Katharine Carroll
Professional Cyclist

I am tired. Today we finished a long road race in hot weather and it took a lot out of me. The most important news, however, is that as I was sitting here writing this gem of an article, the wireless Internet started working again. In an instant the sound of conversation faded out only to be replaced with the pecking of computer keys. But before I tell you all the exciting details about today (the most important one is that I finished), I need to tell you about Stage 1. So here’s the rewind… Yesterday I donned the Ford-Basis skin suit and set out on my time trial bike to get the best time I could. As is the case most of the time in terms of racing this year, I didn’t know what to expect. I had never done a distance that short (5 miles), so I did not know how to gauge my effort. When it was all said and done, I felt like I could have gone a little harder on the way out, but I felt like I definitely went as hard as I could on the way in. Our team did really well, with all six of us placing in the coveted top 28 out of 111 riders (4th, 13th, 20th, 24th, 27th, 28th). Today’s stage was an 87.4 mile road race. There was no crazy climbing until late in the race. The first Queen of the Hills line did not even come until mile 74. And then we came into Mankato... Once we entered town we were to do four laps on a finishing circuit that had a hill like North Berry’s Chapel. Except there were no tree-lined gentle curves to disguise what you have to climb; you could see exactly how bad the hill was from the moment you turned the corner a good block from the base of the climb. I felt great during most of the road race. At first I was nervous about being back in the pack with over 100 other riders. The last time I did that, I met the pavement before I had a chance to meet the finish line. Riding in the pack is like the chaotic start of most of the century rides around town. Except the group does not fan out as everyone starts to move at their own pace; it just gets faster and you are constantly fighting for position. As soon as you relax in your position, you fall back at least five places and have to start moving up all over again. I covered moves that I thought could be dangerous, all the while trying to focus on being smart-aggressive. Our team is not one of the big teams like a T-Mobile, Quark, or Webcor (not yet), so in a race like this, we don’t have to do all the work. At the same time, we do not want to find ourselves out of any important move. There were not many dangerous moves, but that did not keep me from doing my share on the front. I have a bad habit of doing too much work when I don’t need to. It’s a habit that was never broken as a Cat 4 last year, and I am starting to see that it could lead to some frustrating finishes in these bigger races. We entered town and started up the hill. The first time through I was hurting pretty bad. There is nothing worse than knowing you still have to climb the damn thing three more times before you see the finish. A group went away on the first time up, as it was a QOH lap. That group came back together by the start of lap two, but by the end of the climb on lap three, I had fallen off the main group. I finished by myself, pleased with my effort, but bummed that I didn’t have enough to help my teammates with the lead-out. It turns out they didn’t need much help as Nicole won the field sprint to take 2nd place. Our teammate Alicia Lion won the best young rider jersey and so we are feeling pretty good about where we stand. For all you average speed nerds out there, my computer read 24 mph for the 88 miles. Thats pretty fast considering I saw my speed was 5 mph when I accidentally peeked at my computer the third time up the hill. When it was all said and done, I learned that I don’t need to spend so much time out in front. My rookie legs were toast by the time we got to the finishing circuits. This whole year is about learning lessons… And class starts again tomorrow night at 6 as we have a 40 minute downtown “pancake flat” criterium.