I didn't have anymore downhill power as the field came around me and gave chase. After the corner I was alone. I could then hear a hissing sound. I thought my tire was flatting but I looked down and could see my front brake rubbing. I opened the lever but by this time the field was gone and there was nothing left in my legs from the climbs.

Now I was alone and because of the time change I had moved into 4th place. No amount of chasing would help my standings and likely I wouldn't be of any further help to Kara. So I pulled off and relieved my bladder. Now I just wanted to finish. I still felt pretty good so I just went at a good pace and enjoyed the ride.

Back on the TT course I saw Slingshot. He told me that Kris was only 30 seconds back. I slowed and waited for her knowing I could use her help up the hills and she could use some help going down. We worked together and enjoyed the ride. The officials told her she couldn't help her teammates so she backed off for the finish. Really I don't think it was going to matter since she had already helped me by not being able to find the course. Kara hung in the with the climbers until almost to Torrey. She did manage to get her first podium of her short race career by finishing 3rd.



I'm happy to say that Breanne and Jamie did well finishing behind the Laura's (Howat 1st and Patton 2nd) for 3rd (Breanne) and 4th (Jamie). They had a good sized field of 10. Allison had some mechanical problems but I think she still finished 6th. Way to tear it up ladies!


Regretfully I left the quiet of Fremont for the usual chaos at home. During my long rides alone I had lots of time to scope out property. I'd love a little piece of land up there. Hopefully one like Kara's with no cell service!

Once home I sat in traffic to take my son to the urgent care for an ulcer on his eye and picked up my daughter from her river rafting trip. I just got a shower and now I can sleep as long as I want!