I had a great time at Hillsboro. Yeah, it was a bit chilly, but I was psyched for my first road race. My goals were to give it my all, work with other riders, get more comfortable in the pack, and all around gain experience.
As Imelda noted, it was COLD at the start. Gigi, Jenny, Imelda and I were all shivering by the time it was our turn at the line. But Hillsboro has plenty of inclines to warm you up fast. I spent the first 20+ minutes in the pack, feeling pretty comfortable. There was a bit of jockeying for postition, but nothing outrageous really. Gigi pulled the group for a while.
Then that big hill that Sean mentioned. It shook at least a third---maybe more---of us off the back. I wasn't ready to let go, so I chased----hoping some women would grab my wheel. I caught back on alone, and held for another few minutes, but I was winded, and working at the back, unable to force my way up into better position. I was knocked off at the next hill.
Trying to catch up, I took the infamous descent that ends in a precipitous turn as fast as I could. When I realized what was at the bottom, I accepted the fact that I was going to die. Then a milisecond later, I knew I was going to make the turn---but a male rider was standing in the gravel attending to his rear wheel. I missed slamming into him at 35 mph by an inch. After that, I took the descents a bit more conservatively.
I worked up to another rider [green], and together we bridged to a third. The three of us worked together for a while, then green faded and disappeared. A while later, the other rider popped. I felt strong, so I went on alone.
I was working into the headwind alone when the xXx 5s started passing me. I was thrilled to see several teammates in the lead pack. Go 5s!
At 22 miles, on the big hill into town, I caught up to another 4 woman----no team affiliation, wearing blue. and after starting our second lap, we picked up another green woman. We worked together. I fell off the back of that train for a while, when the green was driving, but blue couldn't keep her wheel, and the two of us went back to working together. When we hit the headwinds. Blue was popped. She couldn't pull. I would tell her I needed a break, and she'd try, but after a minute or so of 12 mph, I'd give up and pull again. She sucked my wheel until 2.5 miles from the finish---where she announced, "I've been in my big ring all this time!" She promply downshifted and left me behind.
So I pushed up the hill, across the dreaded bricks, and into the finish alone. I did make an effort to pass a lone master's rider in the stretch. Heh.
Then the frustrating part. We all waited over 2 hours in the wind and chill for results. And when the women's 4 results were finally posted they were a complete work of fiction. Imelda and I weren't even listed at all. The woman who won, was listed in 12th place. Those of us who were still around, helped the officials reconstruct what actually happened, but there were holes. So, out of a field of 27 women, I came in somewhere between 8th and 15th. I feel good about that.
And I can't wait until my next road race!