A Big Explosion

Today was the death march known as the Housatonic Hills Road Race. Why does this race always suck so much for me? No other race has destroyed me like this one. I've started it 4 times. The first time I DNF'd after a mechanical that rendered my bike unrideable. The next year, I finished both laps but was convinced I was the last one on the road and just pulled into the parking area rather than up the finish climb. I was mad at myself for a long time after that. Last year, I was doing well since the race seemed kinda slow. Then with less than 5 miles to go, I got the worst muscle cramp of my life in my quad (the one that I didn't know was likely partially torn at the time) and fell off my bike. I was determined to finish the race so I got back on and finished. This year, my chain fell off at a very inopportune time, and no, I was not shifting at the time. It took forever to shift it back on. It was stuck in the rear too so I unclipped and used my foot to help persuade cooperation. In the process, I ripped the power/cadence sensor off my frame so I can't even quantify my suffering. I caught back on with the group but it was on the QOM climb sequence and I blew it. I should have been patient and paced myself back to the group, but I sprinted and then exploded big time when they soon turned onto an even steeper pitch. That was it for me. I would have been dropped eventually, I think, even if I hadn't had the chain issue, but it would have been nice to hang on for a little while longer.

After what felt like a decent TT effort for the next 15 miles, I seriously considered dropping out after the first lap, but as I passed the start, Josh informed me that I was only about 4 minutes down. There was no way that I could make up that kind of time, but it wasn't bad enough to drop out so I continued on and caught up with a group of 5 women and we rode the 2nd lap together. When I pulled in for the finish climb, I saw the guys I drove down with all sitting on the side of the road, I asked them if they had the time to wait for me to do the finish climb. I was told/ordered to finish my race. I'm glad I did because if nothing else, the competitive person in me can be happy with the fact that of the group I hit the climb with, I finished first. Small victories.

And yes, I'll go back next year.