short: 4th out of 33 1-3, 1st out of 22 cat 3s (scored separately)

i made sure to leave early so i could follow my routine.       

2 hrs before the race: 1 peanut butter sandwich, 1 jelly sandwich (in that
order)

1 hr before: carrot cake clif bar

and warm-up to cracker!!

got a fairly good warm-up, but probably not as long as i should have
gotten.  i spent a lot of time wandering around trying to see if there was
an extra IF skinsuit for me (there wasn't--so all i have is 1 jersey).

i had three teammates in the race but we didn't even talk to each other
ahead of time.  so we had no plan.

probably the most intimidating part for me was lining up next to emily
thorne, who had just finished the HP women's challenge.

the race was 1-3, 3s scored separately.  course was about 1k with six
corners, one chicane.                          

it was fast from the gun.  i finally got a good start and went into the
first turn in the middle of the pack.  as usual though i spent too much
time sitting there.  i still get freaked out being on the inside of
corners being surrounded by people and would have to make up my lost
positions every lap on the "hill."  andy and steve and andy's friend kaela
were there.  every time i went by i heard andy yell for me to move up.

i tried to move up each time on the hill but never really got into a good
position to contest any primes, which was too bad because they had
fabulous primes: a pair of shimano dura-ace wheels ($800), a Thule roof
rack, lots of cash.  about 2/3 of the way through i managed to win a prime
($15), then blew up but got back in the middle.

the pace was really high, with emily thorne basically controlling
everything at the front.  she crashed though about midway through and got
back in, but not in the dominating way she had before.  (it was a big   
crash.)  the whole time i was sure i was going to throw up.  i hadn't been
that violently nauseous in a race since my first season.

with two laps to go, i started to move up.  with 1 lap to go, i got on
yvonne ilton's wheel (i knew she would be my main competition in the 3s).
i passed her on the hill, going into the chicane (quick left, quick
right) in 4th, which i held through the last two corners and through the
sprint.  it was just too fast for me to come around anyone.  the confusing
part was that there were a lot of crosswalks and so i actually sat down
before the line because i wasn't sure where it was.  luckly yvonne was
still half-a-bike-length or so behind me.

anyway, it was a good race.  i was really happy with my result and i'm
sure i was several mph faster because i finally have a jersey that
fits.  =) 

next is the four-day stage race at fitchburg.  i'll let you know how the
time trial goes tomorrow.  i've got my bike set up pretty crazy right
now.  the handlebars are so low that they're almost touching my front
wheel, it seems.  if only i had a disc wheel.

michele and betty