Another early season race done...

Quick and Boring post because I have schoolwork piled up...

Hopbrook Dam is a climbers paradise.  If there's one thing that stood out in everyone's mind after they raced yesterday, it was "that climb" that never seemed to end.  It started off with a steep run that was only rideable for me on my pre-ride and my 3rd lap.  The first lap had too many people clustered together still, the second lap had a rock in the way, and the 4th lap had some goofy dude at the top making me laugh.  Good thing I don't mind laughing.  Anyhow, right after that steep part, there's a long fire road that has some steep pitches here and there and keeps turning corners only to reveal more incline behind it.  As soon as you're at the top, it goes down a little on some windy single track, and then it starts climbing again, and right as you are finally cresting, there are some rocks on the trail that force you to pay attention and dish out some more energy.  Brutal.  4 X Brutal, to be exact.

Lucky for me, Kelly Dolan kept me moving.  We were within a bike's distance of each other for most of the race, but a mechanical took her out of my sight somewhere around the end of the third lap.  I talked to her at the end, and we both seemed to agree that we need to ride some hills before the next race.

So, as for a finish time, I was within ten minutes of the winner, so I really can't complain.  Those girls were f-ing fast!  I refuse to discredit myself with a second to last finish because I am racing against the best of the best now.  Not only that, we had a damn good turnout.  Across the board (all categories), we had more women racing yesterday than I can recall seeing since I started this crazy lifestyle.  Kudos to the women who kicked my butt because you all push me to go way faster and way harder than I ever ordinarily would.

Thanks to Thom Parsons of Cycling Dirt for getting this photo of the results, which I stole:

I had a blast with my teammates yesterday!  Everyone did really well.  A blog posting on the DAS Racing site will be up as soon as possible, so be sure to check there soon.