Fox River Grove 2011

As always, I am so happy that this race continues every race. It is a unique course and it's usually a race people use to train for snake alley. My goal for this year for Fox River Grove was not results. It was purely training and racing it twice is a plus. I raced the Master's Men 30 + which started at 11:30 and women's 123 at 2:20. I wanted to see how much I could push myself after doing a men's race.


Master's Men 30+ cat4/5.: Cold and rainy day. Warmed up in the trainer a bit then did my usual warm up on the road. Race started with about 25-30 men. I was the only women in the field I was excited. All I thought was.... "this is like going on the Judson Ride". Ride strong is all I had in my head and keep strong. Race started 1st lap. ok. 2nd lap.. going up.... dropped chain.. Chain got jammed up. Had to get off bike and fix chain and get pushed up the climb. Chase .... chase.... ok only 15 sec away from field. Going up climb...... dropped chain again...... chain jammed again. Got off bike and fix chain..... what is going on? I just rode till the end of race. Had mechandic look at my chain. It was too long and the shifting was off a bit. Oh well. Finished with pride!!

W123 Race: About 7 Women lined up. Small field. From the gun, Mia Moore hit it up the climb pretty good. I was a bit conservative on the 1st lap. With this course, I knew its easy to tire out. I wasn't sure about Mia though. I eventually shook Kathy off. Then it was me and Erin at the end. Mia had a pretty good gap. I was a bit disappointed I didnt attack a bit harder to close in sooner. I wanted to same some extra fuel for then end. Last lap, I wasnt sure what to do? Go for flyer and shake Erin off my tail or slow down and let her pull. Got up the climb with Erin in front but saw maybe that she was a bit tired. I clicked it into a harder gear and hit it hard downhill. To my surprize Erin was on my wheel. I had this feeling she a sprinter. I knew exactually what she was doing. She was hanging on my wheel just waiting for that last corner. I tried slowing and moving to the other side but it she didnt go in front of me. So it played out as I thought. I came in 3rd.
Lots of learning and good training for snake alley.