This Is A Test....No Cheating!

The question:
How did Heather get 21st at the Time Trial at US National Championships?

A. Her Tailbone (that she recently broke) was hurting like mad.
B. She crashed into the barriers on one of the FOUR turn arounds!
C. She missed her start.
No cheating.......

Answer....C!

US National Championship Time Trial…not a good day to have a first ever missed start! I missed my start by about 20 seconds! I could ramble on all the reasons why this happened (I started to come up with a list) but it all comes down to ME.

I screwed up and I will never do that again. I wanted to be sweating and out of breath from my warm-up at the start of the TT, so I didn’t allow enough time for mishaps or setbacks. I took off to get my bike measured ( this is a requirement right before the start of your TT to make sure that the setup is legal) and cut the line. Ironically, I had my bike measured by the officials an hour before my start, just to make sure everything was good. He joked at how the women are over-achievers and we should give a little talk to the Juniors! HUH, maybe the juniors could teach me how to get to my start on time.

My director had her arms in the air (like what the hell are you doing?) and I picked my bike up and ran it down a dirt path to the start. I wasn’t even able to use the ramp! They yelled for me to start next to the ramp on a little white line for idiots who miss their start! I took off with a full water bottle that I had intended to leave with my director. At some point in the race I decided to chuck my bottle. Not so easy across two lanes of racers. The TT course was on a highway. They made cone lanes that we snaked up and down four times. There was a storm brewing and the wind was amazing, not in a good way though. There never seemed to be a tail wind. The wind was coming from the side or a headwind. I was gusted clear across my little lane a few times. More than ¾ of the way through my race, the rain started and the wind stopped! I would have much rather been racing in the rain with no wind. I couldn’t go much slower through the tight turn arounds in the middle of the highway! The times just got faster and faster as the riders got wetter and wetter!

The TTtook me about 33 minutes and 40 seconds and now add on the time that I lost being late….and no start ramp. The good news is that I didn’t lose by 30 seconds, not even close. Kristen Armstrong just killed everyone. She beat second place, Amber Neben by 50 seconds and third place Christine Thourborn by a 1 min and 30 seconds. Crazy fast!! I guess that’s why she’s the World Champion.

So today, the day after the TT is my birthday. I started my day with a nice cup of coffee and oatmeal bread with homemade strawberry jam on it on Linda (our host mom’s) deck. It really is beautiful here. We’re right across from the 7 Springs Mountain Resort. Then Natalie and I went for a ride. Natalie only did about 20 minutes with me and then turned around. She has a crit tomorrow and wanted to rest up. As I rode off into the hills I thought, this is not a great idea. I have no tube or pump in case I flat. Not one minute later, Chris, my coach rides right up to me. I was soooo happy to see him. How lucky was I that we bumped into each other in the middle of nowhere! We did the road course two times. JEEEZE it’s hilly. I was really tired when I got back to the house. Chris escorted me back to my development. I think he was afraid that I was about to BONK! Huh, maybe he was right. J

I finished my birthday at a wonderful BBQ that the Team Swift parents had. They made such a wonderful spread of food and even made me a birthday cake!!! How cool was that! The kids on Team Swift are great. They are all racing very well out here at Nationals. I can see why Laura enjoys working with these athletes and their parents.

OK, off to bed!