Helena Primavera RR Bunnies

by Tina

"Oh what a beautiful morning, oh what a beautiful day…"

It was de-gorgeous outside.

As I wheeled my bike out of the hotel, a lady made the comment that I definitely picked the right day to ride my bike… Unlike the snow that I'm now looking at outside my window in the office… bluch! Although, the trees I planted are very very happy at the moment.

Anyway, I digress… We sported two Bella ladies, Zoe and me. And seeing that it was the day before Easter, I had to sport some appropriate flair…There were 15 women in our field and ALL Cat 4s… There were entire teams, 5 from Helena, 4 (I think) from University of Montana, 3 fromGAS (hee hee)…It was awesome to see so many ladies out!

The Helena RR is a mostly flat 40-miler, with wind and depending on which lap you're on, it could be a cross, or a head, or a tail… or flat out blow you off the road! You really could never tell. After a somewhat painful experience teaching the nuances of the forwarding rotating pace line, a break went off the front at about mile 8 that brought our field down to about 9.

A short rise on a dirt section just after the causeway brought that number down to 6. Zoe and Cathy were at the front of this splinter, and unfortunately, I just watched a U of M rider bridge the gap back up to the front group and couldn't grab her wheel. Dang hilly dirt - I'll get you one day! Lots of potholes and washboards – I think there was one good line for about 30 feet on the entire 3 mile section.

I tried to catch on by myself and decided to sit up and wait for two others churning down the road toward me – especially when I noticed the turn up ahead into a headwind… Jen (Helena), Annie (GAS) and I worked really hard and had at one point on a headwind section brought the group back within 100 meters, but no dice…

Somewhere in there, we lost Annie (maybe blew away?), which left Jen and I to hang in there. I felt really really strong Saturday (which just kills me that I couldn't make that jump), and Jen was right there with me and we kept the front group in sight most of the entire race.

At the last corner, Zoe and Katren took off from the front group, bringing it down to a sprint between the two, with Zoe taking theprize!! Jane (Helena) took the next group sprint for third, and then Jen and I were the next "group" in for 7th and 8th. Another awesome showing by Zoe-baby and I keep getting stronger and stronger!

I'm loving meeting all kinds of new people – and with all the women in the field, it's been great for that. Well, I'd better go do intervals - until our next race: Butte Highlands (April 29th)