Tour de Frankenmuth Women's Cat 4

Today started out early with a 4:30 AM departure from Grand Rapids to Frankenmuth where I signed up to race my third road race - Das Tour de Frankenmuth.  As I drove across the state, the clouds built and a light rain began to fall.  Cycling in the rain is tolerable as long as I'm not eating the detritus kicked up from wheels I follow.  So, the rain added to my motivation to stay out front and set the pace.

Twenty-one riders signed up in the Women's Cat 4 field with four representing our team, Real Women Tri: Laura Korienek, Cheryl Havens, Sarah Williams and myself.  After racing the West Michigan Stage Race last weekend and wishing for a faster pace in that Women's Cat 3-4 road race, I decided to try my best to pull and attack from the start to see what might happen. Marie Dershem from Priority Health and Melissa Ryba from Hagerty met the challenge, and the three of us attacked on the corners and pulled at a steady 21.2 mph average for the first lap and a quarter.  Then some other girls took up the front with RWT's Sarah Williams, Sandie Domagalski from the Flying Rhino Cycling Club and Priority Health's Katie Whiddun all putting in solid and strong efforts.  I knew all of these women could win the race, and I needed to keep them in my sights until the end.

There came a long stretch into the wind about halfway through our second lap when the pace slowed and I moved back to the front to hunker in and pull for a while at a steady tempo.  Gratefully, my teammate Sarah Williams came up and took over with continued power.  Never before had I put myself out in the front so often in a race and it wasn't quite as scary as I had imagined it to be, even with the wind, the rain, and the amount of work I'd done on the first lap.  So much of racing comes down to a mental attitude, I'm coming to find, and not until I push the boundaries of my comfort will I find out the potential that lives inside.  Plus, I kept reminding myself that at least in the front I wasn't eating mouthfuls of nasty road-spray!

The spirit of fair competitiveness among the riders stands out as the aspect of women's bicycle racing I appreciate most.  The women with whom I race are fun, intelligent and willing to push and challenge each other physically while still offering up moral support when spirits or legs are flagging.  Today, for instance, my teammate Cheryl pulled up next to me and asked, "How are you doing, Jane?"  I told her I felt good and reminded her to drink some water - the tip she gave me during my first road race at Frankenmuth last year!  Minutes later, my teammate Laura came up on the other side and checked in by asking, "How is it going, Jane?" and I said great and asked her how she felt, too.  It's a small thing, but those quick check-ins from teammates offer a support that spurs motivation and builds camaraderie.  I noticed it happening between competing teams as well, and that spirit makes racing fun!  Too, this defines the nature of women's Cat 4 racing - a place where new racers safely learn the strategies and demands of racing that will gradually build to a skill-set of a Cat 3 rider.

With only a couple of miles left in our race, the Men's Cat 3 field passed us.  Once their sag vehicle came by, it seemed as if our pace slowed.  I asked aloud, "What happens if we catch them as we finish?"  Another rider chimed in, "We can't pass them."  Doubting my understanding of USA Cycling rules - whether at a finish we could pass them or not - we began our final mile.  Marie Dersham led the pack with her teammate Katie Whittung right behind her and as the pace picked up and we rounded the corner, I moved to the inside to sprint to the finish.  With the finish line approaching, I realized I was going to pass the Men's Cat 3 sag vehicle just before the line and wasn't confident that rules allowed that I could!  But, I didn't want to stop sprinting!  So I slowed a little and saw Katie Whittung right beside me - that was enough for me to kick it up a notch and pass the truck while crossing the finish line.  I heard later that the race announcer completely missed our finish as he thought we were part of the Men's Cat 3 race.  Oh well!  I eked out my first road race victory right at the line with Katie, Melissa, Sandie and Marie all hot on my wheel.

One year ago the Tour de Frankenmuth was my first road race.  In the year since then, I've learned countless lessons from the women and men with whom I ride including invaluable support from my more experienced teammates Kathy Everts and Lori Hotchkin.  Racing is fun, and the community and camaraderie of cyclists in Michigan inspires me to hang in there and ride faster and smarter.