Make Mine Extra Crispy

Audrey Scott Housatonic Hills Women's 1/2/3 Race Report 6/20/10 - Place: 2nd out of 36 starters; QOM jersey (!)
My odometer read 8.5 miles in to the Housatonic Hills road race today when I suddenly realized I had forgotten to put on sunscreen. I'd even made the extra trip upstairs when packing last night to find and put 2 kinds in my race bag - one spf 70 and the other spf 30. This was the bad news. The good news was that I did remember not to ratchet down my helmet so tight that I'd have a dent in my forehead for 5 hours when I took it off again. So, I'll call it a draw.
It was hot today, which I like. You'd think with my obviously nordic background I'd prefer to race in the cold, but I seem to do well in the heat and sun. My skin? Not so much.
Housatonic Hills is a tough race. We did the alleged 27 mile loop twice (my odometer registered only 50.9 mi total...). The course is always going up or down - there are really only 2 flat sections. I have done this race twice before, so I knew what was coming. Immediately after the start whistle, you are climbing the biggest hill on the course. First time up is neutral, so it's important to get to the line early and start in the front the avoid the laboring masses and not be in a bad position for the fast descents that follow. After rolling up and down for a bit and maybe one of those flat parts, there is another nasty section of steep but short climbs, and after some more rollers, the QOM/KOM climb, which is not steep but long. Based on the garbled instructions we got at the start line, I thought that they had switched the QOM climb to the big climb this year, but apparently not. More on this later. The finish line comes after a 90 degree right turn and a 250-300m shallow ascent which levels out for the last 50-100 feet or so before the line. I've been out-sprinted to the line here before, and not just because I got beat, but mostly because I had no clue what I was doing.
If you looked at last weekend's results, you'd notice I came second up at Whiteface. You might also notice I didn't post a race report. It was not for lack of effort, but I just never made it very far in trying to describe the race without wanting to throw my computer out the window, so I gave up. I learned a lot of things last Saturday, including that if the hill is not too steep or too long, just leave it in the g.d. big ring and hammer it. (I can say this because I have a compact crank.)
So coming into today, based on what I remembered of the course, and who was on the pre-registered list, my plan was to be in the first row on the start line, get to the descent first, leave it in the big ring for everything but the big climb and maybe that horribly steep stuff, and be there at the end to put up a fight and sprint to the line respectably.
And I actually managed to do all that according to plan. What wasn't planned was winning the QOM. Like I said, it is a long but not terribly steep climb and I stuck to the big ring plan. I felt people falling back as I went up, and looking up I realized there was a 200m to go sign - so it was still the QOM climb, they hadn't changed it! So I just went for it, getting a good gap over the top. Won myself a pretty red jersey and a pair of Rudy Project sunglasses. I was really hoping for one of the shiny new Audis they had by the start line (QOM/KOM and the race were sponsored by Danbury Audi) but alas, no one handed me a set of car keys.
The group whittled down pretty quickly, and we were soon down to a predictable few. I did/was doing a lot of work to achieve that, but I was feeling good and so I was ok with it. Then we were down to 5, and lost one more due to cramping (like I said, it was hot!). As we got into the last few miles of downhill and then coasted in front of the school before the final right hand turn and uphill sprint, I managed to get on Alejandra Madrinan's wheel (she won the sprint at Bear Mtn) and Beth Miller and Jenny Ives from Anthem were on mine. Knowing all 3 of them were better sprinters than me, I opened it up and railed the turn, hoping to open up a surprise gap and hold them off. I was still in front at the 200m sign, but at 100m Alejandra came around me. I held on for second, but I don't think it was too pretty.
Now that I am climbing better, next I need to work on better efficiency and application of power to the pedals in the sprint by using my whole body and pulling on the handlebars. It's always something.....
Big thanks to Carlos for taking the podium pics! I saw Carlos out on the course, and it was a huge adrenaline boost to see another Bikeway kit and have a teammate out there. Also great to be joined by Justin, Eric and Declan.
Thanks for reading.
-a