Race Season in Full Swing...

Another successful weekend, but less successful on the blogging front, sorry! It may be a rest week, but it's Spring Break. Which for me is more hectic- we've been booted out of our apartment thanks to a bug infestation, and we spent the last couple days cleaning and we have to wash all of our clothes. Super fun. So we're carpetbagging between the parent's houses and trying to get it all worked out before school starts up next week. Between that and work, it's been a tough week. Thankfully, it's also been a rest week, which was sorely needed- and I wouldn't have had time to train anyway, so it works out perfectly!

Anyway, the interesting stuff: it was a great weekend, despite hurricane conditions, ridiculous wind and rain and freezing cold weather.

Grant's Tomb Criterium: 1st B (5th A/B woman)
Steven's Circuit Race: 2nd B (6th A/B woman)

Race season is going better than I could have possibly hoped. And I know it's cheesy to quote other blogs, especially about you, but frankly, I'm not used to reading about myself, so here we go.

From Ian Sullivan (one of the ECCC directors) blog, we have this on his "Quick Thoughts on Leading Teams" post under "Outside Wonders":

Rutgers: With Molly Hurford nailing it in the Bs (soon to be As if I was a betting man) and a decent contingent of men racers, they are certainly a force. If they bring out a few more key players and up their game. They could definitely finish the season in the top 10.

And from Joe Kopena, the ECCC Director's blog, there was this:

Watching from the sidelines, it definitely seems that the Women's B racers are out for overall wins and placings, and if they have to take them from the Women's A racers then so much the better. One of these days one of those B women is going to make the perfect move, have a great day, and totally take a race from the Women's As. I'm going to put my early money on Molly from Rutgers for that distinction.

Freaking awesome. I'm afraid I've become totally intolerable to my teammates and Robbie though. I'm so stoked about how the season is going and I think it comes off as obnoxious when really I'm just insanely shocked and excited. So, sorry to anyone reading this that's finding me annoying. I honestly had no idea that this season was going to go well, and I'm constantly in shock that it has started off this great. Hopefully I can keep it up!

The races this weekend were crazy. Grant's Tomb was some of the worst conditions I've ever ridden in- I legit thought I was about to be blown over most of the time. I missed the 3 woman breakaway, and no one in the pack had the legs for a breakaway except me after that. I kept trying, getting off the front, and realizing I was half a lap ahead of the group but totally alone. Maybe I should have gone solo, since I ended up pulling so much anyway, but the results would have ultimately been the same, so it all worked out. After the race, I got lots of hugs and stuff from a bunch of the other women racers. What awesome ladies we have in the conference- I even met a fellow ex-Irish stepdancer!

I was completely freezing and I couldn't eat for 30 minutes because my teeth were chattering too much. I raced in just a skinsuit and used embrocation on my legs to keep them warm, and I think I was probably better off than the multiple layer girls who were soaked and weighed down.

Steven's Circuit Race had slightly better weather, though we got there with very little time to spare because of a ton of roads closed from flooding. Still, we made it so I had time to register, hear from one of the directors of the ECCC that "don't worry, you'll get the breakaway one of these days" and get on the trainer to get a bit of a warmup.

Kathryn was right on the money though- the race started and here I'll add in part of the ECCC News Network's race report:

With one lap completed, the peloton was comprised of every single rapid racer, A and B riders alike. Buckley was still at the top for the second lap, this time accompanied by teammate Laura Ralston and Elle Anderson of Dartmouth College. These three worked together to pull away from the rest of the field, which instantaneously split into two additional groups. Only two distinct groups emerged the third time around the course, with Molly Hurford representing Rutgers as a B rider among a group dominated by A riders. (Hurford won Rutgers’ Criterium for the Women’s B category the previous weekend, and finished third for Rutgers’ Road Race in the Women’s B category.) The second group encompassed a majority of the B riders, with the exception of several Women A riders.

The field remained split in two for the duration of the race, with a few riders straying. Hurford, Anderson, Buckley, and McLoon refused to slack off in the first group, refusing to allow any riders from the second group to even mildly consider catching up.

Ha! I caught the breakway! The A women work like crazy in the breakaway though, using crazy race tactics and strategy that was totally beyond me. I stayed in the pack, led way more than I should have, started the sprint too early at the end, let them ride my wheel 100 feet to the finish line, and then got outsprinted by all of them. Yeah, I need to learn how to race my bike one of these days. I did get some compliments from the major A women though, and one of them was really grateful for one moment when 3 of the 6 of us broke away and I caught us back on when the other girl couldn't. So I feel like I'm on the map to some extent. I filed for my A upgrade, though I'm lacking a few points, and hopefully I get it before this weekend. If not, I'll just be trying to get it this weekend and with any luck I'll be able to get it for the week after, but I'm a bit antsy and I really want it. I'm landing in the top 6 in every race, so it stands to reason that I should be able to race As. Though as Joe did point out, it would be pretty awesome if a B woman won a race overall, and it would be even cooler if that woman was me!

Philly Phlyer is this weekend and I'm really excited to see some 'cross friends- and the weather should be mid60s and sunny! Heck yeah to running between/after races in short shorts!!


In other news, happy birthday to Robbie! He's finally 20, and even if we can't celebrate St. Patrick's Day in a bar, as long as I'm with him I know we'll have a great time. He puts up with a lot from me, and I love the poor guy beyond reason. Pictures of his birthday present will be coming shortly- I hope he likes it, though I'm sure most of you will feel sorry for him when you see what it is!