The T-shirt

Support crew trophy

Uphill TT mountain

Wrong Way Award

Road Race #1 warm ups

Road Race #1 Start

First day Time Trial Hill

Stage One: 10 mile Time Trial (Friday) This hill (photo above right) doesn't look so bad until you imagine it at the end of a Time Trial and without that oh so faithful 27 on the back... Actually it was a good moment for me as I actually passed people on this hill--then the ladies started passing me on the flat stretch into home which gave me an awesome carrot to chase down, so I finished with a great time for me and under my goal of less than 40 minutes; not last place. Cool today of 99 degrees.

Stage Two: 38.7 mile Road Race (Saturday) Temps were well over 100 degrees for the start of Saturday's road race...as you can see from above sports bras showing is acceptable for warm-ups at a women's race...the guys didn't mind it either, but it did make me think that this event is a great opportunity for women product sponsors--hmmmmm. The one shaded spot above became the start line. It was also up the hill from a bull that decided to chase down some riders warming up, so we thought we'd stay up here until he was back in the pen! Course was approx(distances varied from race bible often) 7 mile loop through beautiful, but barren countryside. The long stretch on the backside was brutal with manure piles steaming on each side and swarms of bugs that clung to your skin, shorts, face, eyes, ears, etc. It was like riding through a locust swarm until you rounded the corner, but it did make you speed up.

Did I mention the corner..oh yeah don't make a left....this is how I earned Trophy #1 above "wrong way" award. Yes I preroad the course, yes I knew it was all right hand turns, but hey...I made a mistake. Not to worry the 55+peloton carried me back and I continued on..losing time yes but not lapped until the 3rd lap. I managed to make up time--wierd how I was getting faster and feeling better at mile 30, enough so that I finished behind the pack and ahead of some keeping my GC place. Very fine line to warming up too much and/or not enough...I need to dial this in better as I tend to be afraid that I won't have anything left after the warm up.

The road race ended at 11:00 a.m at which point we started to devour food, wash down and try to stay cool, legs up until the next race this afternoon which was...keep in mind this is a really remote location..no going back to the hotel, your car and whatever shade you find is all you get.

Stage Three: 13 mile uphill Time Trial (2500ft) ( yup, Saturday) I wish I had a photo of this mountain road to show that was better, but I was too focused and hot to take one. The one photo of the climb is above if you look at the one with the mountainous scenery you will see a diagonal line in the mountain range..that is part of the road, we went from the bottom to the other side of the top on this road. 2500 feet of elevation gain, mostly in the first five miles. Brutal temps of 104-106 now at 3:00p.m. for the start time. The key to this climb was simply to finish. After the morning road race and sitting around in the heat I wasn't sure that would be possible. For many it wasn't and watching them turn around and descend, knowing many of these women have raced way more than me caused the climb to be more of a mental battle than a physical one. It was steep, granny gear (27 on here) kind of climb. The key was to hydrate well and keep the calories going in/electrolytes too. I had soaked my clothes in the cooler water and was grateful that I had. I wasn't the fastest one up at all, in fact I was the last one to come in of those who finished the climb. The other racers weren't allowed to descend until the last lady finished so they were happy to see me, but wonderful about cheering me in for the last 50 meters which seems like 50 K... The ladies were great spraying me with water, forcing me to eat and congratulating me.

Then the moment we all waited for ..a screaming decent back to the cars and a air conditioned restaurant..unfortunately that was 1.5 hours away, but none the less a reward.

I was totally cooked on the descent, my body covered in sweat, salt and sunscreen. I can't remember most of it, but I was happy to have finished 3 of 4 stages..two more than I had imagined.

Stage Four: 48 mile Road Race on Iron Mountain (Sunday) My 4:00 a.m. wake up call came way too early and I could hardly lift my head from the pillow. This is where I believe I made a mistake...I tried to eat and it was impossible to get the food in or water. I just wanted to puke. So I got in the car and drove to the start area not feeling very well at all and in a daze. Mr. RM was pretty worried as I didn't sound like myself on the phone. It was already 100 degrees at 6:30 a.m. and we had 48 miles of road with no shade and few support vehicles. Once on my trainer I realized I would be a fool to start this stage. I knew I could not keep the 20 mph pace my CAT 4 racers were going to do and that would put me out alone without water support for a very long time. Still I tried to eat and drink, but there was no way I would have enough in for this level of endurance and heat.

Looking back I think if I had waited to eat after I was on the trainer and early on in the race I would have probably been okay to finish it--note to self for next time. Also this is where I realized that a support crew/person is crucial. I should have had help the day before, someone to drive so I could sleep, someone to think for me, set up trainer, etc. Next time for sure.

But here I was in the middle of nowhere, so I decided to run support for my fellow CAT 4 ladies. Afterall they had been great to me all weekend and I knew in this heat it would be a great help. And it was...one flaw with this race was lack of support vehicles, but my trusty suburban was ready. I still had 8 gallons of water, gu packs, electrolytes, bars etc. so I stayed with the pack and kept them hydrated and fed, fixed a chain and did a wheel change. It was actually a really great learning experience and I have to say when the 4s over took the 3s I was really cheering them on.

These women were amazing riders and mentally tough. They never let the pressure off and raced right to the end! We were rewarded with a picnic under the shade trees and a really fun award ceremony. This is where I earned Trophy #2 for best support crew:)

In the end I was awarded the thing we all wanted and fought for -- the Kern County Women's Stage Race T-shirt...apparently with my times and factoring in those who didn't finish the hill climb, etc. etc. and other race things I don't understand I earned it. I'll take it.

It was, as a blogger I read wrote; "Hit yourself over the head with a frying pan hard!" mhernandez

a definite must do again for next year,

RL