Tour De Tuscaloosa Race Report

Tour de Tuscaloosa Race Report

This was first race of the season and I love this race because the women’s field is treated equally with the men’s field and it is put on by Gina Simpson who is very organized. It usually draws a larger field of women and I like that there are separate 3,4 and 1,2,3 crit races. The criterium is fast and has long hill that breaks up the group and the road race is in a beautiful area next to Lake Lureen Park with good road conditions.  Our host hotel was the Yellowhammer Inn and Conference Center located on a beautiful golf course and beside a lake.  Very nice!

I felt nervous since last year’s season ended with a dislocated rt hip from a crash and there was the threat of rain. My fitness is better this year since I was forced to rest and rehabilitate with a Perry Smith who was my physical therapist at Promotion Therapy . He worked wonders, I would come in limping and leave walking normal. I also worked out with Linda Kenmuir (personal trainer) over the winter. When it comes to strength training, I am not very motivated but Linda made it fun and I am stronger. I have no more lower back pain and hills seem easier and my muscles don’t feel so imbalanced. They both helped me recover quickly.

Anterior dislocation of my rt hip from a crash last August.  I was aiming for the grass to avoid crashing into my team mate and it was good that I landed on the grass because nothing was broken. The pain was worse than child birth and I have 4 children.  A nurse told me that I was the star at Vanderbilt for the worst anterior dislocation that they have seen and they were amazed at how quickly I recovered from it.

This was my inspirational song for the weekend since there was a chance of rain. Luckily for the Cat 1,2,3 crit it was sunny and 80 degrees.

Criterium

At the start my heart was pounding and this was the most nervous I have ever felt before a race. I started thinking about my crash last August and the horrible pain I felt from it. Todd came over to talk to me and I had no idea what he said. I thought I was over this crash and hadn’t thought about it until then. I pretty well felt this way for the first lap and then something clicked and I felt more relaxed and focused and actually started enjoying the race. I love criteriums and the more technical they are the better.

Debbie Milne attacked on the hill and got away and I was in the 2nd group with Parri and Kat. Some of the group worked together to try to catch her but she was too strong. This race was hard and I wished I had a few races under my belt because we had some really good cash primes and I am a good sprinter. At the end Parri attacked up the hill and the girls caught up to her and Kat counter attacked and I got on her wheel for the sprint. I don’t feel like I have my race legs yet but I did pretty well. Kat 5th, Me 6th and Parri 7th.

Road Race

This race is 40 miles long and a 10 mile loop with a hill before the finish so it suits hill climbers. It was the first time I got to use my new Easton EC90 Aero Tubular wheels that I bought from Mark at MOAB. They were great and they rolled smoothly and it was almost effortless.

During the first loop up the hill the field got spread out and I ended being in the 3rd group. I was going to catch up to the 2nd group but I didn’t want to bring everyone up to Parri my team mate who was in the 2nd group. There were around 10 of us and we worked together and picked up a couple of stragglers.

At the end there was a headwind and I wanted to stay protected until we had 200 meters to go but I got behind the wrong woman. She slowed down and I had to go around her to keep up with another group of women that passed her and I was exposed to the wind and was able to come in 3rd in the field sprint and 14th in the 1,2,3 category.

It was a good training race and everyone on the team learned a lot from this experience and I regained my joy of racing in criteriums.

RR race start for Cat 1,2,3,4 women.  Photo by Robyn Wodzenski.