Wednesday Night CTS Race Report

We have this little race series in the park on Wednesday nights in the nearby Bear Creek Park. It’s put on by Carmichael Training Systems, and is a fun, inexpensive training race that lots of folks turn out for.
The format is halfway between a short track and an XC race. Laps are about two miles, and we go out for 60 minutes + one lap. This is to say that after 60 minutes, no matter how many laps we’ve done, we stop after one more lap. Sound confusing? It could be, except the officials do a great job of yelling and ringing the bell to let us know we’re on our last lap.
Anyways, turned out I was the only one in my race category this week. No worries, as there were plenty of other folks out there to try and chase down. Within the first half-lap, it was clear that my friend Betty of the awesome Sunna Racing Team was going to be my rabbit (this term comes from dog racing….chase down the rabbit). She was always within a hundred meters or so. Strangely, I was catching her on the climbs, even though I was on a fairly heavy borrowed bike (I’m waiting for a replacement suspension part for my bike). She was pulling away on the descents, the opposite of how our riding styles usually interact. This yo-yo act continued throughout the race until our sixth and last lap. That’s when I fired the afterburners. I dug DEEP on the climbs and gained a lot of ground. Coming into the flats, Betty lapped another woman, Charlotte, in a nice open space. I caught Charlotte shortly thereafter in some tight corners. I was waiting for the pass when Charlotte went down hard. I paused to make sure she was ok, then sprinted to try and make up time. Closer and closer I got to Betty, pushing every corner and pedal I could. The finish line was 200m and I was in full wheezing sprint. 100m and she was so close. At the finish she was about 20 feet in front of me. Bummer to not catch her, but I’ve never put the chase on so hard for so long. Good practice!

And if you want to nerd out, more results here.