Ok, so I was pretty fired up to race this one. I had made the decision to race it, the night before after getting dropped like a bad habit at the Pitt crit. I fully knew it wasn't necessarily my type of race - and there was no way I was going to win - or stay with the lead group. At this point - I have realistic expectations - i'm just not there yet. That said, I knew it would still be a good test for me because there was going to be a strong 3 and 2 contingent there, who would certainly push me and force me to face the hurt head on.
I had never done BH, but heard quite a few stories about how challenging it is, primarily due to the climbs (baby, moma, and papa bear). Not pre riding the course can be a little challenging mentally, because it's difficult to know how hard to go, when you can recover, etc.
I got to the race with a solid 1.5 hours to get ready. Pinned, hydrated, threw five gu's in my back pocket and was on the start line with a couple min to spare. It was a neutral roll out to the course - which is always nice. I was right behind the moto, and felt like I was getting high from the fumes! Jane Despas didn't really smile when I made a joke about it, so I decided to shut up and get ready to hurt. She clearly had a plan from the start line - right when we rolled out on the course, she quickened the pace and road away from the field. We all let her go, knowing it was going to be a long 70 miles with hills and wind. The group was a decent size - probably 30-40 women. I didn't really want to do work, so I tried to sit 5 wheel. Then, I drifted back when I noticed none of the big girls were there. I thought it would be a good time to observe, and see how they managed their way around the pack. Sure enough, when we got to the first hill a Fremont Bank girl (strong team) went to the front. This must be "baby bear" - I followed her lead, knowing they were good climbers, and knowing i'd need to be as far in front as I could to allow for some drift back if I wanted to stay in this group for awhile. The pack surged up the steep kicker, and I felt like my heart was going to explode! I could see the top, so I dug DEEP and pushed through - phew! made it and coasted down the back side - breathing hard.... But, I was still there. Even though it was only the first lap - it was a little victory. I faced the pain and pushed through it.
The course was really beautiful, lots of rolling green hills, a reservoir, and nicely paved roads. Pretty epic....until we hit "moma bear", a long long quasi gradual climb. The climbers moved to the front and I followed. This is where it got freaking hard. I was dying at the top, and drifted all the way to the back...i'd tried to hold wheels but just couldn't - and was joined by quite a few who had fallen off as well.
There were 4 of us in my little chase, some behind and a couple more in front. The main group was only about 100 feet in front of me when I hit the decent - but that was enough...they held and grew the gap as the climbers attacked again on "papa bear" the final climb on the lap.
The thing is - I was hurting plenty in my little group of 8 - that grew to 12 by the end of the race. It was super hard on the climbs - women drilled it, and it was all I could do to stay on. We dropped a few people too.. It was a little sad when we rolled through the finish, and the guy was like - only three more times! I was like SHIT! This is going to be a long day!
By the end, I was toast. I drove home, showered, ate, watched an Adam Sandler movie, ate, watched another Adam Sandler movie, ate, slept, ate and slept again - for 10 hours!
I'm glad I did the race, and felt good about sticking a super hard 70 miles out. I don't know what I finished up, but don't think it really matters. I needed to hurt a little, and I did. And it felt good to see it through to the end.
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