Race report: Stump Farm (redeemed!)

(Photo: Amy) After starting my season with 4 completely terrible races, I needed a change. I'm very, very happy to say that I got it.

Stump Farm is outside the 3-hour driving window we usually allow for racing (otherwise you end up driving 8+ hours for 3 hours on the bike) but since the trail is so! much! fun! it always stays on the list. The original intention was to do the women's 12-hour team for the WEMS series, but since they upped the number of races you have to complete for the series from 4 to 5 that was out. And when the forecast called for 40 degrees and rain at 8am, we made the call to sleep in instead of driving out Fri night and paying for a hotel room, and Erica, Ronit, and I rolled out of Chicago at 10am to make the 3pm 3-hour start. This also meant actual racing instead of a laid-back relay, which was a little scarier.

Pulled my bike off the roof in the parking lot, rode it 20 feet, and realized something was really wrong with the rear brake. Pulled my wheel and - o crap! - realized the pad was completely spent. Note to self: no braking on the rear. Fuuun. And I realized what I forgot. A sports bra.

Anyway, the start came and I sauntered to my bike and got in the lineup that hit the brakes for the singletrack. The first time through, it sucked... the traffic made flow impossible. Half a lap later, though, most of the riders were off in the distance in front of me, and I was just riding my race. The trail was soft and the morning's racers had carved banks into the turns, making it fast and fun. I beamed. This is why we ride. Outside of a few bumpy sections where my unrestrained bosom protested violently, the trail was perfect.

There were some short hills in the middle of the lap that kept the legs honest. I again felt a big difference in the climbs - I still suck at climbing but I am far stronger, and if I drop into that perfect gear I really can chug up them at a not-quite-embarrassing pace. But everything was icing. It was fun.

Gu packets at the start of lap 2 and 3, and my running talents translated to being able to pull the pack from my jersey, open it, keep the tab (no littering!), eat, and shove the spent packet and tab back in my jersey, no problems. Aw yeah. But my bottle was filled with caffeinated Clif Shot and my gu packets had caffeine too, and by lap 3 I was twitchy-high and felt more like a pinball player than a rider. (Sorry if I acted odd at the finish- I sort of felt like a crackhead).

The only noteworthy happening was the giant bug I inhaled on the third lap. It was still alive and I think it was trying to crawl out. I had to get off the bike and was coughing so hard to try to get it out that I nearly gagged myself. It felt fluttery in there and made me sort of dizzy.

I finished somewhere in the bottom half of the pack, but that's fine. WEMS races don't have categories and some of the women in the field were clearly ringers-- Amy recognized them as Expert racers from WORS. I put in some respectable lap times (for me) and the rain held off till we were loading the car. Ronit, Erica, and I even had Taco John's on the way home. We drove fast and I was in bed just before midnight.

Sunday Morning the weather insisted on a run, and when I turned home after 3 Molly dragged me out, insisting on 5. I coughed up a black wing.