O Canada

5/30/10 Killington Stage Race Day 2 - ITT 10.6 miles time: 27:54; Place: 2nd
1:22(!?!) back of the winner Canadian Sue Schlatter of the Stevens team; 4 seconds ahead of Canadian Jennifer Stephensen of the 7th Groove team.
I need to type this fast so it may not be coherent. I worked hard today and I need to sit absolutely still to recover for as long as possible before tomorrow's race and finishing climb, which makes me sick to my stomach every time I think about it.
It was windy, and I fretted as we drove to the parking area for today's time trial. We passed Jennifer Stephensen driving in and she had a rear disc so I decided to stick with it. I got ready, rode around for a bit and stretched, and went to the start line. Coutdown, deep breath, and GO. The first few miles of the course on Route 4 had a swirly wind as the road followed a babbling brook, and was slightly uphill. I passed 3 women in the first 3.5 miles, realized I was panting and needed to get myself under control because I still had 7 miles to go. I worked to steady myself as the road turned slightly downhill for another mile until the right turn onto Route 100 north. Deep breaths, head steady, good form, keep pushing. Despite the downhill, I didn't feel I was going very fast as the wind seemed to put up resistence. I also had no one in front of me to chase. I made the right onto 100 and climbed the slight hill up to the start line from the circuit race, and as I crested the hill the road stretched out in a straight line and I could see #s 4, 5, and 6 all strung out as bait. I soon realized that one was just a guy out for a Saturday ride as a blew by him and concentrated on catching #4. The headwind was brutal, and the course a false flat and I continued to try to have good form and never let off the pressure on the pedals - I looked down and was holding only around 23-24 mph. Must...go...faster!! A few gusts of wind from the side I could feel in the front 808 made me wander around the wide shoulder a bit, but I never felt out of control. I passed #4 about halfway across the long straightaway on Route 100 and as I neared the turnoff onto River Road I could see 2 more ahead. There was a short steep pitch up to the turn off which I had to get out of the aerobars to get up and I turned right onto the last mile of twisty, bumpy road, and dug deep trying to reel them in. I passed the 500m to go mark and just gritted my teeth over the last little rise and across the finish line, just a few yards back of them. A pretty good effort, I thought. I watched as the woman who started behind me came across the line and tried to judge if it was more or less than 30 seconds since I had. I filled my water bottle, chatted with a couple of people, and rode all the way back to the start, which was a good spin for my legs. I got back in time to see Rivers off, talked to my friend Susanna for a while, and finally got out of my skinsuit and had 2 pbj's when I heard the announcement that results were up. I asked myself what I would be satisfied with. Top 10?? Not really. As I walked to the results table someone called out nice job Audrey! I said I hadn't seen results yet. She said well, you'll like them.
I walked up to the table and took a deep breath.... 2nd. By A LOT. Maybe I was thinking about tomorrow's climb, but there was no way I could have gone 1:22 faster.... As Rivers pointed out, I guess it's better than getting 2nd by just a few seconds, where you wonder if you had just pedaled a few strokes harder....
So I should now be second on GC. See if I can hold onto it. My job will be to stick with Sue Schlatter for the loop and then try to go with attackers on the final climb. We all know how well I've been climbing this year... maybe I'll grow wings overnight!!
pic: awards ceremony. Rivers missed the pic with our arms raised. Ms. Stephensen didn't even bother to show up.