Pave, Pave!

So we have Poolesville under our belt...here is the low down. Diane, Lorraine, Heidi, Beth and I did a warm-up lap so those unfamiliar with the course could see what all the hub-a-bub was about. We thought we had enough time for a full lap but we had to jam and get to the line. Definitely got the heart rate going.

As always, it starts with a neutral roll out. The agonizingly slow pace with chit-chat continued to the first turn--come'on ladies let's race. I was ready hit it. I took a flyer to get things going and to my surprise I opened a gap. No one was chasing. The idea of soloing for 42 miles was less than appealing but as the gap opened to 15…20…30 seconds, I had to give it a try. Finally after the gravel section, the field rolled through—whew! Thank you.

The next break had three, with Kenda, LSV and HPC represented. I was lingering in the back still recovering from my TT effort while C3 was on the front driving the pace—thanks Heidi and Lorraine. We tried to rally with Cycle Life to get a paceline going but it was unorganized. The field seemed to whittle down with each pass of the gravel section. It was hard packed but sprinkled with some monster potholes, you could not help but to hit a few.

By the 4th trip across, I was beat--the jarring of the gravel road just zaps you. The breakaway was dwindling. Loreena (HPC) was on the side with a flat and Heidi (Kenda) flatted the previous lap leaving Susanna alone off the front. HPC and Kenda stepped it up to pull back the solo rider but the momentum died and we moseyed the last lap. We were now a group of eight.

As we reached the last section of rises—no one attacked. Thank you very much. We hit the final turn and the group accelerated. I got to full speed a little too late but rolled through enough places to get 3rd in the field sprint and 4th overall. Lorraine followed in a chase group with 12th and Diane soloed in. Heidi and Beth greeted us already changed and refreshed on the sidelines. We got the blue ribbon for best post-race spread. I think it was the mango salsa!