Bear Mountain RR (by Liz)
Our first big road race as a team and we passed with flying colors!
The Bear Mountain Road Race is held on a 14-mile course at Harriman State Park in NYS. It's hilly, to say the least (note the 'mountain' in the name). The start heads straight downhill, into a u-turn, at which point you start climbing from all but a dead stop. After a couple of miles of stair-step climbing, it flattens out a bit, becoming a bit more rolling before another long uphill leading towards the feed and the finish line. All the women start together, but the Cat 4 women do three laps and the 123 women do four.
Last year, this race was cancelled due to fog. This year, the curse continued, as the start was postponed due to a missing ambulance. We returned to the cars to keep warm (it was damp and cold out), and wait for more information. Eventually, the word came around that we would start some time after 11:30am (our original start was 10:18am), so we fussed more about what to wear, what to eat and how much additional warm-up we could do considering our original warm-ups were completely gone. And then back to the line we went.
Six Swanky's joined a field of 38 cat 4 women and 40-odd 123 women. I think there were a few nerves at work, but thanks to Andy (in his dual role as Emma's husband and team sponsor Fit NYC) taking care of jackets, extra bottles and giving us all moral support, we were ready for a good start.
The first time down the hill was supposed to be neutral—you don't pass the motorcycle, you don't race like a crazy person. That being said, we hit 40mph on the first downhill. There was passing, there was breaking, it was not exactly the leisurely strolling roll one might imagine from the word 'neutral'! And then there was the uphill. We were scattered about the field—I was so far to the right that at one point I actually rode off the road. Emma was just gliding along in the first third of the pack, while the rest of us (including Andrea with her Terminator knee brace) were moving about in the middle. Our naescent teamwork began showing itself when I started to fall out of the pack towards the top of the hill—Andrea and Nancy both dropped back and towed me back up to the field. Amazing stuff!
The weather had begun to clear up a bit, but the roads were still pretty wet, so it wasn't surprising that there were some bobbles between riders—the stop/go pace was extremely conducive to creating trouble. The second crash on the first lap took place going into the first of two roundabouts after the main hill. The road turned down and then curved right, and the combination was enough for brakes to get applied. The result was that three girls, including Emma, went down, with Nancy making the play of the day when she rode completely off the road to avoid hitting Emma or her bike. She just nicked Emma's helmet and by the time I passed mere seconds later, Emma was on her feet—a nice combination of bike handling and cat-like reflexes!
The rest of the race was considerably less eventful. All six of us were able to hang in through the first lap, and part of the second. The pace picked up the second time up the hill, and each of us fell off in turn. Nancy had some bike troubles resulting from the crash, but stuck in there thanks to help from neutral support. Everyone was able to find someone to work with for at least part of the race, and everyone made a point of sprinting for the finish whether they were alone or not! And to top it all off, the sun came up, the roads dried off, and it was a beautiful Sunday afternoon. A good day for Swanky's!
The Bear Mountain Road Race is held on a 14-mile course at Harriman State Park in NYS. It's hilly, to say the least (note the 'mountain' in the name). The start heads straight downhill, into a u-turn, at which point you start climbing from all but a dead stop. After a couple of miles of stair-step climbing, it flattens out a bit, becoming a bit more rolling before another long uphill leading towards the feed and the finish line. All the women start together, but the Cat 4 women do three laps and the 123 women do four.
Last year, this race was cancelled due to fog. This year, the curse continued, as the start was postponed due to a missing ambulance. We returned to the cars to keep warm (it was damp and cold out), and wait for more information. Eventually, the word came around that we would start some time after 11:30am (our original start was 10:18am), so we fussed more about what to wear, what to eat and how much additional warm-up we could do considering our original warm-ups were completely gone. And then back to the line we went.
Six Swanky's joined a field of 38 cat 4 women and 40-odd 123 women. I think there were a few nerves at work, but thanks to Andy (in his dual role as Emma's husband and team sponsor Fit NYC) taking care of jackets, extra bottles and giving us all moral support, we were ready for a good start.
The first time down the hill was supposed to be neutral—you don't pass the motorcycle, you don't race like a crazy person. That being said, we hit 40mph on the first downhill. There was passing, there was breaking, it was not exactly the leisurely strolling roll one might imagine from the word 'neutral'! And then there was the uphill. We were scattered about the field—I was so far to the right that at one point I actually rode off the road. Emma was just gliding along in the first third of the pack, while the rest of us (including Andrea with her Terminator knee brace) were moving about in the middle. Our naescent teamwork began showing itself when I started to fall out of the pack towards the top of the hill—Andrea and Nancy both dropped back and towed me back up to the field. Amazing stuff!
The weather had begun to clear up a bit, but the roads were still pretty wet, so it wasn't surprising that there were some bobbles between riders—the stop/go pace was extremely conducive to creating trouble. The second crash on the first lap took place going into the first of two roundabouts after the main hill. The road turned down and then curved right, and the combination was enough for brakes to get applied. The result was that three girls, including Emma, went down, with Nancy making the play of the day when she rode completely off the road to avoid hitting Emma or her bike. She just nicked Emma's helmet and by the time I passed mere seconds later, Emma was on her feet—a nice combination of bike handling and cat-like reflexes!
The rest of the race was considerably less eventful. All six of us were able to hang in through the first lap, and part of the second. The pace picked up the second time up the hill, and each of us fell off in turn. Nancy had some bike troubles resulting from the crash, but stuck in there thanks to help from neutral support. Everyone was able to find someone to work with for at least part of the race, and everyone made a point of sprinting for the finish whether they were alone or not! And to top it all off, the sun came up, the roads dried off, and it was a beautiful Sunday afternoon. A good day for Swanky's!
posted by liz @ 4:05 PM
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